I’m New York City-based playwright, performer, and screenwriter originally from the gutters of Quincy, MA who writes about gender, social class, the mismatch of individual desire and societal expectation, and the tension between the seen and unseen. My work is an attempt to decode the madness of the world around me, exorcizing the demons of my life. Oftentimes what appears to be happening on the surface is quite different from what is actually happening, and I want my work to reflect that discrepancy. I enjoy pushing buttons. I like to play with the idea of audience expectation, experimenting with leaning into and out of what people think they want or don’t want. Much of my work lives in the realm of the fantastic where the audience is unsure of what is real or imagined, what is true and what is false. Reality appears to be so malleable right now, and I want my writing to reflect that uncertainty. Audience support is fundamental to the creation of these new works, and I'm deeply grateful for your continued sponsorship.
HONORS / AWARDS
2024 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant, Hockey Wives
2024 ScreenCraft Horror Competition Quarterfinalist, The Little Death
2023 The Orchard Project Short List, Bad Dentist
2022 Final Draft Big Break Half-Hour Pilot Semi-Finalist, Bad Dentist
2022 Humanitas David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award Semi-Finalist, Bad Dentist
2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist, Them What Brung You
2021 Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award Semi-Finalist
2019 Ada Comstock Magic Grant ($25,000), Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, Shut UP, Emily Dickinson
2019 The Denis Johnston Playwriting Award, Them What Brung You
2018 The Jill Cummins MacLean Prize, Shut UP, Emily Dickinson
WORKS SUPPORTED BY FRACTURED ATLAS
Judith
2024 NYSCA Support for Artists Award
Shut UP, Emily Dickinson
2022 Production: Abrons Arts Center, New York, NY
2018 Workshop: The Kraine Theater, New York, NY
2013 Workshop: UNDER St Marks, New York, NY
2013 Workshop: Dixon Place Main Stage Series, New York, NY
2012 Reading: Re/Mixed Media Festival, Brooklyn, NY
EDUCATION
MFA in Dramatic Writing: NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Learn More: http://www.tanyaodebra.com