Bio | Allison Shea Reed

Hey there!

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

From the moment I was so startled that I screamed when the orchestra started playing at my first ever musical, (Mamma Mia) I knew what I wanted to do with my life: perform. However, although I've been writing & performing since I was quite small, it wasn't until my experience at NYU, where I wrote my first (acapella) Musical entitled: "Whackjob" and used one of my electives to take Creative writing, that I sparked a serious interest in writing, as well. I graduated from NYU Tisch as a passionate storyteller with my BFA in Drama from the New Studio on Broadway's Acting and Musical Theatre program. While studying at NYU my favorite credits include leading roles in "A Little Night Music" and "Kiss Me Kate."

In 2017, I became a woman of many hats when I founded RedWit Theatre with the mandate to not just make spectacular theatre, but to make theatre that matters. My goal was (and is) to put authentic stories on stage that champion representation through the collaboration with exceptional neurodivergent artists who share my frustration with the lack of accurate representation of mental illness and difference in the media.

That same year, my one-act play A-Door Me advanced to the Semi-Finals of the New York New Works Festival and my full-length play Living with Olivia Cadence Donovan, a play about not just surviving but living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, completed a week-long run as part of the New York Theatre Festival. I have since produced and performed in the two Canadian runs of Living with Olivia back in my hometown of Toronto, most recently with a brand new second act at the Young Centre of the Performing Arts. My recent performance credits include Emily West in Living with Olivia Cadence Donovan at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Jamie in timebomb as part of the Artists in Residence Festival, Sabrina Daldry in In the Next Room with RedWit Theatre, and Annie in A-Door Me as part of the New York New Works Festival. I have learned that I am happiest when I get to write AND act. (Give me all the hats!)

A few months after the pandemic hit, I packed up my three cats and moved to Savannah, Georgia to pursue my Master's degree in Dramatic Writing and discovered a new passion: writing for television. I was selected by Guest Professor Steve Tompkins (The Simpsons) as the Head Writer for the pilot episode of "Tours and Attractions," which premiered at TV Fest in Atlanta in 2023. During my Master's program, I also completed a Development Internship at Marta Kauffman's production company, Okay Goodnight! I completed my MFA in Dramatic Writing at the Savannah College of Art & Design, earning the Outstanding Academic Achievement award for the School of Liberal Arts.

Since graduating I have relocated to Los Angeles, where I have been studying improvisational Comedy at the Upright Citizen's Brigade (Musical and otherwise) and my television pilots have advanced to the finals of the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, Stage 32 TV Comedy Screenwriting Contest, Austin Film Festival, and Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition. I am also in the midst of producing my new play, Omnia Motus, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this June.

I have a black belt in karate, competed to win a national show choir championship, and was a part of the top 100 in "Over the Rainbow" Andrew Lloyd Webber's Search for Dorothy in Canada. I am represented by Sandra Gillis and Sean Kaufmann of Premier Artists.