Toni Press-Coffman is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, living and working in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. She was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career overview

Toni Press-Coffman is the recipient of several national playwriting awards. Her play ''Touch'' has been produced at the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and the Theatre of N.O.T.E. in Los Angeles, as well as other theatres throughout the United States and Europe. Another play, ''That Slut!'' has received favorable notices. In 2000, Press-Coffman was awarded an NEA/TCG Playwright Residency Award. Additionally, she was one of 12 playwrights selected to participate in the 1995 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Toni Press-Coffman has received fellowships and awards from the California Arts Council, the Arizona State Playwriting Contest, the Negro Ensemble Theatre Company, the Invisible Theatre, Wisconsin Women in the Arts, the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

, the Peninsula Community Foundation (which later merged with Community Foundation Silicon Valley to become the

Silicon Valley Community Foundation The Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) is a donor-advised community foundation serving the Silicon Valley region. It is the largest charitable foundation in Silicon Valley. History Early history: 2006–2011 Silicon Valley Community Fo ...

), and the Shubert Foundation. She has a BA in Playwriting from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and an MA in Theatre and Film from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

, and has taught Playwriting at several major universities. Toni Press-Coffman is Literary Coordinator of Borderlands Theatre in Tucson, where she lives, writes, teaches and acts. She is also a member of the

Dramatists Guild The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Mem ...

and, as Literary Committee Chair, serves on the Executive Committee of the National New Play Network. She received a bachelor's degree from the

in 1976.

References

External links

Doolee Playwright's Data Base - Toni Press-Coffman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Press-Coffman, Toni American dramatists and playwrights Living people American women dramatists and playwrights Writers from Tucson, Arizona Writers from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) University of Connecticut alumni 21st-century American women