about the playwright

PL Krahnke’s plays include Humid; Asylum; Robbi at The Confluence; and Merry Christmas, Beauregard!—a musical currently in development. 

Her work has received readings in New York, London, Chicago, San Francisco, and Bloomington, Indiana.

Her plays have been developed through a range of respected institutions, including Chicago Dramatists, Telling Humans Playwright Studio, Goddard College, and the Jerwood Center UK. 

Humid was a finalist for the Hinton Battle National Multicultural New Play Competition, placing in the top eight out of 3,000 submissions, and received readings in both New York and London.

Krahnke has held numerous organizational roles within the theatrical community. She served on the Board of Directors of Chicago Dramatists, is a Founding Member of Telling Humans Playwright Studio—which spans Chicago, Atlanta, New Jersey, Indiana, and Wisconsin—and has been a Chicago Dramatists Masterclass & Network Member. She is also a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights Center.

She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Goddard College. Her continuing development includes classes at Chicago Dramatists with Spanish playwright Emilio Williams, work with directors Kate Hendrickson of Trap Door Theatre (Chicago) and Audrey Sheffield (Stranger Things, London), and study with playwright Will Dunne.

Krahnke’s plays have been dramaturged by Jack Phillips Moore of The Public Theater (NYC), Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Dean of the DePaul Theatre School, and Chicago playwright Carson Grace Becker. Her broader experience includes a teaching practicum in New York City and serving as a teaching assistant for Emilio Williams in both Chicago and Paris. 

She also read and recommended plays for potential production for director Hal Scott at Crossroads Theatre and for George Street Theatre in New Jersey.

As a producer, Krahnke produced the Telling Humans new-play reading series in Chicago in 2023 and 2024. 

She is currently producing LIMINAL: A New-Play Reading Festival, scheduled for Spring 2026, featuring works that explore the uncomfortable spaces between cultures, beliefs, and political identities.

Krahnke is a member of Theatrical Resources Unlimited (TRU) in New York, and currently is completing the TRU Producer Development & Mentorship Program (PDMP).