"Calamity West is one of the best playwrights in Chicago. Or maybe the country. Or the universe." - Chicago Reader
Calamity West is award-winning playwright whose work has been developed at The Lortel, Primary Stages, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Underground, Steep Theatre, The Goodman, and her artistic home ofJackalope Theatre – to name a few. In addition to her writing career,Calamity teaches playwriting at the Universityof Chicago, Primary Stages, andJackalope Theatre -where she founded the Playwrights Lab in 2018.She also teaches literature at her alma mater of Webster University. Through 2025 Calamity West will be developing her work at Primary Stages as a member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group where she has (so far) developed her plays FEAST! and Sgt. Hank Cole’s Drama Club of Algona.West is represented by CAAand managed by Curate.
CALAMITY WEST
Calamity West is award-winning playwright whose work has been developed at The Lortel, Primary Stages, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Underground, The Goodman, and her artistic home of
Jackalope Theatre – to name a few.
In addition to her writing career, Calamity teaches playwriting at the University of Chicago, Primary Stages, and Jackalope Theatre - where she founded the Playwrights Lab in 2018.
She also teaches literature at her alma mater of Webster University.
Through 2025 Calamity West will be developing her work at Primary Stages
as a member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group where she has (so far) developed her plays FEAST! and Sgt. Hank Cole’s Drama Club of Algona.
West is represented by CAA and managed by Curate.
SGT. HANK COLE'S DRAMA CLUB OF ALGONA
GREETINGS FROM MOSCOW! A LOVE STORY
ENGINES AND INSTRUMENTS OF FLIGHT: A FANTASIA IN THREE ACTS
ROLLING
"West is a colossal Chicago talent with a formidable intellect..."
- Chicago Tribune
“…an essential Chicago-style voice…”
- Chicago Tribune
“Calamity West is, without question, a name to watch.”
- Chicago Tribune
“Calamity West manages to hook you in and get you comfortable
only to take you places no one wants to see clearly.”
- Third Coast
“West writes like a vise, slowly tightening the screws
until her characters are trapped and her audience is rapt.”
- Windy City Times
“West’s writing really hits the zeitgeist. She’s an important voice in the world...”
- PerformInk
“West, a Chicago writer with an ebullient sense of theatricality, is the real deal..."
- Chicago Tribune
“…a leading aesthetic innovator of storefront realism as well as a tough-as-nails moralist.”
- Chicago Reader
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
- Selected -
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Dominic Orlando Playwriting Award - Nominated - National - November 2023
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Kilroy List Citation - In The Canyon - National - October 2023
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Platform Award - Nominated - Chicago - July 2023
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The Lortel Theatre, Alcove at The Lortel - NYC - May 2023
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The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission - NYC - May 2022
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NFMLA - Best Screenplay - Nominated - Cool For Five Seconds - Los Angeles - February 2021
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Midwest Film Festival - WINNER - Cool For Five Seconds - Chicago - August 2020
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Beloit International Film Festival - Best Illinois Short - WINNER - Cool For Five Seconds - February 2020
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Kilroy List Citation - Give It All Back - National - June 2015
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Kilroy List Honorable Mention - The Peacock - National - June 2015
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3Arts Chicago Theatre Awardee - $25,000 Prize - Chicago - October 2014
CONTACT
CAA
Theatre
Di Glazer - diana.glazer@caa.com
Television and Film
Jiah Shin - jiah.shinasst@caa.com
CURATE
Television and Film
Britton Rizzo - britton@thisiscurate.com