MOTHERLAND

by Lisa Kenner Grissom

MOTHERLAND is a generational family drama that follows Lizzie, who, after being away for several years following her father's death, returns home to recoup from a nervous breakdown. Lizzie believes she will be getting some R&R, but instead her aging Russian grandmother is anxious to share memories and asks Lizzie to help her “remember.” Meanwhile, her mother has struck up a friendship with Lizzie's former high school boyfriend, who moved back home as he deals with a divorce. Caught between her family's past and her uncertain future, Lizzie discovers secrets about her mother and grandmother, which force her to turn the mirror on herself.

Development:
Workshop, The Inkwell Theater, 2018
Reading, Whittier College, 2014
Workshop, Whittier College, 2014
Reading, Circle Readings, Los Angeles, 2013

JPP Development:
2020 Jewish Playwriting Contest
2014 JPC Semi-Finalist

Lisa Kenner Grissom is a Los Angeles-based playwright, filmmaker and producer whose work explores complex social truths through intimate relationships. Her multiple award-winning short film, TATTOO YOU, (Winner, Next Great Filmmaker Award: Berkshire International Film Festival; Industry Choice Award: Dances With Films; IndieWIRE Award for Excellence) has been screened across the U.S. and internationally.

The film is based on her award-winning one-act play, TATTOO YOU (Winner, National 10-Minute Play Award, Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; Winner, Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival) and has been seen by audiences in D.C., Boston, New York and LA.

Lisa’s full-length plays include FOUR CHAMBERS (O’Neill Finalist), BUILDING THE PERFECT CHAIR (TruVoices Finalist), MOTHERLAND (Princess Grace Semi-finalist; Bridge Initiative Finalist). Additional short plays include PENELOPE’S ROSES (Heideman Award Finalist), HOME IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD, MISSED CONNECTIONS (Smith & Kraus), and PATCH OF BLUE (Smith & Kraus). Lisa’s play FOUR CHAMBERS was the 2016 co-recipient of The Jean Kennedy Smith Award given by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. This play was also a Finalist for The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Lark and WordBRIDGE, and a Semi-finalist for The Ashland New Play Festival and PlayPenn.

Lisa twice attended The O'Neill Playwrights Conference as a Kennedy Center Fellow and Playwright Observer and was a Finalist for the Playwrights' Center Core Apprentice Program. Her work has been presented and/or developed at The Kennedy Center, Boston Playwrights’s Theatre, Chalk Rep, The Clurman Theater, Collaboraction, Inkwell Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, Moving Arts, and The Road Theatre Company. Lisa earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University and her MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen from Lesley University. She is an adjunct professor of playwriting at Lesley University, and has led workshops for PlayPenn and the Writers Guild Initiative. Originally from Boston, she is a proud member of The Dramatist Guild, The Playwrights Union, and the Antaeus Theatre Playwrights Lab.