Playwright Laura Zlatos stopped by the Bunker to talk about her writing journey and her latest play, The Empress of Jupiter, which debuts in December at the New Perspectives Theatre Group. A fascinating writer with a laser-sharp sense of voice, she and Brad talked about finding your way into an idea and a story.
But they also talked about Pittsburgh BBQ (Walter’s is the best) and her interesting (and amazing) exposure to writing early in her education, and their shared dislike of being on stage (also developed early).
About Laura Zlatos
Laura Zlatos is a Pittsburgh born, Brooklyn-based playwright and librettist. Her plays include The Even More Lamentable Tragedy of Lavinia (2020 Women are Funny Prize), The Blue Whale (2019 Dr. R.J. Rodriguez Emerging Playwrights Contest, 2nd Place; 2020 O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Semifinalist), Happily After Ever (2017 Woodward/Newman Drama Award; 59E59 Theaters; Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Bloomington Playwrights Project; The Advocate’s Top 10 NY Theater of 2016, Honorable Mention), Three Hours (HERE Arts Center), Exposure (Gene Frankel Theatre), and the musical A Problem with the Pattersons (2020 O’Neill Music Theatre Conference, Semifinalist) with lyricist/composer Andre Catrini. Laura is a 2021-2022 playwriting fellow with Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company. She was a member of The Orchard Project’s Greenhouse and was a resident playwright with the Exquisite Corpse Company. She was a finalist for the Princess Grace Award, the Jerome Fellowship, and the Core Writer Program at the Playwrights’ Center.
Laura received an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University, where she studied under the tutelage of David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, and Chuck Mee. She also received an MA in Performance Studies from NYU, where she used an interdisciplinary range of theoretical approaches to analyze performance, and used performance as a lens through which to study the world. Laura received the Performance Studies Award, which recognized excellence as both a practitioner and scholar of performance. She received a BFA in Dramatic Writing with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies from NYU.
Laura is currently writing a play about the show trial of Milada Horáková, a Czech politician, feminist, and leader of the underground resistance movement against the communist regime, who was executed in 1950. She is also writing the book for a musical adaptation of Michael Poore’s novel Reincarnation Blues with composers/lyricists Coyle Girelli and Ben Thornewill. In December 2021, her one-act play The Empress of Jupiter will be produced by New Perspectives Theatre Company, directed by Karin Crighton.
