I don't remember waking up one day and saying, "I think I'm a playwright."

It's more like all of my experiences collectively transpired to make me a playwright. I was a singer, an actress, a props master, a teacher, a set painter, a poet, a stage manager, a director, a daughter, a baker, a mother, a technical writer... 

... And after writing a few plays, I realized that my checkered past wasn't an accident. Being a playwright required all of those things. 

SOME HISTORY

I was a pastor's kid in the borderlands between Minnesota and Iowa... I fully intended to be an actor from the time I was old enough to memorize the entire cast album of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. But then I also really loved to write, and wrote relentlessly during high school and college. (I got my B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of Iowa.) At that point, I was encourage to go to grad school as a poet, and I did.

I graduated with my M.F.A. in Creative Writing from UC Irvine.

Then there's the long strange life part in which I wrote, published poems, had a baby, kept writing, occasionally acted, fell into a multidisciplinary theater company, directed shows, and then... found myself writing plays.

I constantly reinvent myself. I am currently reinventing what it means to be 50, 52, 54, 56…. 

More about my work

TIRA PALMQUIST is known for plays that merge the personal, the political and the poetic. Her most produced play, Two Degrees, premiered at the Denver Center, and was subsequently produced by Tesseract Theater in St. Louis and Prime Productions at the Guthrie (among others). Her play The Way North was a Finalist for the O’Neill, an Honorable Mention for the 2019 Kilroys List, and was featured in the 2019 Ashland New Plays Festival.

Recently, Tira completed several new commission projects: The Worth of Water, the 2018 Clutch Productions commission, had an equity showcase production in NYC in October, directed by Mélisa Annis. Tira’s commission for Lower Depth Theater Ensemble in Los Angeles. Safe Harbor, a play about sex trafficking, premiered in November in LA. Tira has also been commissioned to write new work for the UCI graduate acting students. Her play Hold Steady was workshopped at UCI in February 2019, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything  was workshopped in February 2020, and in 2021, The Last Time We Saw Madison was performed online with the more recent first-year grad actors.

Her other plays include Ten Mile Lake (Serenbe Playhouse), Age of Bees (NYU Stella Adler Studio, MadLab Theater, Tesseract), And Then They Fell (MadLab, Brimmer Street, New York Film Academy) and This Floating World.

The Way North, which was developed at the 2018 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, was a finalist for the 2018 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the 2019 Blue Ink Playwriting Award. The Way North was also featured in the following festivals: The Festival of New American Plays (Phoenix Theater), the Human Rights New Works Festival (Red Mountain Theater), the Page-by-Page Festival (Pioneer Theater) and the Road Theater’s Summer New Works Festival.

Two Degrees has been featured in numerous festivals (including the 11th Annual Denver Center New Play Summit, the New American Voices festival in the UK, the Caltech 2014 Mach 33 Festival and the 2014 Great Plains Theater Conference) and had its World Premiere in the Denver Center’s 2016/17 Season. Two Degrees was also listed in the Honorable Mention list for the 2016 Kilroys. Ten Mile Lake, which premiered in 2014 at Serenbe Playhouse just outside of Atlanta, GA, was developed and workshopped in 2012 at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, and was a finalist for the 2015 Primus Prize.

Tira teaches creative writing at the Orange County School of the Arts, and has also taught at Wesleyan University and the University of California-Irvine. She is a member of the Playwrights Union, the Anteaus Theater’s Playwrights Lab and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Her work as a director and dramaturg includes several seasons at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and the New Territories Playwriting Residency. More info at www.tirapalmquist.com.

resume

Full Length Scripts – Readings and Performances (partial list)
(all productions noted in red)

The Last Time We Saw Madison
February 2021     UC Irvine, Faculty-Directed Graduate Workshop Project, Director: Eli Simon

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
February 2020     UC Irvine, Faculty-Directed Graduate Workshop Project, Director: Eli Simon

The Worth of Water
October 2019      HERE Arts Center, Clutch Productions, Director: Mélisa Annis
(Second Annual Clutch Commission Cycle winner, 2018)

Safe Harbor
November 2019   Zephyr Theater, Lower Depth Theater Ensemble, Director: Anita Dashiell Sparks
(Lower Depth’s first commission in their Cycle of Violence Commission Series, starting in 2017)

The Way North
December 2019   Amphibian Stage, Metamorphosis Series, Director: Donya K. Washington
October 2019       Ashland New Plays Festival, Director: Kym Moore
July 2019           The Road Theater, Summer Playwrights Festival, Director: Chuck McCollum
April 2019          The Bridge Initiative, Bechdel Test Festival
April 2019          Pioneer Theater Company, Play-by-Play Reading Series, Director: Christy Montour-Larson
March 2019        Red Mountain Theater Company, Human Rights New Works Festival, Director: Cheryl Hall
January 2019       Phoenix Theater, New Works Festival, Director: Katie McFadzen
June 2018           Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Director: Donya K. Washington
June 2018           Capital Rep NEXT ACT! New Play Summit, Director: Kevin McGuire
(Honorable Mention: 2019 Kilroys List. Finalist: 2019 American Blues Blue Ink Playwriting Award, 2019 Boston Court New Play Reading Festival, 2018 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2018 Creede Headwaters New Play Festival.)

