I’m Francesca Pazniokas, a New York-based playwright and filmmaker.

Most of my work is what I call ‘social surrealism.’ Narratives that mutate like a virus, that filter contemporary issues through a surreal lens. I’m drawn to stories that explore disability, illness, alienation, queerness, and mortality.

Biggest current influences include folk horror films & fiction, Soviet fantasy films, Netherlandish Renaissance art, Powell & Pressburger films, 1970s land/body artists, and Baltic folklore.

My recent work has been developed with SPACE on Ryder Farm, Clubbed Thumb, and NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre. I have a BA in Art History from Georgetown University and an MA in Playwriting from Royal Holloway (University of London). I’m also half of Alienchild, an artistic duo producing multidisciplinary performance art.

To read my plays or learn more about my playwriting, please visit the New Play Exchange.

To contact me, please email francesca.pazniokas@gmail.com.

To see an alien in victorian garb jumping rope, please look below.