B.J. Burton
B.J. Burton's plays include MADDIE ON HER WAY HOME (BAPF, semi-finalist, 2024), LOBELIA LODGE, FOR THE RECORD, HUNTING SEASON, ROOM FOR LOVE, GOOD NEIGHBORS, PIZZA AGAIN, A SKY FULL OF STARS, and THE DANGERS OF LIGHTNING. Her short play, ROOMMATES, is part of "Conversations in America: 2020 Vision - The Year We Saw Everything" presented by Women in the Arts and Media Coalition (available on...
B.J. Burton's plays include MADDIE ON HER WAY HOME (BAPF, semi-finalist, 2024), LOBELIA LODGE, FOR THE RECORD, HUNTING SEASON, ROOM FOR LOVE, GOOD NEIGHBORS, PIZZA AGAIN, A SKY FULL OF STARS, and THE DANGERS OF LIGHTNING. Her short play, ROOMMATES, is part of "Conversations in America: 2020 Vision - The Year We Saw Everything" presented by Women in the Arts and Media Coalition (available on YouTube). Honors include two Fellowships in Playwriting from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and winner of the Pennsylvania Playwriting Award. She was a finalist for the Heideman Award, a finalist in the New York Screenplay Competition, a finalist twice in the Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition, and a semifinalist in the Nicholl Fellowships. Her work has been produced and/or developed at InterAct Theatre Company, Hedgerow Theatre, The Refinery at Steel River Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Source, Pittsburgh New Works Festival at City Theatre, Six Women Playwriting Festival, Players Club of Swarthmore, Colonial Playhouse, The Brick Playhouse, Widener University, Rosemont College, and others. She has received generous support from The Dramatists Guild Foundation, PEN America, The Authors League, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Short works are published in anthologies including:
"Cookie and Grace" in 5-MINUTE PLAYS FOR TEENS (Applause);
"Quarry Road" in THE BEST SCENES FOR KIDS AGES 7-15 (Applause); and
"Jake's Speech" in ONE ON ONE: PLAYING WITH A PURPOSE - MONOLOGUES FOR KIDS AGES 7-15 (Applause).
"White Roses and Gooseberries" is published by YouthPLAYS.
She is the author of THE PHILADELPHIA CONNECTION: CONVERSATIONS WITH PLAYWRIGHTS (Intellect Books/University of Chicago Press, 2015), which can be found in universities and libraries all over the world.
One of her favorite projects, TYPING, a short film she directed based on her play, was screened at FirstGlance Philadelphia Film Fest.
Her M.F.A. is in Creative Writing - Playwriting from Rosemont College, and her B.A. is in Theatre from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has also trained at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, AFI, UCLA Extension Writers' Program, Playwrights Horizons, and Villanova University's Graduate Theatre Department. She has studied with Michael Hollinger, Bruce Graham, Willie Reale, Michael Hauge, and others.
Memberships include The Dramatists Guild, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, International Centre for Women Playwrights, and Honor Roll.