Anne Cofell Saunders (MFA 2000) Anne Cofell Saunders is currently a writer/producer on the NBC dramedy “Chuck.” She has also written for the SciFi Channel series “Eureka” and “Battlestar Galactica.” During her tenure on the show, “Battlestar Galactica” was honored with a George Foster Peabody award for excellence in television, and Saunders was nominated for a Hugo Award for an episode she wrote entitled “Pegasus.” Saunders began her career in television working on the Emmy-winning FOX hit series “24,” working her way up through the ranks as an assistant and researcher, until finally writing a freelance episode for “24” in 2004. Saunders graduated from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, with a B.A. in English, and earned an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Ohio University. She’s a native of South Dakota, and currently lives in the Los Angeles area with her concept designer husband, Phil Saunders.

Jeni Mahoney (MFA 1991)  Jeni is a playwright, teacher, producer and the founding Artistic Director of Seven Devils Playwrights Conference which has developed more than 50 new plays since its inception in 2001 and is featured in Michael Wright’s 2005 book “Playwriting: At Work and Play.” Jeni’s plays including The Feast of the Flying Cow… and Other Stories of War, The Martyrdom of Washington Booth, Mercy Fall and Light have been presented at the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Center, InterAct Theater (Philadelphia), L.A. Theater Center, MidWest New Play Festival (Chicago), Lark Theater’s Playwrights Week, Rattlestick Productions, NYU’s hotINK Festival, Village Rep and Chicago Womens Theater Alliance among others. Her one-acts Throw of the Moon and American Eyes were commissioned and produced by Gorilla Rep and can be found in "Plays and Playwrights 2001" edited by Martin Denton. She was commissioned by the OBIE-Award winning Mint Theater to adapt Margaret Ayer Barnes’ dramatization of The Age of Innocence. Jeni is the recipient of an Independent Artists Challenge Grant from Field and a Woolrich Postgraduate Fellowship from Columbia University. Excerpts from her plays can be found in numerous monologue and scene books. Jeni teaches playwriting in New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts BFA program through Playwrights Horizons Theater School. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Qui Nguyen (MFA 2002): Originating from Southern Arkansas, Qui Nguyen is a Brooklyn based Playwright/Fight Director and serves as the Artistic Director of Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company. Qui’s plays include the VCTC productions of Vampire Cowboy Trilogy (FringeNYC; Common Basis Theatre; published in PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS 2005); Stained Glass Ugly (Midtown International Theatre Festival; Noho Studios in Los Angeles; Center Stage, NY; Louisiana Tech University); A Beginner's Guide to Deicide (Center Stage, NY); and Drowning in Denmark (Center Stage, NY). Other plays include Bike Wreck (Metropolitan Playhouse); Stand-up Absurdity (Wing & Groove Theatre of Chicago); That’s All Mime (Vital Theatre; The Lady Cavaliers); Slicing Andre (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Pavilions (Ma-Yi Theater); the short films, Anonymous Korean Assassin and Take Back directed by John Eung Soo Kim (Asian American International Film Festival); and the upcoming Off-Broadway Production of Trial By Water: A Gook Story Part One directed by John Gould Rubin (Ma-Yi Theater/Queens Theatre in the Park). His scripts have also been workshopped and part of staged readings series at Mark Taper Forum, The Goodman, New Dramatists, The New Group, Pan Asian Rep, Pantaglieze Theatre, DueEast Theatre, and The Immigrant's Theatre Project. Honors include the The Gilman/New Dramatists Playwriting Fellowship; recognition as one of New York Theatre Experience’s 2004 Artists of the Year; Ohio University’s Scott McPherson Playwriting Award; nominated for Best Choreographer by the New York Innovative Theatre Awards; honorable mention for screenwriting from the MTV/Asian Cinevision 72 Hour Film Shoot; winner of Kennedy Center’s ACTF Five Alive Onstage playwriting contest; and a commission from Ma-Yi Theater Company and the Jerome Foundation. Qui is a co-director of Ma-Yi Theater’s Writers Lab, a member playwright of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, and a recognized advanced actor/combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.

Aaron Carter (MFA 2005) is a Chicago playwright, and as of September 2007, the new literary manager of the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens theater there. His paternal grandfather was a black Baptist preacher, his maternal grandparents were white vaudeville performers. The influence of his ancestors is seen Aaron's work which focuses on race, faith, and obscure performance skills... His play Panther Burn was produced in October 2006 by MPAACT at Victory Gardens Greenhouse, and was nominated for the Black Theater Alliance's "Best Writing of a Play" Award.  His Raw Material will be produced by EP Theater in September 2007. His latest play, Iowa Akhbar, will be presented in a workshop as part of the KNF Series in New York; the play was originally read at Chicago Dramatists, and further developed at Grinnell College. Recently, his short play Kegger was part of Collaboraction's Sketchbook 2006; First Words was presented at Around the Coyote reading series; Swamp Baby was read in the Side Project's Harvest Series in Chicago, as well as the Soho Think Tank Sixth Floor Reading Series in New York; and his play If Condition was produced as part of Manhattan Rep's Winterfest, also in New York. Aaron's work has also been read at Victory Garden's Theater and Chicago Dramatists, where he is a resident playwright... Aaron was a Minority Scholar in Residence at Grinnell College in the Spring of 2007, and his teaching work includes theater and writing courses at Grinnell College, Roosevelt University, and Indiana University NW, as well as outreach work with Steppenwolf Theater, Congo Square, American Theater Company and After School Matters. Aaron is also the creator of the blog New Terminology For Dramaturgy (NTFD) at http://ntfd.blogspot.com/.

Merri Biechler (MFA 2007) lives in Ohio. Her plays include Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver (2007 Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award winner, 2007 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition finalist; 2007 Princess Grace Award finalist, 2007 WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory participant; and the recipient of over $30,000 in grant awards for developing the play as a teaching tool for medical students); Real Girls Can't Win! (nominated by Victory Gardens Theater for the 2007 Stavis Playwriting Award; scheduled for workshop at VG in December); Dolley and the Secret History Club (2007 Kennedy Center/White House Historical Association commission); Bombs, Babes and Bingo (Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission finalist, 2007);The Bathtub Play (2005 Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award); Brace for Impact (Cleveland Public Theatre); The Celery Conspiracy (Foundry TheatreWorks, Los Angeles); and her one-woman show Ain't I A White Woman (Foundry TheatreWorks, Los Angeles).  A monologue from The Celery Conspiracy appears in "Audition Arsenal for Women in Their 30's" by Smith and Kraus Publishers, Inc.  She is the recipient of the 2005 Scott McPherson Award for Playwriting. As a professional actor, Merri studied acting with Stanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC and at his home on the island of Bequia, West Indies.  She was a founding member the Edge Theater with fellow North Carolina School of the Arts classmates Peter Hedges, Mary-Louise Parker and Joe Mantello, and acted in more than a dozen new plays with the company.   She appeared Off-Broadway in Tony 'n Tina's Wedding, has been seen in the films He Said, She Said, Man of the Year and The Thing Called Love, and in guest starring parts on TV in E.R., Judging Amy, Murphy Brown and Love and War.  She worked at ABC Television for three years writing scripts and treatments for its Movie-of-the-Week division.   Merri is a member of the Writers Guild of America, Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, and a member of the once glorious, and now defunct, Circle Rep Lab.   

Laura Jacqmin (MFA 2007): Laura Jacqmin’s plays have been produced and developed with Ars Nova, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 2econd Stage Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight Theatre, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, Culture Project, the 24 Hour Plays Off Broadway at the Atlantic Theater, and the inaugural NNPN University Playwrights Workshop at Stanford University, among others. Jacqmin is the recipient of the 2008 Wasserstein Prize for emerging female playwrights, and two of her plays have won Aurora Theatre Company’s Global Age Project, in 2007 and 2009. Her play SKI DUBAI will be produced in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s 5th Annual First Look Repertory of New Work in summer 2009. She was a finalist for the 2009 Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship and the 2008 Princess Grace Award. Jacqmin has received grants and commissions from the Foundation for Jewish Culture, Ohio University, Victory Gardens Theater, Collaboraction, and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Her full-length plays include AND WHEN WE AWOKE THERE WAS LIGHT AND LIGHT, SKI DUBAI, HOLIDAY GIRL, LOOK WE ARE BREATHING, ALBERTA/EINSTEIN, PLUTO WAS A PLANET, THE REVISIONISTS, and 10 VIRGINS. Some of these plays (and a few others) have been published by Smith & Kraus and Playscripts, Inc. She has taught playwriting at Ohio University, the Center on Halsted, 826CHI, the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, and Chicago Dramatists, and is currently an adjunct faculty member at Carthage College. From 2007 to 2008, she was a contributing writer for The Onion A.V. Club and Decider.com. Jacqmin will be in residence at the Center on Age and Community at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this fall. She is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a founding ensemble member of the New York-based At Play Productions, and a member of the Old Vic New Voices: New York network. She lives and works in Chicago.

Chantal Bilodeau (MFA 2001) is a playwright and translator originally from Montreal, Canada. Her plays have been presented by Alleyway Theatre, Brass Tacks Theatre, Centro Cultural Helenico (Mexico), City Theatre Company, The Lark Play Development Center, Magic Theatre, The Met Theater, New Dramatists, Ohio University, the University of Miami, Philadelphia Dramatists, Raw Impressions, ScriptLab (Canada), and Women’s Project & Productions. She has been supported by Etant donnes: The French-American Fund for the Performing Arts and Association Beaumarchais. Her translations include JAZ, BIG SHOOT, and MISTERIOSO-119 by French-African playwright Koffi Kwahulé, and plays by Congolese playwright Pierre Mumbere Mujomba, and Jean Cocteau. She is an alumn of Women’s Project & Productions Playwrights Lab, The Lark Playwrights Workshop and the Dramatists Guild Fellowship. Her most recent play PLEASURE & PAIN will be presented at the Magic Theatre in February 2007 and in a Spanish translation in Mexico City in May 2007. She lives in New York City.

Ian Mairs (MFA 2003) opened his own drama studio (Oasis Theater Studio) in July 2004 in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. He now has over 30 students in acting, playwriting, voice and movement. The playwright's unit at the Oasis will present their first festival of readings (Voices from the River) in June. Ian is also teaching theater courses at Florida Community College and Coastal Georgia Community College. His two person play, Our David, will receive a production at the Full CircleTheater in Kansas City this summer. His play, Bay at the Moon, received successful productions this year in New Mexico, North Carolina and Kentucky.

Darcey Mesaris (MFA 2003) moved to Greenville, South Carolina in September to take the Director of Marketing position at Greenville Little Theatre, the oldest and largest performing arts organization in Upstate South Carolina. She is still working on her writing, having collaborated on Lexington Children's Theatre original script of "Why Mosquitoes Buzz" last spring.

KARL ÁGÚST ÚLFSSON (MFA 1994) grew up in Reykjavik and the neigbouring community Mosfellsbaer and has worked as an actor, director, writer, translator and lyricist since 1981. PRINCIPAL WORKS: The list below contains writing and teaching credits only, not acting or directing. FULL LENGTH PLAYS: Almost Sold Out (National Theatre of Iceland 1990) White Darkness (Reykjavik Arts Festival 1997 - National Theatre of Iceland 1997-’98) Beautiful World (Reykjavik Theatre Company 1998) Sentinels (The Café Theare 1999) Grandpa’s Chair (The Hafnarfjordur Theatre 1999) Sun and Moon (Reykjavik Theatre Company 2002) Pinoccio (Musical adaptation of Carlo Collodi‘s story – Reykjavik Theatre Company 2007) SHORT PLAYS: Body and Mind (Arts Festival Club 2000) A Cosy Evening (The Pacifist Group 2000) Why Won’t Anyone Love Me? (Reykjavik Arts Festival 2002) TELEPLAYS: Love in a Bakery (National Icelandic Broadcasting Service (RUV) 1998) Oh My! (RUV 1998) Scene One (RUV 1998) TELEVISION SHOWS (Musical/Comedy) The New Year´s Eve Show (RUV 1985) The New Year’s Eve Show (RUV 1986) The Election Special (Channel 2 1987) The Election Special (RUV 1995) The New Year’s Eve Show (RUV 1995) The New Year’s Eve Show (Co-Writer RUV 1999) The New Year´s Eve Show (RUV 2004) TELEVISION SERIES: ’89 at the Station - 15 episodes (RUV 1989) ’90 at the Station - 25 episodes (RUV 1990) ’91 at the Station - 25 episodes (RUV 1991) ’92 at the Station - 19 episodes (RUV 1991) ‘Yet another Station - 26 episodes (RUV 1996) Life at Stationary - 15 episodes (RUV 1997) ‘Yet another Station - 25 episodes (RUV 1998) ‘Yet another Station - 25 episodes (RUV 1999) Spiral - 10 episodes (RUV 2001) The Laff-Ice - 25 episodes (RUV 2002-’03) The Laff-Ice - 25 episodes (RUV 2003-’04) The Laff-Ice – 25 episodes (RUV 2004-05) The Laff Ice - 27 episodes (RUV 2005-06) The Laff Ice – 27 episodes (RUV 2006-07) The Laff-Ice – 28 episodes (RUV 2007-08) RADIO PLAYS: Sometimes They Come Back (Adaptation of Stephen King’s short story - National Icelandic Broadcasting Service (RUV) 1985) I’m a Radio (RUV 1990) The Prodigal Son (RUV 2000 - National Radio of Finnland 2001 - National Radio of Estonia 2001) An Unmarked Opus in C Minor (RUV 2006 – Nominated for the Grima Awards as Radio Play of the Year) RADIO SERIES: The Nine Wrong Answers - 6 episodes (Adaptation of John Dickson Carr’s thriller - RUV 1985) Thanks But No Thanks 19 episodes – (Comedy - RUV 1986) This Is the Laff-Ice Calling - 52 episodes(Comedy - RUV 1986) In Other Murders - 11 episodes (Comedy - Bylgjan Radio 1987) Daily Bull - 26 episodes (Comedy - RUV 1988) In Other Murders, part 2 - 52 episodes (Comedy - Bylgjan Radio 1993) PUBLISHED BOOKS: I’m Simply Me (National Publishers of Educational Materials 2001) Genderbender (Natonal Publishers of Educatonal Materials 2002) Sexual Life (National Publishers of Educational Materials 2006) UNPRODUCED: Passage of the Night (Adaptation of Frida Sigurdardottir’s novel) Off Ship (Screenplay) Can of Dreams (Screenplay) Infantile (Screenplay) TRANSLATIONS: Translations of novels and plays for radio and stage are close to 40, among them the musicals West Side Story, Cabaret, The Wisard of Oz, Rent, The Full Monty, Singing In the Rain, John Ford’s play ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Ibsens‘ Peer Gynt and Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit. TEACHING CREDITS: Has taught Playwriting at The University of Iceland‘s Department of Continuing Education, The Icelandic University of the Arts, The National Theatre‘s Educational Division, The BIL Drama School and The Faerou Island‘s Drama School. Has a continuing class of Creative Writing in the Masters program of Journalism at the University of Iceland. AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS: The radio play The Prodigal Son was chosen as Iceland’s contribution to the Prix Europa radio play contest in 2001. Received the Icelandic Language Awards in 2003 for work on Television. Nominated for the Edda Awards in 2003 for the TV series The Laff-Ice (Outstanding Television Series) Won the Edda Awards in 2004 for The Laff-Ice (Outstanding Comedy Series) Received the President‘s Educational Award in 2007 for his educational material (I‘m Simply Me, Genderbender and Sexual Life) Was named Honorary Artist in Residence of the community of Gardabaer in 2007.his past year has been crazy like all the previous ones. I just renewed my contract with The Icelandic Broadcasting Service TV to write, direct and act in one more series of my comedy show, The Laff-Ice, which also happens to be the name of the ensemble involved in the show. We received the Edda Awards last winter as "Outstanding Television Comedy" and our ratings are still fantastic.  I just finished a new radio play for the Radio Theatre. It's called "Unmarked Opus in C minor" and it is written for two grand dames of the Icelandic theatre who are celebrating their 40th anniversaries next season. Currently I'm working on an Icelandic translation of Ibsen's Peer Gynt for the National Theatre.

Melissa Gawlowski (MFA '05)  Melissa Gawlowski grew up in Hell, Mich. and currently lives in Brooklyn. NY credits include: The Frankophile (City Attic Theatre), The Cellar (5th Annual Festival of Samhain; Semi-finalist, 2007 Strawberry One-Act Festival), On the Line (City Attic Theatre; Brooklyn College Directors Showcase), Mimi Meets Her Match (The 52nd Street Project), and Metis (a collaboration with Marie Evelyn, presented by Analogous at the Tank). Other plays: Spring Tides (Cardboard Box Collaborative, Philadelphia), The Summer That God Paid a Visit to Hell (Central Michigan University; Hong Kong Cultural Center, Hong Kong), The True Story of Harold Tubbsman (Region III American College Theatre Festival). Publications: New Monologues for Women, By Women II (Heinemann), two volumes of Audition Arsenal (Smith and Kraus). Melissa is the Education Assistant for Teaching Artists at Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education. She has served as Literary and Education Coordinator of Premiere Stages in Union, NJ, followed by a term on the company’s Advisory Board. She is the resident playwright and literary manager of City Attic Theatre and an artist-in-residence of Analogous, Inc. Next up: reading with East 3rd Ensemble in NYC this May.

John Ray (MFA '04): "After leaving Athens I entered the doctoral program in Theater at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. I'm currently on leave of absence from SIU and living in Cincinnati, where I'm an adjunct instructor at Brown Mackie College, teaching English Lit and Composition. Beginning in January, I'll also be teaching at Southern State Community College in Hillsboro, Ohio. My one-act play A Gift for Simple Melody was produced in April '05 at Southern Illinois U., while another one-act, Pearl, had a staged reading at the Mid-America Theatre Conference in Kansas City in March. Right now I'm working on a one-man show for three women, to go up this Spring, and also on a full-length play about the Louisiana Purchase, the First Law of Thermodynamics and a can of chili-mac."

Christopher De Paola (MFA '06)  is a Cuban playwright originally from Hollywood, Florida. He is currently a head writer on WCIU-TV’s Green Screen Adventures.  His two plays Morning Traffic and DreamWater were commissioned and published by Pearson Education/Scott Foresman.  His plays Streets Come Knocking and Recovered were finalists in Chicago Dramatists’ ’06 and ’07 Many Voices Project.  Productions include: What I Knew Then (Doppelgang Productions, NYC); The Dialogue Between Men and Women (Intar Theater & The Theater Studio, NYC).  Workshop Productions include: Streets Come Knocking (Ohio University); Watchdog (Otterbein College, OH).  Readings include: Streets Come Knocking (Victory Gardens); Elements of Form (Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights' Festival, OH); The In-Betweener (Manhattan Theater Club, NYC).  Christopher is an Emmy Award nominated actor for his role on the television show Green Screen Adventures.  Acting Credits include: Eye of the Storm (Vittum Theater); Autobiography (Collaboraction: Sketchbook 7); Cynical Weathers (Victory Gardens); Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams (Victory Gardens); NYC premiere of A.R. Gurney’s The Guest Lecturer; Butterflies Are Free; King John; Don Juan In Hell; A Chorus Line; Charley’s Aunt; A Few Good Men; Ten Little Indians with Gordon Jump; Once Upon a Mattress; Wait Until Dark; Harvey; Romeo and Juliet; and the world premiere of Kia Corthron’s Catnap Allegiance.  Chris is a founding member of the NYC improv troupe Devil’s Dancebelt.  Christopher also produces a monthly evening of new work called Instant Theatre at Chicago Dramatists.  He has a BFA in Acting from Otterbein College, and an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University.

Dean Corrin: Dean Corrin is the Associate Dean and Head of the playwriting program at The Theatre School, DePaul University and a member of the Playwrights Ensemble at Victory Gardens Theatre.  His most recent play, Battle of the Bands, is scheduled for publication by Northwestern University Press in Victory Gardens Theater Presents: Seven New Plays from the Playwrights Ensemble.  Another play, Expectations, is scheduled for production this fall at the Wichita Center for the Arts.  He is a member of the First Look Council, a part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's First Look Repertory of New Work.

Mark Witteveen (MFA '06): Mark's plays have been seen in Seattle, Olympia, Chicago, and in New York at The Trilogy Theatre, Theatre Row Theatre, HomeGrown Theatre, and elsewhere. Several short plays have been honored in festivals and contests, including Actors Theater of Louisville's National Ten-Minute Play Contest, Kennedy Center ACTF Region III, Moving Arts 2005 Premiere One-Act Competition and FirstStageLA One Act Contest, among others. He is the recipient of OU's Trisolini Fellowship, and several arts grants. He recently moved to Rochester, New York where his work has been well received by the local theatres such as GEVA.

Justin Boyd (MFA 2003): Justin Boyd grew up in the shadow of Ohio University and currently lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. Most recently, his play Crusade was produced in New York City by the Drilling Co., and another play, Copy Man, won the 2007 Trustus Theatre Playwrights’ Festival (production, August 2007). Copy Man was also selected as a semifinalist for the 2006 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Other honors and productions include Luster & Suckers (production, 2005 Philly Fringe), Ultravision (semifinalist, 2005 Princess Grace Award) and The Nice Price (finalist for both the 2003 Heidemann Award and 2005 Three Genres Drama Contest). Justin is also a freelance journalist and was selected as a finalist for the 2005-2006 American Theater Affiliated Writers Program. Since moving to New York, he has written articles for the Brooklyn Rail, including “Do It to It Rita, You’re On: A Conversation with Quincy Long” and “We Are All Gooks: Qui Nguyen’s Trial by Water: Part One,” about OU alum Nguyen’s (see above) 2006 off-Broadway production with Ma-Yi Theater/Queens Theatre in the Park (brooklynrail.org). Justin’s other plays include Foreign Object, Sleeper, Lemonade, Swim, The Weight of Heir, Game Day, After the Prom, and Maestro. He has recently been named a 2007-2008 Affiliated Writer with American Theater magazine and will receive a $3,000 fellowship to write 3-4 articles between July 2007 and July 2008.

Joseph Gallo (MFA 2008): His play My Italy Story (Penguin Rep, TheatreWorks, Seton Hall University), which had its New York debut Off-Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre, and was nominated for the Gay Talese Literary Prize, was revived last season at 12 Miles West Theater in New Jersey.  Recent New York credits include his full-length play Warning: Adult Content at Theatre 54, and as co-creator and writer of the dance/theater piece 80% of Love at the Obie award-winning Ice Factory Festival at the Ohio Theatre.  A recipient of the 2006 Scott McPherson Award in Playwriting, his work has additionally been seen on the stages of HERE, Circle Rep Lab, Pearl Theater, Samuel Beckett Theatre,  Playwrights Horizons, 78th Street Theatre, Waterfront Ensemble, Atlantic Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Delaware Stage Company, Seven Angels Theatre, Orlando Fringe Festival, and at both the Hayworth Theatre and Hudson Guild Theatre in Los Angeles.  He has also worked extensively in development on both film and television projects, including a film chronicling the life of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and on the screenplay adaptation of the memoir Woody, Cisco & Me. 

David Davalos (MFA 1991) has been named by the National Theatre Conference as the recipient of the 2008 Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award for his new play Wittenberg. David's first full-length play, Darkfall, was produced at the American Stage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Sacred Fools Theatre in Los Angeles, and the Blue Room Theatre in Chico, California. His follow-up play, Daedalus: A Fantasia of Leonardo Da Vinci, was a selection of the 2001 Ashland New Play Festival and received developmental work at South Coast Rep and The Old Globe before receiving its world premiere at the Arden Theatre Company in 2002, with a subsequent production at the Blue Room Theatre. His latest play, Wittenberg, had workshop development and a public reading at the Arden Theatre Company in 2007 as part of the inaugural Philadelphia New Play Festival before receiving its world premiere on the Arden's Arcadia Stage in January 2008, for which it has been nominated for a Barrymore Award as Outstanding New Play. Wittenberg will be produced this season by the Orlando Shakespeare Festival, the Perseverance Theatre and the B Street Theatre..

Nicholas Sgouros (MFA 2008): Nick received a B.A. in English from Ball State University, where his play Radicals became the first student written full-length play produced by the Ball State School of Theatre as part of their season.  He has interned for Fox Broadcasting in their late night comedy development division where he worked with the writers of their new hit show Talk Show with Spike Feresten. His play School by the Sea was recently workshopped at the Knightsbridge Theatre in Los Angeles and his new play Annika Gold will be read as part of this season’s Round Table Reading Series at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. He is the 2007 winner of the Ohio University Scott McPherson Award.

Kara Dunn: Raised in California, Kara keeps on truckin' in pursuit of drama and education. Recently her ten-minute play, The Risqué Root, was selected for a staged reading at the 2008 Association for Theater in Higher Education conference in Denver, CO, and also received a staged reading at the 2008 Mid-America Theater Conference in Kansas City, MO. Kara’s Seven Questions had a staged reading in 2007 at River Union Stage, Frenchtown NJ. Her drama, Red Light Spectrum was selected and produced for the 2006 Playwrights In Process series held by Shenandoah International Playwrights and The Whole Art Theater in Kalamazoo, MI. Red Light Spectrum also received the 2005 Western Michigan University Research and Creative Activities Award. Her one act play, Mnemosyne was staged in the 2006 New Play Project series in the York Theatre at WMU and was a recipient of the Martin Critchell Award for Best Drama in 2005. For more about Kara: http://web.me.com/karaboo/.

Reginald Edmund hails from Houston, Texas. He is the former Artistic Director for the Silver House Theatre, as well as the founder and producer for the Silver House Playwrights Festival, and the Houston Urban Theatre Series where he was named the recipient of Rolling-Out Magazine “Houston’s 40 under 40” community choice award for his achievement in enriching the community through the arts. This year Reggie received the Kennedy Center inaugural fellowship for the Soul Mountain Retreat for Writers of Color and named runner-up for the Lorraine Hansberry and Rosa Parks national playwriting awards for his new play "Southbridge". His plays, which include "Redemption Of Allah Black", "Juneteenth Street", "Black Theatre: Solar Eclipse", and "Goldielocks And The Three Bears", have been developed at Karamu House Theatre, County Playhouse Theatre, Ensemble Theatre of Houston, the Playwrights Center of Minneapolis, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre Company and the Mid-American Theater Conference. He received his BFA in Theatre-Performance from Texas Southern University, and was hailed as the “Collective Artist” by the Houston Sun newspaper. For more about Reginald: http://reginaldedmund.com/.

Dana Lynn Formby is a blue-collar playwright whose attitude has been carved by the relentless Wyoming wind -- lips tight, eyes squinted, legs crossed because god knows what could blow in. Her recent plays include "Corozon de Manzana", invited to the 2009 WordBRIDGE Play Lab; "The Small of Her Back", a 2009 Kendeda Finalist; "Inherit the Whole", which was presented in readings at Premiere Stages and Victory Gardens Theater; "Armed with Peanut Butter", winner of the 2009 Kennedy Center National 10-minute Playwriting Award, presented as a staged reading at American Globe Theatre in 2008, and soon to be produced at The 2009 Source Festival in Washington DC; "Sugar Bear", a one act play commissioned by Ohio University's School of Medicine; and "Loaded Gavel", which was presented at the 2007 Houston Urban Reading Series. Dana is the 2008 recipient of the Scott McPherson Playwriting Award.

G. William Zorn: Bill is originally from Peoria, Illinois, but claims tertiary citizenship with Seattle and Chicago. He received an Associate of Arts degree in Communication from Illinois Central College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater from Eastern Illinois University. In 1995, he founded, and served as Artistic Director of, Chicago’s first LGBT theatre company, Theatre Q. In the summer of 2008, he served as Literary Intern for Bailiwick Repertory in Chicago, reading over four-hundred submissions. He is an alumnus of The Musical Theatre Writer’s Workshop under Director, John Sparks. His work has been produced all over the country, including plays: Sick Day and Straight Girls Are a Fag’s Best Friend at Bailiwick Repertory in Chicago, Connecting at Isis Arts Collective in San Francisco and Theatre Babylon in Seattle, and Poetry at 4th Unity Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival in NYC. He was the bookwriter for the musical The Day Sister-Sister Found Out at Theatre Building Chicago and has written incidental music for such productions as Burn This and Sick Day. In 2007, he received a commission from the Ohio University School of Nursing to write a new play about Type-2 Diabetes. The resulting play, Lucille, is currently touring throughout communities in Appalachia. His play Six/Love was chosen to represent Region III of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Bill is also an award-winning actor, director and vocal musician. For more information visit http://www.freewebs.com/gwzorn/index.htm.