Venus
Finalist, Next Generation Playwriting Prize 2012
Reverie Productions, NYC
Venus is a love story loosely based on actual events. It is the story of Lee, a Marine sergeant in Iraq in 2004, and his Iraqi translator, Munira. They fall in love, marry, and return to the States, where they have a child. Lee is depressed and unable to find work and Munira takes a job as a dancer to support the family. The violence they were both forced to absorb during the war inevitably expresses itself in their family life. Their abused child is taken from them and they are sent to counseling. One day Munira simply disappears. The play explores male/female dynamics across cultures, the sociological fallout of war, and the ways in which trauma interacts with love.
Anna Steers as Munira and Lysa Fox as the Nurse
Venus
Finalist, Next Generation Playwriting Prize 2012
Reverie Productions, NYC
Venus is a love story loosely based on actual events. It is the story of Lee, a Marine sergeant in Iraq in 2004, and his Iraqi translator, Munira. They fall in love, marry, and return to the States, where they have a child. Lee is depressed and unable to find work and Munira takes a job as a dancer to support the family. The violence they were both forced to absorb during the war inevitably expresses itself in their family life. Their abused child is taken from them and they are sent to counseling. One day Munira simply disappears. The play explores male/female dynamics across cultures, the sociological fallout of war, and the ways in which trauma interacts with love.
Anna Steers as Munira and Lysa Fox as the Nurse
Venus
Finalist, Next Generation Playwriting Prize 2012
Reverie Productions, NYC
Venus is a love story loosely based on actual events. It is the story of Lee, a Marine sergeant in Iraq in 2004, and his Iraqi translator, Munira. They fall in love, marry, and return to the States, where they have a child. Lee is depressed and unable to find work and Munira takes a job as a dancer to support the family. The violence they were both forced to absorb during the war inevitably expresses itself in their family life. Their abused child is taken from them and they are sent to counseling. One day Munira simply disappears. The play explores male/female dynamics across cultures, the sociological fallout of war, and the ways in which trauma interacts with love.
Anna Steers as Munira and Lysa Fox as the Nurse
Nancy Bell
Theatre Artist and Writer
July 2026
Thrilled to have two new publications this month:
Neighbors Brute and Kind can be read online here in Flyway Journal: Writing and Environment.
Science Daddies in print only in the beautiful summer issue of North American Review
June 2026
Terrain.org did such a gorgeous job of publishing my essay, Tendrils.
The Tempest in Forest Park at STL Shakespeare Festival is open. Photo--of me as Prospero and the wonderful Sigrid Wise as Miranda--by Phillip Hamer. Through June 21. FREE to BYO camp chair or blanket OR buy seats here.
New fiction up at StoryQuarterly.
Winter/Spring 2026
Loved directing two wonderful actors and friends in The Half Life of Marie Curie with the Orange Girls in collaboration with STL Actors Studio. Runs through April 19. Tickets here.
I don't know if I've ever been in a show that audiences love more than Emma at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Audiences were so happy and so loudly crying out their approval that I could barely hear my cues last night! Through Dec 21. Tickets here.
My essay, Oakling, about motherhood, trees, and drug resistant infections will be published at Shenandoah on December 15th! Many thanks to my wonderful editor DW McKinney.
Fall 2025
I have a little flash piece coming out in the wonderful Canadian journal, Dark Winter on October 27. Many thanks to editor Suzanne Craig-Whytock.
Spring 2025
Lots of publishing news!
My first published fiction, Pow! is up at StoryQuarterly, print version forthcoming in Fall 2025. Many thanks to editors, Stephanie Manuzak and Paul Lisicky, and my amazing mentor at MUW, Mary Miller.
March 2025
The production of As You Like It I directed last summer at St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is nominated for 10 awards! Much pride and gratitude to the STL Theatre Circle! (Photo, lower left by Phillip Hamer)
Best Production of a Comedy (We won! Thank you!)
Best Ensemble in a Comedy (We won! Thank you!)
Best Lighting Design: Denisse ChavezDe
Best Costume Design: Dottie Marshall Englis (She won! Bravo, Dottie!)
Best Scenic Design: Scott Neale (He won! Bravo, Scott!)
Best Performances in Comedy: Caroline Amos, Rikki Franklin, Joel Moses and Jasmine Cheri Rush (Rikki won! Bravo, Rikki!)
Best Director: Nancy Bell (I won! THANK YOU!)