c/o Morgan Jenness
Abrams Artists Agency
275 Seventh Avenue 26th Fl
New York, NY 10001
(646) 486-4600
Agent Email:
Morgan.Jenness@abramsart.com
Email:
newdramatists@newdramatists.org
Naomi was born in Tokyo and raised in Japan, Indonesia, Holland, and Washington, D.C. Her work has been produced and developed throughout the United States. She has lived most recently in Iowa and California. Naomi is the recipient of a Whiting Award, a McKnight Fellowship, an NEA/TCG Artist-in-Residence Fellowship, Princeton’s Hodder Fellowship, a Jerome Fellowship, and a PEN Center USA West Award for Drama. She graduated from National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., and received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. from the University of California-San Diego.
36 VIEWS
Two-Act Drama, 110 Minutes
3M, 3M
Flexible Set
An ancient manuscript surfaces, a pillow book written by a courtesan in
Heian era Japan over a thousand years ago. Its repercussions on the field
of Asian antiquity are enormous, its potential value on the open market
beyond reckoning. As scholars, art dealers, and reporters all clamor for a
piece of the story, Claire, a multi-media artist and her cohort, John, an
art dealer’s assistant, become entangled in a web of lies and fabrications
of their own design. What’s the difference between the real thing and a
very good fake? What’s at stake in making that distinction? What happens
when those distinctions begin to fall apart, in art or in love?
Commissioned by A.S.K. Theatre Projects (1998). Workshopped by the
McCarter Theatre (1999), A.S.K. Theatre Projects’ Common Ground Festival
(2000), Sundance Theatre Lab (2000), Breadloaf (2000), and the Public’s
New Works Now Festival (2000). Produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre
(2001) and the Public Theatre (2002).
WAR OF THE WORLDS
One-act Drama, 90 Minutes
5M, 2W
Flexible Set
The life and work of Orson Welles told in the style of Citizen Kane and in
the spirit of F for Fake. A prismatic view of a controversial,
twentieth-century American icon, a consummate showman, and an enigmatic
human being.
Commissioned by and in collaboration with SITI Company. Produced by
Actors’ Theatre of Louisville (2000), the Edinburgh Theatre Festival
(2000), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival (2000).
Published in Humana Festival 2000, The Complete Plays (Smith and Kraus).
LANGUAGE OF ANGELS
One-Act Drama, 75 Minutes
4M, 4W
Flexible Set
A ghost story set in the cave country of eastern Tennessee. A young girl
disappears in a cave on the edge of town. A Rashomon-like investigation of
her disappearance and the fate of those who survive her.
Commissioned and workshopped by the McCarter Theatre (1999). Produced
by Campo Santo + Intersection (2000).
ALOHA, SAY THE PRETTY GIRLS
Two-Act Serio-Comedy, 100 Minutes
5M, 4W
Flexible Set
The lives of strangers and friends, lovers and acquaintances collide in
New York, Alaska, and Hawaii. A fantastical picaresque featuring a komodo
dragon, a hula dancer, an Incan mummy, many piñatas, and one wild dog.
Workshopped by Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival (1998) and A Contemporary
Theatre (1998). Produced by the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville (1999).
Published Humana Festival 1999, The Complete Plays (Smith and Kraus).
POLAROID STORIES
Two-Act Drama, 110 Minutes
5M, 5 W
Flexible Set
A group of street kids retells and re-enacts myths from Ovid’s
Metamorphoses.
Commissioned by En Garde Arts (1996). Produced by the Actors’ Theatre
of Louisville (1997), Campo Santo + Intersection (1998), Frontera@HydePark
(1999), and Undermain Theatre (1999). Published in Humana Festival 1997,
The Complete Plays (Smith and Kraus), and by Dramatic Publishing.
SKIN
One-Act Drama, 90 Minutes
4M, 3W
Flexible Set
An adaptation of Buchner’s Woyzeck set on the border between California
and Mexico.
Produced by Printer’s Devil (1998), Soho Rep (1995), and the Dallas
Theatre Center (1995). Published in Out of The Fringe (TCG Publications).
TATTOO GIRL
One-Act Serio-Comedy, 75 Minutes
6M, 4W
Flexible Set
In this adaptation of Donald Barthelme’s short story “Perpetua,” a trumpet
player and a tattooed pinup girl navigate a chaotic world populated by
hops farmers, cathedral builders, and an aging Nadia Comaneci, all in
pursuit of a little happiness.
Produced by Sledgehammer Theatre (1995) and Annex Theatre (1994).
Published in From The Other Side of the Century (Sun and Moon Press).