Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mandy Rubeli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Self-producing my first full length play, Arizona Rain, has been the most meaningful project I have worked on not just because of the doors it opened, but also because of its deeply personal subject matter. Arizona Rain focuses on Crissy, an introspective, indecisive young adult who, after surviving a near-death experience involving gun violence, drives thirteen hours to escape the incident. She arrives unannounced at the doorstep of her ex-girlfriend, Marcy, seeking comfort and solutions to all her problems. The play explores Crissy’s emotional rollercoaster as she grapples with the fear of what might have remained unsaid had she died. Marcy, unwilling to let Crissy stew in these emotions, pushes them both to confront their pasts and tie up loose ends in their complex, love-filled relationship. This story is rooted in true events from my own life.

When I created this show, my goal was to prompt the audience to look inward. The play raises several big, uncomfortable questions—questions I hoped would inspire the audience to ask their own. What is stopping them from calling up that person and telling them how they truly feel? What is preventing them from living authentically right now? Crissy’s journey is deeply shaped not only by her fear of death, but also by her fear of living—the fear of living honestly and of trusting her own decisions, free from the weight of potential consequences. I wanted the show to leave the audience with the realization that the joy of living authentically far outweighs the risks that come with it. I hoped they would walk away with a renewed desire to begin their own journey of self-growth and self-acceptance, paving the way to a society full of honest, real, and more forgiving individuals.

The response to Arizona Rain was beyond anything I expected, and it completely shifted my trajectory from acting to writing. The reviews affirmed that I had accomplished many of my goals for the piece, especially in creating a profound emotional connection with the audience. My favorite review described the play as “A thoughtful and intimate show about trauma— what we do to process, and the ways it holds us back in relationships. The dialogue was funny and real, and thoughtful moments flowed easily into silly sweet ones.” Another reviewer said, “I found myself laughing and crying multiple times throughout this play.” To watch my personal story of being a young queer adult struggling to accept her identity and confront the harsh realities of the world resonate so deeply with others was incredibly moving.

What surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed sharing these stories from behind the scenes. Writing felt more fulfilling than acting in this case, and I found that my words had a more profound impact on the audience than my performances ever had. What began as a deeply personal way to process my own emotions turned into a career-defining opportunity, and that is why my first self-produced project will always be my most meaningful creative endeavor.

Mandy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, my name is Mandy Rubeli, and I guess I’m a writer now?

For most of my life, I was laser-focused on acting, but completely on a whim, I decided to write a play. To my surprise, that show ended up gaining significant recognition at Hollywood Fringe ‘23, and suddenly everyone was asking, “What else have you written? What’s next?” I’d look over my shoulder, expecting them to be talking to someone else, only to freeze when I realized they were, in fact, talking to me. How could I tell them I only put on the show because I was a mess after a break up and wanted to feel like I was doing something productive with my life? Not because I was an aspiring writer? But with everyone wondering what was next, I wrote my second full-length for HFF ‘24. Met with the same love, I started to think maybe I should give this writing thing a shot.

So let me try that again:

My name is Mandy Rubeli. I am a multifaceted queer artist who strives to create work that is absurd, existential, and somehow, still sort of funny. After earning my BFA in Acting and Education from Emerson College, I moved to Los Angeles, where I wrote and directed my debut play, Arizona Rain, in 2023. The show received the “Hollywood Encore Producer Award,” the “Theater Theatre Playwright Award,” and was a finalist for “Best Drama” and the “Loud Karma Emerging Female and Nonbinary Playwright Award” at Hollywood Fringe. Certified reviewers called it “A beautifully written show with an incredible and deserved arc” and “A really well-done play I’ll think about for a while.” Arizona Rain went on to receive press mentions in Broadway World, Fanbase Press, and The StageCrafts, and was featured on the podcasts Theater Theatre and Media Industry Guru.

In 2024, I produced a workshop of my sophomore play, Dinosaurs, which received the “StageCrafts Official Selection” Award and another finalist spot for “Best Drama” and the “Loud Karma Award.” One reviewer noted, “I felt like I was watching a show Off-Broadway or a Netflix series,” and another said it was, “A very human piece and a creative way to discuss a sensitive and important topic.” Most recently, I’ve been working on an original radio play for Zanni Theatrics, titled “The Fucking Ozzy Osbourne Bat Thing,” set to release on Spotify in the coming months.

Because I never envisioned myself on this path, I often feel myself floating: unsure what to do with this momentum. I believe what sets me apart from others in this industry is my honesty about having no idea how I got here. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m here, and I’m ready to learn. I believe my willingness to admit that uncertainty, and my desire to grow through collaboration, are the qualities that set me apart and make working with me desirable.

Looking ahead, I have several goals for my career. I want to surround myself with people who have a stronger background in writing than I do, people who can offer guidance on technique and share insights about what lies ahead in a playwriting career. Simultaneously, I want to be in rooms full of talented writers and feel like I belong there. My goal is to gain that confidence and technical skill. In the next year, I want to find my voice as a writer and truly commit to pursuing writing as my primary craft. I’d love to achieve this by joining a writer’s room, collaborating with other writers, and continuing to self-produce my work in Los Angeles, New York City, and beyond.

I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who’s helped me along this journey so far, and am excited for what’s next.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

It is OKAY to fail! Failure should be ENCOURAGED. This is something that took years to realize. Failure is often seen as something to avoid, a sign of inadequacy or a personal flaw; however, there is no learning without failure. Failure is an essential and valuable part of life that helps us grow and ultimately contributes to success.

I went to an extremely rigorous high school where there was only one option: be the best of the best. The school motto was literally “in pursuit of excellence.” So when I showed up to my first improv class in college and no one laughed at my first joke, I felt awful. Untalented- all because I had been conditioned to believe that failure was inherently negative. I didn’t realize as an artist, you have to be willing to embarrass yourself, fall on your face, and to have people not laugh at your jokes. And to get back up again. I didn’t realize jokes may fall short not because I lack talent, but because creativity requires experimentation, and experimentation inevitably involves some degree of failure. I spent my college years unlearning my association with failure as being a bad thing, and have learned to embrace failure in my post graduation years.

I have also learned creativity thrives when artists feel free to take risks without the fear of failure holding them back. Putting yourself out there with deeply personal works of art through a new and unfamiliar medium can be quite stressful and embarrassing, but that is because I am still learning. I’ve learned I would rather create something unsuccessful, than not produce creative work at all due to that fear of failing. Accepting failure as part of creativity has allowed myself to push boundaries, take risks, and ultimately unlock new possibilities as an artist. Failure is an opportunity for growth, not a setback, and I am grateful to those torturous hours of freshman year improv classes for teaching this valuable lesson.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist is when others connect with my work. My plays are often quite personal, a way to process intense experiences, so sometimes I worry I am the only person that will find meaning in my work. Therefore when someone else watches one of my shows and sees something that resonates with them on a deep level, it is the most gratifying part of the creative experience. Knowing someone has been moved by my creation makes me feel understood as an artist and individual. It also makes me feel more at peace in such a tumultuous world. When someone is moved by my writing, it reaffirms the power of art to foster empathy and understanding, which is deeply fulfilling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mandyrubeli

Image Credits

Image credits: Alexander Hahn and Silas Vaughn