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» PHOTOGRAPH 51 ran at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, October 27-November 21, 2010.

» It will be produced in Washington DC at Theatre J, March 23-April 24, 2011.

Anna Ziegler’s plays include: PHOTOGRAPH 51 (Ensemble Studio Theatre, October-November, 2010 directed by Linsay Firman; Fountain Theatre, March-May 2009; EST’s 2009 First Light Festival, directed by Lynne Meadow; winner of the 2009 STAGECompetition judged by David Auburn, John Guare and David Lindsay-Abaire; originally commissioned and produced by Active Cultures), DOV AND ALI (Playwrights Realm @ The Cherry Lane, June 2009; Chester Theater, 2009; Theatre 503, London,2008), LIFE SCIENCE (Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, July 2009), VARIATIONS ON A THEME (2008 New Play Workshop at Chautauqua Theater Company, directed by Ethan McSweeny; 2010 TheatreWorks’ New Work Festival directed by Meredith McDonough), THE MINOTAUR (2009 Fire Dept’s Salon Series; McCarter Theatre’s Lab Festival 2010), AN INCIDENT (2010 New Play Workshop at Chautauqua Theater Company; workshop at McCarter Theatre, 2010), SUNLIGHT IN A CAFETERIA (produced by Dina Leytes/Gbenga Akinnagbe at the Tank, NYC, May 2010); BFF (W.E.T., 2007), and NOVEL (SPF, 2007).

PHOTOGRAPH 51 is upcoming in Washington DC in Theatre J’s 2010-2011 season, where it will be directed by Daniella Topol. Working with Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, Ziegler is also adapting the play into a screenplay.

Ziegler’s plays have also been developed by: The Manhattan Theatre Club, Rattlestick Theatre, The Sundance Theatre Lab, The Old Vic New Voices program, Primary Stages, The Cape Cod Theatre Project, The Geva Theatre Center, Soho Rep, The Flea, The Playwright’s Center PlayLabs Festival, Ars Nova, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, The New Harmony Project, Epic Theatre Ensemble, The hotINK Festival, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Catalyst Theater, Rorschach Theatre, The Berkshire Playwrights Lab, The Fireraisers Theatre Company at the Hampstead Theatre (London) and The Birmingham Rep, and by Company B at the Belvoir St. Theatre (Sydney, Australia).

She holds commissions from the Sloan Foundation, New Georges and the Virginia Stage Company. She is the winner of the 2010 Douglas T. Ward Playwriting Prize, awarded by Tisch, which is given to an alumnus of the dramatic writing program in celebration of her/his work. 

 Ziegler’s work has been published in New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2007 (Smith and Kraus), Best Ten-Minute Plays 2010 and Ten-Minute Plays for 2 Actors: The Best of 2004 (both by Smith and Kraus, Inc.) and New American Short Plays 2005 (Backstage Books, ed. Craig Lucas). BFF and LIFE SCIENCE are published by Dramatists Play Service. A graduate of Yale, she holds an MFA from Tisch.
Anna Ziegler’s poetry has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2003, The Threepenny Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Reactions, The Mississippi Review, Arts and Letters, Mid-American Review, Smartish Pace, The Saint Ann’s Review, and other journals.

She is represented by Chris Till at CAA. You can find him at ctill@caa.com or email her directly at abziegs@gmail.com.

 

 

 
"Critic's Pick! What playwright Anna Ziegler has achieved in her intriguing portrait of the British scientist Rosalind Franklin is a remarkable balance of scientific subject matter and theatrical storytelling. Franklin's role in the discovery of DNA's double helix—the only woman among a raft of male scientists—is here made clear in a play that glows with intelligence and humanity. This is a complex story filled with complex characters that Ziegler tells with clarity and economy. It's a pleasure to be in the presence of such assured writing. She gives full weight to Franklin's achievement without allowing the play to become a feminist tract or turning Franklin's thieving male cohorts and competitors into dyed-in-the-wool villains. This tale of a lone, wondrous woman amidst a casual conspiracy of men makes for compelling theater." -- Backstage
"Among the many virtues of Anna Ziegler's...satisfying "Photograph 51" is the refusal to soften the woman at its center, the British scientist Rosalind Franklin, by making her anything other than formidably, even self-sabotagingly, intelligent...[The play] offers multiple insights into the sad and honorable secrets of one particular life." – New York Times
"A powerful new play...Ziegler has produced a witty and poignant account of the controversy surrounding DNA's discovery." -- Nature
"Who knew science could make for such terrific theatre?" --New Scientist
"I have often said that one of the most important marks of a really good play is that it tells a story which needed to be told. Such a play is Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51, at Ensemble Studio Theatre, which reveals the untold truth behind one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the 20th Century – the discovery of how DNA works, the famous Double Helix...Who would have thought that a play about science could be so gripping? Linsay Firman’s direction is excellent, and all the actors are great – particularly, Kristen Bush, who plays Rosalind Franklin as if her life depended on it. This one’s a don’t-miss." -- On the Aisle, Lawrence Harbison
“Palpable, persuasive drama.” - TheaterMania
“I highly recommend it!“ - NPR
The packed SRO audience was held rapt from start to finish. OK, so it’s science—does that mean it is dusty…and stat-filled? Not the least. There is profound drama and emotion, taut expectation and riveting suspense. Of the past 5 or 6 dramas experienced in the past fortnight, this is far and away the very best. In fact I think it the best show I have seen this year—on or Off Broadway. Though it is a bit of a schlep to get to, the price is gentler than most shows today, and the recompense in enjoyment and full-throated literate comic, tragic and all the in-between elements are there for the inhaling. Twist this helix as you might: A superb piece of science; a superb piece of theatre. – Daily Speculations