Kelley Van Dilla is a NYC-based non-binary trans theatre and film director and writer who is passionate about self-expressive and reflective work, often centered around their gender identity, sexuality, and experience with a mother who has bipolar disorder. They recently explored the collision of their identities with the world premiere of their autobiographical hybrid feature film/play, LET GO OF ME, at Live Arts Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia (March 2021) and is currently in pre-production on their next feature film, CLIO: a positive transgender romance. Their autobiographical short films, B3d 0f R0s3s and LET GO, MOTHER, premiered at Cucalorus film festival in Wilmington, NC, where they moonlight as a film judge and occasional MC/host. Other projects include AMERICAN RUST with Showtime, HIGH MAINTENANCE with HBO, Steven Soderbergh's THE KNICK with Cinemax, and theatrical productions of HAMLET, RED, THE PILLOWMAN and THREE SISTERS. She is a frequent collaborator with Chekhov at Lake Lucille. As a co-founder of Playground of Empathy and co-creator of the WALK in My Shoes Experience, she is a proud recipient of the Harvard Culture Lab Innovation Fund (2020). She loves painting, photography, and travel; she has walked the 1,200km O'Henro Buddhist Pilgrimage to 88 Temples on the island, Shikoku, in Japan. Kelley uses they/them/their and she/her/hers pronouns.
In this article by playwright, director, and actor Kelley Van Dilla, they discuss how their latest play, LET GO OF ME, gave them the creative space to reflect on and grow from their personal experiences. LET GO OF ME is an exploration of Kelley’s life, including their gender identity, sexuality, and experiences with their mother who has bipolar disorder.
Copyright © Extended Play 2014