John Pielmeier achieved critical and commercial success on Broadway in 1982 with his play Agnes of God, which earned a Tony for actress Amanda Plummer and a Tony nomination for actress Geraldine Page. The motion-picture adaptation of the play brought Pielmeier further acclaim when both Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly received Oscar nominations. While he has yet to achieve another major success on Broadway, three more of his plays have been well received in regional theaters. Pielmeier has written a melodrama, a musical, a mystery, a thriller, and several adaptations for the stage. Perhaps the one thing that remains constant in his work is his reluctance to provide easy answers for his audiences, believing that questions are far more important than any answers man is capable of providing.

The son of Len and Louise (Blackburn) Pielmeier, John Leonard Pielmeier was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on 23 February 1949. He demonstrated a...