Paul Rudnick has been a significant contributor to American popular culture at the turn of the millennium. His work as a screenwriter has included such movies as Sister Act (1992), Addams Family Values (1993), Jeffrey (1995), and In & Out (1997), while his accolades as a dramatist have included an Obie (Off-Broadway) Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a John Gassner Award. Rudnick possesses the ability to lampoon serious religious, political, and social institutions and practices without appearing mean-spirited. He sends up even his own gay community by making the most of stereotypes in such plays as Jeffrey (1993), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (1998), and Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach (1998). Beneath the surface of much of Rudnick's humorous work, however, lie questions about the nature and inevitability of suffering; the obligation humans have to care for one another; and the persistence and significance of sexual, racial, and religious stereotyping.

Paul Rudnick...