Shanti Reinhardt
she, her, hers
Los Angeles, CA
[contact]
Biography

Shanti Reinhardt is a playwright and actress raised in Kapa’a, Kauai based in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of The American Conservatory Theatre.

Her latest play, Kill ‘Em With Aloha; Or, Da Big Mouth Pidgin English Play (Finalist 2020 & 2021 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Quarterfinalist 2019 ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition, 2nd Rounder 2019 Austin Film Festival.) The play was under option to CBS Television Studios 2021-2022 and is currently in development with producer Lynnette Ramirez and Anonymous Content Productions.

Shanti was recently named a Parity Commission Honorable Mention Playwright for her play, Otis. (Futurefest 2020 & 2021, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Finalist Ashland New Plays Festival) Otis debuted in a workshop production at The Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, CA.

Blunt Force was produced in NJ Rep’s Theatre Brut Festival. The full-length was presented in a workshop production at Pacific Resident Theatre and followed up by a presentation in “LA Made” series at The Mark Taper Auditorium under a grant from The Los Angeles Public Library. Blunt Force has been adapted into a screenplay, The Hello Kitty Murders (Semi-Finalist 2018 Shriekfest Screenplay Competition.) Her critically acclaimed one-woman show (L.A. Times, L.A. Weekly) Hollywood Hanai premiered at Theatre of NOTE and presented at the HBO workshop.

Shanti has recently been chosen to be part of the Tree Moss 2023-2024 cohort, a professional collective for Hawai’i playwrights. Shanti is also a member of The Dramatists Guild and New Play Exchange.

Agent Information

Max Grossman, Abrams Artists Agency

max.grossman@abramsartistsagency.com

(646) 461-9372

Plays

Otis
by Shanti Reinhardt

When a free-spirited, fashion maven who grew up on the streets of New York buys a co-op in a staid Upper Eastside building, five longtime residents discover that they have much more in common than just the walls that separate them. Doors, walls, rooms, boxes, spaces open and close and open again in this cosmic, quirky drama.

Cast:
NICHOLAS. 30’s. Caucasian. Sensitive. Struggling to find a way to come out of his grief. BERENICE. 70’s. Elegant, chic, worldly Jewish older woman with a mash of an accent that is part Jewish, part upper-crust New York. She is direct, confrontational and imperious. She knows better than anyone. Funny without realizing it. STARLA. 30’s. African-American. A free-spirited, voluptuous, plus size woman who is very comfortable with her body. She has grown up on the streets of New York and has managed through sheer will to become a very successful fashion maven. Funny and vulnerable. A big generous spirit. ALFRED. 70’s. A rascal. Been there done that. Quick-witted. Salt of the earth. BODHI. 20’s. Indian or Middle Eastern. Gay, with a secret desire to be a dance club DJ. A little overly dramatic and self-centered but also very empathetic.
Kill 'Em With Aloha; Or, Da Big Mouth Pidgin English Play
by Shanti Noelani Reinhardt

KILL ‘EM WITH ALOHA; Or, Da Big Mouth Pidgin English Play is a coming of age story set in 1975, focusing intently on two teenagers who live on the island of Kaua’i. Manny and Janet, both come from working class local families and they navigate a clash of cultures when they befriend hippies who live in the notorious nudist colony, Taylor Camp, which squatted on disputed lands at the end of the road on the North Shore of the island. 

Cast:
MANNY, 15, Filipino/Hawaiian. Skinny. Intelligent, Quick witted and funny. Struggling with his sexuality. JANET, 15, Japanese. Slightly overweight. Manny's best friend. A big mouth who tells it like it is. AUNTIE, early 40's, Manny's mother. A beautiful heavy-set Filipina woman. Tough as nails yet possesses a sweet smile and a generous heart. She is rarely seen without flowers in her hair and wearing bright red lipstick. SONNY, early 40's, Manny's father. Filipino/Hawaiian. Music is his soul. He is the epitome of a Hawaiian Beachboy. He knows who he is. The world comes to him. ALIKA, 24, Filipino/Hawaiian. Manny's older brother. Tall, handsome and fierce. What we imagine a Hawaiian warrior to be like. Suffers from PTSD from serving in the Vietnam War. He walks with a very slight limp. RACHEL, 22, Caucasian. Hippie. Free-spirited, yet strong willed. A championship surfer. JASON, 24, Caucasian. Hippie. A lost soul. Searching for peace after serving as a Marine in Vietnam. *KUMU HULA KAMALANI. *Recorded Voice or Live depending on production. Male/Non-Binary. The word Kumu means teacher. A Kumu Hula is a master teacher of hula.

Successes

Kill 'Em With Aloha; Or, Da Big Mouth Pidgin English Play (2nd Rounder Austin Film Festival) (Quarterfinalist ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition)  

Otis (Great Plains Theatre Conference 2018) Finalist (Ashland New Plays Festival 2018. ) 2019 Parity Commission Honorable Mention Playwright