About

Elizabeth Ann Michaela Keel is a native Houstonian, as well as a playwright, director, actress, dramaturg, producer, screenwriter, and novelist. Her plays have been read, commissioned, and/or produced by 14 Pews, The Alley Theatre, Bootown, Cone Man Running, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, Flexible Grey, Fresh Produce’d (NYC), The Growing Stage: Children’s Theatre of New Jersey, Haven Arts Theatre, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, Landing Theatre Company, METDance, Mildred's Umbrella, Nova Arts Project, Otherworld Theatre Company, Shattered Globe Theatre, Squeaky Bicycle, Stages, The Studio Theatre at Tierra Del Sol, T.E.T.A., This Is Water Theatre, Tokyo International Players, Voxfest, and Wordsmyth, among others. She has published two novels: Running Into Trouble and Life After Myth, and her poetry has appeared in Defunkt magazine. Some of her plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Stage Partners. Elizabeth is proud to have previously served Houston for three years as an Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild.

Her mentoring work with students is vital to her. She attended the Iowa Young Writers Studio as a teenager and has been dedicated to helping other young artists ever since. She participated as a slam poetry coach for Houston's fiery teenage team, Metafour, at the Brave New Voices Festival in D.C. She continues to work as a teaching artist for Stages, Kinder HSPVA, the Alley Theatre, and Grackle & Grackle. Elizabeth previously taught for Writers in the Schools for a decade. She also spent 2018-2019 originating the role of Playwriting Liaison at the University of Houston.

She then went on to serve as the Community Engagement Manager at Stages for three years, as well as the inaugural administrator of the Houston Theater Training Coalition. She left - with love in her heart! - to resume writing full time. She remains the proud Literary Manager & Resident Playwright for Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Company, which celebrates the work of women.

She holds two degrees from the University of Houston: a B.A. in Acting/Directing and an M.A. in Theatre Studies. Her thesis work focused on the encouragement of meaningful science fiction onstage. 

Previous notable professors in playwriting include: Edward Albee, Paula Vogel, Theresa Rebeck, Suzan Lori-Parks, Lanford Wilson, Mark Medoff, Mark Bly, Will Eno, Lisa D’Amour, Jennifer Haley, Stuart Ostrow, Kate Pogue, Rob Shimko, Rob Askins, Chana Porter, and Paula Vogel.

She is delighted to be a founding member of the Rec Room Writers Group. Theatre is a team sport; it defeats the scourge of loneliness.