T.J. Elliott

Independent Theater Producer, Writer, Theater-Enjoyer, & Playwright.

Starting in 2018, T.J. wrote the plays Alms, Grudges, Genealogy, & The Oracle with celebrated American satirist Joe Queenan; he also directed the latter May 2022 at Theater for the New City. Genealogy was produced by Broom Street Theater and directed by Dana Pellebon November 2021 in Madison Wisconsin.

​Other solo playwrighting, producing, and directing includes Retrospective which went on as part of the 2025 Broadway Bound Theater Festival at AMT Theater, HONOR which ran at the Gene Frankel Theater in 2024, and The Jester’s Wife which ran at The Chain Theater in 2023.

​Those nine experiences inspired T.J. to co-author with Gifford Elliott the 2025 book 13 Ways of Looking at Self-Producing. “To make live theater, playwrights increasingly must self-produce scripts for their audiences. 13 Ways Of Looking At Self Producing offers reflections and recipes gained from that experience. This candid and perceptive set of views by T.J. and Gifford illuminates the process and prospect of self-production, whisking readers through that tricky but fulfilling course and suggesting dozens of resources that will come in handy along the way.”

​T.J.’s 2019 Alms SRO comeback at TheaterLab ended a 35-year hiatus from Off-Off-Broadway where his earlier shows Lazy Eye and Captive Audiences played. In those lost years, T.J. produced, directed, & performed among casts of 1000s a mélange of corporate telenovelas & tragicomic, melodramatic, & absurd organizational performance art. To put it another way, his all-consuming job was VP and Chief Learning Officer at ETS for half  that time, and a wandering organizational consultant and knowledge broker before that hitch.

​Before that organizational odyssey, T.J. also appeared regionally as an actor in The Devil’s Disciple (Reverend Anthony Anderson), Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Bernie), and The Dumbwaiter (Ben). In the early 1980s, T.J. studied with Alan Brody, Terry Schreiber, and Jill Andre.

Born in the Bronx, he lives in Princeton NJ with his wife and frequent collaborator, Marjorie Phillips. Together they founded Knowledge Workings Theater.

Their plays are available for purchase and licensing from Off the Wall Plays.