Biography of a Lila Rose
The short novella How are a Bear and a Bird Alike? was Lila Rose's writing debut. A compelling piece complete with illustrations, it showed great promise. However, it was deeply misunderstood by her first grade class.
So, Lila Rose moved on to new modes of storytelling. Nothing quite fit. Poetry was lonely. Acting was fun, but she missed writing. Journalism required a lot of facts and punctuation. Finally, Lila Rose discovered playwriting. Her first play, Busy Signal, was produced at her high school in Mamaroneck, NY. Soon after, Lila Rose left her hometown to attend Brown University. At Brown, she was fortunate to work with mentor playwrights Paula Vogel and Sarah Ruhl. Her thesis play, Writing Fellows, debuted at the McCormack Theatre in 2002. Upon graduation, she received the I.J. Kapstein Award for Excellence in Playwriting and was a finalist for The Princess Grace Award.
Lila Rose left Providence to explore the infinite theatre of New York. She moved to Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn where Zofia, her landlady, called her Lily-Anne and periodically tried to marry her off to a nephew in Warsaw. While in New York, Lila Rose wrote, directed, and drank a lot of coffee. She helped found the Temporary Theatre Company and interned at New Dramatists. To earn money and to help keep civil liberties alive, Lila Rose worked at the National Coalition Against Censorship. During this time she co-founded The Ladies of Liberty, a theatrical protest group. The Ladies dressed as suffragettes and performed in New York and Washington D.C. After three years of New York, Lila Rose drove to San Diego to pursue an MFA in Playwriting at UCSD. She was perplexed by the palm trees and glaring lack of seasons. Now she lives in Santa Barbara and commutes to LA. She's come to peace with the palm trees.
Lila Rose's plays have been developed and produced at Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, EST, PlayPenn, The Culture Project, Mixed Blood, and Victory Gardens among others. As a recipient of the inaugural Adele and Theodore Shank Playwriting Fellowship, Lila Rose is in residence at Cornerstone Theatre Company for the 2008-2009 season.
If you are interested in reading How are a Bear and a Bird Alike? please contact Lila Rose's mother.