Melissa Bell -
Book
“Marie is a complicated and flawed human being, my favorite kind of character.”
My work explores women’s agency as they navigate their power and repression. I like to create a character whose passion drives her on a journey that tries to stretch society's bounds and, perhaps, influence society’s future. Truth matters so I write about people who lie. My plays are about obsession, betrayal, repression, and recovery. Which is why I find the story of Marie Curie so compelling. Young, driven to the point of obsession, Marie was passionate about her work, yet suffered debilitating bouts of depression, and her greatest regret was one of failure towards her children. These conflicts face us daily as women living in any era, but by examining our past, we recognize a continuum that celebrates our present and inspires our trajectory for the future.
Awards:
Nominated “Best Adaptation & Modernization” in 2020 & 2021: LADY CAPULET: New York Shakespeare
Quarter Finalist 2021: LADY CAPULET: ScreenCraft Playwriting Competition
Honored Finalist, Collaboration Award, 2019: COURAGE: Women in Arts & Media Coalition for COURAGE
Finalist, 2017: LADY CAPULET: Henley Rose Playwright Competition
Honorable Mention, 2015: PLAYGROUND PLACENTA: TentSquare West Side Stories Monologue Challenge
Productions:
ZOE COMES HOME premiered at the Tusten Theatre in Narrowsburg, NY, in 2022, revived by popular demand in 2023, and produced in NYC by 29th Street Playwrights Collective, where I am a Resident Playwright.
LADY CAPULET, a prequel to Romeo & Juliet, premiered by Barefoot Shakespeare Company in Central Park in 2019, and has been performed live or virtually at Turn to Flesh (NY), Advice to the Players (NH) Bernie Wohl Center (NYC), Farm Arts Collective (PA), Norwalk Library (CT) CreateTheater (virtual space), Bedford Playhouse, and the Little Shakespeare Festival. Featured in Smith & Krause’s publication: Best Men’s Monologues of 2020, and upcoming Thirty Scenes for Young Women, 15 - 30.
DREAM ON THE FARM - Associate Playwright/ensemble member of Farm Arts Collective, whose decalogue-in-progress of original devised eco-plays entitled DREAM ON THE FARM was featured in the New York Times Arts Section in 2021. Each year a new play is performed on Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, PA, and toured regionally.
GAME BOY, produced by TRU, featuring Tony-Awardee Cady Huffman, for TRUSPEAK, 2021.
COURAGE based on Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, produced by NACL Theatre, immersive site-specific journey, featuring Debra Winger, performed on Governor’s Island, NYC, and Apple Pond Farm in the Catskills in 2026 and 2017.
OFF BROADWAY: DEVIL & THE DEEP, music by Graham Russell of Air Supply, produced by Theatre East.
LOST IN LOVE, the Air Supply Musical, one-night-only event produced by Triad Theatre benefiting the Actors Fund, featured 2x Tony-nominated actor Constantine Maroulis and Tony-winning actress Andrea McArdle.
ICEBOX PLACENTA/PLAYGROUND PLACENTA, featured in Smith & Krause’s Best Women’s Monologues of 2019, and Short Plays on Reproductive Freedom.
Member of the Dramatist Guild, 29th Street Playwrights Collective, CreateTheater/ETC.
Columbia University BA, Magna Cum Laude. Columbia University Alumni Medalist 2006.
My work can be found on the New Play Exchange or at www.TheMelissaBell.com