My Writing Life

As I recall, I was first noticed as writer when I penned the immortal phrase, “tender pillows of ravioli” for a restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  I was working as a waitress there and the owner wanted to jazz up the menu.  In between dishing out spaghetti, I wrote a children’s play called WERNER AND THE MAGIC BOOTS that was produced for a children’s radio show on NPR called “The Spider’s Web.” I wrote a couple of other radio plays:  THE COSMIC YANKEE, about Henry David Thoreau, and THE FIRST WINTER, about the first year of the pilgrims landing on Cape Cod. I sold them both to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.  I wrote for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, little monologues about famous composers, and I wrote some short stories.  One of them was published in Cosmopolitan. I wrote a couple of screenplays, and sold one of them to Public Television. My first play, PERMISSION FROM CHILDREN, received a Drama League Award, workshoped at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, and produced by the University of Oklahoma where I was Artist in Residence.  My second play was a short comedy called WOMEN WHO LOVE SCIENCE TOO MUCH, which was produced off Broadway, and then in Chicago, and was made into a radio play for NPR. The Massachusetts Artists Foundation gave me an award for a play called DITCHED. Someone hired me to turn it into a screenplay, and the money allowed my husband and me to make the down payment on our first house. A play called THE STILL TIME was produced in Chicago and received the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwrighting award.

I was given a scholarship to NYU Tisch School for the Arts in Musical Theatre. I wrote the libretto for CLARA, an opera about Clara Schumann, and received a Rockefeller Grant to Bellagio Italy to work on it with the composer. The opera was subsequently produced by the Maryland Center for the Arts. Two years of work; four performances. I determined never to write an opera again, but for over a decade I was under the spell of musicals and composers.  I wrote THE FIFTH SEASON (later changed to DAKOTA SKY) that received the Jane Chambers Playwrighting Award and was produced by the Olney Theatre.  North Shore Music Theatre commissioned me to write a musical about an 18^th century merchant ship:  FRIENDSHIP OF THE SEA toured schools along the coast of Massachusetts for a season. I turned it into another musical, THE NAVIGATOR, which was performed at the Berkley College of Music in Boston.

Then I came to Utah and had brain surgery.  My life changed.  There were mountains and sky and something in the air (besides pollution I mean.)  I wrote a play in Utah that I had wanted to write for years, about Margaret Fuller and the Transcendentalists: CHARM received it’s world premiere at the Salt Lake Acting Company. It received an Edgerton Award;  it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  Orlando Shakespeare and Kitchen Dog Theatre in Dallas produced it.  THE PERSIAN QUARTER premiered at the Salt Lake Acting Company and received another Edgerton Award.  It opens the season at Merrimack Rep in Massachusetts in September 2011.  I’m a member of a great playwrighting group here in Salt Lake.  I see my career as a playwright like this:  a little stream growing bigger and wider as it heads towards the “far and boundless sea” to steal a quote from one of my own plays.       

Playwright's Bio

Kathleen Cahill's awards include the Jane Chambers Playwrighting Award, two Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwrighting Awards, a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, a Rockefeller Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts New American Works Grant, two Edgerton Foundation Awards and a Drama League Award. Her play Charm was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; her play The Persian Quarter was nominated for a Steinberg Award.(Both published by Dramatic Publishing.) Her produced musicals include for The Navigator, Friendship of the Sea, Dakota Sky; an opera, Clara, two opera/cabarets, A Tale of Two Cities: Paris and Berlin in the Twenties, the lyrics for David Zabriskie's Requiem, and an opera cabaret, Fatal Song ,(which is being produced by Utah Opera in November 2013. ) She is listed as one of the top twenty-five songwriters in the new Directory of Musical Theatre Writers. Her plays include the comedy, Course 86B in the Catalogue (Salt Lake Acting Company) The Still Time (Georgia Rep/ Porchlight Theatre, Chicago) the comedy, Women Who Love Science Too Much (Porchlight Theatre and NPR Radio) Henri Louise and Henry (Cleveland Public, Firehouse Theatre, Massachusetts) Charm ( National New Play Network Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company premiere, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Dallas; Orlando Shakespeare) and The Persian Quarter ( Salt Lake Acting Company, Merrimack Rep.) A new play, Monsterheart, will be heard in June at Kitchen Dog Theatre's New Play Festival. She wrote the screenplay for the independent feature, Downtown Express. She is Playwright-in-Residence at the Salt Lake Acting Company. For the past decade she has written the introductions presented by Laura Linney and Alan Cummings on Masterpiece/Mystery on PBS.

