Penny Penniston is a Chicago-area playwright and screenwriter. She is the author of the stage play now then again, which premiered in Chicago in 2000, won a Joseph Jefferson Citation for "Best New Work" and was published by Broadway Play Publishing in the Fall of 2001. Her screenplay adaptation, titled Love is Brilliant, won the Sloan Award at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. Penny is the author of numerous other screenplays. Her short film script, One in a Million, was produced last year with Fulton Market Films.

    Additional stage plays include     Spin, which had its world premiere as the inaugural production at Theater Wit's new performance space in Chicago; The Roaring Girl (co-authored with director Jeremy Wechsler), which received a Joseph Jefferson Nomination for "Best Adaptation;" 7 Years at the Mayfair Mall, a one-act commissioned and premiered by Milwaukee Repertory Theater; and Miss Julie, commissioned by Gorilla Rep and premiering in New York in February.

    Penny is a former Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at Northwestern University. She has written articles on screenwriting for MovieMaker Magazine and her book Talk the Talk: A Dialogue Workshop for Scriptwriters is published by MWP Books.

    Productions (p)

    Workshops/Readings (w)

    Commissions (c)

    Theater Wit, Chicago IL (p, w)
    Milwaukee Repertory Theate, Milwaukee WI (p, c)
    Gorilla Rep, New York NY (p, c)
    Bailiwick Repertory, Chicago IL (p)
    Shakespeare's Motley Crew, Chicago IL (p)
    Collaboraction, Chicago IL (p)
    Lookingglass Theater, Chicago IL (w)
    Stage Left Theatre, Chicago IL (w)
    High Desert New Play Development Workshop, Las Cruces NM (w)
    Blank Theater, Los Angeles CA (w)
    Depot Theater, Westport NY (w)
    The Old Globe, San Diego CA (w)
    As an advertising copywriter, Penny has written national television, radio, and print ads for brands such as: Huffy Bicycles, Red Lobster Restaurants, Clearasil, Metamucil, Hardee’s, Kemper Financial Services, Hoover, Ameritech, and The League of Chicago Theaters. In addition to her produced advertisements, she has participated in market research and identity development for brands such as Chex Cereal, Coast Soap, Old Spice, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Head and Shoulders Shampoo, Purina, The Center for Ethics and The American Bar Association.

    Penny has developed corporate communication pieces for clients such as The Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University Hospitals, Rogers Park Montessori Schools and The Lab School of Chicago. In 2004, her television campaign for the League of Chicago Theaters won a Summit Creative Award. In addition to extensive experience as a copywriter, Penny is also a published author and award-winning playwright.
    Dramatic Writing

    Tribeca Film Festival, Sloan Screenplay Award -     Love is Brilliant
    Joseph Jefferson Citation for "Best New Work" -     now then again
    Joseph Jefferson Nomination for "Best Adaptation" - The Roaring Girl

    Copywriting

    Summit Creative Award -     Television campaign for League of Chicago Theaters
    Dramatic Writing Samples
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      7 Years at the Mayfair Mall (Full Script)
      Stage Play: A charming 1-act about growing up and growing together in America. Appropriate for middle school and high school students.
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      Spin (Excerpt)
      Stage Play: A scathing drama of the advertising age.
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      The Office Job (Excerpt)
      Screenplay: A comedy about a street thug who gets hired as a corporate spy.
    Journalism Samples
    • Stacks Image 423
      Talk the Talk: A Dialogue Workshop for Scriptwriters (Excerpt)
      Published by MWP Books.
    • Stacks Image 424
      Look Good in Your Shorts (Full Article)
      Published by MovieMaker Magazine
    Corporate Communication Samples
    • Stacks Image 658
      Annual Report (Excerpt)
      Client: The Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University Hospitals
    • Stacks Image 659
      The Not-So-Lazy Days of Summer (Full Article)
      Client: University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
    Advertising Samples
    • Stacks Image 559
      Television & Radio Advertising (Reel)
      Brands: Huffy Bicycles, Hardee's, The League of Chicago Theaters, Metamucil, Ameritech
    • Stacks Image 560
      Print Advertising (Portfolio)
      Brands: Huffy Bicycles, Clearasil, The League of Chicago Theaters, The Museum of Broadcast Communications
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    Charming... In Proof and in now then again the main characters, all in their 20's, find the pursuit of difficult knowledge no less enlivening and nervous-making than things like their careers, their families, their social graces, their hormones and their heartaches. I can't recall having seen similar types on the stage before... illuminating an obviously extant kind of life experience I'd never before considered but was delighted to discover.
    --Bruce Weber,
    New York Times
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    Smart ... zesty and witty.
    -- Chris Jones,
    Chicago Tribune

    Deftly written and acted
    -- Hedy Weiss,
    Chicago Sun Times
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    ..what might have happened if William Shakespeare and Alexandre Dumas had joined forces to create a vehicle for Mae West... witty, bawdy dialogue...flawless... highly recommended.
    --Adam Langer
    The Chicago Reader
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    Free Download. A charming 1-Act about growing up and growing together in America.
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    ...smart, funny and thoroughly captivating... one of the biggest critical and popular hits of Chicago's theatrical year...
    --Chris Jones,
    Chicago Tribune
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    ...a grand old time with this action packed adventure story...
    --Lucia Mauro
    Chicago Sun-Times

    swashbuckling fun... the production is a handsome one indeed.
    --Catey Sullivan
    New City
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    Intelligent, witty with biting satire and sharp one-liners and retorts.  Penniston’s script is rich.
    -- Tom Williams,
    ChicagoCritic.com
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    Recommended... a deft little romantic screwball comedy with a very brainy twist. It brings to mind some of Tom Stoppard's more intellectual theatrical hijinks. But it's also the kind of work that might have beguiled such 1930's and '40s era film directors as Frank Capra and Preston Sturges, who probably would have hired Albert Einstein as a script consultant.
    --Hedy Weiss,
    Chicago Sun-Times
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    Hollywood wants great scripts. Great scripts must have great dialogue. Great dialogue writing begins with this book.
    --Brantley M. Dunaway,
    Producer, Love in the Time of Cholera
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    A fine cast of players...The play has life and makes us think.
    -- Alan Bresloff,
    Village View