PADDY GILLARD-BENTLEY is the founding Artistic Director of Flush Ink Productions, and a past president of The International Centre for Women Playwrights. She’s had over 80 productions of her plays performed in England, Ireland, Australia, USA and Canada. Selected titles include; A Rose Upon the Blood(toured Ireland IN 2016 and was produced in Toronto, Waterloo and Kitchener (part of The Irish Real Life Festival). Bingo Wings (Neepaw, Gimli, The Pas MB.)Quantum Entanglement (Calgary, Philadelphia & Kitchener), Sanguine Sonata (Kitchener {Theatre & Company and AJS}, North Carolina), Comic Strip (Toronto)Her work has been published by Meriwether, Routledge & I.C.W.P
Pam Munter has authored several books including When Teens Were Keen: Freddie Stewart and The Teen Agers of Monogram and Almost Famous. Her memoir, As Alone As I Want To Be, was recently published by Adelaide Books. She’s a retired clinical psychologist, former performer and film historian. Her first play, “Life Without” was nominated for Outstanding Original Writing and Outstanding Play by the Desert Theatre League and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. “Dinner With Daddy” is one of four plays in “That Screwy, Ballyhooey Hollywood,” which opened the season for Script2Stage2Screen in Rancho Mirage, CA in October.
Pat Cheshire Jennings, retired social worker, writes of rural life in Kentucky with humor and sensitivity. Her characters resonate with vibrant descriptions of her experiences while growing up. Pat, painter and fiber artist, lives in Berea, Kentucky with her two dogs. She is a part of the Kentucky Women Playwright’s Seminar.
Pat Montley has twenty plays published (Samuel French, Playscripts, Meriwether, Heinemann, Applause, Dramatic Publishing, Prentice-Hall, ICWP, Dramatics Magazine). Her plays have been given readings at the Kennedy Center, Center Stage (Baltimore), Rep Stage (Columbia) and the Abingdon Theatre (NYC), and produced at Nebraska Rep., Manhattan Theatre Source, Harold Clurman Theatre, Nat Horne Theatre, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her work has been supported by residencies at the Millay Artists’ Colony and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program and by grants from the Deutsch Foundation, Maryland and Pennsylvania Arts Councils, the Shubert Foundation, the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation, and Warner Brothers.
Patricia Davis was a 2015-2016 alumna of Arena Stage’s Playwrights’ Arena. Her play Digna received a reading at Arena Stage and was produced in February 2017 by a new professional theater company, Digna Theater, in Tucson, Arizona, directed by Barclay Goldsmith. Her other plays have been presented at La MaMa, the Kennedy Center, Urban Stages, and Catholic University and Theater J. She’s author of a collection of poetry and co-author, with Dianna Ortiz, of a nonfiction book, The Blindfold’s Eyes.
Patricia Middleton is a Wichita-based actor, writer, and director who loves good clean fun on stage! She recently wrote and directed the melodrama A Sure Bet of Marryin’ a Librarian. She has also directed Christmas Crisis at Mistletoe Mesa, A Cowhand’s Christmas Carol or Twas Plum Tired of Pudding, and Someone Save My Baby, Ruth. She has assisted at Backstory Theatre in Colorado, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre in Missouri, and at Music Theatre Wichita in Kansas. Patricia has appeared on stage at Kechi Playhouse, Wichita Community Theatre, and Old Cowtown Museum. REGION: Kansas, USA
Patricia Wakely Wolf is an award-winning playwright for her first full-length play, Closed Casket. Patricia’s 10-minute plays, Not Yet Dead and Celebrity Patch were produced by Group Repertory Theatre; Not Yet Dead was featured at the Playwrights’ Slam at The Kennedy Center’s 10th Annual Page-to-Stage festival and Pinky Swear Productions’ SWEAR IT! Smörgåsbord. Short plays: Color TV and Pot produced at the 3rd Annual South Florida One-Minute Play Festival in Miami; The Hill featured at Flash Fest 2015, Manhattan Theatre Club; Buttons featured at Theatre J, Washington, DC. Patricia’s full-length play, Stung & Wounded, was selected for South Florida Theatre League’s Summer Theatre Fest 2015 and a staged reading was performed at Main Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes. A series of her 10-minute plays, including Table Manners, Crockpot Marriage, Funeral Makeup, Red Rover, Celebrity Patch, Lionel & Blondie, and Not Yet Dead, have had readings in Washington, DC and Los Angeles. Patricia is also working on her first novel and her blog posts, Dorothy Does It All By Herself and Tales From the Tee: Sadie Hawkins Day, have appeared on Red Room and Women on Course websites, respectively. Patricia participated in several spoken word evenings that included her original works, Leap of Faith and Parenting, at Spark Off Rose in Los Angeles. Patricia is an actor/model in South Florida and has worked in commercials, theatre and independent film in Los Angeles and New York. Member: The Dramatists Guild of America, South Florida Theatre League, Playwrights Jam/Miami, Stage 32, The Playwright’s Forum/DC, DC Area Playwrights, The Writer’s Center/DC, Women in Film & Video/DC & Orlando; and The Writer’s Group/LA. Board Member: South Florida Theatre League.
