Hi there!

 

My name is Allison Shea Reed and I am a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, actor, singer, and avid Monty Python and the Holy Grail fan.

 

I've been writing and performing since I was quite small, and I have learned that I am happiest when I get to do both. (Give me all the hats!)

 

Growing up in musical theatre, I was constantly frustrated by the lack of complex female characters. In fact, I often found myself learning the male leads' parts instead because they were more nuanced, more comedic, and (quite frankly) had better songs. As a neurodivergent artist, I've also experienced firsthand how frustrating it can be to see mental illness and neurodivergence misunderstood or misrepresented in the media. My writing is driven by a desire to create flawed, three-dimensional female characters, challenge those misconceptions, and find humor in even the most difficult circumstances.

 

In 2017, I founded RedWit Theatre with the mandate to not just make spectacular theatre, but to make theatre that matters. Since then, my plays have been produced in New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles, including A-Door Me, which premiered at an Off-Broadway theatre, Living with Olivia Cadence Donovan, and Omnia Motus, which received rave reviews at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and was named a finalist for the Loud Karma Emerging Female and Non-Binary Playwright Award.

 

My writing has since expanded to television, film, and novels. I've been hired to develop a feature film project, and my screenplays and television pilots have received recognition from the Austin Film Festival, Stage 32, and other competitions. I also completed a development internship at Marta Kauffman's production company, Okay Goodnight! My debut adult fantasy novel, GLITCHES, is currently being prepared for independent publication.

 

As a performer, I was selected as part of the top 100 in Over the Rainbow (Andrew Lloyd Webber's Search for Dorothy), and I've appeared in productions across New York and Toronto, including In the Next Room, Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown, and Macbeth. I also perform improvisational comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles (musical and otherwise).

 

I hold a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch's New Studio on Broadway and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from SCAD, where I received the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award for the School of Liberal Arts. I also (hilariously) have a black belt in karate. 

 

When I'm not writing at the speed of light, performing, or hanging out with the three goofballs I call cats, I can be found reading any romantasy I can get my hands on in various coffee shops across the city.