Tanya Barfield facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tanya Barfield
Education	New York University (BFA) Juilliard School (GrDip)
Occupation	Playwright

Tanya Barfield is an American playwright. She writes plays that have been shown all over the United States and in other countries.

Growing Up and Discovering Theater

Tanya Barfield grew up in Portland, Oregon. She went to Metropolitan Learning Center. She loved theater from a young age. Her high school did not have a theater program. So, she took acting classes at another school.

While there, actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival visited. They performed a short version of the play Macbeth. This experience made her want a career in theater. Months later, she decided to direct Macbeth at her own high school.

Education and Training

Tanya Barfield went to New York University. She studied acting there. She also performed in a one-person show called Without Skin or Breathlessness.

Later, she joined the Playwrights program at the Juilliard School. She earned an Artist Diploma from Juilliard. At Juilliard, she helped manage the drama division's literary works. She was also part of The Lila Acheson Playwriting Program.

Tanya Barfield's Career

Tanya Barfield has written many plays. Some of her plays include Bright Half Life, The Call, and Blue Door. She also wrote a children's musical. It was called Civil War: The First Black Regiment.

She taught playwriting at Primary Stages School of Theater. She also taught at Barnard College and New York University. From 2009 to 2014, she was the literary manager for the Juilliard Drama Division.

In 2016, Profile Theatre in Portland focused their whole season on her work. They produced four of her plays. As of 2020, she became the co-director of The Acheson program. She is also a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Notable Plays

Blue Door

Blue Door is one of Barfield's most recognized plays. It is about a Black mathematician who faces a crisis. He starts to lose touch with reality. The play shows the "ghosts of his ancestors" who visit him at night.

The play first opened in May 2006 in Costa Mesa, California. It was then shown Off-Broadway in New York City in September 2006. A reviewer noted that the play's words were "near poetic." The title "Blue Door" refers to a family tradition. People would paint their doors blue to "keep bad spirits out." Blue Door was also performed in Seattle, Berkeley, and Zimbabwe.

Of Equal Measure

Her play Of Equal Measure first opened on June 29, 2008. It was shown in Culver City, California. The National Endowment for the Arts helped support this play. It was nominated for an NAACP Theatre Award.

The Call

The Call opened Off-Broadway in New York City in March 2013. A reviewer said the play makes you think about "the problems of the world." It also makes you look at your "neighbors in a new light." The Call was chosen as a New York Times Critic's Pick.

Bright Half Life

Bright Half Life is one of Barfield's newer plays. It explores the relationship between two women who are in love. The play shows how their lives connect and change over time. It includes moments about love and skydiving.

Bright Half Life was performed Off-Broadway in February 2015. It was a "Time Out" Critic's Pick. The script also won the 2016 Lambda Literary Award.

Writing for Television

When Tanya Barfield was growing up, she did not see herself writing for TV. She felt that TV shows did not have the deep stories she wanted to explore. However, TV shows started to get much better. The stories became "unexpected" with "complicated characters."

She felt that TV was becoming "exciting" and "rich." It offered many new possibilities for storytelling. She then began writing for television. Her first TV writing job was for the show The Americans (FX).

Tanya Barfield now writes for both plays and television. She has written for the Starz series The One Percent. She also wrote for The Americans (FX). Her recent TV work includes Here and Now (HBO) and Mrs. America (FX). She is also working on an upcoming show called Jack Johnson.

Awards and Nominations

Awards Received

• 2020 Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Original. This was for Mrs. America on FX. She shared this award with six other writers.
• 2016 Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic Series. This was for The Americans on FX. She shared this award with six other writers.
• 2006 Lark Play Development / NYSCA grant.
• 2005 Honorable Mention – Kesselring Prize for Drama.
• 2003 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights.
• 2013 Lilly Award.

Nominations

• 2020 Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series. This was for Episode 3 of Mrs. America called "Shirley" on FX.
• 2020 Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Limited Series for Mrs. America on FX.
• 2007 Audelco Award for Blue Door, Playwright.
• Two Nominations for the Princess Grace Award.

See also

In Spanish: Tanya Barfield para niños

• List of LGBT people from Portland, Oregon