Patti Cassidy began writing plays on a dare in a small Mexican border town. Her first play played to packed houses there for a weekend. From then on she was hooked and her pieces have been produced from LA to Scotland. She now lives and works in greater Boston where she writes regularly and produces new play readings in the library system.
Paul Antokolsky. My stage plays have been produced since 2012 on both the East and West Coasts of the U.S. and in Great Britain; a radio play was produced for and distributed by National Public Radio. I’ve had fifteen years experience as a host-producer on both cable TV and AM radio, often working alongside my wife and co-conspirator, and have written extensively for both media. No longer a spring chicken, I’ve had careers in software writing and then in geriatric social work. I am a Vietnam veteran and Harvard graduate, living in Boston with my wife of nearly 40 years.
Paul Calandrino is a playwright, actor, and teacher living in Eugene, Oregon. His full-length plays include “Shrimp & Gritts: She’s Gone,” “My Happy Hour with Pegoda,” and “The Final Leg,” all of which were produced in the Northwest. His ten-minute play “Big Life” was a finalist in the 2011 National Ten-minute Play Competition. In 2009 he founded the Northwest Festival of Ten-Minute Plays and served as the festival’s executive producer for many years. He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Goddard College and leads playwriting workshops at Oregon Contemporary Theatre.
Paul Pasulka I am a Chicago playwright (paulpasulkaplays.com) and a psychologist (paulpasulka.com) on faculty at Northwestern University. My plays have been produced in Chicago and New York. Skin for Skin (the biblical Job in Abu Ghraib prison) was produced by The Agency Theatre Collective in Chicago. Gruoch, or Lady Macbeth was produced by Death and Pretzels in 2015. I presented “Neuropsychology, Creativity, and Storytelling” at the Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference in 2015. I have presented autobiographical stories at Goodman Theatre and The International Storytelling Festival in San Miguel Allende, Mexico. When not dissuaded I may also act and direct.
Paula Cizmar is a playwright whose work often combines poetry and politics. Her plays have been produced at Portland Stage, San Diego Rep, Playwrights Arena @LATC, and many others. Plays include January, The Chisera, Still Life with Parrot & Monkey, Street Stories, and Goat Springs Eternal, an adaptation of a 17th-century Lope de Vega play. Her many honors include an NEA fellowship and a TCG/Mellon Foundation On the Road grant. She is one of the writers of the documentary play Seven, which has been translated into 20+ languages and has been produced all over the world.
Paula J. Sanders-Nelson has been writing for stage and screen for almost two deccades. After graduating from the University of Texas @ Arlington, she entered the Art Institute of Dallas where she studied video/film production. By simple chance, she took a step into the world of theater, penning her first short play for the Teco New Playwright Competition, finally winning the New Playwright Competition in 2009. Paula is a seasoned educator and received her Master’s in Education in 2010. She has also epublished her work and is a freelance writer for various online publications, co-written several online TV series. In 2014, her short play “Conversations with God” was produced by the Sur-Ryl Entertainment in An Evening of Shorts-Theater Festival at the Underground Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Her one-act play “A Shift in Relativity” was also featured in the WaterTower Theater Out of the Loop Festival in Dallas, Texas. Most recently, two of her short plays have been produced in Rover DramaWerks “Women 365 Play Festival” including: “Twas Mercy Brought me…” about Philis Wheatly and “Curtain Rods” focusing on Marina Oswald (wife of Lee Harvey Oswald).
Pauline David-Sax’s work has been read/performed at The Nora Salon (Nora’s Playhouse), Tuesdays@9 (Naked Angels), and the Detention Series (ESPA/Primary Stages). She has studied playwriting with Richard Caliban (Gotham Writers Workshop), Jeni Mahoney and Winter Miller (both at ESPA/Primary Stages) and has studied directing with Austin Pendleton (HB Studio). She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Peggy Jones, M.F.A. received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Nebraska Arts Council for her play, “The Journey,” which tells the story of Aaron Douglas, first black graduate from the art department at UNL in 1922. Her 2017 play, “Flo”, has been nominated for a local arts award. Her interests include intersections between language, gender, racial identity, and socio-economic class and media (mis)representations of them. She is also a curriculum consultant with programming on educational restorative justice.
Penny Jackson I am an award winning playwright and novelist who lives in New York City. Plays include SAFE, (Best New Play at The Planet Connections Theater Festival) I KNOW WHAT BOYS LIKE, (Best Indie Theater Play of 2013) and BITTEN, (only American Finalist for The Kenneth Branagh award) and BEFORE, (winner of The GunPlay Competition, University of Illinois.) My plays have been produced in Edinburgh, Dublin, Chicago, Seattle and Minneapolis, and are published by New Stage Press and Indietheaternow.com. My novel, Becoming The Butlers and my short story collection, L.A. Child, are available on Amazon.com.