Julie Jensen is currently working on an adaptation of MOCKINGBIRD by Kathryn Erskine for the Kennedy Center's Theatre for Young Audiences. The story follows, Caitlin a young girl with Asperger's Syndrome as she copes with a chaotic world and the death of her brother. The play is part of their Page-to-Stage Festival, and will be workshopped at Weber State University with Director Tracy Callahan in spring 2014. MOCKINGBIRD is expected to reach full production at the Kennedy Center in late 2014. 

Julie is also the recipient of the Kennedy Center Award for New American Plays for WHITE MONEY, the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work for The Lost Vegas Series, and the LA Weekly Award for Best New Play for TWO-HEADED. She has received the McKnight National Playwriting Fellowship for WAIT!, the TCG/NEA Playwriting Residency for WAIT!, and a major grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts for DUST EATERS. She has won the Mill Mountain Theatre Playwriting Competition three times for TENDER HOOKS, LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and TWO-HEADED. Her play, TWO-HEADED, was included in the volume Best Plays by Women, 2000, and she has twice been nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association for the Steinberg Award for the best new play produced outside of New York for LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and DUST EATERS. She was twice a finalist for the PEN USA Award in Playwriting for TWO-HEADED and DUST EATERS, and her play, BILLION DOLLAR BABY received the New American Plays Award from the Edgerton Foundation.

Her most recent play, SHE WAS MY BROTHER, premiered at Borderlands Theatre in Tucson and was produced this season at Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City. She just finished THE HARVEY GIRLS, commissioned by Penn State University and Dramatic Publishing. It has just been published by Dramatic. Her play for young people, ACROSS THE WIDE AND LONESOME PRAIRIE, was produced this season by Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. Her playwriting book, Playwriting, Brief and Brilliant, is published by Smith and Kraus. An excerpt of WAITING was published in Latter-Gay Saints by Sunstone Publishing.

Jensen is a frequent speaker and workshop coordinator. In the last three years, she has conducted masterclasses for the winning playwrights at American College Theatre Festival at Kennedy Center. She also addressed the playwrights last at the Missoula Colony and at the Region 8 and Region 5 ACTF. For two years she has taught the playwriting intensive at Kennedy Center.

Her work has been produced in London, Hamburg and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as in this country in New York and theatres nationwide. She has been commissioned by Mark Taper Forum, ASK Theatre Projects, Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Salt Lake Acting Company, Geva Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Penn State University, and Dramatic Publishing. Her work is published by Dramatic Publishing, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, Inc., and Smith and Kraus.

She is Resident Playwright at Salt Lake Acting Company and Regional Representative for the Dramatists Guild.

