Rachel Rubin Ladutke

Rachel Rubin Ladutke is a playwright living in New Jersey. Her works include 8 full-length plays, 3 musicals, and numerous shorter pieces. Excerpts from several of her plays appear in monologue and scene anthologies. Rachel attended Wheaton College and spent a semester at the National Theater Institute. She holds an M.A. in Theater from Hunter College/C.U.N.Y. She served as Editor of InSight For Playwrights, a monthly marketing newsletter, from 2003 to 2014. She facilitates two online playwrights' groups, Writing Sprints and Opp Swap. She is a member of the Dramatists' Guild, the National Play Exchange, the Playwrights' Center, and the International Centre for Women Playwrights (and a former ICWP Board Member). In 2022, Rachel is spearheading States of Play, a weekly cold-reading series featuring works by female+ playwrights set in each of the 50 United States.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://www.RachelWrites67.wixsite.com/website
FB: Rachel Rubin Ladutke
TW: pwtchrmom
​IG: rladutke

MORE ABOUT ME:
Recently, when I was talking to a "civilian" (non-theatre person) about my work, I said, "I'm a playwright." Afterwards, I realized that I had never said that to another person outside of my immediate circle. Whenever it came up, I said, "I do playwriting" or "I write plays." This subconscious adjustment was a momentous one. I used to have this quote hanging over my desk: "Nobody asked you to become a playwright." I need to put that up again. Every time I looked at this, it reminded me that I write because I MUST write. Being a playwright is one of my primary reasons for being here. I write with the hope of reaching people...eliciting emotion, eliciting thought, eliciting laughter, eliciting tears. The (all-too-rare) opportunity to see and hear an audience reacting to my plays is certainly a powerful experience...but if I spent all of my writing time in search of that "high" it would never balance out. I write because there are people inside my head and my heart demanding that I tell their stories. My job is to get out of their way and transcribe what they tell me. When I am "channeling" them and I know they trust me enough to open up with me, it's indescribably exciting and gratifying. I write because it makes me feel whole. For years, I didn't give myself the space to do this. It made me angry, frustrated, and embittered. I regret the years I spent in that headspace, but it has made me all the more appreciative of what I am doing now. I write because I don't know how NOT to write...and that is one thing I hope I will never learn.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
Currently I am promoting my work (with the emphasis on 3 of my full-length plays and one TYA musical). I am going to revisit my full-length musical with my composer to tighten up the dialogue and rework some of the songs. In 2022, I expect to do some directing and continue to seek out opportunities for my works. I will do some directing; I have a tentative production scheduled for the summer; and I am coordinating a year-long reading series for female+ playwrights.

KEYWORDS
​Adoption, Queer, Political, Historical, Fable/Folk-Tales, Biography, Young Audiences, Musical, Plays with Music, Period, Equality, Family, Children, Immigrants, People of Color, Romance, Comedy, Generations, Naturalistic, Women-Centered Stories