Ren Powell

Ren Powell

Ren (Katherine) Powell is a poet, playwright, translator and teaching artist. She is a native Californian, settled on the west coast of Norway.

Ren has been a member of The Norwegian Author’s Union since 2005, and has published six full-length collections of poetry, and more than two dozen books of translations with traditional publishing houses.

Her poetry collections have been...
Ren (Katherine) Powell is a poet, playwright, translator and teaching artist. She is a native Californian, settled on the west coast of Norway.

Ren has been a member of The Norwegian Author’s Union since 2005, and has published six full-length collections of poetry, and more than two dozen books of translations with traditional publishing houses.

Her poetry collections have been purchased by the Norwegian Arts Council for national library distribution, and her poems have been translated and published in six languages in chapbooks and anthologies.

She has been working as a teaching artist and theater-maker since 1996. She has a BA in Theater Arts, and a PhD in Creative Writing.

Plays

  • Free as a Bird, Light as a Bone by Ren Powell
    Cast: 
    4–8
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: experimental, History + 1 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, movement/physical, period
    Keyword: experimental, History, physical
    Free as a Bird, Light as a Bone is a poetic work that incorporates found text from the true story of Horace Wells, who is often referred to as the inventor of modern anaesthesia. Believed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stephenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 19C dentist Horace Wells was convicted of throwing acid at women in NYC in 1848, and took his own life while in prison.

    The...
    Free as a Bird, Light as a Bone is a poetic work that incorporates found text from the true story of Horace Wells, who is often referred to as the inventor of modern anaesthesia. Believed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stephenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 19C dentist Horace Wells was convicted of throwing acid at women in NYC in 1848, and took his own life while in prison.

    The play is a work of fiction - a memory play, seen through the eyes of Horace's wife Elizabeth. The story begins with Horace's awkward proposal of marriage. The couple struggle with their opposing, and variable natures. Throughout the ten years of their marriage, Elizabeth confides in her friend and aunt Mary, an artist; and - perhaps unwittingly - conspires with Horace's business partner and nemesis William Morton.
  • Needy Little Gods by Ren Powell
    Cast: 
    6–15
    ·
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: nordic mythology, family
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale, movement/physical
    Keyword: nordic mythology, family
    Part kitchen-sink drama, part myth, part murder mystery, Needy Little Gods begins when Someone’s Daughter returns home to collect her grandmother for the Afterworld. Three generations of women try to tease out their individual stories, and struggle to define their relationships.

    Meanwhile, the goddess Sigyn holds the fate of the worlds in her hands. When she tires of looking after her shape-...
    Part kitchen-sink drama, part myth, part murder mystery, Needy Little Gods begins when Someone’s Daughter returns home to collect her grandmother for the Afterworld. Three generations of women try to tease out their individual stories, and struggle to define their relationships.

    Meanwhile, the goddess Sigyn holds the fate of the worlds in her hands. When she tires of looking after her shape-changing/gender- shifting spouse Loki, all Hell will break loose.