Donna Kaz

Donna Kaz aka Aphra Behn is a multi-genre writer and activist and for the past 20 years she has led the theatre troupe, Guerrilla Girls On Tour, around the world with performances and talks focused on how to create humorous works which address social issues and prove feminists are funny at the same time. Kaz’s memoir, “UN/MASKED, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour,” (Skyhorse 2016) was named best nonfiction prose of 2017 by the Devil’s Kitchen Literary Festival. Her awards include a 2020 Jerry Kaufman Playwriting Award, Venus Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award, Ian MacMillan Writing Award, Boundary Stone Screenwriting Award, Skowhegan Medal and the Yoko Ono Courage Award for the Arts. She was named a “Notable Woman in American Theatre” by CUNY-TV and has been the Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Artist at Rollins College. She has held residencies at Yaddo, Ucross, Blue Mountain, Djerassi, Wurlitzer, Mesa Refuge and Marble House. She has taught and directed at Bloomsburg University, Ursinus College and led workshops on campuses in 48 US States. “PUSH/PUSHBACK 9 Steps to make a Difference with Activism and Art (because the world’s gone bananas)” was published in 2019.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
http://donnakaz.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/kazdonna
TW: @donnakaz @guerrillagsot
IG: @donna_kaz

MORE ABOUT ME
What play or production changed your life?  
I grew up on Long Island and when I was in the 8th grade a close family friend, who was a theatre lover, took me, my sister and my mom to see the original production of "HAIR" on Broadway. I will never forget the show, especially the end where they invite the audience to come up  and dance to "Let the Sunshine In." My mom shoved my sister and me into the aisle and we ran up on stage just as the show was ending. That was the moment I knew theatre would be a part of my life forever.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I am directing and choreographing "Songs for a New World" and "Carousel."  I am writing a play about the joys of being an older woman artist.  I teach ongoing playwriting and memoir classes at the Kaz Conference Writing Workshop.

KEYWORDS
feminist, women, comedy, musicals, librettist, lyricist, director, choreographer, parody, movement, physical theatre, guerrilla girl