I was born in Florida, moved to Manhattan at age 9-1/2, and after a year of misery, missing the independence I'd previously enjoyed, warm weather and sunshine, fell in love with New York. I wanted to be a film director out of high school, but instead studied history and Russian at Cornell (did make a film after my freshman year, which was shown at the Whitney, as part of a larger film). Then I went to law school at Stanford. I'd started writing fiction, including plays, in childhood, but stopped creative writing during law school and for the next 11 years. Had a baby! Changed my working life as an attorney to part time. Started writing again. Have had 10 plays, mostly short, produced in the Los Angeles area. Long time member of Fierce Backbone, a developmental theater company. Currently president of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, a volunteer service and support organization for playwrights. I really enjoy the rehearsal process. I learn so much from the actors. After 40 plus years of practicing law, this is now my full time career. 

MORE ABOUT ME
I'm interested in people's relationships. I love classical music. I think about the space on the stage. When I write, I see my characters moving in space. 

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I'm editing my 21st century new take on "Hedda Gabler." 

KEYWORDS
​Family, children, Jewish, equality, science fiction, farce, black comedy, historical, political. 

Mimi Ayers, born in Chicago, raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, gypsied across the country and now calls New Orleans “home.” She is an MFA Playwriting graduate of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop (CWW). Mimi writes stories based on family, history and fantasy. Her plays are as eclectic as her stories and poems. Two new plays written and workshopped with the CWW have had staged readings in New Orleans: "Man 2 Man" at the Valiant Theatre and "Circus Tails" at the Always Lounge and The Theatre at St. Claude. "Man 2 Man" was a semifinalist at the 2019 Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference. One of Mimi's short plays "Man Down" can be seen streaming as part of the 2020 Columbus Black Theatre Festival. Mimi’s film script “Eulalie Mandeville, F.W.C.” was published in 2021 in The ARTemis Arts Wisdom Anthology , a collection of plays and screenplays written by women over 50. 

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
N/A

MORE ABOUT ME
Telling stories on the page allows me to embody a total experience.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
Editing a rewrite of a play.

KEYWORDS
​Family, Children, Mixed, Historical, People of Color, musical, Cultural diversity, Justice

Dr. Julie Rae Mollenkamp is an award-winning teacher/director/actor/playwright/producer and Professor Emerita from the University of Central Missouri. She currently serves as the Representation, Equity, and Diversity (RED) Member-At-Large on the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Committee. Past leadership roles include: National Member-At-Large for the National Playwriting Program (NPP); and NPP Chair, Directing Coordinator, and Irene Ryan Preliminary Judge in Region 5. Her latest one-woman performance piece, Another Woman’s Baby, premiered at the Ryan Repertory Theatre in New York, is slated to be published by Original Works in 2022, and is included in the Rutgers’ 30 Year Feminist Artists Archives. Mollenkamp is the proud recipient of the 2020 Kennedy Center Gold Medallion in Region 5. In Conclusive Woman also premiered at the Ryan Rep, is included in the Rutgers' Archive, and is published in several anthologies. Other work includes group developed texts: GUST - a response to the Joplin, MO, tornado; STEP FORWARD - a call to action for social justice in American and ZOOOM! - a theatre for young audiences' play that celebrates human connection across diverse borders. (Premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) Proud member of NPX. She and her husband, Daniel, own Smashing Frames, a film and theatre production company that focuses on new voices and the synergy of talented artists working in a variety of media. Her favorite characters in the world are her sons, Charles and James.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
FB: Julie Rae Mollenkamp
TW: @thejul
IG: @julieraemollenkamp

MORE ABOUT ME
JEDI work excites me. 

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
Act II

KEYWORDS
​Equity, Justice, Family, Children, Adaptations, Immersive, Biography, Young Audiences

I am a playwright and a writing teacher at a community college. My plays have been produced locally and as a part of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival in NYC. In fact, my play, The Palmist, was just chosen for production in the June 2022 Festival. Another of my plays, Wanna Sing the Blues, will be produced in February 2022 through Femuscripts LoveFest 2. 

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA:
Website: http://www.dromioplayers.com
FB: kitty melville

MORE ABOUT ME:
I feel most like myself when I tell stories. I should have been born centuries ago and been a traveling storyteller... riding in a gypsy wagon from town to town with my story telling family and our trained, performing dogs.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON:
I'm currently writing a play about banshees and gancanaghs.

KEYWORDS:
​Feminist

Ashley Minihan's plays include Ophelia, The Sunrise Side, The Assistant, Remission, and Freedom. Her work has been produced and developed by the Actors Studio, Arizona Classical Theatre, Fault Line Theatre, the Lark, New Jersey Repertory Company, the New York International Fringe Festival, and Reign or Shine Productions, among others. Ashley was an Edward Albee Foundation Fellow in 2019. Her play The Assistant was featured in Table Works Press’s 2020 Recommended Plays list. She received an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. 

