for Best Play at the 74th Tony Awards. Teaching He has taught at the Yale School of Drama. Style The majority of Rapp's plays feature small casts and are set in small spaces. Many characters in the plays are working class Americans. His plays often combine stories of Midwestern longing with the idea of finding escape in New York. He combines humor with gloom, preferring dark themes In a conversation with fellow playwright Gina Gionfriddo published in The Brooklyn Rail, Rapp says: "When you see something powerfully acted on stage, it hits a nerve in the way music hits a nerve … Watching someone twelve feet from you falling in love or being abused … There’s something raw about that experience that you don’t get from film or TV." Novels Rapp's first young adult novel, Missing the Piano, was published in 1994. After writing his second book, The Buffalo Tree, which was published in 1997, Rapp was invited to be the first author in residence at Ridgewood High School. The Buffalo Tree was censored by the Muhlenberg School Board in Reading, Pennsylvania due to its themes, graphic language and sexual content. His 2003 novel 33 Snowfish was one of Young Adult Library Services Association's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults. He released Under the Wolf, Under the Dog in 2004. His first adult novel, The Year of Endless Sorrows, was released in 2006. Rapp made his graphic novel debut with the release of Ball Peen Hammer in September 2009. His second graphic novel, Decelerate Blue was published in February 2017. Film, television and music Rapp directed his first film, Winter Passing with Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell (2005), and was a creative consultant for the television show The L Word. While working on The L Word, Rapp left in the middle of the season to attend the Edinburgh Festival, where he directed his play, Finer Noble Gases, which won the Fringe First Award. He wrote for the 2010 season of HBO's In Treatment. He was a member of the band Bottomside, which released the independent CD The Element Man in September 2004. He is a member of "Less the Band", which released the album Bear in April 2006. In 2021, he co-wrote the pilot episode “Cold Snap” for the Showtime special event series Dexter: New Blood. List of works Plays Dreams of the Salthorse (2000) Nocturne (2000) Animals and