Brenton Lengel

Early life and education

Lengel was born in Naples, Italy, the son of a flight surgeon serving in the US Navy. He spent his first two years living in Catania, Sicily, before the family returned to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. Lengel attended the University of Kentucky where he studied with Kentucky Poet Laureate Gurney Norman and playwright Herman D. Farrell III, earning a bachelor's degree in Theatre. He hiked the entirety of the Appalachian Trail over the course of five and a half months. Lengel would later work this experience into his play North to Maine

Writing career

After cutting his teeth as an artist in the East Village underground, Lengel became the Playwright-In-Residence for State of Play Productions, Inc., which would go on to produce several of his major works. He would also be produced by The American Theatre of Actors, Fullstop Collective, The Manhattan Theatre Source, The Flea, The New York International Fringe Festival, and his own company Autonomous Collective.

Lengel is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He cites cartoonist Bill Watterson as his most important creative influence. He also draws inspiration from Arthur Miller, Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon and J.R.R. Tolkien. In August 2014, Lengel and Rogue announced their collaboration on a rock opera called Afterall, based in part on the mythology and music of The Crüxshadows, which received its first public reading at Dragon Con 2014.

In late 2009, Lengel began writing profiles and performance art reviews of East Village artists for Examiner.com. He later devoted his column to arts and activism with a series called “Artists of Occupy Wall Street.” Beginning in 2013, Lengel was a frequent guest and Commentator on The Ed Tyll Show, carried on Talk Radio X and the Star Com Radio Network. In 2014 he was given his own radio show on the Star Com Radio Network, which was broadcast on 22 US stations and 132 international stations, including stations in England, Africa, China, and the Russian Federation. Guest commentators included Andy Stepanian, George "Rithm" Martinez, Captain Ray Lewis, Caleb Maupin, John Knefel, Mickey Z. and comedians Joey Gay, John Murdock, and Lee Camp.

In 2014, he was the only journalist to secure an exclusive one-hour interview with Cecily McMillan while the activist was serving her sentence at Riker's Island Penitentiary. Insurrection ran weekly for more than a year before Lengel put it on indefinite hiatus to focus on artistic pursuits. Lengel was also a commentator on HuffPost Live.

In early 2017, Scout Comics announced the publication of a comic adaptation of his 2012 play Snow White Zombie Apocalypse, written by Lengel and illustrated by Dark Horse Comics alumnus Hyeondo Park.

Activism

Lengel was heavily active in the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, both before and after the eviction of Zuccotti Park. He marched in the Nov. 17th, 2011 "Day of Action," Occupy Congress, and the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

He is one of the last Yippies, having run an Occupy-themed open mic in association with activist and comedian John Murdock at the Yippie Museum from late 2011 until the space was foreclosed on in July 2013. Lengel also lead the 2014 Marijuana March in NYC alongside George "Rithm" Martinez.

On Sept. 17th, 2012, Lengel and Murdock were arrested by the NYPD during a satirical direct action. The incident was photographed by independent journalist Jenna Pope. Lengel and Murdock were charged with disorderly conduct and violating a masks ordinance. The case was later dismissed.

Lengel describes himself as an anarchist, a libertarian communist, and a feminist, Lengel is a staunch environmentalist, citing both his time on the Appalachian Trail and his faith as a Nichiren Buddhist.

Awards and nominations

North to Maine won first runner-up in the 2010 James Rodgers playwriting competition and was solicited for the 2010-2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays reading cycle. Two monologues from the show were selected to be published in "Best Men's Monologues of 2014" by Smith & Kraus.

Lengel's first full-length play Trojan Men was selected as a semi-finalist for the 2009-2010 Eugene O'Neill National Playwright's competition.

His play Snow White Zombie won the Estrogenius Festival's Audience Choice award in 2010 and was revived for a Best of Estro's anniversary production in 2015. Said production resulted in Lengel being nominated for an NYIT award for best original short script. The script was published in Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2016, by Smith and Kraus.

Lengel is also a NYS-certified wilderness guide. He was the official Keynote Speaker at the 2013 New York-New Jersey Trail Conference's Summer Meeting, where part of his play North to Maine was performed.