Meet the Playwright

Deanna Duplechain

Deanna Duplechain is a writer, theatre director, and educator who has practiced her craft for over 45 years.

She holds two Master of Fine Arts degrees, one in directing from the University of Virginia and the other in creative writing from Eastern Washington University, having received full assistantships for both, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

She is a published poet and author of a collection of entwined stories entitled Halfwayish.

Her current project is REvamping REstell, a kaleidoscopic play that excavates the life and times of Madame REstell, female physician and notorious abortionist in the 1800s. The play was first presented in a workshop production at Ten Fifteen Theater in Astoria in August 2026. Deanna is focused on the future life of this play and sharing its words with ever-increasing audiences.

Directing Background

Deanna is the artistic founder of two theatre companies: Women's Workshop in New York City and Nevada Theatre Company in Las Vegas. She has directed more than 40 plays in professional, community, and educational settings. Her purposely eclectic career ranges from assistant directing on Broadway at Circle in the Square, to helming large outdoor summer Shakespeare and musical productions in Las Vegas, to leading underserved youth in creating and acting in their own original shows, to surprisingly writing and directing The Venetian casino's original environmental entertainment program featuring opera singers and commedia dell'arte players.

Deanna is honored to have been chosen as a Usual Suspect with New York Theatre Workshop. She participated as a director with the Drama League's New American Playwrights Initiative, the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and Directors Lab West at the Pasadena Playhouse. She is slated to direct the premiere production of Rob Urbinati's new play Improvising Murder in 2027.

She also wrote a series of plays for Books Alive!, which toured schools and community centers in culturally underserved areas of Nevada, Utah, and Idaho for three years, reaching over 50,000 audience members.