Nancy Shank
she/her/hers
Lincoln, NE
Nancy’s work explores personal integrity and the search for meaning during times of societal upheaval.
Biography

Nancy Shank is an emerging playwright living in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is thrilled to move from the audience to backstage as her first play, This Mortal Life Also, premiered March 2022, produced by Angels Theatre Company and Lied Center for Performing Arts (Lincoln, NE). Nancy’s work explores personal integrity and the search for meaning during times of societal upheaval. Nancy was first bitten by the theatre bug when she saw her first Broadway show as a high school sophopmore. Nancy is a member of: Dramatists Guild (New York, NY), New Play Exchange, Playwrights’ Center (Minneapolis, MN), and Playwrights Collective (Lincoln, NE).

Plays

by Nancy Shank

Celebrated theologian and pacifist Dietrich Bonhoeffer is drawn into a web of lies and deceit as a double agent in World War II Germany. He struggles to live with integrity while fighting against National Socialism in a landscape of secrets, broken promises, fierce love, and dangerous alliances. Based on a true story.

Cast:
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER: 33-year-old man. Cheerful, but formal, often dressed in a bon vivant white, linen suit. THEODOR HECKEL: 45-year-old man. GEORGE BELL: 56-year-old man. English Bishop of Chichester. HANS VON DOHNANYI: 37-year-old man. Christal’s husband. MARIA VON WEDEMEYER: 19-year-old woman. Dietrich’s beautiful fiancée. CHRISTAL VON DOHNANYI: 36-year-old woman. Dietrich’s sister and Hans’ wife. SABINE BONHOEFFER: 33-year-old woman. Dietrich’s twin sister.
by Nancy Shank

Their plan to see Hamlet has been derailed by a "Buy One, Get One Free" sign in a local tattoo shop. Arriving home, the monologist demurs showing their agreed-upon matching tattoo - a hand-drawn heart with their names in it, uncovering a secret that may derail their three-month anniversary. Suitable for actor of any age, gender, or sexual orientation.

Cast:
1 actor - Can be of any age, gender, sexual orientation.

Successes

The world premiere production of my play, This Mortal Life Also, has been named the Mayor's Arts Awards Outstanding Arts Event for 2021/22. The play was produced by Angels Theatre Company and presented by the Lied Center for Performing Arts (Lincoln, NE) March 17-20, 2022.

I Like Hamlet was selected for two readings by Angels Theatre Company: Ink'd (April 2022) and Solo Tales and Ales (May 2022).

This Mortal Life Also premiered as part of the Lied Center for Performing Arts’ 2021-22 season. Based on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the production sold out all its performances.