Laurel Andersen
she/they
New York, NY
LAUREL ANDERSEN (she/they) is an NYC-based queer theatre artist who works frequently with heightened text and music.
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Biography

LAUREL ANDERSEN (she/they) is an NYC-based queer theatre artist who works frequently with heightened text and music. 

Plays

Six Autumns on the Hudson
by Laurel Andersen

Susie M. Barstow and Edith Wilkinson Cook, two very different painters of the Hudson school -- and fast friends -- take a canoe trip to Pollopel (soon to be Bannerman) Island every Autumn from 1858 to 1902.* What will they discover about themselves -- and about each other -- over long years of friendship, art, and paddling through rough water towards the reward of the elusive island?

Cast:
Susie M Barstow (20s-60s, She/her) painter of the Hudson School. Brash, adventurous, covers insecurity and restlessness with bravado; outdoorsy; athletic; imaginative. A prolific artist. ; Edith Wilkinson Cook (20s-60s, She/her) painter of the Hudson School. Introspective, empathetic, deeply loving; shy outside of her relationship with Susie; gentle, but ultimately not without backbone. *While the play is inspired by two real women and their friendship, this is a work of historical fiction, and some creative license has been taken.
Radio Hour
by Laurel Andersen

Leila’s beloved Frankie is gone. Good thing magic is real. And the weird old person who sold Leila a portal to The Other Side wasn’t full of it.

Cast:
Two women, one any gender
Dispatches from the Grey
by Laurel Andersen

"I woke to find myself in a place without air, without breath, without sound
and the silence
pulsed
and I realized I had been holding my breath
so I --
(exhales)
and I blinked
and the world was grey
but then suddenly
or maybe after a very long time
there was life in it

mine
and yours."

DISPATCHES FROM THE GREY is a short magical realism/sci fi play that can be performed digitally (i.e. on Zoom), or in a live theatrical space.

Cast:
Four open gender/age/ethnicity tracks -- change pronouns to reflect those of the actors cast.
FRENZY AND FURY
by Laurel Andersen

Penthea's just moved to a new apartment. All she wants is to start over. Forget the past. Maybe order a pizza.
So what will she do when Dionysus shows up at her door?
Loosely inspired by THE BACCHAE, FRENZY and FURY examines the toll that repressed trauma and unreleased anger can take -- what form it might take as it manifests in our bodies, in our lives.

Cast:
Green Glass Dreams
by Laurel Andersen

All the Man knows is he is an ever-changing character in The Woman's dreams.
All the Woman knows is she's got something in her chest that wants Out. And that the Man could be the key to setting it free.
Can either find answers before they lose each other to the morning?

Cast:
Tam Lin: a new play
by Laurel Andersen

TAM LIN is loosely inspired by the Scottish folktake of the same name, is an epic, queer, women+ centered fantasy-romance in the spirit of 80s adventure movies. Edinburugh, Fall 1987. It’s Halloween Night. Janet is a young woman waitressing in a pub to help settle her missing father’s debts when her friend and coworker, Maura, is spirited away to Faeryland. To save her, Janet must navigate a strange and dangerous new world, face all manner of creatures, and -- ultimately -- choose love over fear. TAM LIN  uses its fantasy setting to examine how change, fear, and love can shape our choices -- and how we imagine ourselves and each other.

Cast:

Successes

DISPATCHES FROM THE GREY 

Online workshop production with Match: Lit's Screen:Lit series (2020)

SIX AUTUMNS ON THE HUDSON 

Finalist, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Bake Off, 2020 (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival)