Erica McLaughlin

Actor, Playwright and Producer

New York City, New York

Member Since:
October 2011

Last online:
> 2 weeks ago

Invites sent:
3

About Erica

Erica Lauren McLaughlin is an award-winning actress and consultant in networking and social media. She is CEO & Founder at The Brandprint, and is developing The Artist Office, an innovative workspace, business gym and training center for NYC performing artist.
As an actress, she has performed on stage at the John F. Kennedy Center (DC), the New York Fringe Festival, PS 122 (NY), T. Schreiber Studio (NY), Gene Frankel Theater (NY), American Theatre for Actors (NY), Atlas Performing Arts Center (DC), Theatre Project (Baltimore), Queens Theater in the Park (NY) UMBC, among others. As a playwright, she received the 2001 National ACT-SO gold medal for playwriting, and her plays have been produced at the Mobtown Theatre in Baltimore, in the Inaugural Capital Fringe Festival, and at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. Erica is former Managing Director of the Unmentionable Theatre Company of Baltimore, MD, a socially conscious theatre troupe which is comprised of members all under the age of 30. A well-rounded theatre artist, Erica is also trained as a puppeteer, dancer, and improviser.

Erica graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in May 2006 with a BFA in Acting. A continuing student, Erica has since studied at several prestigious acting schools including the Shakespeare Theater Company and HB Studio, and most recently with the renowned T. Schreiber Studio. While at T. Schreiber Studio, Erica appeared in the 2010 New York Innovative Theater Award winner for Outstanding Production of Balm in Gilead, written by the late Lanford Wilson. She is also the lead of the film Cold April, a short film about the genocide in Rwanda and winner of several awards in the Chicago Intl Film Festival, International Black Film Fest of Nashville, and the New Orleans film fest, to name a few. Also an experienced educator, Erica has taught in multiple disciplines,and currently works as a consultant for other actors and performing artists looking to master the work of their art.

Gender:
Female

Height:
5' 4"

Body type:
Average

Hair:
Shoulder Length

Hair color:
Black

Eyes:
Black

Ethnicity:
African American

Certifications

Photos

Loglines

Love and Wood Comedy ⋄ Drama ⋄ Romance “It’s like love, and... wood.” “I don’t even want to know what those two have to do with each other.” Patrick, an introverted, methodical writer, yearns be a knight in shining armor for his neighbor Morgan, who burdens him with all the melodramatic details of her emotionally unfulfilling, but sexually satisfying relationship with simple, single-minded Antonio. Patrick and Morgan have an almost perfect relationship. They seem to connect flawlessly in every way but one: sexually. However, what Patrick lacks in the libido department, Antonio is more than willing to provide, leaving Morgan helplessly torn between the two men. Each character yearns to feel whole, and each one expects to achieve this elusive sense of completeness through their connection with another person. Their self-absorbed journeys lead them to stumble over all sorts of weighty, life-important questions- What and why is love? What is the relationship between creation and survival? How do we resolve the enigmatic struggle between our primal instinct to mate and our uniquely human need to connect with another being on a deep, spiritual level? As the characters' quest for definition and control becomes increasingly more desperate, the precarious balance between order and chaos, creation and destruction, is torn asunder, and the line between what (and who) is real becomes impossibly blurred. See it for yourself and decide which is better: Procreation or Conversation? Making friends or making babies? Everlasting love, or long lasting sex? Love and Wood's unconventional structure and unpredictable characters leave nothing off boundaries in this funny, modern, original work by Erica Lauren McLaughlin.

Credits

Home by Samm-Art Williams (2011)
by Serenity Players/Kelsey Collie Lead Actress/Pattie Mae Wells
Gay-Z (2011)
Theater by Hard Knock Laughs/Marlene Rhein Producer
Balm in Gilead (2010)
Theater by T. Schreiber Studio/Peter Jensen Actress/Bonnie
Cold April (2010)
Film by Burning Clown Productions/Mike Smith Rivera Lead Actress/Mosi

Awards

Winner, NYIT Award for Outstanding Production of a Play: Balm in Gilead
(2011)
Nominee, NYIT Award for Outstanding Ensemble: As Bonnie in Balm in Gilead
(2011)
Winner, Best Political Drama, Chicago Reel Shorts Fest: Cold April
(2010)
Winner, Best Int'l Short, International Black Film Fest of Nashville: Cold April
(2010)
Runner Up, Best Narrative Short, Great Lanes Intl Film Fest: Cold April
(2010)
Nominee, Best Actress in a Play, Strawberry Festival: Cold April
(2008)
2001 Gold Medalist, NAACP National ACT-SO Competition
(2001)