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about




 
about MARISA

"The Nora Theater Production at Central Square Theater is so beautifully directed, acted and presented that you could mistake the play for Noel Coward."

The Boston Globe

​Marisa Smith is an award-winning American playwright. Full-length plays: Sex and Other Disturbances (2018 Edgerton-winner, Portland Stage Company and The Bridge Initiative semi-finalist), Saving Kitty (Eliot Norton Award-winner for Jennifer Coolidge Best Actress, The Nora Theater Company), Mad Love (O’Neill semi-finalist, Clauder winner/Kilroy list, premiered at Northern Stage), Venus Rising (premiered at Northern Stage), audio drama titled The Defenestrator, produced by Wondery. Marisa’s 10-Minute plays have been produced in the Boston Marathon of 10-Minute Plays, Barrington Stage, New Jersey Repertory and more, and include Heideman finalist Total Expression. Co-founder of Smith and Kraus Publishers, publishers of trade books for school, college, and theatrical communities. Screenplays: Second Wind and Surprise Engagement. 

Marisa Smith Landing Page_edited.png

FULL-LENGTH PLAYS​

VENUS RISING

Productions:

  • Northern Stage, Dir. Jess Chayes, January - February 2019


SEX AND OTHER DISTURBANCES

Productions:

  • Portland Stage, Dir. Nadia Tass, May 2018

  • M&D Playhouse, North Conway, NH, Dir. Christopher Bellis, June 2022

Awards:

  • Playwrights First, New Play Award, semi-finalist, 2015

  • The Bridge Initiative, New Work Contest, semi-finalist, 2017


FIVE BY FERBER

(That’s Marriage, a one-act adapted from a short story by Edna Ferber)

Reading:

  • New Jersey Repertory Company, June 2018


SAVING KITTY

Productions:

  • Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Dir. Rand Forrester, July 2012

  • New Jersey Repertory, Dir. Evan Bergman, June - July 2013

  • Nora Theater Company, Dir. Lee Mikeska Gardner, July - August, 2015, Starring Jennifer Coolidge.

  • The Studio Players, Naples Florida, Dir. Scott Lilly, March 2023

 Selected Readings and Workshops:

  • Williamstown Theater Festival, Dir. Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Starring Jennifer Coolidge

  • Lark Play Development Center, Dir. Giovanna Sardelli, Starring Harriet Harris

  • The Hayworth Theater, L.A., Dir. Ray Abruzzo, Starring Wendie Malick

Awards:

  • NH State Winner, Clauder Competition (Portland Stage, Maine), 2011

  • Jennifer Coolidge, Eliot Norton Award winner for Best Actress, 2015


MAD LOVE

Productions:

  • Northern Stage, Dir. Maggie Burrows, January - February 2016

  • New Jersey Repertory, Dir. Evan Bergman, October - November 2016

Selected Readings and Workshops:

  • New Works Now Festival, Northern Stage, Dir. Theresa Rebeck, 2015

  • University of Delaware’s Professional Theater Rep, The Lark Play Development Center, The Dorset Theater Festival and Dartmouth College

Awards:

  • NH State Winner, Clauder Competition (Portland Stage, Maine), 2012

  • Eugene O’Neill Play Conference Semi-Finalist, 2013

  • The Kilroy’s List, Honorable Mention, 2014

Radio Play/Podcast of Mad Love, re-titled The Defenestrator, produced by Wondery Production, Los Angeles, CA,

Producer: Jeffrey Glaser, March 2017


THE DIVINE FAMILY COMEDY

Production:

  • A Signal and Noise Production, The Eclipse Grange Theater, VT, Dir. Faith Catlin

Awards:

  • Finalist, Lark Playwright’s Week

  • Semi-Finalist, Playfest! Harriet Lake Festival of New Plays, Orlando Florida

 

10-MINUTE PLAYS

Marisa’s 10-Minute plays have been produced in the Boston Marathon of 10- Minute Plays, Barrington Stage in NY and in other theaters in VT, NH, Florida, New York and Massachusetts. They include: The Dress Rehearsal, Getting into Vassar, The Pre-Nup, Polar Bear Swim, Day One, Welcome to the Beekman Arms, No Love, Please, Cubs Win!  and Total Expression (Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theater of Louisville).

 

SHORT PLAYS (ONE-HOUR)​

THE LUMPKIN SISTERS' CHIRSTMAS CAPER

Productions:

  • Panache Productions at the Hanover Inn, Dir. Carol Dunne

  • Yellow Taxi Productions, Dir. Suzanne Delle

 

PUBLICATIONS

SAVING KITTY

“The New England New Play Anthology,” Publisher: Stage Source, Ed. Patrick Gabridge, 2017

Monologue from Getting into Vassar, “Mother/Daughter Monologues, Vol. 3,”
Publisher: International Centre for Women Playwrights

 
THE DRESS REHEARSAL

“Best 10-Minute Plays for 2 Actors,” Smith and Kraus, 2007

 
POLAR BEAR SWIM

“Best 10-Minute play of 2012,” Publisher: Smith and Kraus


THE PRE-NUP and TOTAL EXPRESSION

Appear in the Boston Theatre Marathon of 10- Minute Plays, Publisher: Smith and Kraus, 2009 and 2010

 
NO LOVE, PLEASE

“Best 10-Minute Plays of 2016,” Publisher: Smith and Kraus

 
CUBS WIN!

“Best 10-Minute plays of 2017,” Publisher: Smith and Kraus

 
SAVING KITTY

Productions in Print, Publisher: Smith and Kraus, 2013

 
MAD LOVE

Productions in Print, Publisher:  Smith and Kraus, 2015

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ARTISTS RESIDENCES AND WRITING GROUPS

  • Resident Artist at The Marble House Project, Dorset, Vermont, September 5 - September 23, 2016

  • Artist in Residence at The Hermitage Artist’s Retreat on Manasota Key Florida for 2015 - present

  • Associate Artist at the Lark Play Development Center 2007 - present

  • Writer at the Theresa Rebeck Writer’s Colony, Dorset, Vermont 2008 - 2015 (one week annual retreat)

  • Writer at the Monthly Meeting of the Minds, Lark Play Development Center, 2012, 2014

 

FILM

SECOND WIND, Dir. Andrew Silver,

Starring June Brown, Tamzin Merchant, Tamzin Outhwaite and Harriet Walter,

an Andrew Silver Production, 2014

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SURPRISE ENGAGEMENT, Dir. Andrew Silver,

Starring June Brown, Tamzin Merchant, Tamzin Outhwaite and Harriet Walter,

an Andrew Silver Production, 2016

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WEB SERIES

THE RUSSIAN COUSIN  (2 episodes)

Produced and Directed by Theresa Rebeck, Pre-production, June 2017

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EDUCATION

Wesleyan University, B.A. Theater

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RELATED EXPERIENCE

Marisa is the co-owner and Publisher of Smith and Kraus Publishers, the leading publisher in the US of theater books for the trade with over 700 titles in print.

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TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Playwright Marisa Smith served as the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (State College of Florida) Annette Dignam Writer in Residence for 2018.

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