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Shanti Reinhardt, an actress and playwright was raised in the Hawaiian tradition of hānai by a Filipino/Hawaiian family on the island of Kauai. She is a graduate of The American Conservatory Theater.
Her play, Yamaguchi Store is part of a trilogy set in 1970's Hawaii. Winner, Kumu Kahua Theatre's Hawai'i Prize, (Semifinalist) Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, (Finalist) The Leah Ryan Fund, (Semifinalist) Frank Moffet Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Language.
Kill ‘Em With Aloha; Or, Da Big Mouth Pidgin English Play (Finalist) Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, (Quarterfinalist) ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition, (2nd Rounder) Austin Film Festival was optioned by CBS Television Studios and is currently in development with producer Lynnette Ramirez and Anonymous Content.
Awards and distinctions include (Finalist) Ashland New Plays Festival, (Finalist) Futurefest, and (Honorable Mention) Parity Development Award for her play, Otis. Otis debuted in a workshop production at The Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, CA.
Plays have been produced and/or developed at Great Plains Theatre Conference, NJ Rep Theatre, Theatre of NOTE, The Road Theatre Company, Pacific Resident Theatre, Inner-City Arts, and LA Made series at The Mark Taper Auditorium under a grant from The Los Angeles Public Library. Her play Blunt Force has been adapted into a screenplay, The Hello Kitty Murders (Semi-Finalist) 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 is a member of The Dramatists Guild, New Play Exchange, Echo Playwrights’ Lab and Pacific Resident Theatre.
Plays
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.
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.
Successes
Yamaguchi Store, (Semi-Finalist) Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, (Finalist) The Leah Ryan Fund, currently (2024 Quarterfinalist) Frank Moffet Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Language.
Kill 'Em With Aloha; Or, Da Big Mouth Pidgin English Play, (Finalist) Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, (2nd Rounder) Austin Film Festival, (Quarterfinalist) ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition.
Otis, Great Plains Theatre Conference, (Finalist) Ashland New Plays Festival, (Finalist) Futurefest, (Honorable Mention) Parity Development Award.