Known for his imaginative blending of humor, humanity and heart, frequently working in the genres of fantasy, science-fiction and horror (with occasional excursions into autobiographical solo works), David Templeton’s plays include the multiple-award-winning ‘Galatea,’ ‘Drumming With Anubis,’ ‘Mary Shelley’s Body,’ ‘Polar Bears,’ ‘Pinky,’ and ‘Wretch Like Me.’ His fantasy fiction has appeared in dozens of books, magazines, and newspapers, and include a series of twisted Christmas tales in the North Bay Bohemian and a novella-length romantic horror piece in the 2016 anthology ‘Eternal Frankenstein.’ His theatrical works currently in development include ‘Featherbaby,’ ‘Ghost Punch’ and ‘The Rabbit.’

‘Galatea,’ which had its world premiere in September of 2021 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center (Sonoma County, California), was awarded a Steinberg/ATCA New Play Citation and the Will Glickman New Play honorable mention, and additionally won in seven categories (including for Original Script and Best Production in the Bay Area) at the 2022 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Excellence in Theatre Awards.

Mr. Templeton’s work has been presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Spreckels Performing Arts Center, Left Edge Theater, Main Stage West, The SF Olympians’ Festival, Cinnabar Theater, Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, 6th Street Playhouse, Sonoma Arts Live, Belrose Theater, The Marsh and the San Francisco Fringe. ‘Wretch Like Me,’ his first solo show, has been performed over 100 times, with runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the San Francisco Fringe Festival and the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, with additional performances at The Marsh, Cinnabar Theater, Santa Rosa Junior College, Napa Valley College, Napa Theater Company and others.

As a journalist, he’s written for dozens of publications in the Bay Area and nationwide, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Pacific Sun, Strings Magazine, Marin Magazine, the Press Democrat, the North Bay Bohemian and the Petaluma Argus-Courier, where he currently serves as Community/Features Editor. In 2019, he won the California Newspaper Publishers Association award for best writing for his piece ‘Flying Off to Neverland.’

David was born in Southern California where he grew up climbing trees, reading books and making up stories. The first play he ever saw on stage was James Baldwin’s ‘Blues for Mister Charlie,’ at a small theater in downtown Los Angeles in 1968. If forced to make a list of the most personally transformative and artistically inspiring early experiences of his life, David would include, in addition to seeing Baldwin’s play – after being privileged to watch a number of backyard rehearsals, his mother being part of the production team – all of the following, in no particular order: listening to stories from his Scottish inventor grandfather, building his first puppet, receiving his first library card, watching his mother sing on stage in smoky bars in the ’60s and ’70s, watching the Moon landing, hearing the soundtrack of the musical ‘Oliver!’ (and acting out the songs before ever seeing the movie or reading the book), reading Madeleine L’Engle’s ‘A Wrinkle in Time,’ Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row,’ seeing a drive-in movie double feature of ‘Planet of the Apes’ and Zeffirelli’s “Romeo & Juliet,” hearing Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ for the first time, reading and memorizing every word of Song of Solomon from the Bible, meeting Richard Chase (author of “The Jack Tales,” and a masterful Punch & Judy puppeteer) and watching Jim Henson sitting in a chair casually performing Kermit the Frog on The Dick Cavett Show.