Professional Activities

2012

• Regional Representative, Annual Meeting of Regional Reps, Dramatists Guild of America, New York, NY, February 2012.
• New Play Respondent, KCACTF, Region VIII, Ogden, UT, February 2012.
• Workshop Director, "The Business of the Business: Playwrights Market Their Work," KCACTF, Region VIII, Ogden, UT, February 2012.
• Interviewer, David Auburn, KCACTF, Region VIII, Ogden, UT, February 2012.
• Honored Guest, Retrospective of a Career, including a production of TWO-HEADED, an evening of scenes from other work, and a panel discussion, April 2012.
• Panel Member, "Writing the Ten-Minute Play," with David Ives as Chair, Dramatists Guild of America, Video Archive, April 2012.
• Elected Board Member and Secretary, College of Fellows of the American Theatre, Washington, DC, April 2012.
• Playwright, THE HILARY WITHIN, short play, commissioned by Baltimore, Centerstage, Baltimore, MD, April 2012.
• Playwright, PUBLIC HUMILIATION, short play, Plan-B Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, May 2012.
• Playwright, LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER, Studio 620, WMNF, NPR Radio, St. Petersburg, FL, May 2012.
• Professional Faculty, Summer Intensive, "Playwrights Write for the Screen," University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, June 2012.
• Convener, Dramatists Guild of America, Utah Region, Salt Lake City, UT, June 2012.
• Playwright, TWO-HEADED, Rose Theatre, Bankside, London, England, July 2012.
• Commissioned Playwright, MOCKINGBIRD, adaptation of a novel, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, 2012.

2011

• Regional Representative, Annual Meeting of Regional Reps, Dramatists Guild of America, New York, NY, February 2011.
• Workshop Director, "Writing the Impermissible," Ninth Floor Playwrights Group, New York, NY, February 2011.
• New Play Respondent, KCACTF, Region V, Aimes, Iowa, February, 2011.
• Workshop Director, "The Business of the Business: Playwrights Market Their Work," KCACTF, Region V, Aimes, Iowa, February 2011.
• Workshop Director, "Writing the Impermissible," KCACTF, National Festival, Washington, DC, April 2011.
• Attendee, College of Fellows of the American Theatre, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, April 2011.
• Playwright, PLAY ON THE MOON, a short play, Plan-B Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, May 2011.
• Dramaturg, Native Voices Theatre, Summer Workshop, "The Woman Who Was Chased by Ghosts," San Diego, CA, May 2011.
• Panel Chair, Dramatists Guild of America, Annual Conference, "The Art of Adaptation," with Marsha Norman and Doug Wright, Alexandria, VA, June 2011.
• Interviewer, Dramatists Guild of America, Annual Conference, "Writing Webisodes," with Susan Miller, Alexandria, VA, June 2011.
• Panel Member, Theatre Communications Group, Annual Conference, "Beyond the Reading: Strategies for New Play Development." Los Angeles, CA, June 2011.
• Honored Guest, Utah Shakespeare Festival, 50th Anniversary Celebration, as member of first company, Cedar City, UT, July 2011.
• Professional Faculty, Kennedy Center Playwrights' Intensive, Washington, D.C., July 2011.
• Convener, Dramatists Guild of America, Utah Region, Salt Lake City, UT, August 2011.
• Playwright, LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER, Pygmalion Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, October and November 2011.
• Playwright, ACROSS THE WIDE AND LONESOME PRAIRIE, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Morristown, NJ, November 2011.

