First Name
Melanie
Middle Name
Last Name
Anthony
City
Country
State or Province
Job Title
Website
Biography
Biography, At a Glance
Los Angeles-based dramaturg Melanie Anthony (she/her) centers her practice on focused production dramaturgy, thoughtful new play festival curation, collaborative new work development, and empathetic audience engagement for theater, film and documentary media. Credits range from mentoring and leadership roles as Dramaturgy Coordinator for (Kennedy Center’s) Region 8 American College Theater Festival to amplifying underrepresented local voices as a literary manager and dramaturg for Los Angeles-based New Works festivals. Melanie has served as a reader, juror and evaluator for national theater organizations and competitions, provides workshop dramaturgy, moderation of audience engagement discussions, and various acts of ‘ghost’ dramaturgy in person and in Zoom boxes. Her perspective and training as a dramaturg and director and her lived experiences in and out of the immediate theater ecosystem inspire her to explore context and clarity with an inquiry-based approach that encourages conversation, collaboration and creativity. On IG at: melanieanthony.dramaturg
CREDITS & RELEVANT BACKGROUND INCLUDE:
• Festival Dramaturg (play development, reading-production dramaturgy research/support) & Talkback Moderator, MODERN WORKS FESTIVAL, 2025 (for emerging and established female playwrights), URBANITE THEATRE Sarasota, FL with Sarah Cho (SCREEN TIME), Stacey Isom Campbell (1999), and Jenny Stafford (AHOY-HOY).
• Literary Manager & Dramaturg, VENICE VOICES, 2025/2026 (an upcoming New Works short plays event exploring Venice CA’s past, present, and imagined future), LAPL, Venice, CA.
• Dramaturgy Chair-Coordinator, KENNEDY CENTER AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATER FESTIVAL CONFERENCE, Region 8 (Southwest/Pacific)2024,25;and now in 2026, ACTF (AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATER FESTIVAL).
• Audience Engagement Dramaturgy - Gallery Displays - narrative and interactive posters, MIRACLE ON 55th Street (by Gregg Ostrin, Dir. by Emily Chase) 2025, PACIFIC RESIDENT THEATRE, Venice, CA.
• Reader-Evaluator, PLAYWRIGHTS’ CENTER, 2025 2026, Twin Cities, MN.
• Dramaturg & Talkback Moderator, MODERN WORKS FESTIVAL, 2024 (for emerging and established female playwrights), Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota, FL with Lia Romeo (A NICE MOTHERLY PERSON), Sarah Elizabeth Grace (I’M SAVING YOU A SEAT), and Baylee Shlichtman (IN THE MOUTH OF THE BEAST).
• Co-producer, reading series and live contest, JEWISH PLAYS PROJECT, 2025-26, Los Angeles. National JPP Artist Panel Reader, 2023 to present; Working Group 2025. Contest and Workshop Dramaturg, 2024 for Finalist Daniel Ajl Kitrosser (WHY THIS NIGHT, A TYPICAL 19th CENTURY QUEER SHETEL SEDER MURDER MYSTERY!).
• Contest Reader-Juror/Workshop Winner Dramaturg, RISK THEATER MODERN TRAGEDY COMPETITION, 2022 Franky D. Gonzalez (THAT MUST BE THE ENTRANCE TO HEAVEN), Vancouver, BC.
• Literary Manager & Dramaturg 2023, Dramaturg 2021, NEW WORKS FESTIVAL (to amplify marginalized voices and increase representation on the stage), Morgan-Wixson Theatre, Santa Monica, CA with Diana Burbano (BEHEADING COLUMBUS), Amy Dellagiarino (NO LOITERING), Danielle Frimer (MONARCHS), Dorinne Kondo (SEAMLESS), Samara Siskind (SWIPED), LaDarrion Williams (BOULEVARD OF BOLD DREAMS), Khari Wyatt (SOME TYPE OF ECSTASY); Creator, Playwrights’ Gatherings informal developmental program for the 2023 Festival. Audience-facing mainstage season dramaturgy 2022-2023; season selection/reading committee, 2025, 2026.
• Other projects include consultant for award-winning short films, directing local new works micro reads for LAFPI (Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative), and creator/collaborator for a 2022 LMDA international conference digital panel.
•Kennedy Center-LMDA Dramaturgy Intensive Fellow, KCACTF National Dramaturgy Fellow, KCACTF Regional Dramaturg awardee, 25th annual Association of Theater in Higher Education (ATHE) Dramaturgy Debut Panel, 2021.
• B.A. in Humanities: Dramatic Literature and Criticism concentrating on Dramaturgy, Directing and Journalism at UC Irvine, and returning student course work at Santa Monica College.
My dramaturgical view also reflects lived experience as an award-winning documentarian, museum educator, STEAM instructor-advocate-activist, local social justice participant, mom, caregiver and concerned voter. I’m a proud member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA).
