Kelly Trumbull is a Pittsburgh-based playwright, director, actor, and educator whose work explores memory, identity, and the complicated ways people navigate love, loss, and connection. Drawn to stories that balance humor with emotional honesty, her plays often examine the moments that shape us long after they have passed, centering richly drawn characters whose lives feel both deeply personal and universally recognizable.
Her full-length plays include Morning Reckoning and Parental Consent. Morning Reckoning was developed through the New Hazlett Theater's CSA program before receiving its full production at the University of Pittsburgh. Parental Consent has been developed through multiple staged readings, including presentations with the Pittsburgh Public Theater Playwrights Collective and the Carnegie Mellon University Center for New Work, and was named a semifinalist for the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. In addition to her stage work, Kelly co-wrote and directed the short film If I Had a Chance.
As a director, Kelly has worked extensively in both professional and educational theatre. Her directing credits include productions with City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pitt Stages, the New Hazlett Theater's CSA Series, and Resonance Works. She is particularly passionate about developing new plays and has directed numerous staged readings and world-premiere workshops, helping playwrights bring new work from the page to the stage. She is the co-founder of Incline Theater Collaborative, a Pittsburgh-based company dedicated to creating opportunities for local playwrights to develop new work and connect with audiences through readings and workshops.
Kelly's work as a director is rooted in the Active Analysis process, a collaborative rehearsal methodology that emphasizes discovery through action and empowers actors to trust their instincts. The approach reflects her belief that theatre is created collectively and that the strongest productions emerge when actors, directors, designers, and playwrights contribute equally to the storytelling process.
As an actor, Kelly has appeared with numerous regional theatre companies, including Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Playhouse, City Theatre Company, Quantum Theatre, Bricolage, Real/Time Interventions, and Pitt Stages, in addition to film, television, and commercial work. Her experiences onstage continue to shape her work as both a playwright and director, informing her commitment to creating plays that are actor-centered, emotionally immediate, and theatrically adventurous.
Kelly is a Teaching Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Head of Performance at the University of Pittsburgh and serves on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama and School of Music. Across all of her work as a playwright, director, actor, and teacher, she is driven by a belief in theatre's unique ability to bring people together through shared stories, meaningful collaboration, and fearless artistic exploration.
She is a member of Actors' Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and the Dramatists Guild.
Research Interests
Education & Training
- BFA - Acting, Syracuse University, 2003
- MA - Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities, New York University, 2010
