Claudia Allen is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and educator based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. She is known for writing

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

characters in her plays, for '' Hannah Free'',
Claudia Allen Papers
'' DePaul University Special Collections and Archives. Accessed March 10, 2017. and for her association with the

Victory Gardens Theater Victory Gardens Theater is a theater company in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to the development and production of new plays and playwrights. The theater company was founded in 1974 when eight Chicago artists, Cecil O'Neal, Warren Casey, Stuart Go ...

Life

Claudia Allen was born on October 2, 1954, and grew up in

Clare, Michigan Clare is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located near the center of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, the city is located mostly in Clare County, while a small portion extends south into Isabella County. The city had a population of 3,254 at t ...

. She attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in English. In 1979, Allen left Michigan for

. Allen began writing, depicting the

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

characters she felt were absent from media. 11 of Allen's 24 produced plays (as of 2010) have lesbian themes or lesbian or bisexual main characters. Allen is "

out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

and proud." Allen wrote throughout the 1980s without getting produced. Her works have been featured and produced around Chicago, such as her play ''They Even Got the Rienzi,'' which was one of only two works by women in the Great Chicago Playwrights Exposition by Victory Gardens and Body Politic theaters in 1987. In the late 80s and early 90s, Allen developed a relationship with the creative team at Victory Gardens, and saw her plays produced there in number. Allen's most produced lesbian play is ''Hannah Free'', which premiered at Chicago's Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in 1992. Allen co-produced and wrote the screenplay of the 2009 film, Hannah Free, starring Sharon Gless. She also wrote the novelization, ''Hannah Free: the Novel'' (2010). Allen has taught at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducatio ...

, and

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

. Claudia Allen has collections of scripts, drafts, programs, and other documents with DePaul University Special Collections and Archives, and with the Chicago Public Library.

Victory Gardens Theater

Allen is an original member of the Victory Gardens Playwrights' Ensemble, which was founded in 1996. She often partnered with Sandy Shinner, the associate artistic director of Victory Gardens. Allen premiered many works at Victory Gardens, including ''I Sailed with Magellan, Winter ''and ''Fossils ''(both starred

Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary roles, she earned numerous accolades including five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy ...

), ''Cahoots ''(starring

Sharon Gless Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress known for her television roles. She portrayed Maggie Philbin on ''Switch'' (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series '' Cagney & Lacey'' (1982–88 ...

), ''Deed of Trust, The Long Awaited ''and'' Still Waters ''(all starring

Deanna Dunagan Deanna Dunagan (born May 25, 1940) is an American actress. While principally active as a stage actress, she has also worked in television and film. She is best known for her Tony Award-winning portrayal of Violet Weston in Tracy Letts' '' Augu ...

), ''Unspoken Prayers,'' and ''Hanging Fire.''

Awards

Allen has won two

Jeff Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater st ...

s for New Works, for ''The Long Awaited'' in 1989 and for ''Still Waters'' in 1991. Allen's Jeff nominations for New Works include ''Winter'' in 1999, ''Xena Live Episode 2: Xena Lives! The Musical'' in 2002, and ''I Sailed With Magellan'' in 2007. Allen's play ''I Sailed With Magellan'' is an adaptation of

Stuart Dybek Stuart Dybek (born April 10, 1942) is an American writer of fiction and poetry. Biography Dybek, a second-generation Polish American, was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Chicago's Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s ...

's book, I Sailed with Magellan. Allen was named Best Playwright by

Chicago (magazine) ''Chicago'' is a monthly magazine published by Tribune Publishing. It concentrates on lifestyle and human interest stories, and on reviewing restaurants, travel, fashion, and theatre from or nearby Chicago. Its circulation in 2004 was 165,000, l ...

in 1999. In 2000, Allen received a Trailblazer Award from Bailiwick Repertory Theatre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Cludia 1954 births Living people DePaul University Special Collections and Archives holdings Writers from Chicago American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights LGBTQ theatre in the United States American LGBTQ writers University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni People from Clare, Michigan LGBTQ people from Michigan 20th-century American women writers American LGBTQ academics 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American educators