2010

• Director of Workshop on Playwriting and served as National Respondent to New Work, American College Theatre Festival, Region VIII, St. George, UT, February 2010.
• Playwright of commissioned play THE HARVEY GIRLS,  Cultural Conversations Festival, Penn State University, State College, PA, March 1010.
• Lectured on “Living the Artist’s LIfe,” to Award Winning Playwrights,  American College Theatre Festival, National Conference, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, April 2010.
• Final judge for Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, American College Theatre Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, 2010.
• Playwright of production of short play, THE BROWN SHOES, Playwrights Slam, Plan-B Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, May 2010.
• Published short play, THE BROWN SHOES in TEN 10 MINUTE PLAYS, Volume III, edited by Walter Wykes, Black Box Press, Arlington, TX, 2010.  
• Dramaturged ON THE MANGLED BEAM, Native Voices Theatre, Summer Workshop, San Diego, CA, June 2010.
• Taught week-long seminar on playwriting, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las  Vegas, NV, June 2010.
• Published article “Making a Career as a Playwright Outside New York,” THE DRAMATIST, July/August 2010, pp. 24-27. 
• Taught week-long Playwriting Intensive, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, July, 2010.
• Playwright for reading of THE HARVEY GIRLS, Fearless Fringe Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company, August 2010.
• Published THE HARVEY GIRLS, Dramatic Publishing, Woodstock, IL, 2010.
• Playwright of production of SHE WAS MY BROTHER, Plan-B Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, October/November 2010.
• Received unanimously enthusiastic reviews.
• Playwright of production of ACROSS THE WIDE AND LONESOME PRAIRIE, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Madison, NJ, November/December 2010.
  > Received unanimously enthusiastic reviews.
• Chair of the Selection Committee, Native Voices Theatre Playwriting Competition, 2010.  
• Wrote chapter for the book, PLAYWRITING MASTER CLASS, Second Edition, by Michael Wright, Chapter Seven: Julie Jensen, Give Us This Day, pp. 295-325.  Focus Publishing, Newburyport, MA.  2010. 
• Named Regional Representative, The Dramatists Guild, New York, NY.
• Completed prose manuscript of MARGO AND ME: A MEMOIR.

2009-2010 fiscal year

London, England. (summer, 2009.)

• Production of TWO-HEADED.

Frankfort, Germany. (summer, 2009)

• Production of LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER.

Missoula Colony, Missoula, MT. (summer, 2009)

• Keynote address: "Marketing New Work in Hard Times."
• Reading of SHE WAS MY BROTHER.

Borderlands Theatre, Tucson, AZ. (fall, 2009)

• Production of SHE WAS MY BROTHER.

Penn State University, State College, PA. (fall, 2009)

• Workshop of THE HARVEY GIRLS.

Native Voices Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. (winter, 2009)

• Member of judging panel for playwriting competition.

American College Theatre Festival, Region 8, St. George, UT. (winter, 2010)

• Lecture: "Making a Playwright's Career Outside New York."
• National Respondent to New Work.

Penn State University, State College, PA. (spring, 2010)

• Workshop and public reading of THE HARVEY GIRLS.

American College Theatre Festival, National, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. (spring, 2010)

• Final judge for Paula Vogel Playwriting Competition.
• Speech to award winning playwrights: "Living the Artist's Life [in hard times]."

College of Fellows of the American Theatre, Washington, DC. (spring, 2010)

• Attended annual meetings.
• Conducted archival interview with playwright, Jerry Crawford.

Dramatic Publishing, Woodstock, IL. (summer, 2010, forthcoming)

• Publication of THE HARVEY GIRLS

Native Voices, San Diego, CA. (summer, 2010, forthcoming)

• Dramaturg for a play being developed for a Festival of Native American writing.

University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV. (summer, 2010, forthcoming)

• Guest professional for week-long writing workshop "Turning Your Play into a Screenplay."

Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. (summer, 2010, forthcoming)

• Conductor, week-long Playwriting Intensive.

Playwrighting Resume

Agent | Susan Gurman

245 West 99th Street, #24 | New York, NY 10025
Tel 212.749.4618

EM & ME. [in preparation]

MOCKINGBIRD. [Adaptation of a novel commissioned by Kennedy Center]

THE HILLARY WITHIN. [Short play commissioned by Baltimore Centerstage]

• Centerstage, Baltimore, MD, 2012.

SHE WAS MY BROTHER. [Commissioned by Salt Lake Acting Company]

• Plan-B Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, Fall, 2010.
  > Unanimously positive reviews.
  > Named one of the best plays of the year by SLC press.
• Borderlands Theatre, Tucson, AZ, Fall 2009.
• Workshop, Missoula Colony, Missoula, MT, Summer 2009.
• Workshop, Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, Spring 2009.
• Workshop, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, Fall 2008.
• Workshop, Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN, Fall 2008.

