Marie MacMillan
is a playwright, author, improv comedy player, and theatre artist based in the Pacific Northwest. Her inspirations include healthcare & medicine, classic & modern science fiction, and all things Shakespeare.
Her short plays The Important Life Skill of Giving a Damn, Blind Date, Weebo and Papi’s Paninis received staged readings with Stomping Grounds Art House. A special staged reading of her one-act Star Wars parody Many Bothans Died has had several staged readings over the last few years: at Rose City Comic Con in September of 2022, at Clinton Street Theater on May 4th, 2023, and at Kickstand Comedy on May 4th, 2024 featuring music by improv band Canoofle. Marie holds a current memberships with the Dramatist Guild of America.
Her manuscript The Reboot: 50 Dates with Myself won 2nd Place in Memoir in the 2017 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest. After publishing with Dancing Moon Press in 2020, it became a 2021 Nancy Pearl Award Nominee. It is available on Amazon, IngramSpark, and local bookstores.
From 2016-2020 she hosted and produced an interview-style healthcare podcast entitled Head-to-Toe.
As an improviser at The Funhouse Lounge, she has appeared in: Clue! an unscripted Murder Mystery, USS Improvise: The Next Generation, the Musical, Date Night Double Feature, The UnReal World, AvenuePDX an improvised puppet musical, Murder Mystery Machine, A Comedy of Terrors, DomProv, and in the scripted show Point Break Live! as Director Kathryn Bigelow (2023, 2025).
Recently, she has delved into more local theatre work with technical theatre production and design. See full resume for up-to-date credits and production photos.
When not playing around onstage or writing, Marie works as a registered nurse and lives in Portland, Oregon with her family. She was a critical care nurse for 10 years, yes during that pandemic, and left it for the circus. See “My Desk” section for current *circus events.
*not a real circus. Just laundry, outpatient nursing work, parenting, and theatre in this economy
Performing in POINT BREAK LIVE! as Director Kathryn Bigelow at The Funhouse Lounge, April 2025 - person in wetsuit is an audience member who auditioned on the spot to play Keanu Reeves. Photo credit: Joaquin Fernandez
Performing in Clue! an unscripted murder mystery at the Funhouse Lounge, June 2025 - always a fun scene with the one and only Kenzie Chapman (as Mr. Green)
Performing in Avenue PDX an improvised puppet musical at The Funhouse Lounge in SE Portland, summer 2023.
As Dr. Beverly Crusher in USS Improvise: the Next Generation the Musical
At Departure on Date #50 - from my little memoir