Marina Shay is a New York–based actor and playwright working across theater, film, and new-play development.
As an actor, she has appeared at theaters including Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Play House, Syracuse Stage, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre Center, Virginia Stage Company, Gulfshore Playhouse, Capital Repertory Theatre, and Trinity Repertory Company. New York credits include Paradise Lost (Theatre Row), Eurydice (Columbia University), and Miss Julie (Access Theater). On screen, her work includes Jules with Ben Kingsley, The Good Fight, and various independent shorts.
Marina holds an MFA in Acting from Brown/Trinity Rep, where she began developing a lasting interest in language-driven work that bridges classical myth and contemporary realism. She is particularly drawn to psychologically charged pressure cookers, literary adaptations, and plays that examine power, history, and human contradiction.
Her original play Eleanor in Her Own Right was a semifinalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and a finalist for the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator at Rattlestick Theater.
Originally from the Southern Illinois, Marina spent her childhood between the Midwest and Scotland. She now divides her time between New York and Chicago.