Bio

Ara Watson has had her plays produced in NYC at the Provincetown Playhouse, the WPA, Ensemble Studio Theatre, West Bank and American Place Women’s Project; and around the country at such theatres as Steppenwolf, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Next in Chicago, the Odyssey and EST in L.A., and on NPR’sEarplay. Her plays have also been performed in Europe and Mexico. Ms. Watson’s awards include the Humana Award for Best New American Play (co-winner), Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson awards, and L.A. Dramalogue awards. She was the recipient of a New York State Foundation for the Arts grant and was Playwright-in-Residence at Cincinnati Playhouse for a season. Her produced plays include In Between Time, The Duck Pond, Final Placement, Little Miss Fresno (co-written with Mary Gallagher), A Different Moon, Bite the Hand, The Mesmerist, and Treasure Island (adaptation). Her work is published by Dramatists Play Service, Penguin and Samuel French. Her play, Final Placement, is currently under film option. Ms. Watson is also an award-winning writer of television films – Writer’s Guild Award (co-winner with Mary Gallagher), Women in Film Award, Christopher Award (2), Golden Globe nominee for best TV film, Cannes International Festival for Television — Silver Award for Film and Special Mention for Writers (co-writer, Sam Blackwell). Her produced films include, among others: Nobody’s Child (with Mary Gallagher) No Place Like Home, Oklahoma City, Stranger at the Door, Snap Decision – all co-written with Sam Blackwell. Ms. Watson is now working on a novel.