Lori Leigh

Lori Leigh is a Wellington-based playwright, dramaturg and theatre director. She has had readings and productions of her plays across the United States and New Zealand.

In the United States her plays have premiered at the Great Plains Edward Albee Playwriting Conference (Omaha), Bailiwick Repertory Theater (Chicago), and Sarah Lawrence College (New York). 

In 2014, Lori was nominated for ‘Best New Playwright’ in the Wellington Theatre Awards for her play REVELATIONS. [“Absorbing, Canny Play” –Laurie Atkinson, Dominion Post; “incredible; poetic, personal, profound”—Salient ; “rich characters and relationships  . . . commenting on the 21st Century human condition”—John Smythe, Theatreview; “I feel that Leigh’s latest play is set to be an important addition to the New Zealand theatre canon”—Lumiere Reader]

In 2015, Lori’s script Opening Night, as part of the Wellington inaugural Short + Sweet Festival, won the overall Judges Choice Award.  She has received a Young and Hungry commission for her play Cyptophasia and her short play Closure toured as part of the 2017 EnsembleImpact National Tour directed by Kerryn Palmer. Lori’s play Uneasy Dreams and Other Things was Runner-Up in the Adam NZ Play Award 2017, and is premiering at Circa Theatre in 2018.

Lori has a MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College in New York and a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, where she currently teaches undergraduate and postgraduate scriptwriting.