Heather Helinsky

Heather Helinsky

Freelance dramaturg based in Philadelphia, as well as the new Literary Manager for Playwrights Foundation since October 2019. Heather Helinsky is a dramaturg that playwrights have recognized as “especially adept at freeing energies in unexpected ways. She encourages discovery.”
Nationally, her dramaturgical work has been seen at the Accessible Theatre in Boston, American Repertory Theatre, the Apothetae...
Freelance dramaturg based in Philadelphia, as well as the new Literary Manager for Playwrights Foundation since October 2019. Heather Helinsky is a dramaturg that playwrights have recognized as “especially adept at freeing energies in unexpected ways. She encourages discovery.”
Nationally, her dramaturgical work has been seen at the Accessible Theatre in Boston, American Repertory Theatre, the Apothetae, Arizona Repertory Theatre, the Athena Project, Borderlands Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Great Plains Theatre Conference, The Kennedy Center, The Lark, Miracle Theatre in Portland, Moscow Art Theatre’s American Studio, Omaha Community Playhouse, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City, Plays and Players of Philadelphia, Telluride Playwrights Festival, Venus Theatre Company, and Woolly Mammoth. In addition to BAPF, she is also a script reader for The O’Neill, PlayPenn, GPTC, Jewish Plays Project, Seven Devils, Sundance Theatre Lab and Playwrights Realm, reading 250-300 new scripts per season. As a freelance dramaturg, she works consistently with a wide-range of writers and aesthetics, and will travel to support them through readings and workshops. She moves fluidly between classical dramaturgy and new play development; she has been the Literary Manager of the Pittsburgh Public and PICT Classic Theatre, publishes articles for PA Shakespeare Festival's "The Quill". Recently, she's been an advocate for plays by women, working this season with primarily female artistic teams at the Denver Center, Venus Theatre, James Madison University, Lee University, and 6NewPlays in San Francisco.
As an educator, she’s a teaching artist for KCACTF, mentoring emerging dramaturgs at KCACTF Regions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and has been involved with KCACTF Nationals since '12. She's also worked directly with producer Gregg Henry to interview student playwrights for the Kennedy Center's Undergraduate Playwrights' Workshop since its inception. Other Kennedy Center related projects include working with the VSA high school playwrights and dramaturging Andrew Heinrich's play THE FLOOD at NNPN's MFA Workshop at the Kennedy Center in summer 2017.
She has been a Visiting Professor of Dramaturgy at the University of Arizona (‘07/08), Carnegie Mellon School of Drama (‘12/’13), and an adjunct at Brooklyn College '15 and Lesley University '15-16, guest artist for Yale's 1st & 2nd year dramaturgs in Spring 2019.
Her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies is from the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard. Member of LMDA since 2006, board member as VP of Freelance for LMDA since 2018.
www.helinskydramaturgy.com

Recommended by Heather Helinsky

  • The Dybbuk on Orchard by Marilyn Schotland
    9 Jan. 2023
    “ It's always a joy to encounter a play written in a specific genre---in this case 1930s noir---but centering queer characters and history. Playfully flirting with the play-within-a-play form as this Yiddish theatre company produces Twelfth Night, I enjoyed the heartwarming characters as they searched for love and a community space where they could be true to themselves. This is a play where the stakes are high for every character and tension and mischief abound. ”
  • Say Goodbye by A.R. Cohen/Corwin
    3 Jan. 2023
    “ This revenge play imaginatively blends a character from the historical Ravensbruck concentration camp with contemporary #metoo, with biblical allusions. I admire the farcical stylistic choices while asking tough questions about confronting your abuser. This play is a unique take on ethical questions surrounding justice for victims while also remaining playful and hitting horror-genre notes. Will Esthie ever find the right words to say to The Body? This play works through the question of "when do we ourselves become monsters?" in an individual's search of a way to heal from trauma. ”
  • All My Mothers Dream in Spanish: A Play with Drums by AZ Espinoza
    2 Jan. 2023
    “ This was a compelling read about matrilineal ancestral power, seeking wisdom and magic (but not always finding answers). It's full of imagery around birth, revolution, fruit, birds, and homeland. The tough questions asked of the next generation, such as: "what do you want, to heal or seek power?" still sit with me. Told in a stylistically innovative way with highly poetic and rhythmic language, this multilingual play about intergenerational tensions should be read widely and produced. ”
  • When We Were gods by Amara Janae Brady
    19 Apr. 2020
    “ Sable Venus' epic & tragic journey from Mt. Olympus to the West Indies made this a compelling read. There were many contemporary themes, such as how it feels to be the only goddess of color in Zeus' white European Olympus, as well as the classical themes of gods transforming & interfering with human matters. The moment of Titan's betrayal really hit me, as well as the strong community of women Venus finds later in her journey. The love story with Venus & Athena is such a positive, healthy relationship, we need to see more of those stories staged too. ”
  • Stone Pebble Girls by Caitlin Turnage
    26 Mar. 2020
    “ This play grabbed me from the start with its characters that have stuck with me from reading it over a year ago. I really enjoyed the audience's relationship with Aika as she speaks to us of the New Mexico landscape around her and her family traumas. It's lyrical yet also realistic language makes it a really strong piece that I hope gets produced someday soon. ”
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