Juliana Francis


Juliana Francis, also known as Julianna Francis or Juliana Francis-Kelly, is an American playwright and actress. She is the recipient of an Obie Award for her performance in Richard Foreman's Maria Del Bosco, and a Dramalogue Award for Reza Abdoh's The Hip-hop Waltz of Eurydice. As a performer she is best known for her work with Richard Foreman's Ontological Hysteric Theater and with the late Reza Abdoh's internationally acclaimed Dar A Luz company, of which she was a founding member.
After the death of Reza Abdoh, Francis-Kelly began writing plays and screenplays. Her first play Go Go Go was directed by Anne Bogart, performed at PS 122 in New York City and at the London International Festival of Theatre at the Institute for Contemporary Art I.C.A. Go Go Go was published by Theater Forum Magazine and T3 in Europe. It was subsequently translated into Greek and performed by actress Marili Mastrantoni in Athens and in Kiel, Germany.
Her second play, Box, was directed by Anthony Torn and performed at The Women's Project. Other plays include The Ontological Hysteric ; an Italian-language version was performed at the Fontanon Festival in Rome. The Baddest Natashas, also directed by Torn, was performed at The Ontological Hysteric and published by Open City. Saint Latrice, which she also directed, was performed at The Collapsible Hole and at PS 122. A German-language version was performed in Graz, Austria. In 2004, Francis-Kelly received a Sundance Screenwriting Fellowship to develop Saint Latrice into a screenplay for The Killer Films Company.

Personal life

Juliana Francis married actor David Patrick Kelly on August 14, 2005 in New York City. They have a daughter named Margarethe Jane Kelly born in 2008.