Ken Urban

Ken Urban (born June 20, 1974) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and musician based in New York. Urban is an alumnus of New Dramatists and an affiliated writer at the Playwrights' Center.

He is a senior lecturer of Theater Arts and the Director of Dramatic Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously he has taught writing at Harvard University, Princeton University, Tufts University, and Davidson College.

Urban's play The Happy Sad, had its first production at the Summer Play Festival at The Public Theater. He adapted the play into a screenplay, and in 2013, it was released as a feature film directed by Rodney Evans. His play Danger and Opportunity won a 2025 Drama Desk Special Award for its intimate production at the East Village Basement.