THE HARVEY GIRLS. [Commissioned by Penn State University and Dramatic Publishing]

• Fearless Fringe Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, Summer 2010.
• Published by Dramatic Publishing.

PLAYWRITING: BRIEF AND BRILLIANT. [A book on playwriting]

• Published by Smith and Kraus, Spring 2008.
  > Feature article/review in American Theatre.

BILLION DOLLAR BABY. [Recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award]

• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, Winter 2007.
• Idaho Repertory Theatre and University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, Winter 2007. [A workshop production featuring Patty Duke.]

LION TONGUE and DON'T TALK, DON'T SEE. [Short plays commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville]

• Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY, Spring 2006.
• Published in HUMANA FESTIVAL 2006, THE COMPLETE PLAYS, Smith and Kraus.
• Published in NEON MIRAGE, Playscripts, Inc.

WATER TURN. [Short play commissioned by Salt Lake Acting Company]

• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, Spring 2006.
• Finalist for Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 2007.

DUST EATERS. [Written with the support of a major grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts]

• Lincoln Square Theatre, Chicago, IL, Fall 2008
• Borderlands Theatre, Tucson, AZ, Fall 2007.
• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, Spring 2005.
  > Nominated by American Theatre Critics Association for the Steinberg Award, for the best new play produced outside New York.
  > Finalist for the PEN USA Award in Drama.
• Published by Dramatic Publishing Company.

WAIT! [Commissioned by Salt Lake Acting Company; supported by NEA/TCG Residency Grant; the McKnight National Playwriting Fellowship from Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis; and Women's Theatre Festival, Seattle, WA]

• Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, AK, Spring 2004.
• Catalyst Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, Spring 2004.
• Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, OH, Fall 2003.
  > Named one of the ten best plays of the year, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland Scene.
• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, Spring 2003.
• Published by Dramatic Publishing Company.

ACROSS THE WIDE AND LONESOME PRAIRIE. [Play for young people, commissioned by Kennedy Center]

• Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Madison, NJ, Fall 2010.
• Kennedy Center, Public School Tour, Washington, DC, Spring 2003.

ON LINCOLN'S HEAD. [Short play, commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville]

• Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY, Spring 2002.
• Published in HUMANA FESTIVAL 2002, THE COMPLETE PLAYS, Smith and Kraus.
• Published in SNAPSHOT, Playscripts, Inc.

WATER LILIES. [Short play, commissioned by Salt Lake Acting Company for the Olympics]

• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, 2002.
• Published in CABBIES, COWBOYS, AND TREE OF THE WEEPING VIRGIN, plays by Utah Writers.
• Excerpted and published in MONOLOGUES FOR WOMEN BY WOMEN, Heinemann.
• Published in 35 IN 10: THIRTY-FIVE TEN-MINUTE PLAYS, Dramatic Publishing Company.

CHEAT. [Commissioned by Geva Theatre, Rochester, NY]

• Pygmalion Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, 2013. [forthcoming]
• Detroit Repertory Theatre, Detroit, MI, 2003.
• Women's Project and Productions, New York City, NY, 2002.
• Key West Theatre Festival, Key West, FL, 200l.

TWO-HEADED. [Commissioned by ASK Theatre Projects, Los Angeles, CA]

• Rose Theatre, Bankside, London, England, 2012.
• Black Cat Theatre, St. Louis, MO, 2008.
  > Nominated for Best Actress, Kevin Kline Awards.
• Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA, 2007.
• TitleWAVE Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, OH, 2007.
• East Lynne Theatre, Cape May, NJ, 2006.
• Washington Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, DC, 2006.
  > Named one of the best productions of the year by Washington press.
• In preparation for an independent film.
• Anson Ford Theatre, Hot Properties Series, Los Angeles, CA, 200l.
  > Nominated for three Ovation Awards, 2002.
  > Nominated for five LA Weekly Awards, winner of three, including best play.
• Women's Project and Productions, New York, NY, 2000.
  > Outstanding reviews from all New York press.
• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, 2000.
• Winner of the Mill Mountain Playwriting Competition.
• Published by Dramatic Publishing Company.
• Published in THE BEST PLAYS BY WOMEN, 2000, Smith and Kraus.

LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER. [Commissioned by Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, CA]

• Studio 620, WMNF Radio, St. Petersburg, FL, 2012.
• Pygmalion Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT, 2011.
• Off the Fringe Festival, Fort Worth, TX, 2009.
• Studio Theatre, Phoenix, AZ, 2007.
• Luna Stage, Montclair, NJ, 200l, directed by Olympia Dukakis.
• ShenanArts, Staunton, VA, 2000.
• Hudson Guild Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 2000.
  > Ran for five months, run extended several times.
• Theatre Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, Scotland, l999.
• TheatreWorks, Hartford, CN, l998.
• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, l997.
  > Nominated by American Theatre Critics Association for best new play produced outside New York.
• Key West Theatre Festival, Key West, FL, l997.
• Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke, VA, l997.
• Published by Dramatic Publishing Company, also translated into Flemish.

THE LOST VEGAS SERIES.

• Minneapolis Fringe Festival, Minneapolis, MN, 2004.
• Nomad Theatre, London, England, l998.
• Asylum Theatre, Las Vegas, NV, l998.
• Zebra Crossing Theatre, Chicago, IL, l996.
  > Winner of the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work.

WHITE MONEY. [Commissioned by Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia, PA]

• Splitting Image Theatre Company, Baltimore, MD, l994.
• Powerhouse Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, l993.
  > Nominated for Best Play of the year by LA Weekly.
• Source Theatre, Washington, DC, l992.
• Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke, VA, l992.
• Actors Theatre of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, l99l.
• Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake City, UT, l99l.
  > Winner of Kennedy Center Award from the Fund for New American Plays.
• Published by Theatre Communications Group, Plays in Process Series.

THURSDAY'S CHILD.

• Reading, Playwrights Horizons, New York, NY, with Kathy Bates, 1988.
• Capital Rep, Albany, NY, l988.

STRAY DOGS.

• Independent film, 2001, available on video.
• Profiles Theatre, Chicago, IL, 2000.
  > Nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Awards.
• Arena Stage, Washington, DC, l986, directed by James Nicola.
  > Winner of CBS/Dramatists Guild Playwriting Competition.
  > Nominated for Helen Hayes Award.
• Published by Dramatists Play Service.

AWARDS AND PRIZES.

• Regional Representative, Dramatists Guild of America.
• Professional Faculty, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region V, Region VIII (twice).
• Professional Faculty, Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive. (2011, 2010)
• Keynote address to colony members, Missoula Colony, Missoula, MT.
• Professional Faculty, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, National Festival, Washington, D.C. (2011, 2010, 2009)
• Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award for BILLION DOLLAR BABY.
• Finalist for PEN USA Award in Drama for DUST EATERS.
• Core Membership in Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN.
• Pew Charitable Trusts Residency Grant at Salt Lake Acting Company.
• Election to College of Fellows of the American Theatre. (Now member of the Board and Secretary.)
• TCG/NEA Residency Grant at Salt Lake Acting Company.
• McKnight National Fellowship at Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN.
• LA Weekly Award for Best Play for TWO-HEADED.
• Twice nominated by American Theatre Critics Association Award for best new play produced outside New York: LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER and DUST EATERS.
• Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work for LOST VEGAS SERIES.
• Mill Mountain Theatre Playwriting Competition three different times for TWO-HEADED, LAST LISTS OF MY MAD MOTHER, and TENDER HOOKS.
• Award for New American Plays for WHITE MONEY.
• Arts Achievement Award, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. for lifetime achievement.
• CBS/Dramatists Guild Award for STRAY DOGS.