Writer
As a playwright, his international hit comedy Waiting For Waiting For Godot (called “delectable” by the NY Times) was awarded the Overall Excellence In A Play award at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival and has since been produced in New York, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Istanbul and Budapest, with future productions planned for South Korea, the UK and Italy. Dave’s other works include The Tenants (winner for Best Play at 2020 New York Winterfest), Cafe d’Automatique (2015 Best Ten Minute Play; Smith & Kraus), The Exit Interview (2013 C10 Anthology) and Thank You For Letting Me Have Sex With You (2015 C10 Anthology).
For television & film, Dave has worked on such shows as Chelsea Lately (E!), Inside College Football (CBS Sports) and The Inactives (CBS Sports pilot) as well as the digital sketch group The Shorts Show. Recently his short film Eden finished up a successful run on the international film festival circuit.
His original television pilot Leader Supreme was a 2021 2nd round selection of the Sundance Film Festival’s Episodic Lab and the Austin Film Festival Comedy TV Screenwriting Competition. Dave’s writing currently ranks in the top 17% of all scripted projects on Coverfly.com and was recently added to The Red List.
Dave is a member of the Playwright/Director’s Unit at The Actor’s Studio in New York City.
“Two understudies backstage waiting for their chance to go on— That is Dave Hanson’s delectable Waiting for Waiting for Godot.”
Anita Gates, NY Times, 8/23/13
(Full length stage play)
In Waiting For Waiting For Godot, Ester and Val, two perpetually overlooked understudies, find themselves trapped in the existential purgatory of the backstage, endlessly waiting for their chance to perform. As they bicker over art, life, and the elusive purpose of their existence, they unknowingly mirror the very play they're meant to understudy. With razor-sharp wit and absurd humor, described as “delectable” by The New York Times, this satirical comedy dives deep into the quirks of showbiz and the human condition, all while hilariously pondering what it truly means to wait. As it turns out, the only ones who truly grasp the meaning of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot are the ones eternally waiting... for Waiting For Godot.
Eden
The award winning short film is finally available to watch here!
EDEN: After she dies, a woman wakes up in a strange after life.
Written by Dave Hanson and directed by Corey Scott Rutledge.
(Original pilot for television)
When your terrible family is in charge of your terrible country, the ambitious daughter of a dictator dreams of being the first woman Supreme Leader of her country. Schitt’s Creek meets Succession in a workplace comedy set around the first family of a communist dictatorship.
Runner up for the 2021 Austin Film Festival & The Sundance Institute Episodic Lab.
Story and original pilot script written by Dave C. Hanson
(Full length stage play)
Winner of the Best Play Or Musical award for the New York Winterfest 2020: In a New York apartment, the restless spirits of Albert and Lillian linger, trapped in an endless cycle of bickering and confusion. Neither can recall much about their past lives, only that they are bound to this place and to each other. Their days blur together in a haze of forgotten memories and half-remembered arguments, until the arrival of a new couple, Jackson and Anne, disrupts their routine.
As Jackson and Anne settle into the apartment, their relationship begins to unravel, marred by tension and escalating conflict. The ghosts, observing this, start to see eerie similarities between the young couple’s struggles and their own forgotten history. Gradually, fragments of their past begin to surface. Albert and Lillian, initially bemused by the parallels, slowly come to a chilling realization—they are reliving their own tragic story through Jackson and Anne. As the young couple's relationship mirrors the ghosts' own destructive past, Albert is forced to confront the truth he has long suppressed: the apartment is not just their prison, but Albert's personal purgatory, where he is condemned to relive the torment of the abuse he inflicted on his wife.
In the final act, the layers of reality peel away, revealing that the entire narrative is set within Albert's haunting memory, a punishment where he is doomed to witness the consequences of his actions, over and over, as a painful reminder of the life he destroyed.
"The Tenants" is a tragedy that explores themes of regret, the cyclical nature of abuse, and the haunting persistence of guilt. Through its spectral lens, the play examines the lasting impact of toxic relationships and the inescapable shadows they cast on the human soul.
(Short Script)
On a seemingly ordinary first date, Jim and Erin find themselves at Cafe d'Automatique, a quirky and mysterious French cafe,
Both eager to make a good impression, they engage in the usual dance of first-date banter, each carefully curating their personas, they soon find that something peculiar is happening. The cafe, under the watchful eye of a snobby French waiter, has a mind of its own, auto-correcting every lie they tell into unintelligible and offensive gibberish.
As their attempts to impress each other devolve into a chaotic exchange of bizarre phrases and accidental insults, the couple becomes increasingly frustrated. The snobby waiter suggesting that perhaps honesty might be the best policy. Reluctantly, Jim and Erin start speaking the truth, shedding their pretenses and revealing who they really are. To their surprise, they discover that honesty, though challenging, is the only way to truly connect—and maybe fall in love.
Café d'Automatique is a witty exploration of the absurdity of modern dating, where honesty is not just the best policy—it’s the only way to survive dinner.
Published in the 2015 Best Ten Minute Plays anthology by Smith & Kraus Publishing
Quarter Finalist for the SlamDance Festival Screenplay Competition
Winner of the 2022 Script Summit Screenplay Competition
Coverfly’s The Red List, top 5% of all comedy projects