Laura Shamas was born in Oklahoma and lives in Los Angeles. She is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. She is a 2023 Winner of a Los Angeles New Play Project Playwriting Award ($20,000) for FOUR WOMEN IN RED. In 2024–25, she’s been part of the ReproEco Theater Project, commissioned by ReproFreedomArts.org, with her short play PRIORITIES. Shamas has worked as a dramaturg for Native Voices at the Autry for their Short Play Festivals (2021–2023) and Festival of New Plays (2024). FOUR WOMEN IN RED was part of the 2022 Festival of New Plays at Native Voices. In 2021, Shamas was part of the Indigenous Writers Collaborative at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Laura Shamas’ many plays have been produced internationally and nationally, including regionally at Alter Theater, Golden Thread Productions, Walnut Street Theater, and Philadelphia Theatre Company, among others. Her work has been developed by many companies, including Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto), Spooky Action Theater (D.C.), The Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Utah Shakespearean Festival. These plays include CIRCULAR, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (adaptation), PORTRAIT OF A NUDE, LADY-LIKE, CHASING HONEY, THE OTHER SHAKESPEARE, TALKING LEAVES (Winner — Garrard Best Play Award — Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Oklahoma), and AMELIA LIVES (Winner — Fringe First Edinburgh Festival Fringe). Her short play SEEDS won the Von Marie Atchley Award for Excellence in Playwriting from Native Voices in 2017. Her Ph.D. is in Mythological Studies.