SHIRLEY LAURO

Biography
Shirley Lauro's ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT premieres on October 5, 2009, produced by The Redfern Theatre at The Majorie Dean Little Theatre, New York. The play had its World Premiere Production at The Chicago Jewish Theatre on June 10, 2005 with rave reviews. Subsequently, it received a "2006 Jeff Nomination as “Best New Play in Chicago”, then opened in April 2006 at Traveling Jewish Theater, San Francisco, and Ashby Stages, Berkley, California.

Her anthology, FRONT LINES: Political Plays by American Women, edited with Alexis Greene was published June 1, 2009, by The New Pres. The book was honored with a citation from the New York Coalition of Women in Arts and Media. Shirley received a 2008 EST/​Sloan Foundation Commission for her new work, "The Radiant", about Marie Curie, presented in Workshop June 2009 at the Actors Studio, starring Angelica Torn and directed by Melanie Moyer. Also opening at the Actors Studio was another new play "AKA", exploring issues of hidden identities in our current culture.

Another recent play, CLARENCE DARROW'S LAST TRIAL, Recipient of the National Endowment for the Art’s “Access to Excellence Award’, The Sprenger-Lang New American History Prize,(finalist), enjoyed its World Premiere at New Theatre, Coral Gables, FL., and was Nominee for “The 2006 Carbonell Award as “Best New Play in Florida”. The play appears in the anthology "FRONT LINES: Political Plays by American Women."


A PIECE OF MY HEART premiering off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club, opened their 20th Anniversary Season. The play was previously produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival, is recipient of the Barbara Deming Prize, The Susan Blackburn Prize (Finalist) and The Kittredge Foundation Award. Revival Productions for the 2005-2006 season were presented at Atlanta's Theatre-in-the-Square, San Diego's Moolelo Productions , Theatre Unbound in Minneapolis. It has in enjoyed over 1000 productions both here and abroad. The play was anchor production for The Women's History Month Conference, U of CA (Fullerton). Ms. Lauro traveled to South Africa to attend the professional premiere of HEART which was sponsored by The Natal Performing Arts Council and the U.S. Information Agency. She lectured on the play at the five major universities of Natal Province. Recently the play was designated by Vietnam Vets of America, inc. as “The most enduring play in the nation on Vietnam”


THE CONTEST received The Foundation for Jewish Culture Award, was directed by Jerry Zaks for Philadelphia's Annenberg Center, and had originally premiered off-Broadway at New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre. It was a 2005 publication of Samuel French, Inc..

OPEN ADMISSIONS first brought Ms. Lauro to national attention when the drama was produced on Broadway, receiving one Tony Nomination, two Drama Desk nominations, a Theatre World Award, a Samuel French Playwriting Award, a New York Times pick for the “Ten Best Plays of the Year”, and the prestigious Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award. Ms. Lauro subsequently adapted OPEN ADMISSONS for a CBS TV special starring Jane Alexander. Regionally the play has enjoyed productions at such theaters as The Long Wharf, Baltimore Stages, The Alley Theatre of Houston, and The Great Lakes Theatre Festival, among others. OPEN ADMISSIONS was honored for selection for the 2003 anthology, POLITICAL STAGES: PLAYS THAT SHAPED A CENTURY, edited by Emily Mann and was produced in 2007 at The Theater Project.

PEARLS ON THE MOON (Jane Chambers Award, finalist) was developed and presented with a National Endowment for the Arts Residency Grant at The Alley Theatre. MARGARET AND KIT (Susan Blackburn Prize, finalist) was presented at New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre.

2001 publications included TURN DOWN in the Smith & Kraus play anthology BACKSTORY, and SUNDAY GO TO MEETIN’, chosen for their anthology, PLAYS FOR THREE CHARACTERS all produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival.

Her other work includes THE COAL DIAMOND (the Heidemann Prize, (Actors Theatre of Louisville), “Best Short Play” anthology); NOTHING IMMEDIATE OOBA Festival Winner, Samuel French Award); I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU’RE COMING FROM AT ALL!, and RAILING IT UPTOWN, published in Vintage Books’ TAKE TEN and a fall 2007 publication of Playscripts, Inc.

Ms. Lauro’s novel, THE EDGE, was published by Doubleday (Hardback) and Dell (Paperback) in America; and by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Hardback) and New English Library (Paperback) in Great Britain. The novel was subsequently a Literary Guild choice.

Her major Fellowships include: The John Simon Guggenheim in Playwriting, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The New York Foundation for the Arts. She received an artist’s residency at The Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony and was awarded a YADDO’s Senior Artist’s Residency.

Ms. Lauro serves as a director of the Dramatists Guild Foundation and for twelve years served both on The Council on the Dramatists Guild and its Steering Committee. Other affiliations include PEN, Writer’s Guild East, The Author’s Guild, The Ensemble Studio Theater (Council), The Women’s Project and Productions, The Drama League, The League of Professional Theatre Women of New York (Board), and The Playwrights/​Directors Group of The Actors Studio.

She has been Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Division and previously held academic posts in Playwriting at City College of New York, Manhattan’s Marymount College, Hofstra University, and The University of Wisconsin. A graduate of Northwestern in Theater, she holds an M.A. from The University of Wisconsin in Theater/​Playwriting, and did post graduate work at Columbia University and City University of New York in Theater and Creative Writing. Her mentors have included Saul Bellow, Edward Albee, Harold Clurman, and Elizabeth Bowen.