Tina Howe

Tina Howe is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Born on November 21, 1937, in New York City, Howe grew up in a family of artists. She attended Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from the Hunter College Playwriting Program.
Howe's career in theater began in the late 1970s when her play "The Nest" was produced Off-Off-Broadway. Her breakthrough came in 1981 with the production of "Painting Churches" at the Second Stage Theatre. The play was a critical and commercial success and earned Howe an Obie Award for Best New American Play. "Painting Churches" went on to be produced on Broadway in 1983 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Howe's other notable plays include "Coastal Disturbances," which premiered at the Second Stage Theatre in 1986 and was later produced on Broadway in 1987. The play earned Howe a Tony Award nomination for Best Play and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play. "Approaching Zanzibar" premiered at the Circle Repertory Company in 1989 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
In addition to her work in theater, Howe has also written for film and television. She wrote the screenplay for the 1986 film "The Men's Club," which was based on the novel by Leonard Michaels. She also wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film "Alice," which was directed by Woody Allen and starred Mia Farrow.
Howe's television credits include writing for the series "American Playhouse" and "A Case of Libel." She also wrote the teleplay for the 1995 television movie "Picking Up the Pieces," which was based on her play "Approaching Zanzibar."
As an actress, Howe has appeared in several productions of her own plays, including "Painting Churches" and "Coastal Disturbances." She has also appeared in films such as "Love and Death" (1975) and "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985).
Howe has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career. In addition to her Obie Award and Tony Award nomination, she has also received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.
Most recently, Howe's play "Singing Beach" premiered at the TheaterWorks Hartford in 2018. The play explores themes of memory, family, and the passage of time as it follows a family's journey to their summer home on the Massachusetts coast.