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
FB: Ashley Minihan
TW: @Ashley_Minihan
IG: ashley_minihan

MORE ABOUT ME
I saw "Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches" produced by the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island in the spring of 1996. I had just finished my sophomore year of college and was treating myself to a seeing this play that all the smart and cool people from my playwriting classes were saying I should see. My family were regular theatergoers, but our tastes tended to run towards in the direction of musicals, Neil Simon, and A Christmas Carol. I was a child of the Reagan era, and sex, drugs, AIDS, and homosexuality all fell under the vague category of "just say no." Suffice it to say that I'd had a sheltered childhood, but I loved the theater, and being involved in my high school dramatic club had been tremendously therapeutic for me when I was dealing with a debilitating illness. From the moment the play began, I was spellbound by the honesty and courage of Kushner's writing and by the flawed, raw vibrancy of the characters. The intermingling of reality with magic, of the banal and the terrifying and the joyous, all felt the closest to the actual phenomenon of living that I had ever encountered in a theater or any other artistic space, for that matter. When the Angel crashed through Prior's ceiling at the end of Part One, something broke open inside me too, and I have been freer ever since. I will be forever grateful to Tony Kushner and his wonderful characters for showing me what human imagination is capable of. 

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
Freedom- a play about a young secular Jewish college student who participates in the Missisippi Summer Project in 1964 and how her life changes after that summer

KEYWORDS
​Jewish, historical fiction, intersectionality, civil rights, Queer

Susan Lambert Hatem is a writer, producer and director originally from Decatur, GA now based in Pasadena, CA. Her new musical, The Flirt Bar, with songs by Amy Ray (of the Indigo Girls) and indie rocker Michelle Malone is currently in development with the Orchard Project Performance Lab. The President Carter play, Confidence (and The Speech), premiered Off-Broadway at Theatre Row in 2019 and is a SETC Ready To Publish finalist. Through her company, 134 West, Susan develops new works and diverse voices for theatre, film and TV. Favorite projects include including An Appalachian Twelfth Night, Homeward LA, O Baby Mine: Sing a Song of Shakespeare, Ty, The Pie Guy and the critically acclaimed musical Bend in the Road: The Anne of Green Gables Musical. Before starting 134 West, Susan was Director of Creative Content at Walt Disney Studios, producing over 100 digital campaigns, including Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles and The Royal Tennenbaums. She developed the first Disney Pictures mobile site and holds a patent for Disney’s first online entertainment ticketing system. Before Disney, Susan was an independent filmmaker and screenwriter. She served as Associate Editor at Boxoffice Magazine and has written for Variety and Produced By. A Clio and Key Art Award-winner, Susan holds a BA and MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Producer’s Guild, Working Title Playwrights, LAFPI, Honor Roll and ALAP. “Hatem’s actual mission is to take everything we’ve been taught to believe in, everything we take for granted, and stand it on its ear.” – Splash Magazine 

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://susanlamberthatem.com
TW: https://twitter.com/SusanLambert
IG:https://www.instagram.com/susanlamberthatem
FB: https://www.facebook.com/swoosan/

MORE ABOUT ME
The piece of theatre that changed my life is also my most gratifying moment in theater. I've been lucky to have other moments, but none as precious. I was asked to direct An Appalachian Twelfth Night, adapted by my friend Robert Williams. It was a critical and financial success - but more importantly it was one of those productions which makes you believe in the absolute magic of theatre. I came back for closing night. It was sold out, so I sat on a bucket, squeezed into edge of the balcony of the Globe Playhouse. I could see everything: our incredible cast prepare backstage, perform onstage and could watch the entire audience lose their minds with joy. It was the moment I knew I had to continue to create in theatre as well as film and the moment which set me on an incredible path. I write and produce across a lot of fields, but I feel theatre is more important than ever - I am especially interested in new interpretations of old stories and entirely new stories from traditionally marginalized voices. Almost 20 years ago, I wrote this in the program notes for that show. Stunningly, still how I feel: "Currently in America fear persists, paranoia reigns, darkness rises and we face a world that sometimes feels it may break apart at its economic and political seams at any moment. So what does theatre, or Shakespeare for that matter, have to offer us? Our hope is that art and music can be light in the darkness. And that theatre, as it evolves and grows, can become a vital part of every community and help us find our way in the world --- lifting us up across time to bring diverse peoples to a universal understanding." 