Peppy Barlow is a founder member of the WOVEN theatre company which was set up to promote new writing by women in East Anglia. Her plays include Mothering Sunday, runner up for The Verity Bargate Award; Missing toured by Woven 2006 ; Broken, Pulse Festival 2005. Also In the shadow of the doorway BBC Radio 4; The Sutton Hoo Mob Eastern Angles touring 1994 and 2006 and Trojan Whores, co-written with Sally Wilden and Dawn Rose. She is currently working on a site specific play for Landguard Fort in Felixstowe which is in receipt of Arts Council funding.
Phil Darg is the author/composer of dozens of plays and musicals. Works include: Sasquatched! The Musical (NYMF 2013 Next Link); The Pound: A Musical for the Dogs (2017 Theatre Now New York Sound Bites 4.0); ‘Til Death (Darkhorse Dramatists, NY; Artists Exchange, Cranston, RI); The Interrogation (Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, Ohio), Critical (Carrollwood Players, Tampa), We Need To Talk (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), The Quick Start Guide to Booting Your Man-Bot (Old Library Theatre, Fair Lawn, NJ); #OregonTrail (The Arc Theatre, Chicago); Hyard Ed [musical]; Facility (2017 William Inge selection; Twin Cities Arts Reader “Best in Fringe”), and Evolution. www.PhilDarg.com
Pilar G. Almansa Stage director, producer, playwright and teacher, she is the founding member of two theatre companies, CriaCuervos and La Pitbull. She has been the leader or participated in the creative team of more than 20 pieces: the political satyre Pacto de estado, that humorously predicted the Indignados Movement; Lucientes (¿Sois almas en pena o sois hijos de puta?), cowritten with Rakel Camacho, performance about ‘Spanishness’ inspired by Caprichos, Francisco de Goya; or Banqueros vs. zombis, the first show in Spain in which the audience chooses the narrative via mobile app. She currently teaches The Scientific Method applied to the Performative Experience in Nave 73 (Madrid), whilst finishing her PhD in Theatre Studies at UCM.
R. Johns is a published Australian playwright with a First-Class Honours Drama degree from Manchester University, an MFA (U.C.R), and a one year scholarship from Tulane University. She has been invited to present her work at Women Playwrights International curated conferences (Cape Town 2015, Stockholm 2012, Mumbai 2009 and Athens 2000). She was nominated for an AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild Award) for her play, As Told By the Boys Who Fed Me Apples (Big West Festival 2015, La Mama Courthouse 2017). Her play Black Box 149 had its European premiere at Staatstheater Nürnberg 2017.
Rachael Goddard-Rebstein is a London based writer and law student. She studied ‘The Book of Margery Kempe’ as an undergraduate, and she was inspired to write a play based on the life of Margery Kempe as her master’s thesis. She is currently completing a law degree at BPP University. In her spare time, she enjoys writing fiction, plays and poetry, and performing her poems at open mic nights.
Rachel Bublitz is an award winning and internationally produced playwright. Her full-length Ripped will have its World Premiere Production with Z Space, directed by Z Space’s Executive Artistic Director Lisa Steindler. Of Serpents & Sea Spray, a commissioned play, was produced with Custom Made Theatre Company and This Is Water Theatre. Awards include: 2018 Detroit New Works Festival Winner (Ripped), Playwrights Foundation’s 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist (Let’s Fix Andy), Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 2017 Heideman Finalist (Really Adult), and PlayGround’s June Anne Baker Prize. When she isn’t writing, she’s chasing after her two viking like children. www.RachelBublitz.com
Rachel Dickson has worked as a writer, actor, director, dramaturg, educator, producer, technical staff and artistic consultant for over 20 years. Her works have been produced in The Ensemble Theatre Creative Journey Series—Belonging; Fade To Black Ten Minute Play Festival–Erie Canal; Scriptwriters Houston Ten minute Play Festival 2013 and 2016–Trombone Trash (published with Next Stage Press) and To Each His Own respectively; Driven Theater Company Fragmentation Series—Parcel, Christmas Gift, Next in Line, I’m Sorry, Reflection. She has written over 20 pieces for religious programs and numerous devised works for conference meetings.
Rachel Baird Rudisill is a Cleveland, Ohio playwright. Her writing credits include “The Story of Susan and the Coin,” “All I Want For,” and “The Conference,” ten-minute plays performed as part of the Manhattan Project Cleveland Lab; “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” performed at Convergence-Continuum as part of the 2013 NEOMFA play festival; and “A Glimpse of Trees,” performed at Cleveland Public Theatre as part of Leap/Conceive 2012. She currently works in eLearning as a content writer and editor, and writes grants for the non-profit organization A Call Fur Help.
Raquel Provencio Gilarranz is a Madrid-based playwright born in 1977. She has a MD in Classical Studies and her interest for the Ancient Greek tragedies developed in a deeper interest in writing theatre plays. Following this passion, she has been enrolled in courses and workshops with the most successful playwrights in Spain, such as Jose Sanchis-Sinisterra, Alberto Conejero and Maria Velasco. Raquel‘s works are mainly short plays aimed at micro theatre. She is a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women group, currently working towards the official creation of the League in Spain.
Rebecca Burroughs has had plays in Houston, Denver, Westcliffe, Co., and in San Antonio at: 2009-2012 The Playhouse Play Fests, SA Luminaria and the Renaissance Guild. Was a finalist in the 2012 Tennessee Williams’ play contest, won a 2013 San Antonio grant to perform her Alzheimer’s play. In 2014 her short Van Gogh play performed at the McNay Museum and NW Vista College. Had short plays and poems published in the Aquila and Mayo literary reviews. Poem published in San Antonio’s HOT! climate change chapbook. She’s a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
Rena Tobey is an art historian, providing classes, talks, and tours in and around the Greater New York City region. She researches and writes about American women artists working before 1945, with a mission of resuscitating their careers through renewed awareness of their art. Rena’s plays focus on the challenges of identity, relationships, and fulfilling creative dreams. Just for fun, she has also created Artventures! Game—a cheeky party game on the adventures of art and art history.
Renee Rankin received her MFA in Creative Writing in 2011 from Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. She wrote the INSPIRATION column for JLTNews, the e-newsletter for Juneteenth Legacy Theatre. She’s had ten-minute plays produced by The Queens Players Act 5 New Play Festival in Queens, NY and the InGenius Fesitval and Testogenius Festival at Manhattan Theatre Source. In September 2011, her one-act play, Zap Belly, enjoyed a successful public reading at Manhattan Theatre Source as part of the Writers’ Forum New Play Reading Series. She’s a 2014 National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist.
Renee Lucas Wayne A Philadelphia native, Renee Lucas Wayne is a founding member of Black Magic Woman Productions. Her teaching artist work includes stints as a playwright-in-residence for Pennsylvania Arts in Education (PAEP), and the Prince Music Theatre’s Rainbow Company. Renee’s plays include “While The Gettin’s Good,” a romantic comedy which wowed audiences this past summer, “The Best of Everything” (winner, 20th annual Henrico Theatre Company One-Act Playwriting Competition), and “It’s A Man Thing” (winner, Acrosstown Repertory Theatre Company New Play contest). Her screenplays include “Another Man’s Treasure” (Top 5, Set In Philadelphia competition), and “Sweet Jonz” (Top 10, BWE Network contest).
Rex McGregor is a New Zealand writer specializing in comedy theatre and satirical humor. His short plays have been performed on four continents – from New York and London to Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. His most popular plays THREATENED PANDA FIGHTS BACK and GROW UP, JULIET have had numerous productions. Several of his scripts, including GIRLS ON THE BRINK, have been published by YouthPLAYS. He has a Master of Arts (Hons) in Languages and Literature from the University of Auckland and is currently a senior collections librarian at Auckland Libraries.
Rita Anderson, an award-winning playwright and poet, has an MFA Creative Writing and an MA Playwriting. A winner at the Kennedy Center, she went on scholarship to the O’Neill. Frantic is the Carousel was the National Partners American Theatre nominee, and Rita won the Ken Ludwig Playwriting Award for “Best Body of Work.” She has had 50 productions, worldwide, and 100 publications to include Early Liberty, a “Best-Selling Play” for the international publisher (www.offthewallplays.com), and two books of poetry: The Entropy of Rocketman, and Watched Pots (A Lovesong to Motherhood). Contact Rita through her website www.rita-anderson.com
Rita Kniess Barkey’s recent plays include Squeeze Box Air (Zoola Playwrights, 2014), The Humming (developed at 2013 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference); Techno Tango (2012 finalist, Seven Devils); Very F.B., (2012 finalist, Double (XX) Festival); Firewall (2011 Pandora Festival); as well as a dozen others that have been produced around the country. She has had staged readings at Chicago Dramatists, Indiana Theater Works, and Missoula Colony. Her accolades include a Djerassi Artist residency, the Basile Emerging Playwright award, an Indiana Arts Commission fellowship, and a Community Outreach Award from the Mary Anderson Center. She serves on the board of the International Centre for Women Playwrights and is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild. She received her MFA from Ohio State.
Robert F. Bradford has won two Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for Best Play in the Fringe of Marin Festival, and has also been produced by Construct Theatre Company on W. 14th St. in New York, the Black Box Festival at College of Marin in Kentfield, CA, the Ross Valley Players, the Petaluma Arts Council and Café Amsterdam in Fairfax, CA. His stories have been published in Bohème Magazine, SoMa Literary Review, Slow Trains Literary Journal, Coastline Journal, and Long Story Short. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English and Humanities at Dominican University of California.
Roberta D’Alois is a playwright and Artistic Director of Jump! Theatre, whose mission is to present theater based on authentic stories of mental illness. She has a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Brandeis and an M.F.A in Playwriting from San Francisco State, where she also teaches. As an artist-activist, Roberta was chosen as one of the 2016-17 Fellows at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where she worked with 30 other artists and change makers to delve deeply into the intersection of cultural and social responsibility. She is a former member of San Francisco’s PlayGround, a new play incubator. www.robertadalois.com
Robin Baron has participated in Page to Stage at The Kennedy Center 2014-2017. She was selected to be part of the Kennedy Center’s Playwriting Intensive in June 2016. Robin is a founding member of The Gang of Five and is a member of The Dramatists Guild. She lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband, Jason.
Rosa Walston Latimer, Austin, Texas, based her first play, “Harvey Girls,” on the true story of her grandmother’s experiences as one of Fred Harvey’s waitresses who worked in Harvey Houses along the Santa Fe Railroad in the early 20th century. Latimer is the award-winning author of a series of books about the establishment of Harvey Houses in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and Arizona. She also contributes regularly to a national magazine, was supervising director of a nationally syndicated children’s television program and has edited traditional and online newspapers. The author also teaches non-fiction writing workshops and is a writing consultant.
Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro My plays include Before I Leave You (Huntington Theatre in Boston), Behind Enemy Lines (Pan Asian Repertory in N.Y.), Mishima (East West Players in L.A.), Martha Mitchell (Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Six Figures Theater Co. in N.Y.), Barrancas (Magic Theater in San Francisco), Pablo and Cleopatra (New Theatre in Boston), Mexico City and Sailing Down the Amazon (the Boston Women on Top Festival), and It Doesn’t Take a Tornado and Amsterdam (La MaMa in N.Y.). I am co-producer, writer, and narrator of Japanese American Women: A Sense of Place, a documentary directed by Leita Hagemann, which aired on PBS in Seattle and was part of a traveling exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution. I was a 2010 Huntington Playwriting Fellow and received a 2011 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Playwriting. Several of my plays have been produced nationally and abroad and anthologized by Baker’s Plays, Heinemann, Meriwether Publishing, PlaySource, Smith and Kraus, and Charta Books, Ltd. I graduated from Harvard eons ago, received an M.A. from Berkeley and live in Cambridge, MA.
Rosemary Zibart is a former journalist who now writes plays and books for young people. She’s written an award-winning play for children about the first woman physician, Elizabeth Blackwell, and her adopted daughter Kitty called My Dear Doctor and another play Never Ever Landabout two children abandoned on the edge of the desert who find one of the silver slippers Dorothy dropped on her return from Oz. The Jewel in the Manuscript about famed author Fyodor Dostoevsky, winner of the Icicle Creek Theater Festival, was a finalist in festivals across the country and was produced at the Adobe Theater in Albuquerque and at Warehouse 21 Theater in Santa Fe. Another play based on historical figures, All Too Human was produced at Warehouse 21 Theater in Santa Fe. A comic play Babe, Ince was produced in New York City and is published in the Strawberry Play Festival Best plays anthology.
Sally Lambert began her professional career with the Lake George Opera Company, singing the role of Count Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus. The following season, she appeared with the Santa Fe Opera, covering the titular role of Carmen, and performing the role of Nancy in Albert Herring. Ms Lambert joined the New York City Opera and was a compramario singer for five years. She has taught voice in Florida and in Arkansas. She created her own stage company in northern Manhattan, The Laughing Dog Theatre, appeared in Man to Man, by the German playwright Manfred Karge, and as Hamm in Beckett’s Endgame.. She also staged her own works, which include Mitzvah in Little Rock, Exposure, and Grapefruit. Ms Lambert has directed stage plays, (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Rupert’s Birthday), and several operas—including Cosi fan tutte, Carmen, and L’enfant et les Sortileges.
Sam Chittenden lives on the South Downs in Sussex, UK and has written and directed a number of plays. Her ‘couple reunited’ two-hander, So You Say, played in Brighton and Camden in 2017 (“a play of pared elegance”). Her one-woman version of Metamorphosis premiered in Brighton and will play at Clapham Fringe in October 2018. (“Salivatingly sharp and sensuous“). Sam has recently completed Clean, a set of interwoven monologues featuring seven Brighton women from 1870 to today. She is currently working on a play about Sary Weaver, a Sussex woman who was said to turn into a hare. @DiffTheatre
Samantha Hill is an Australian primary teacher, writer and actor, and has recently branched out into producing. A graduate of the University of Melbourne/ VCA and RMIT, she has also trained with NIDA, Drama with a Difference and The Actors Space, and has a Masters of Teaching. As a playwright, she has had scripts produced by St. Martins Theatre of Youth, ATYP (Sydney), Short & Sweet (Melbourne and Sydney), Snatches Theatre Festival, Rumble Theatre and the Waterdale Originals. Samantha performs regularly with Melbourne-based independent company, SNAFU Theatre, and they have most recently produced her acclaimed one-woman show, ‘Merry Christmas, Bitches!’
Samantha Vakiener graduated from the College at Brockport, SUNY, in 2012 where she majored in Creative Writing and minored in Theatre and Film Studies. She will graduate in November 2015 from Spalding University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing with a concentration in Playwriting. Some of her favorite theatre credits include: Orestes 2.0 (director), bobrauschenbergamerica (assistant director), Turtle Play (The Play About the Turtle) (writer), Reefer Madness: the Musical (director), Mr. Marmalade (Costume Designer- KCACTF award winner), “Fluffy Mountain” (writer and director), “Starting Out Strong” (writer and director), and Why Don’t Ya Let the Whole Town In? (writer and director). Two of her short dramatic pieces were published in the Brockport’s literary magazine, Jigsaw. She now lives in Boulder, CO, exploring where her theatre career will take her.
Sandra de Helen‘s dramas and comedies have been performed all over the United States as well as Internationally. Audiences in NYC, Chicago, Ireland, and the Philippines have been entertained and challenged by Sandra’s provocative writing. Sandra studied with Maria Irene Fornes, and with Matt Zrebski. With Kate Kasten, she co-founded Actors’ Sorority in Kansas City, Missouri. Later Sandra founded the Portland Women’s Theatre Company as well as Penplay — a group of playwrights and screenwriters dedicated to developing the new work of multicultural voices. Sandra is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Sara Cowley (formerly known by her maiden name Sara Saenz) is a playwright who currently resides in Dallas, Texas. Sara is passionate about radical disability theatre that challenges societal and cultural norms. She has an M.S. in Disability and Human Development from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her great loves are Mexican food, Byronic heroes, and her cats Aurelia and Drogon. www.saracowley.com
Sara Israel’s plays have been seen throughout the country, garnering her the American Theatre Co-op Playwriting Prize and the Playwrights Circle Award, as well as being named a Princess Grace Award semi-finalist and a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville Heideman Award. Sara also works extensively as a theater director throughout Southern California. As a television writer, Sara’s first two produced scripts aired simultaneously. Additionally, her script “Triumvirate” was named “Best Un-produced Pilot” by Written By, the magazine of the WGA. “The Happiest Person in America,” a short film she wrote and directed, is currently on the festival circuit.
Sara K Larson I’m a writer and filmmaker based in Memphis, TN.
Sara Moros I am a spanish actress since I was 16 years old, when I discovered my vocation. I felt the call of the theatre the first time I went on stage. Since then I have done many plays, I have worked as a teacher of theatre classes of students and I have directed several pieces. Now I’m also writing my own pieces and playing it.
Sarah Bewley I was born young, grew old very quickly, then entered into my second childhood which I found far more satisfying than my first. Also safer. No longer having parents who threaten to move away and leave no forwarding address, or wave guns and rant drunkenly, was a remarkable improvement. I’ve ended up having a rather interesting life. I share my life with a very strange man who likes things that burn, explode, knives that are too sharp, and who makes art that literally made the State of Florida threaten to close a gallery. It’s never dull in my world.
Sarah Lawrence has earned productions across the country, including two for 2019: Bibo & Bertie and Duende: Recuerdos de Flamenco. Her plays have been produced in the Kennedy Center, the Soho Playhouse in New York, and stages across the south. She recently returned to playwriting after a twenty-year hiatus. The HBMG Foundation dubbed her a “gifted second-wind playwright.” 2018 highlights include being selected for the National Winter Playwright Retreat and a production by Lab Theater in Tampa of Bibo & Bertie. She completed her M.F.A. in Writing for Stage and Screen in 2016 from the New Hampshire Institute of Art.
Sara Lyons is a young theatre artist and dramatist with a passion for history and storytelling. Sara graduated from SUNY New Paltz with degrees in Theatre Arts and History. She uses her skills in acting, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, and producing to bring our past to life. Other plays include Rootless, an exploration of home and heritage for a second generation Irish-American; and The Nat Geo Series, a collection of plays inspired by issues of National Geographic. “Friend,” her five-minute play about friendship across species and biomes, was recently published in 105 Five-Minute Plays For Study and Performance.
Sarah Tuft‘s plays have been developed and/or produced at EST, Naked Angels’ Tuesdays@9, 24 Hour Plays at BAM and Monster Box Theatre in Detroit. Sarah’s docu-play, 110 Stories was developed in benefit readings at Geffen Playhouse, The Public Theater and The Vineyard Theatre with actors including Billy Crudup, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Edie Falco, James Gandolfini, Neil Patrick Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa Leo, Susan Sarandon and Kathleen Turner. 110 Stories is published by Playscripts and has been produced by U.S. regional, academic and community theaters as well as internationally. Sarah received a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship.
Scott Mullen is a longtime Hollywood screenplay analyst and screenwriter, a two-time winner of Amazon Studios’ screenwriting contest, whose thriller THE SUMMONING aired on TV One. His short plays have been performed around the world.
Shan R. Ayers is a professor of theatre at Berea College in Kentucky. In addition to being a playwright, he also designs scenery and lighting and, on occasion, acts and directs. He is the editor of “Scenes From the Common Wealth: Short Plays and Monologues by Kentucky Women.” He is currently editing “The Nibroc Trilogy” by Arlene Hutton, into a three play text for use in academic programs.
Sharai Bohannon is a Chicago playwright. She’s had work produced all over the Midwest and in North Carolina. Her script, The Great Steven Stravinsky, a ten minute play was published by Applause Books in 10-minute Plays for Kids (2015 Edition). Her play, Craigslisted, has received three collegiate productions, a community theatre production at The Lantern Theatre in Conway, Arkansas, received a concert reading at KCACTF Region 6 in 2016, and received staged readings at The Lorraine Hansberry theatre in 2016 and the Women’s Theatre Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2018.
Sheila Rinear is a playwright who has been the recipient of 6 Grants from the city of San Antonio for performance art pieces produced in the city’s Luminaria Festivals. This past summer her comedy Urned Praise won productions in both Austin’s Out of Ink Festival this June and NYC’s Unboxed Voices Festival. In 2013 she was commissioned by Access to Art (NJ) to write full-length Bound by Truth, and by The Playhouse San Antonio to write full-length Merry Gentlemen. Her current website is in the process of being updated.
Sheilah Rae Librettist and Lyricist for I Married Wyatt Earp (59E59 Theatre, 2011). Over 50 prdtns Funny, You Don’t Look Like A Grandmother pub. Sam French. 5 time Heideman Award Finalist for Lovelines, What Goes Around, The Waiter, On the Page, Single and Active. For Prospect Theatre Co, Portraits, Snapshots, Who Knew?, Destination Everywhere. Former Bway performer (Fiddler, Applause and more). Many jingles/recordings as writer/producer. Past President, League of Professional Theatre Women. Past Council, Songwriters Guild of America. Chair, National Membership, LPTW. President Board, NYTheatre Barn. BMus/University of Michigan, RAM and Guildhall School, London. Member Dramatist Guild, SGA, LPTW, AEA, SGA, AFTRA, Local 802.
Shellen Lubin and her songs have been featured in cabaret, on radio (Woody’s Children on WQXR-FM and a one-hour special on WBAI-FM), and in Milos Forman’s 1st American film, TAKING OFF. She has co-produced three festivals of 365 Women a Year (and other historical) plays, one at The Lambs, Inc., one at the 13th Street Theatre, and one March 2018 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Her plays and musicals have been performed in productions and staged readings at the Public Theatre, Henry St. Settlement, MCC, 13th St. Rep, AJT, and many other venues. She recently finished writing THE QUALITY OF RESPECT, her take on Shakespeare’s MERCHANT OF VENICE, and is currently finishing a new play about Sarah Bernhardt, and a musical based on Elsa Rael’s award-winning children’s books, WHAT ZEESIE SAW ON DELANCEY STREET and WHEN ZAYDEH DANCED ON ELDRIDGE STREET with Elsa Rael (book) and Matthew Gandolfo (music).
Sheree Bradford-Lea (SABL) is a freelance cartoonist, writer and mixed media artist, based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Her cartoons and writings have been featured in many different publications; her mixed media art has been exhibited in art galleries, museums, and other locations. She also teaches workshops. Sheree’s stand-alone monologue ‘I Am Supergirl’ was produced by Sarasvàti Productions, her monologue ‘How The Art Gets Made’ was shortlisted, and her play ‘The Devil Is In The Details’ was produced by Flush Ink Productions. Sheree has a wonderful husband Jim, and two equally wonderful children, Zoë and Monica.
Sophia Romma Playwright Dr. Sophia Romma received her MFA at NYU; PH.D. from Gorky Literary Institute. She has had three plays produced at La MaMa E.T.C. Her play, “The Mire” (Cherry Lane Theatre) received rave reviews from the New York Times. Her play, “Cabaret Émigré” (Lion Theatre) was heralded by the Villager. Most recently, her play, “The Past Is Still Ahead” competed as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival. She is the winner of the Grand Prix Garnet Bracelet for her cult film classic, Poor Liza at the St. Petersburg Film Festival. She serves as Co-Chair of the League of Professional Theatre Women’s International Committee, as Vice-President of the International Center for Women Playwrights, and is part of the Leadership of the Dramatists’ Guild Women’s Initiative, and serves on the Board of NYU’s Alumni Association. She is the President of NYU’s Alumni Club of Long Island.
Stephanie Satie I’m an actor/playwright. I often write plays that explore the way refugees and immigrants respond to disruption and relocation. I’ve written and perform three critically acclaimed solo plays — Refugees, set in an ESL classroom for adults and published by Samuel French, Silent Witnesses, based on interviews with child survivors of the Holocaust (multiple award winner) and Coming to America. Other non-solo plays include Leon’s Dictionary, set in Kiev, Ukraine as the Soviet Union crumbles, and now, Say Goodnight George – the Final Episode, inspired by George Burns and Gracie Allen.
Stephanie Swirsky writes about illness, death, grieving, and cultural identity with humor, levity, and a sense of romantic adventure.
Stephen Cedars is a writer, director and teacher originally from south Louisiana. His plays have been produced or developed both in New York City and throughout the country, and published by Original Works and IndieTheatreNow. As a producer and director in NYC, he has created work for stages in three boroughs, including several years of community programming. He has been a Theater Masters Visionary Playwright, a Fellow with Target Margin and America-in-Play, and a John Golden Prize recipient. He teaches both creative and academic subjects to students of all ages. He earned his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU, which he attended as a Rita and Burton Goldberg Fellow.
Sue Blundell’s most recent plays include ‘Feet of Clay: Rodin and his London Friends’, commissioned by the British Museum and performed there in May 2018; ‘Tell Me The Truth About Love’ and ‘The Man from the Sleepy Lagoon’, staged during FitzFest 2017 and 2016; ‘Treasure’, a short monologue about Peter Mark Roget of Thesaurus fame, performed in Manchester as part of the Big Festival Weekend in 2015; and ‘189 Pieces’, staged at the British Museum in 2014. She has also written plays about the Crystal Palace, the Happiness Index, Charles Darwin, and a bunch of Greek goddesses. See www.sueblundell.com
Sue Yocum began her theatrical career as an actor, but after writing/directing/performing sketch comedy with Five Card Draw and Women Out of the Blue in the 1990s, she switched her focus to writing and directing. In 2005, Sue created Playwrights for Pets, which produces play-reading benefits for animal rescue organizations in the NYC area. In addition to more than twenty Playwrights for Pets events (so far), Sue’s most recent New York City productions include Between Us Gals (playwright) and Camera-Ready Art (director). Member: Dramatists Guild, Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, Charles Maryan’s Playwrights/Directors Workshop, and the Barrow Group’s FAB Women.
Susan Apker began writing plays after many years backstage and onstage. She is currently President of Heller Theatre Company in Tulsa, OK, and creator/producer of the popular Heller Shorts, short play festival. Her works for the stage have been performed across the country.
Susan Battye Christchurch, New Zealand born, Susan Battye now resides in Auckland, where she writes and manages Drama Magic Ltd. A former Drama /English teacher, she holds a Diploma in Drama in Education (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), and MA (Loughborough University). The author of plays for young people, historical children’s novels, and English / Drama / Social Science texts, she co-wrote, directed and published with colleague Thelma Eakin, a much performed drama-documentary, The Shadow of the Valley about the Brunner Mine disaster. Their ensuing novel, The Mine’s Afire! was shortlisted for the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards in 2010.
Susan Long Haga teaches creative writing at Austin Community College. She earned an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a MA in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. Her plays have been performed in NYC, LA, and Austin.
Susan Hansell‘s historically-driven drama, Every Concentrated Fragment, was showcased at the 2017 William INge Festival. Her short comedy, In the Beginning… was presented at the 2017 Midwest Dramatists Conference and is a stand-alone short-short excerpted from her full-length tragicomedy Waiting for a Table at the Garden of Eden. Plays by Susan Hansell include My Medea, a selection of the Best American Short Plays series; Rollover Othello, a Pushcart Prize nominee as published in Oasis; and American Rose: Our Gals on the Homefront, 1941-1945, produced by Sightlines at The Ohio Theatre in New York City.
SUSAN MERSON is a long time writer, actress, producer and educator who has worked on both coasts in theatre, film and tv. Recent NY productions of DOOR OPENS WALK THRU, BETWEEN PRETTY PLACES and IN THE EVENINGS last year at the IN HER NAME FESTIVAL of women’s work. Current moderator of the NY Writers Bloc. More info at www.susanmerson.com.
Susan Shafer Susan’s award-winning plays have been produced or given staged readings in theaters across the country, including the Katharine Cornell in Nantucket, AlphaNYC in Manhattan, and Theater for the New City. In addition to writing plays for adults, Susan is the author of five plays for children, eight articles (published by The American Society of Journalists and Authors) and two best-selling books for teachers. Her article “The Best Place for Comics? The Classroom” was published in June 9, 2017, in Publishers Weekly. And her piece “Wedding Bells at 70” appeared in www.nycwoman.com in August, 2017. Dr. Shafer, a graduate of Columbia University’s Teachers College, is a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, The Dramatists Guild, The Authors Guild, and The Alliance for Jewish Theatre. She can be reached through her website www.sshafer.com
Suzanne Logan is the author of Knowing Women, a play based on the lives of five real women in their 90’s, which received recognition as a semi-finalist in the 2004 Arlene P. and William C. Lewis Playwriting Contest for Women, and as a winner of the 2008 Fall Play Festival at Manhattan Repertory Theater. Knowing Women is her first play.
Suzanne Trauth’s plays include La Fonda (HRC Showcase Theatre 2018-19 season, semi-finalist Premiere Stages New Play Festival), Françoise(nominated for Kilroy List, semi-finalist Boomerang New Play Festival), Midwives, Rehearsing Desire, iDream (supported by the National Science Foundation’s STEM initiative), and Katrina: the K Word, among others. Her plays have been developed and presented by Writers Theatre of NJ, Luna Stage Company, Premiere Stages, HRC Showcase Theatre, Nora’s Playhouse, and the New Jersey Theatre Center. She is currently a member of Writers Theatre of New Jersey Emerging Women Playwrights Program and the Dramatists Guild. www.suzannetrauth.com
Suzanne Wingrove Winner of Reva Shiner Award from Bloomington Playwright’s Project for “Maleficia” (drama). Winner of Stage 3 Festival of New Plays twice; for “A Show of Her Own” (feminist farce) and “Flights of Fancy” (comedy). Connecticut State Winner of Portland Stage Company’s Clauder Competiton for “Maleficia.” Recipient of two competitive writer’s residencies; Hedgebrook Writer’s Residency on Whidbey Island, WA and The Epsy Foundation in Oysterville, WA. Author of seven produced plays at venues that include the Women on Top Theatre Festival in Boston, Local Playwright’s Festival at Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, and numerous college and community theatres throughout the country.
365 Women A Year: a playwriting project 