Los Angeles-based dramaturg Melanie Anthony (she/her) centers her practice on focused production dramaturgy, thoughtful new play festival curation, collaborative new work development, and empathetic audience engagement for theater, film and documentary media. Credits range from mentoring and leadership roles as Dramaturgy Coordinator for (Kennedy Center’s) Region 8 American College Theater Festival to amplifying underrepresented local voices as a literary manager and dramaturg for Los Angeles-based New Works festivals. Melanie has served as a reader, juror and evaluator for national theater organizations and competitions, provides workshop dramaturgy, moderation of audience engagement discussions, and various acts of ‘ghost’ dramaturgy in person and in Zoom boxes. Her perspective and training as a dramaturg and director and her lived experiences in and out of the immediate theater ecosystem inspire her to explore context and clarity with an inquiry-based approach that encourages conversation, collaboration and creativity. On IG at: melanieanthony.dramaturg
CREDITS & RELEVANT BACKGROUND INCLUDE:
• Festival Dramaturg (play development, reading-production dramaturgy research/support) & Talkback Moderator, MODERN WORKS FESTIVAL, 2025 (for emerging and established female playwrights), URBANITE THEATRE Sarasota, FL with Sarah Cho (SCREEN TIME), Stacey Isom Campbell (1999), and Jenny Stafford (AHOY-HOY).
• Literary Manager & Dramaturg, VENICE VOICES, 2025/2026 (an upcoming New Works short plays event exploring Venice CA’s past, present, and imagined future), LAPL, Venice, CA.
• Dramaturgy Chair-Coordinator, KENNEDY CENTER AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATER FESTIVAL CONFERENCE, Region 8 (Southwest/Pacific)2024,25;and now in 2026, ACTF (AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATER FESTIVAL).
• Audience Engagement Dramaturgy - Gallery Displays - narrative and interactive posters, MIRACLE ON 55th Street (by Gregg Ostrin, Dir. by Emily Chase) 2025, PACIFIC RESIDENT THEATRE, Venice, CA.
• Reader-Evaluator, PLAYWRIGHTS’ CENTER, 2025 2026, Twin Cities, MN.
• Dramaturg & Talkback Moderator, MODERN WORKS FESTIVAL, 2024 (for emerging and established female playwrights), Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota, FL with Lia Romeo (A NICE MOTHERLY PERSON), Sarah Elizabeth Grace (I’M SAVING YOU A SEAT), and Baylee Shlichtman (IN THE MOUTH OF THE BEAST).
• Co-producer, reading series and live contest, JEWISH PLAYS PROJECT, 2025-26, Los Angeles. National JPP Artist Panel Reader, 2023 to present; Working Group 2025. Contest and Workshop Dramaturg, 2024 for Finalist Daniel Ajl Kitrosser (WHY THIS NIGHT, A TYPICAL 19th CENTURY QUEER SHETEL SEDER MURDER MYSTERY!).
• Contest Reader-Juror/Workshop Winner Dramaturg, RISK THEATER MODERN TRAGEDY COMPETITION, 2022 Franky D. Gonzalez (THAT MUST BE THE ENTRANCE TO HEAVEN), Vancouver, BC.
• Literary Manager & Dramaturg 2023, Dramaturg 2021, NEW WORKS FESTIVAL (to amplify marginalized voices and increase representation on the stage), Morgan-Wixson Theatre, Santa Monica, CA with Diana Burbano (BEHEADING COLUMBUS), Amy Dellagiarino (NO LOITERING), Danielle Frimer (MONARCHS), Dorinne Kondo (SEAMLESS), Samara Siskind (SWIPED), LaDarrion Williams (BOULEVARD OF BOLD DREAMS), Khari Wyatt (SOME TYPE OF ECSTASY); Creator, Playwrights’ Gatherings informal developmental program for the 2023 Festival. Audience-facing mainstage season dramaturgy 2022-2023; season selection/reading committee, 2025, 2026.
• Other projects include consultant for award-winning short films, directing local new works micro reads for LAFPI (Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative), and creator/collaborator for a 2022 LMDA international conference digital panel.
•Kennedy Center-LMDA Dramaturgy Intensive Fellow, KCACTF National Dramaturgy Fellow, KCACTF Regional Dramaturg awardee, 25th annual Association of Theater in Higher Education (ATHE) Dramaturgy Debut Panel, 2021.
• B.A. in Humanities: Dramatic Literature and Criticism concentrating on Dramaturgy, Directing and Journalism at UC Irvine, and returning student course work at Santa Monica College.
My dramaturgical view also reflects lived experience as an award-winning documentarian, museum educator, STEAM instructor-advocate-activist, local social justice participant, mom, caregiver and concerned voter. I’m a proud member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA).
Areas of Expertise
Language(s) spoken
English
Interested in freelance opportunities
Yes