She received the prestigious Will Glickman Award for the best premiere play in the San Francisco Bay Area for her full-length RIPPED. In 2015 she was recognized as the top emerging female playwright in the Bay Area, receiving the June Anne Baker Prize. Her work has been produced at theaters and schools across the country, as well as Canada and England.
The award winning world premiere of RIPPED had its World Premiere with Z Space in San Francisco, directed by Lisa Steindler. RIPPED was developed around the country with readings at the Problematic Play Festival, San Francisco Playhouse, Athena Theatre Company Wyoming Theater Festival, The Road Theatre Company. RIPPED won the 2020 Will Glickman Award for Best Premiere play in the Bay Area, the 2018 Detroit New Works Festival, and the production at Z Space received seven nomination in the 2019 Theatre Bay Area Awards, including Outstanding World Premiere Play.
Rachel will develop her play her full-length environmental thriller BURST at the Pasadena Playhouse later this year for MACH 33 Festival of New Science-Drive Plays, in partnership with Caltech. BURST has received development with Keegan Theatre, Theatre 33, the Ground & Field Theatre Festival, as well as many others. It was a semi-finalist for the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival.
In her move to Salt Lake, Rachel found a wealth of new theaters and artists to collaborate with. In Salt Lake she’s received multiple readings with Salt Lake Acting Company (RIPPED and BURST and joined the Plan-B Lab. In Park City, Rachel’s had three commissioned works from the Egyptian YouTheatre; CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS (a sci-fi comedy directed by Alicia Washington, World Premiere in 2018), THE NIGHT WITCHES (directed by Alexandra Harbold, World Premiere in 2019, at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival to a sold out run, a remount is planned for Spring 2020 in Park City), and THE SUMMER I HOWLED (a horror comedy, to be directed by Jamie Wilcox, World Premiere in October 2020). Rachel has also had the pleasure of working in Ogden, at Good Company Theatre, where the Utah Premiere of RIPPED took place. Plan-B Theatre will tour Rachel’s play PRESENTING: SUPER CAT & REPTILE ROBOT IN THE TERRIBLE TICKLE TROUBLE for their 2019/2020 Elementary School Tour. In Cedar City, at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Rachel had the pleasure of having the first public reading of BURST.
Rachel has taught acting and other theater courses at Weber State University. She was a fellow for the 2015 BlackList Screenplay Lab in San Francisco, and served as the Bay Area Youth Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild for two years.
She has plays published with Pioneer Drama Service (CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS), Eldridge Plays & Musicals (MUCH ADO ABOUT MATHLETES), YouthPLAYS (CLEAVER CATHERINE, NO TALKING ALLOWED! and THE ELVES), and PlayGround Publishing (READING BABAR IN 2070). She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. When she isn’t writing, she’s chasing after her two viking-like children.
For a more complete list of plays, please visit Rachel's New Play Exchange page.
Photo courtesy of Amy Livingston.