Past Resident

Leanna Keyes

Leanna Keyes is a playwright based in Memphis and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work centers on the experience of queer and trans people, especially women. Her plays have been performed and studied at colleges around the country, including Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon, Rhodes College, Linfield College, the University of Kansas, and Western Carolina University. In 2018, her play Doctor Voynich and Her Children received collegiate productions at Rhodes College and Stanford University, with more productions coming soon.

“I write plays because theater provides a space of deep vulnerability, of possibility, of radical unspeakable empathy. I write contemporary plays about contemporary issues because they can change our emotional landscapes. They’re not just comedies or just tragedies or just anything. We deserve to see the full complexities and depth of our lives portrayed on stage so we can recognize our own power to grow.”