The Helen Hayes Awards, Concert Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Bruce Robey.)

Backstage with Donna Blanchard Interview

The Facts

• Born – Brooklyn NY
• Raised – Alexandria VA
• Attended (and graduated from!) – Bishop Ireton High School & the University of Virginia
• Current Residence – Tallahassee, FL
• Member – Dramatist Guild, The Klunch, New Play Exchange,  Playwrights’ Center,  Tallahassee Writers Association, Working Title Playwrights

Playwright

• Productions and readings in venues in Santa Cruz, CA, Washington DC, Sarasota, FL, Atlanta and Norcross, GA, Honolulu, HI, Normal IL, Bethesda, MD,  Buffalo and New York, NY, Asheville NC, Cleveland OH, Memphis TN, Houston, TX and Arlington, Charlottesville and Richmond VA.
• Finalist Hart New Play Initiative (one of eight out of 1,243 submissions), Finalist & Honorable Mention in the Tent Square “Love Letter” Challenge, Winner of the  Larry Neal Writers Award for Drama (DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities), the  Virginia Playwriting Fellowship (Virginia Commission for the Arts), and First and Third Prize in the Source Theatre Company National Ten-Minute Playwriting Contest, as well as twice nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play.
• “The New Client” was included in Best Ten Minute Plays of 2019 published by Smith and Kraus.

Director

• Ten productions, including five world premieres and one English-language premiere, and readings by the dozen for Charter Theater, Cherry Red Productions, Madcap Players, OnStage Atlanta, Playwrights Forum, Source Theatre Company, Trumpet Vine Theater Company, and Washington Shakespeare Company.

Instructor

• Adults –  New Playwrights Theatre School (Washington, DC), Theatre Lab (Washington, DC) and The Writer’s Center (Bethesda, MD).
• College – St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
• High School – New Voices for the Theater (Richmond, VA), Source Junior Festival (Washington, DC).

Praise

“Having been in readings of two of Paul’s plays, including Memorial Day, I can attest to his commitment and collegiality as well as his talent. As you read Memorial Day, you will see its strengths, including deep heart and a compelling narrative skillfully rendered, quite clearly. The play movingly addresses a difficult period in a community’s history and tries to offer a vision of resilience for the difficult time we currently face. Paul engages with every community in which he finds himself and is deeply supportive of other artists.” – Donna Blanchard, Managing Director, Kumu Kahua Theatre, Honolulu HI

“Paul Donnelly is a passionate playwright with a relevant and distinctive voice. He is unafraid to explore, open up and challenge himself to collaboration and is a wonderful resource for honest, constructive feedback in the development process. I consider Paul an exceptional writer, and I am thrilled to see his work getting traction nationally. He has important and unique stories to tell and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.” – Amber Bradshaw, Managing Artistic Director, Working Title Playwrights, Atlanta GA.

“The true gift and joy of directing undeniably necessitates the selfless and effervescent talent of gifted actors, but neither director nor actor can give life to their talents and art without the gift of life breathed into existence by a playwright who aptly applies his/her talent and vision to create a loving message of life’s meaning to audiences. Paul precisely did that for me with Falling Off the Edge! He gave me an experience that lives on and nurtured my love of directing!” – E.Scott King, Director of Falling Off the Edge, Onion Man Productions (January 2018), Chamblee GA