Hold Steady
March 2019        Key City Public Theater PlayFest (Workshop Reading), Director: Jeni Mahoney
February 2019     UC Irvine, Faculty-Directed Graduate Workshop Project, Director: Eli Simon

Overburden
May 2018           The Blank Theater’s Living Room Series, Director: Miranda Stewart
September 2016   Moving Arts, MADLab Series, Director: Beth Lopes
(Finalist: Creede Headwaters New Play Festival, Boulder Local Lab 2017 Festival. Semi-Finalist: 2017 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. “Second Rounder, “ Austin Film Festival 2017)

This Floating World
July 2017           Reading, Boston Court New Play Festival. Director: Beth Lopes
September 2012   Reading, Inkwell Theater, Kennedy Center, Page to Stage Festival. Director: Jess Jung
January 2011       Company of Angels, Playwrights Intensive
January 2011       Reading, Mad Scene Theatre, Los Angeles, CA.
(Semi-Finalist for Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Summer 2011)

Two Degrees
April 2020          (Reading) Relative Theatrics, Laramie, WY.
March 2019        Tesseract Theater, Director: Brittany Gunn
October 2018      Prime Productions, Guthrie Theater, Midwest Premiere, Director: Shelli Place
July 2018           Theatrikos Theater Company, Arizona Premiere
April 2018          Boise Contemporary Theater, 5x5 Reading Series
February 2017     Denver Center, World Premiere, Director: Christy Montour-Larson
February 2016     Denver Center New Play Summit, Director: Christy Montour-Larson
November 2015   Greenhouse Reading Series, Workhouse Theater, Minneapolis
October 2015      New American Voices Series, American Actors UK, Tristan Bates Theater, Director: Rachel Fowler
April 2015          Caltech, Mach 33 Festival, Director: Joshua Wolf Coleman
March 2015        Athena Project Festival, Plays-in-Process, Director: Christy Montour-Larson
September 2014   Artemisia Theater, Fall Play Festival, Director: Carrie Lee Patterson
May 2014           The Road Theatre Company, Road Signs reading series. Director: Joshua Wolf Coleman
May 2014           Great Plains Theater Conference, Play Lab Reading. Director: Sonia Keffer.
(Honorable Mention: 2016 Kilroys List, Finalist: Coe College 2015 Play Festival)

And Then They Fell
October 2017      MadLab Theater, Columbus, OH, Ohio Premiere, Director: Anne Diehl
March 2017        GadFly Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota Premiere
November 2016   New York Film Academy, New York Premiere, Director: Annika Solveig
September 2016   Brimmer Street Theater, World Premiere, Director: Amy Harmon
April 2015          Brimmer Street Theater, Breaking Ground Series, Director: Amy Harmon
March/April 2014  UMass New Play Lab, Amherst, Mass. Director: Jared Culverhouse
December 2013   Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Forum Reading Series. Director: James Glassman
April 2013          The Road Theatre Company, Road Signs reading series. Director: Beth Lopes
December 2012   Circle Readings, Los Angeles, CA
September 2012   Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum “Seedlings” Development Series, “Green Read”
(Finalist: Inkwell Development 2014, Aurora Theatre Company’s Global Age project 2012. 2nd Runner Up: Coe College 2013 Play Festival. Finalist: Seven Devils Playwrights Conferences. Semi-Finalist: Bay Area Playwrights Festival)

Ten Mile Lake
June 2014           Serenbe Playhouse, World Premiere, Serenbe, GA. Director: Alexander Greenfield
April 2012          id Theater’s Sit In! Reading Series. Director: Glynis Rigsby
February 2013     EST-LA Winterfest. Director: Joshua Wolf Coleman
October 2012      Staged Reading, Hollins University Discovery Series
June 2012           Staged Reading, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. Director: Amy Saltz
September 2011   Reading, exAngelus Playwrights: A Month of Sundays. Director: Joshua Wolf Coleman
September 2011   Words that Speak Workshop Reading. Director: Lee Wochner
(Finalist, 2015 Primus Prize)

Frequency of Stars and Other Matter
July 2013           Road Theater, Summer Playwrights Festival. Director: Suzanne Hunt
February 2011     Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble, Café con Drama Reading
May 2010           Great Plains Theater Conference, Play Lab Reading
May 2009           Reading, NOTEWorthy Reading Series, Theatre of NOTE, Los Angeles, Director: Beth Gardiner
(Semi-Finalist for Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Summer 2010; Semi-Finalist for Play Penn play conference)

Age of Bees
May 2019           NYU, Stella Adler School of Acting. Director: David Hilder
April 2015          Missouri/Midwest Premiere, Tesseract Theater, St. Louis, MO.
November 2012   Production (World Premiere), MadLab Theater, Columbus, OH. Director: Jim Azelvandre
November 2011   ALAP Reading Series, Tree People, Los Angeles, CA.
June 2011           SEEDS Series, Reading, 9Thirty Theatre Company, Astoria, NY. Director: Joanna Bowzer
June 2009           Workshop production, Company of Angels, Los Angeles, Director: Tina Sanchez
December 2008   Staged Reading, “Visions of Dystopia” Festival of Plays, Company of Angels, Los Angeles,

