Lorin Howard, a Los Angeles native, has been involved in theater for most of
her life, garnering acting and playwriting awards and participating in a variety
of festivals. In addition to playwriting, Lorin, whose experience in theater
occurred behind the scenes as well as in the spotlight, has worked in set,
makeup and costume design. She has stage managed and directed.
Lorin received her bacherlor’s degree in theater arts and English from California
State University at Northridge. She obtained a teaching credential and taught
elementary school for six years, where she had the opportunity to write,
produce and direct plays showcasing her students’ talents.
After receiving a master’s degree in psychology from University of Santa Monica, Lorin wrote her first full-length, adult-themed play, excerpts of which were
presented as part of a festival for Women in Theatre based in Los Angeles.
The full length version of “Unorthodox Encounters” was then produced and directed as an embellished staged reading and performed in Santa Monica, Calif.
Ms. Howard has studied and/or taken workshops, private coaching and
advanced acting and playwriting courses with notable playwrights, actors and
screenwriters including Edward Albee, Jeff Corey, Darryl Hickman, Tom
Schlesinger, Richard Krevolin and Cecilia Fannon of Tony Award-winning South
Coast Repertory Company. Lorin has written, directed and produced plays
and scenes that have been performed for children’s theater and on the L.A.
theater circuit, by Women in Theatre, Cal State University at Northridge
and University of Santa Monica.
Her most recent one-act play, “Uncomfortable Sex,” was selected to
be performed as a staged reading at the Orange County Playwrights Alliance
Discoveries Event at Stages Theatre in Fullerton, Calif., and AVT
Playwrights Expo, in Lancaster, Calif. “Uncomfortable Sex” received the
Audience and Judges’ Favorite awards at the “Eat My Shorts” Festival
in Seattle, Wash., and was produced for the Open Circle Theatre Company.
It was featured at Bumbershoot, Seattle’s world-renowned Arts and Music
Festival, occurring annually at the Seattle Center. (Labor Day, 2010)
It was selected as a finalist for the Variations Theatre Groups’ Harvest One
Act Festival in New York, where it won the Audience Favorite award.
It was produced in Michigan, as one of five festival winners for TLC
Theatre Company’s Canton 1-Act Play Festival. Most recently,
“Uncomfortable Sex” was hosen for production in New Voices spring
festival,which ran three consecutive weekends at the Empire Theatre
in Santa Ana, Calif. (April – May, 2011).
In addition to New Voices, Lorin is a member of Women in Theatre — Los
Angeles, Orange County Playwrights Alliance, Alliance of L.A. Playwrights and is
on the New Works Festival Committee for Long Beach Playhouse. Lorin’s
full-length play, “Two Can Play,” a two-hander psycho-drama with
erotic undertones, will be produced in 2012 for the Outsiders
Inn Theatre Company. “Normal — No Drama,” a dramedy about
a 60-year-old woman “coming of age,” is currently in development
and she intends to expand “Uncomfortable Sex” into a full-length
play.
As an actress, Lorin has appeared in a variety of productions and has performed
in selected Shakespeare festivals in Los Angeles.
Favorite roles include:
“The Boy Friend” — Hortense (best actress)
“You Can’t Take It With You” — Olga (assistant director)
“The Man Who Came to Dinner” — Maggie
“Dark of the Moon” – Barbara Allen — (best supporting actress)
“This Life or the Next,” An original 1-act play by John Franceschini – Ruth,
Jonesy and Susan
Lorin earned a New York producing credit when she co-produced “Uncomfortable
Sex” with Variations Theatre Group, at the LABA theatre, in November, 2010.
One-Act Plays
“Uncomfortable Sex” — Two seniors, with the aid of their 28-year-old
granddaughter, discover a new way of communicating intimately about intimacy.
“The Subtext of Texting” — A young couple’s connection is tested by their mode
of expression. Is texting a valid and effective way to build and develop a
romantic relationship?
“Norma and Dave Go to the Travel Lodge” — A middle-aged couple decide to
rekindle their love life, by spending a romantic night in a hotel room in the
Mojave Desert.
Full-Length Plays
“Unorthodox Encounters” — A Beverly Hills Princess, at the end of her rope, lives
her life in technicolor. She inadvertently makes a wish, “God, help me,” and is
instantly transported to Kansas, where everything is black and white. Her guide
on the journey home, is an unorthodox angel-in-training.
“Two Can Play” — Wallis, a reclusive novelist, in her late 60s, hires a temp
caregiver, 45-year-old Alex. Both characters have hidden motives and dark
agendas, in this psycho-drama with erotic undertones.
“Normal — No Drama” — a dramedy about a 60-year-old married woman who
visits a website for married people seeking affairs. What she discovers
is not exactly what she was expecting.
Children’s Plays
“The Help Stamp Out Loneliness” Campaign — A group of sixth-graders creates
a “club” that comes to the defense of one student who is constantly being teased.
“Where Have All the Plants and Animals and People Gone?” — What happens on
the planet when its natural resources are suddenly and mysteriously
depleted.
Contact Lorin Howard at
LHoward888@mac.com
