LEE CATALUNA (Playwright) was born and raised on Maui, though her Native Hawaiian ancestors were from the island of Kauai. Her work for theater includes commissions from La Jolla Playhouse (What the Stars See at Night, Home of The Brave), Oregon Shakespeare Festival (IPU), Arena Stage (Emma Riot), and San Francisco Playhouse (Sons of Maui). Her script Funeral Attire won the Von Marie Atchley Award for Excellence in Playwriting from Native Voices at the Autry. Her rollicking ensemble piece Flowers of Hawaii has jolted audiences in Los Angeles, NYC, and most recently at Chautauqua Institute Summer 2022. Her play Home of The Brave, based on interviews with hundreds of children from military families, is produced in schools around the country. This play, Heart Strings, was workshopped at PLAYground at Northwestern University; had a reading at NYU Steinhardt; and received a ReImagine grant through TYA/USA to be developed at Atlantic Theater, NYC. Books include Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa, Ordinary Ohana, and the collection of monologues in Folks You Meet at Longs. In the works are commissions from Arena Stage and San Francisco Playhouse. Her work has been supported by NEA grants. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside.
