About Melanie

Melanie is interested in writing selfish, messy, female characters in pieces that explore our relationship with the planet and make us fall back in awe with the world around us. She looks up to and is inspired by writers Annie Baker, Rachel Tunnard, Sally Wainwright, Michelle and Robert King and the filmmakers Steve McQueen and Francis Lee.

What’s New

I sat down and talked to CBS News Chicago about Today Tonight Soon, Theatre l’Acadie and producing theater on the beach! Give it a watch.

Bio

Melanie Coffey grew up on the Connecticut coast, where she spent her days reading, writing and traveling with her family. She attended Long Island University, Post, where she produced and directed films, wrote screenplays about art thieves (The Left-light Bias), satyrical plays about politics (Politically Immature, Rifle Range Theater, 2017) and graduated early with an Honors BFA in Film. After college she worked as a Curatorial Assistant on the exhibition “Past is Not Post”, in Oldenburg, Germany.

Living in Brooklyn, Melanie focused on art films and experimental filmmaking (Dear You/Love, Me, The 3 Minute Project), shooting and digitizing DV tapes from her 1996 camcorder. She also started writing and producing short plays around Manhattan (I Liked You 5 Minutes Ago, Questions I Have Before You Leave).

Melanie currently lives in Chicago, where she graduated from Northwestern University in 2020, earning her MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage. She is an ensemble member and grant specialist for Theatre l’Acadie. She also recently became an ensemble member of Avalanche Theater and is a member of the Chicago Dramatist’s Guild and the Playwrights’ Center - her plays can be found on New Play Exchange. Her projects have been read/performed/screened in LA, San Diego, NYC, Plattburgh, NY, New Jersey, Maine, North Carolina, Chicago, Evanston, IL, Mystic, CT, London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland.