Salt Lake Arts Academy is excited to welcome award-winning playwright Laura King to campus April 27–29 as part of a special residency through the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) Playwrights in Our Schools program.
Drama teacher Lauren Carn, a member of AATE, helped bring this unique opportunity to SLArts after our school was selected to participate in this year’s program. The residency pairs professional Theatre for Young Audiences playwrights with secondary schools for an immersive three-day experience focused on creating and developing new work alongside students.
During her visit, Laura King will work directly with students in Drama 3 (2nd period), Drama 2 (4th period), and Drama 3 (6th period). The residency will conclude with an evening performance on Wednesday, April 29 at SLArts at 6 pm.
This is an exciting chance for SLArts students to collaborate with a professional playwright, experience the creative process firsthand, and explore how new plays are developed from page to stage.
About the program
AATE Playwrights In Our Schools Project Each year, an award-winning playwright is selected for a three-day residency in a Utah secondary school to develop his or her latest script, which receives a staged reading and workshop development with secondary students. Through this process, students learn first-hand the process of new play development and are better prepared to write and refine their own plays.
About the playwright
Laura King is a playwright, dramaturg, and educator. She holds an MFA in playwriting form the Playwright's Lab at Hollins University and a master's in English from Northwestern University. Her play Merrit Anne and the Mighty Oak is a 2025 AATE Distinguished Play Award winner and was developed through the 2019 Write Now conference (ChildsPlay) and the 2019 Purple Crayon Players Festival of New Work (Northwestern University). Her one-act play Driving in Circles was the 2025 Jax State Southern Playwrights Competition winner. Her play The Cayuga Canal Girls was a 2020 American Association of Community Theatre NewPlay Fest Winner. Her play Independence Day at Happy meadows was the winner of the 2016 SETC/Stage Rights Ready to Publish Award. Her work has been published by Dramatic Publishing, Stage Rights, Pioneer Drama Service, YouthPLAYS, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus. For more information, see laurakingplaywright.com.
About AATE
The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE), among the most recognized arts education organizations, works to ensure that every young person experiences quality theatre arts in their lives provided by proficient, talented artists and educators. AATE is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Through its membership of theatre artists, inservice and pre-service teachers, professors, directors, scholars and playwrights, AATE serves more than a million students in 48 U.S. states and 19 countries worldwide.