What is Soapbox?
Soapbox Stageworks began in Philadelphia by Karen Devaney, a playwright, performer, director and producer. She wanted to create a space for new works to evolve, grow and thrive.
Now located in the gorgeous Central Coast of California, we at Soapbox want to explore plays and playwrights, that have diligently worked their craft and are looking to workshop their new material. Collaboration with the community along with local performers, directors, and playwrights. We want to give back to our community, by donating 10% of all performances to a local nonprofit.
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The hope here at Soapbox is to grow as a local Theatre as well as expand globally to include playwrights from around the world.
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Karen Devaney
After winning the Irene Ryan Award for best acting in Peter Barnes’, Red Noses, as Sister
Margaruite; and Zerbinetta in the Italian comedy, Scapino, Karen went on to act, write, direct in
countless theatre and film productions on the West and East coasts. Having been raised in an
Irish/Italian family, storytelling was as paramount as red wine and pasta. She has studied a
wide range of theatre techniques from some of the most influential forces in contemporary
theater. Soapbox Stageworks started in Philadelphia, when Karen was teaching theatre and
writing there at a University as well as teaching acting and performing at the Actors’ Theatre
both in Philly and New York.
The Great Forgotten, a television series she wrote with her daughter, is a television series that
began as a play to a sold-out audience in New York City’s International Fringe Fest 2015. It won
the attention of industry showrunners, casting directors, and producers. Between the Vines, a
novel that was recently picked up and will be out in Spring of 2025, is also being adapted to a
film. And The Cannery Women, a feature film packed with comical characters from Monterey’s
Sardine heyday.
Karen has not only written plays, screenplays, novels, and children’s books; she is also a
seasoned performer. She will be bringing her one-woman show Nurse Noelle to life to the
Peninsula in 2025. . Karen starred in both film and theatre productions, but writing remains her
dueling passion. Frederick the Forgetful Rattler, both a book and a musical, is one of a host of
children’s books she wrote and hopes to bring to the screen. Her passion and dedication to
diversity and the underdog is riddled through all her projects. The Porch, a comedy about
gentrification, ageism, and the power of community was written, directed, and produced by Karen in Sacramento 2018, and had a sold-out run. Karen writes from a female perspective: “As a kid I was a tomboy, a daydreamer, and a love of the many cultures around me. Growing up in Philly and outside of Washington D.C., I never knew homogeny.”
When Karen was a single mother raising two daughters, she worked as a Registered Nurse for
many years while juggling creative projects, performing, and always writing. Many of her
experiences as a nurse have greatly impacted her writing and storytelling. She has also been a
college professor and is a Yoga and dance teacher. “Because I have worked with people at their
most vulnerable, I’ve gained insight and empathy in whatever genre I am writing.” Having lived
in many places, combined with a hankering for travel, Karen brings world perspective, humor,
and compassion to her writing and performing.