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
For 2022: The Flirt Bar, The Perfect Remains and a New Works Festival

KEYWORDS
​Equality, Historical, Adaptations, Climate, Romance, Science Fiction, Musical, Family, Children, Satire, Women, Immersive/site-specific

Tori King Rice is a California-based playwright, teaching artist (Playwrights Project and CoTA) actress, and co-host of the podcast Hey Playwright. She has enjoyed collaborations/productions/readings with Dragon Productions/Dragon Eggs; The Magnetic Theatre; Rainy Day Collective; Scripps Ranch Theatre, New Play Café; San Diego Fringe Festival; SMoCA's Lit Lounge; Spark! Powerhouse Theatre; New Perspective Festival, as well as site-specific and immersive theatre in cafes and courtrooms. Contests: New Village Arts Final Draft New Play Festival (BOX OF TEETH); Scripteaser's Script Tease of Short Plays 2021 (BOX OF TEETH, Honorable Mention), 2019 (DEVIL-IN-A-BOX, First Place) and 2018 (LIKE IVY, First Place); SRT's Out on a Limb 2019 (THE HUNT(s), 2nd place audience favorite) and 2014 (TINY); New Perspective Play Festival  (BOTTLED IN, BABY). SISTERS IN THE SYSTEM, her interactive play of two young women in foster care, was commissioned by Playwrights Project and has been performed at the California Western School of Law courtroom, SDSU, Cal-State San Marcos, San Diego Mesa College, and Palomar College. She is a founding member of the San Francisco-based Club Solo, as well as a former ensemble member of the groups New American Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) and Aurora Mime Theatre (Tempe, AZ). Favorite acting roles include her critically acclaimed one-person show, THE MORE MEN WEIGH (Edmonton Fringe); STRAIGHT TALK (LA, Odyssey Theatre); THE HAMLETMACHINE (ASU and Emporia State University); and STEEL MAGNOLIAS (Winterstock Regional Theatre, AZ, Best Supporting Actress). She has appeared in dozens of commercials and films.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://www.toriking.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/tori.rice.543 and https://www.facebook.com/heyplaywright
TW: @toririce and @heyplaywright
IG: @kibosh94 and @heyplaywright 

MORE ABOUT ME
My theatre-making explores the connection of the individual to the community, inviting audience and fellow collaborators to challenge beliefs/biases, and seek understanding through the lens of identity, mental health, addiction, social injustice, resilience and hope. Some of my most gratifying moments have been in the classroom. As a teaching artist, I primarily work with individuals impacted by the justice system and seeing them make discoveries about characters and realize their power as playwrights is magic! Other standout moments have come in the rehearsal room, sharing space with other people, creating the community that only theatre can. My heart project is the podcast I co-host with Mabelle Reynoso, Hey Playwright. I love to talk story and process. Having the opportunity for conversations with fantastic theatre-makers, all of those who make the magic happen, is truly a dream come true. 

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I am currently expanding my 10-minute play, "Box of Teeth," into a full length. 

KEYWORDS
​Thriller, dark comedy, fantasy, satire, family dynamics, addiction, foster care, incarceration, mental health, social injustice, ambiguous loss, immersive/site-specific, neurodiversity, desperation, Bigfoot, mother/daughter, supernatural 

Mabelle Reynoso is a Latinx multidisciplinary storyteller and teaching artist whose work has been performed in traditional and non-traditional theatre spaces, including classrooms, community centers, and correctional facilities. Her art is largely informed by her work with underserved and marginalized populations, including non-English speaking immigrants, expectant teens, foster youth, and justice-involved youth and adults. Mabelle is a recipient of the 2021 ReImagine: New Plays in TYA grant for her play, "¡Lotería: Game On!" and was workshopped at Teatro Bravo in Tempe, Arizona in October 2021. Her play “Remember That Time” about a young girl grappling with her father’s incarceration was performed at the 2021 San Diego Rep Latinx New Play Festival local panel. Her short play, “Better Living Through Albondigas” was featured in “Ofrendas en Pandemia: A Día de Muertos Anthology” – a virtual filmed theatre experience centering Latinx stories in the age of Covid-19 (Tuyo Theatre, 2021). Mabelle penned the script for the San Diego Symphony's 2021 holiday show, Noel Noel. One of Mabelle’s greatest collaborations was “The Scariest Movie” – a 10-minute play she co-authored with her 11-year old son, featured in the anthology “I Have a Story” (Dramatic Publishing, 2021). In addition, Mabelle is a member of TuYo Theatre where she leads Pa' Letras, a workshop for emerging Latinx playwrights. She is also the co-host of the podcast Hey Playwright. Mabelle has a BFA from New York University, an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Education for Social Justice at the University of San Diego. Mabelle is a member of the Dramatists Guild, TYA/USA, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She was proudly born in Tijuana, Mexico.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://mabellereynoso.com
IG: @mabellodrama

MORE ABOUT ME
My favorite thing to do when I’m not writing is to get people excited about their own writing. That’s why I love being a teaching artist. I especially love working with writers who are new to playwriting, particularly folx who have not had many opportunities to engage with the arts. One of the greatest joys I have experienced has been to bear witness to those moments when a new writer discovers the potential and power in their own words. This is especially powerful when the writers have felt, before that moment, that they did not have anything to say or that nobody cared. When a new writer sees, for the first time, an audience connect with their work – that is pure magic.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I am currently splitting my time between TYA projects and a full-length play for grown-ups, all centering strong Latinx women and girls!

KEYWORDS
​Latinx, Mexican-American, Chicana, holiday, young audiences, TYA