Kira Rockwell

Kira Rockwell

Kira Rockwell (she/her) is a neurodivergent, atlanta-based playwright and educator, originally from the heart of Texas. She is an Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing with the Mass Cultural Council, a recipient of the Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, three-time finalist for the O’Neill NPC, runner-up for the Princess Grace Award, and more.

Selected...
Kira Rockwell (she/her) is a neurodivergent, atlanta-based playwright and educator, originally from the heart of Texas. She is an Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing with the Mass Cultural Council, a recipient of the Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, three-time finalist for the O’Neill NPC, runner-up for the Princess Grace Award, and more.

Selected plays include OH TO BE PURE AGAIN (world premiere: Actor's Express, winner of the Gene Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award); WICKED BITTER BEAST(S) (upcoming development: Southern Writers Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival); HOLY CHICKEN SANDWICH (upcoming workshop premiere: Boston New Works Festival); THE TRAGIC ECSTASY OF GIRLHOOD (workshop premiere: Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, a Boston Globe Critic’s Pick, and Elliot Norton Nominee). Rockwell is currently under commission with Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan, Actor's Express, and Moonbox Productions.

Her work has also been developed with The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, MFA Playwrights' Workshop, Great Plains Theatre Commons, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and Third Culture Theatre in partnership with HBO and Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network, among others. Rockwell holds a BFA in Theatre Performance and an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University.

Before graduate school, Rockwell worked at the intersection of mental health, youth advocacy, and arts education. Through a trauma informed, healing centered lens, she aims to nurture communal spaces that disrupt passivity and empower agency.

Feel free to explore her full Artist Statement.

Plays

  • oh to be pure again by Kira Rockwell
    Recommendations: 12
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: purity culture, coming of age + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, faith-based
    Keyword: purity culture, coming of age, faith, spirituality, friendship, community, deconstructing christianity, teenage girls, great roles for women, great roles for college students
    During one hot Texas summer at a Charismatic Christian camp, an idealistic counselor works to shepherd the senior girls’ cabin along their journey to make an authentic connection with something bigger than themselves, only to be confronted with disillusionment of her own faith. A visceral ode to female desire, submission, rebellion, and growing up in a religious culture that's obsessed with purity.
  • The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood by Kira Rockwell
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: chosen family, foster care + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, melodrama, tragedy
    Keyword: chosen family, foster care, communal healing, survivor, C-PTSD, coming of age, resilience, teenage girls
    After the sudden death of their housemate, four teenage girls living in a group home try to combat their grief and their guilt. A poetic drama about the chrysalis of female adolescence that demands our attention be on the youth of America who are raising themselves in the shadows of a broken system.
  • Wicked Bitter Beast(s) by Kira Rockwell
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 7 more
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    Keyword: shadow work, family estrangement + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, faith-based, fantasy, melodrama, pageant
    Keyword: shadow work, family estrangement, womanhood, fathers, mothers, Sisters, deconstructing faith, healing from religious trauma, female protagonist
    Estranged from her pastoral family, Zoey is a prodigal daughter on the run from her Evangelical past and the Hellmouth she must fight her way through. An unruly parable that reverberates through time, space, and realms, beckoning you to face the wicked bitter beast(s) in your own life, especially the one looking back in the mirror.
  • Holy Chicken Sandwich by Kira Rockwell
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: consumerism, identity + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: consumerism, identity, Division, fast food culture, deconstructing faith, Strong Female Protagonist, ensemble driven
    On the eve of a highly anticipated grand opening of a beloved yet politically controversial fast-food empire, one hundred fervent devotees gather in the parking lot for an overnight campout to earn a year of free large combos. As the night unfolds, it’s clear there’s a fox in the chicken coop. Jade, the newly appointed store manager, must find the source of anarchy before the flock devolves into utter chaos....
    On the eve of a highly anticipated grand opening of a beloved yet politically controversial fast-food empire, one hundred fervent devotees gather in the parking lot for an overnight campout to earn a year of free large combos. As the night unfolds, it’s clear there’s a fox in the chicken coop. Jade, the newly appointed store manager, must find the source of anarchy before the flock devolves into utter chaos. HOLY CHICKEN SANDWICH is a comedic mystery of celestial proportions that explores themes of identity, consumerism, and division––a play that invites audiences to examine indoctrination and uncover what’s really in the secret sauce of devotion.
  • Nomad Americana by Kira Rockwell
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, romantic comedy
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    Keyword: blended families, ritual + 6 more
    Genre: drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: blended families, ritual, coming of age, trauma, southern, autism, female protagonist, great roles for women
    For years, Bridgette has been avoiding painful memories by traveling the country with her eccentric yogi family in an old RV selling soap. When they stop in a small Texas town, she strikes up a romance with a young dreamer who ignites her to question responsibilities to her family, and to herself. A new coming of agency tale about healing the wounds that holds us back from living out our destiny.
  • With My Eyes Shut by Kira Rockwell
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
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    Keyword: love, autism + 6 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, movement/physical, romantic comedy
    Keyword: love, autism, disability, fringe, one act play, minimal, budget friendly, great roles for college performers
    ONE ACT PLAY: In this neurodivergent love story, Naomi and Cole will push the boundaries of compliance to find authentic connection and shatter the complacency of the disembodied voices running the show.
  • Space Bound by Kira Rockwell
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama
    Genre: drama
    Rapidly expanding through the farm fields of central Texas is SpaceBound’s Rocket Development and Test Facility. This tender drama follows four siblings across the span of four Sunday mornings as they navigate their proximity to the billion-dollar commercial industry.

    SPACE BOUND was originally commissioned in 21/22 by The Ensemble Studio Theatre / Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science &...
    Rapidly expanding through the farm fields of central Texas is SpaceBound’s Rocket Development and Test Facility. This tender drama follows four siblings across the span of four Sunday mornings as they navigate their proximity to the billion-dollar commercial industry.

    SPACE BOUND was originally commissioned in 21/22 by The Ensemble Studio Theatre / Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project

    (please send all script request via email)