Laurel Ollstein Headshot

Laurel Ollstein

Get Laurel Ollstein Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Laurel Ollstein BIO

Laurel Ollstein is an award-winning playwright based in Los Angeles. This year, Ms. Ollstein’s They Promised Her the Moon premiered Off Broadway at Theatre at St. Clement’s in a production by Miranda Theatre Company. She began her career as an actress before becoming a writer. Her one-woman show Laughter, Hope and a Sock in the Eye had successful engagements at three theatres in Minneapolis and toured New York City, Baltimore, and Los Angeles, winning awards and “critic’s choice” from LA Weekly and Los Angeles Reader. Returning to California, she became a founding member of Tim Robbins’ The Actors’ Gang. Her plays include Insomniac, Storage Room, Pot Roast, Cheese, OPA! The Musical, Dorothy Parker in the Bath, Blackwell’s Corner, Esther’s Moustache, The Dark Ages, andBias Cut. She also directs playwriting programs serving mature adults and teens, provides writing and arts education in schools, and creates plays on social justice themes. One result of this work is Showing Our Age, a play with music about aging produced at [Inside] The Ford. Ms. Ollstein also writes essays, memoirs, screenplays, and television. Her honors include the Marty Klein Comedy Writing Award, Kenneth McGowan Award in Playwriting, White Buffalo Mask Award, and UCLA Playwriting Recruitment Scholarship. Ms. Ollstein holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from UCLA.

Laurel Ollstein News


TheatreWorks And Getty Villa Museum Stream Laurel Ollstein's PANDORA


Pandora retells the Pandora's Box myth from a feminist perspective. This intriguing new work hypothesizes what might happen if a woman was suddenly created and dropped into the middle of the world now: a woman with no preconceived notions of anything—like beauty, love, or violence—who might allow humanity and the gods to suddenly see the world through her clear eyes. Pandora examines how hope and curiosity can change one woman's fateful actions.

The Old Globe To Present the Eighth Annual POWERS NEW VOICES FESTIVAL


The Old Globe announced today it will present the eighth annual Powers New Voices Festival, four days of readings of new plays by some of the most exciting voices writing for the American theatre today. This year's event will be presented virtually for the first time, streaming online January 21–24, 2021 on the free virtual Hopin platform. The Festival is free to the public, but reservations are required.

Theatreworks Silicon Valley Partners With Stanford University For NEW WORKS NEXT GENERATION


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces that it has partnered with Stanford University to present New Works Next Generation, a three-day virtual theatre festival offering three dynamic new plays about feminism, ethnicity, and religion.

VIDEO: TheatreWorks Presents Virtual Performance Of Beau Sia's COURAGE RISING


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley encourages its audiences to a?oeget out the votea?? and stand up for racial justice as it launches a new online initiative entitled Voices of Democracy. Part of TheatreWorks from Home, a virtual stage for the Tony Award-winning theatre while in-person performances are on hold during the pandemic, Voices of Democracy offers digital theatrical experiences that celebrate diverse voices and build a bridge from empathy to action.

TheatreWorks's 'Voices Of Democracy,' Includes Streaming Of HOLD THESE TRUTHS


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will encourage its audiences to a?oeget out the votea?? and stand up for racial justice as it launches a new online initiative entitled Voices of Democracy. Part of TheatreWorks from Home, a virtual stage for the Tony Award-winning theatre while in-person performances are on hold during the pandemic, Voices of Democracy will offer digital theatrical experiences that celebrate diverse voices and build a bridge from empathy to action.

BWW Interview: Katy Sullivan of PANDORA at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Represents an Exciting Expansion of Possibilities in the World of Theater


The best part of my job as a theater writer is that I get to speak with fascinating people, and they dona??t come more fascinating than actor and Paralympic athlete Katy Sullivan, who plays the titular role in TheatreWorks Silicon Valleya??s benefit online workshop reading of Pandora. This intriguing new work by acclaimed playwright Laurel Ollstein investigates the Pandoraa??s box myth, delving into the world-changing curiosity and hope resulting from one womana??s fateful actions. The streamed performance features a stellar cast of actors assembled from across the country and was recorded over Zoom under the direction of TheatreWorks Artistic Associate and Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli. Pandora will be offered via video streaming from 6pm (PDT), Thursday, September 24, 2020 until 6pm (PDT), Monday, September 28, 2020. Viewers can sign up to receive a link to view Pandora at TheatreWorks.org without charge, although donations are encouraged to support TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. For additional information, visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

TheatreWorks Streams New Look At PANDORA, September 24-28


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will stream a benefit online workshop reading of Pandora, an intriguing new work by acclaimed playwright Laurel Ollstein. TheatreWorks's production of Ollstein's play They Promised Her the Moon, an inventive look at women's early efforts to join the space race that was a hit among audiences and critics, was abruptly closed in March when shelter-in-place orders went into effect.

New Conservatory Theatre Center Announces IN GOOD COMPANY, New Episodic Podcast Series


New Conservatory Theatre Center has announced the release of a brand-new podcast, In Good Company, available for streaming and download starting August 26, with weekly episodes made available every Wednesday.

TheatreWorks Will Stream PANDORA Next Week


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will stream a benefit online workshop reading of Pandora, an intriguing new work by acclaimed playwright Laurel Ollstein.

Burien Actors Theatre Takes Their 2020 Season Online


Burien Actors Theatre's 2020 season consists of five plays read over nine weeks. These five plays are the Artistic Director's choice, with only limited oversight. That means they will be different than what you can find anywhere else on social media or streaming.

Playwrights Foundation Announces Online Annual 2020 Bay Area Playwrights Festival


Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast's premiere launchpad for exceptional plays and playwrights announces the lineup for the 2020 Bay Area Playwrights Festival.

Streaming Tickets Now Available For TheatreWorks's THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces that tickets are now on sale for audiences to view via digital streaming the Northern California Premiere of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon.

TheatreWorks Will Stream Cancelled THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announced that streaming will be available for ticket holders of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon. Last week, all remaining performances of the Northern California Premiere were cancelled to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), causing it to shutter a week after its first performance on March 4.

TheatreWorks Cancels THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON and RAGTIME


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley announces that all upcoming performances of They Promised Her the Moon and Ragtime will be cancelled due to rising concerns about the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and in accordance to the Department of Public Health's updated policy suspending gatherings of 250 people or more.

Review Roundup: THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley - What Did the Critics Think?


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Northern California Premiere of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon

Photo Flash: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON


TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Northern California Premiere of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon. This riveting play shares the incredible, true story of Jerrie Cobb, a world record-holding female aviator who dreamt of flying among the stars. At the height of the Space Race, Cobb and her female peers in the Mercury 13 program trained to become astronauts, ready to join their male counterparts in space and change history, but they never got the chance.

Photo Flash: TheatreWorks Launches 50th Anniversary Campaign


Last night, supporters of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley gathered to hear the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award-winning company and its Board of Trustees announce the launch of its 50th Anniversary Campaign, a $5 million fundraising campaign to ensure the future success of the nationally-acclaimed theatre, including commissions for new plays and musicals. 

Get Laurel Ollstein Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Videos