Lost Nation
April 2009          Staged Reading, Interactivity ’09, Interact Theatre Co. Los Angeles, Director: Katherine James
June 2008           Staged Reading, City Attic Theatre, CAT Tales Festival of New Plays, Director: Michael Flanagan
June 2007           Staged Reading, Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum “Seedlings” Series, Director: Katherine James
January 2007       Staged Reading, Moving Arts, Los Angeles, CA. Director: Katherine Murphy

Coyote Rising
June 2011           Reading, Lyric Hyperion/Actor’s Shelter, Los Angeles, Director: Benjamin Pohlmeier
April 2009          Reading, World Premiere Weekend, UCI, Director: Beth Gardiner
November  2008  Staged Reading, Gallimaufry New Works Festival, Laguna Beach, Director: Katherine James
Fall 2007            Radio adaptation, Coyote REP, (www.coyoterep.org), Director/Producer: Jeanne La Sala

short SCRIPTS – READINGS AND PERFORMANCES

Waiting for the Lefty
May 2018           7th Inning Stretch, Mile Square Theater, Director: Jack Cummins

Party Girls
January 2018       Moving Arts, Car Plays, Director: Chuma Gault

Fake Shakespeare
February 2016     Antaeus Theater Company, Classics Redux, Director: Tony Amendola

Edward Snowden Died for Our Sins
September 2013   “3 in 30” MadLab Theater, Columbus, OH, Dir. Jim Azelvandre

She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
April 2014          Actor’s Training Center, Bi-Annual 10-Minute Play Festival
(in Applause Books’ Best Plays for Teens)

P.S. – I LOVE YOU
September 2011   “A Play in the Life” Beatles-Themed Plays, Possibility Playhouse, Chicago, IL

Predator
Dec. 2011          “Beyond Convention V”, Hunger Artists Theatre, Fullerton, CA

Community/Property
November  2010  Staged reading, “Backyard Fruit,” Theatricum Botanicum, Topanga Canyon, CA

Breathing Water Instead of Air (one act)
July 2012           Warner International Play Festival, Torrington, CT.
2010                 2nd Place Award, Third Annual One-Act Festival, Stage Door Productions
2007                 Main Stage, DeLand Theatre Festival, DeLand, FL
1996                 Best Play, Southport International Playwriting Festival
1995                 such sweet sorrow: an evening of multidisciplinary works, Total Theatre, Inc.,  Columbus, OH

Table for Three
April 2010          “L.A. Views III,” Company of Angels, Los Angeles, CA

Last Rites (10 minute play)
Sept. 2011          Sydney Fringe Festival, dir. Wayne Underwood
Feb. 2011           Short+Sweet: Sydney, dir. Wayne Underwood
Oct. 2009           Tables and Chairs, n.u.f.a.n. ensemble, Chicago, IL, dir. Paul Cosca

Flood Stage (10 minute play)
Nov. 2008          Tables and Chairs, n.u.f.a.n. ensemble, Chicago, IL, dr. Zach Zulauf

Off to Summer (10 minute play)
April 2011          Six Women Playwriting Festival, Colorado Springs, CO.
July 2008           10 by 10 in the Triangle, Arts Center, Carrboro, N.C.

4th and Main (10 minute play)
April 2008          “L.A. Views,” Company of Angels, Los Angeles, CA

Independence Dayand ‘Til Somebody Loves Me (10 minute plays)
Nov. 2007“Dead Letter Office,” Hunger Artists Theatre, Fullerton, CA

Adaptations – Readings and Performances

Hard Crossing: The Story of Gilgamesh (multidisciplinary adaptation)
1997 — Total Theatre, Inc. Columbus, OH

The Island of Dr. Moreau (adaptation)
2013  — Archbishop Hoban High School, Akron, OH, dir. Russell Kwitkowski
2011 — Central Crossing High School, Columbus, OH, dir. Nathan Weaver
2009 — Dublin Coffman High School, dir. Mark Mann
1998 —  Total Theatre, Inc., Columbus OH, dir. Tira Palmquist

The Snow Maiden (adaptation)
2003  — Columbus Children’s Theatre, Touring Company – commissioned piece

Awards/Recognitions (partial list)

2002 —  Theatre Roundtable’s “The Shows that Made a Difference”
                  Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Director (produced by Columbus Children’s Theatre)
2001 — Central Ohio Theatre Critics Citation
1999 —  Best Director, Deirdre, Columbus Alive Theatre Critic Doug Hoehn
1998 —  Best New Play, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Columbus Dispatch Sunny Awards
1996 — Best Play, Breathing Water Instead of Air, Southport International Playwriting Festival
1996 —  Nomination, Best New Work, Hard Crossing: The Story of Gilgamesh, Critic’s Choice Theatre

Want to find out more about the plays? Click below.