Calamity West

(Bio as of May 2026)

Calamity West is a Chicago-based playwright whose work has been produced, commissioned, and developed by leading American theater institutions including The Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Primary Stages, Roundabout Theatre Company, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Jackalope Theatre Company, and Goodman Theatre. She is the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award for her play FEAST!, which will receive its world premiere at Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 2027. First developed through Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, FEAST! was subsequently developed at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and Goodman Theatre. From 2022–2026, West is a member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, where she has also developed PARALLAX and Sgt. Hank Cole’s Drama Club of Algona. Additional plays include In the Canyon, Rolling, Give It All Back, Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts, and Greetings from Moscow: A Love Story. Over the past fifteen years, she has sustained a dynamic practice of creating new work across Chicago and New York while also teaching playwriting and mentoring emerging writers. Visit calamitywest.com for more information and to subscribe to her monthly newsletter.