Ngozi Jane Anyanwu is a playwright and actress.
Life and education Anyanwu was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She earned her BA from Point Park University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her MFA from the graduate acting program at University of California, San Diego.
She is an alumnus of an Old Vic New Voices program, and has had residencies at Djerassi Artists Residency, Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), and SPACE on Ryder Farm.
She resides in New York.
Work Themes in Anyanwu's work include family, identities, and the concept of home. Anyanwu's play Good Grief won Center Theatre Group's Humanitas Award after its world premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2016. It was included on The Kilroys' List in 2016.
Her play, THE HOMECOMING QUEEN, premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company January 22, 2018. It tells the story of a "prodigal daughter" born in Nigeria who returns after living in the USA. The play ran at the Atlantic Theater Company through February 18, 2018. Her play The Last of the Love Letters, which focuses on two people examining the end of a relationship, premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company on August 26, 2021.
Her most recent new play, The Monsters, premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club Off-Broadway in 2026 starring Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan. The play follows two siblings involved in martial arts. The show was positively received, with the New York Theatre Guide calling it "an epic and throbbing heart of a play" and The New York Times praising it as a "searing two-hander" and naming it a Critic's Pick.
Anyanwu is a recipient of New York Stage and Film's Founders Award. She is commissioned by Old Globe Theatre and the Atlantic Theater Company.
Filmography Television Anyanwu is credited as an actress in the following television series: The Affair Deadbeat The Deuce Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Limitless The Mysteries of Laura
Stage credits YearTitleRoleVenueRef.2008WarPerformerOff-Broadway, Rattlestick Theatre2016Good GriefPlaywright, NkechiLos Angeles, Center Theatre Group2018Off-Broadway, Vineyard TheatreTHE HOMECOMING QUEENPlaywrightOff-Broadway, Atlantic Theatre CompanyNike or we don’t need another heroReading, The New Black Fest2021The last of the love letters or the last of the mad sad geniusesOff-Broadway, Atlantic Theatre Company2022MY NAME…IS BEATRICEOff-Broadway, Atlantic Theatre Company First Gen MIXFEST2023the book of LucyRegional, Trinity Repertory Company2026The MonstersOff-Broadway, Manhattan Theatre Club and Two River Theatre
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.2026Lucille Lortel AwardOutstanding PlayThe MonstersDrama League AwardOutstanding Production of a PlayOuter Critics Circle AwardOutstanding New Off-Broadway PlayOutstanding Direction of a Play
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