Photo by Austin Ruffer

Dan Caffrey is a playwright, musician, and pop-culture critic whose work draws heavily from wildlife, horror, and various otherworldly elements. He's interested in how these external, often non-human forces can upend his characters' views of humanity, pushing them to confront more internal threats such as secrecy, repression, insecurity, and fear.

Most recently, his plays have focused on the physical and psychological effects of the climate crisis, including the zero-waste world premiere of The Amphibians at Weber State University and River Watchers, an immersive theatre experience on a moving 14-person canoe in Brooklyn's Newtown Creek (co-created with Dina Vovsi and Jens Rasmussen; produced by The Motor Company). Other work includes The Tusk Hunters (The Civilians' Finding Series, Gloucester Stage's Water's Rising Festival, The Workshop Theater's Lab Series), Matawan (The Ruckus, The University of Texas at Austin, Atlantic Acting School), KAIJU (The Road Theatre's Summer Playwrights Festival), and Sow and Suckling (UT Austin's UTNT Festival), among others. His audio drama “Mortality Rate” was commissioned by 20th Century Studios as a tie-in to the 2023 Stephen King film The Boogeyman. 

​Dan is a current resident with Nancy Manocherian's the cell theater and a proud alumnus of the 2023/2024 Civilians' R&D Group. Other residencies and development programs include Tofte Lake Center, an MFA Scholarship at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, Playlist with Cry Havoc, UCF Pegasus PlayLab, Kitchen Dog Theater New Works Festival, The Workshop Theater's Lab Intensive, The Orchard Project's Liveness Lab, Hot Playwright Sumer, ThinkTank Theatre's TYA Playwrights Festival, and teaching/guest lectures at the Alliance Theatre, St. Lawrence University, Mississippi University for Women, Western Connecticut State University, Weber State University, and Stephen F. Austin University. He has been a Princess Grace Finalist, three-time O'Neill Finalist and seven-time Semi-Finalist, three-time Finalist for Princeton University and The Civilians' The Next Forever project, Jerome Fellowship Semi-Finalist, shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship's 2021 Theatre Prize, and his work has been published/licensed by Methuen Drama, Smith & Kraus, and Gitelman & Good. Additional companies who have produced or developed his plays include American Records, Salvage Vanguard, Northlight Theatre, Mixily Presents, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, Jarrott Productions, Genesis Ensemble, Hot Kitchen Collective, Cypress Productions, Sundown Collaborative Theatre, Otherworld Theatre, and Tympanic Theatre (RIP), as well as many colleges and universities. His play "A Seed" was part of the 46th Annual Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, produced by Concord Theatricals. His play "Duckass" was part of the 47th festival, making it to the final 12. His work has been supported by grants from the Puffin Foundation, New York State Council On the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and ScriptWorks Austin, and been the recipient of five B. Iden Payne Awards.​

Dan has also written for a variety of pop-culture publications, including The A.V. Club, Consequence, Pitchfork, and Vox. His non-fiction book, Radiohead FAQ, is currently available from Bloomsbury Publishing. He co-hosts The Losers' Club: A Stephen King Podcast (recipient of Joe Bob Briggs' Silver Bolo Award For Excellence In Horror Media) and Halloweenies: A Horror Franchise Podcast, in addition to recording music with Mae Shults under the name Methodist Hospital. Dean of American Rock Critics Robert Christgau hailed their debut album, Giants, as one of the best of 2018. MFA: The University of Texas at Austin, BA: Florida State University.

Have fun exploring this site, and please feel free to reach out and say hi!