Biography

Groff was trained at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 and New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

's Tisch School of the Arts, where she currently teaches.

A founding member of Elevator Repair Service Theater Company, she has been a part of the writing, staging, and performing of their shows since the company’s inception in 1991. She is at work on a commission from The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

With playwright/lyricist John Dempsey

John Dempsey (lyricist)

John Dempsey is a theatrical lyricist and playwright who has worked in Britain and the United States. Much of his work in musical theater has been written with composer Dana P. Rowe. With Rowe, he wrote the book and lyrics for Zombie Prom , The Fix , and the stage adaptation of John Updike's The...

 and composer Michael Friedman

Michael Friedman (composer)

Michael Friedman is an American composer and lyricist. He is a founding Associate Artist of The Civilians and an Artistic Associate at New York Theatre Workshop. He received a 2007 Obie award for sustained excellence. His musical Saved earned him a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Best Musical...

, Groff co-wrote the book and lyrics for the stage musical adaptation of the movie Saved!

Saved!

Saved! is a 2004 teen comedy-drama film involving elements of religious satire. It was directed by Brian Dannelly and written by Dannelly and Michael Urban. It stars Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker...

. Her play Compulsion opens Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 at The Public Theater on February 1, 2011, starring Mandy Patinkin

Mandy Patinkin

Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...

 and directed by Oskar Eustis

Oskar Eustis

Oskar Eustis is the artistic director at the Public Theater and has worked as a director, dramaturg, and artistic director for theaters around the country.-Career:...

. The play had previously played at Yale Repertory Theatre

Yale Repertory Theatre

The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...

 and Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...

, both in 2010.

Awards

• Recipient of the Whiting Writers' Award
  Whiting Writers' Award
  The Whiting Writers' Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation and has been presented since 1985. As of 2007, winners receive US $50,000.-External links:**...
  
   in 2005 for plays.
• Finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2002-03 for her play Orange Lemon Egg Canary.

Works

• Jimmy Carter was a Democrat (produced at Clubbed Thumb
  Clubbed Thumb
  Clubbed Thumb is a downtown theater company in New York City that commissions, develops, and produces "funny, strange, and provocative new plays by living American writers." Since its founding in 1996, the company has earned four OBIES and presented plays in every form of development, including...
  
   and PS 122)
• Orange Lemon Egg Canary (Actors Theater of Louisville)
• Inky (Clubbed Thumb
  Clubbed Thumb
  Clubbed Thumb is a downtown theater company in New York City that commissions, develops, and produces "funny, strange, and provocative new plays by living American writers." Since its founding in 1996, the company has earned four OBIES and presented plays in every form of development, including...
  
   and Salt Theater)
• Molière Impromptu (Trinity Rep)
• co-writer with Charles Strouse
  Charles Strouse
  Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
  
   of You Never Know
• The Ruby Sunrise, played at the Public Theater
  Public Theater
  The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
  
   in November 2005, directed by Oskar Eustis
  Oskar Eustis
  Oskar Eustis is the artistic director at the Public Theater and has worked as a director, dramaturg, and artistic director for theaters around the country.-Career:...
  
  
• What Then premiered in January 2006, produced by Clubbed Thumb
  Clubbed Thumb
  Clubbed Thumb is a downtown theater company in New York City that commissions, develops, and produces "funny, strange, and provocative new plays by living American writers." Since its founding in 1996, the company has earned four OBIES and presented plays in every form of development, including...
  
  
• Compulsion (2010, Yale Repertory Theatre)

External links

• Rinne Groff bio and play listing on Playscripts, Inc.
  Playscripts, Inc.
  Playscripts, Inc. is a New York City-based publisher of new plays and musicals, founded by brothers and playwrights Doug and Jonathan Rand. Included in the exclusive Playscripts catalog are over 1,600 plays and musicals by over 800 authors....