PLAYWRIGHTS
BOB BARTLETT
BOB BARTLETT's plays include Union, an ink-still-drying fiction chronicling Walt Whitman’s years living and loving in Washington, DC during the Civil War; E2, a contemporary reimagining of Marlowe's Edward II, which premiered last season at Maryland's Rep Stage; The Orbit of Mercury (2017 O'Neill Finalist); Swimming With Whales (1st Stage - nominated for six 2019 Helen Hayes Awards; developed at Seven Devils Playwrights Conference); Happiness (and Other Reasons to Die) (The Welders); The Accident Bear (The Avenue Laundromat); Falwell (Active Cultures); Kuchu Uganda (DC Queer Theatre Festival); Kansas; and others. His work has also been seen at The Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage Festival and The Capital and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, and developed at Seven Devils, Rep Stage, Theater Alliance, Spooky Action Theatre, Mosaic Theater Company, and Alliance Theatre. His play Bareback Ink, a queer reimagining of the Ganymede myth, recently had a run at NYC's Hard Sparks. He is the 2018 Playwright-in-Residence at New Voices for the Theater, an affiliated artist with the National New Play Network, a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, and a member of the faculty at Bowie State University, where he teaches playwriting, screenwriting, and dramatic literature/theory. Bartlett is a founding member of The Welders, a DC-based, producing playwrights collective, who earned his MFA in Playwriting at Catholic University of America and lives in Central Maryland in an old farmhouse. (bob-bartlett.com)
MARSHALL BOTVINICK
MARSHALL BOTVINICK is a playwright, dramaturg, director, and educator based in Durham, North Carolina. He is a founding member of Bulldog Ensemble Theater. He holds an M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute at Harvard University and is currently a faculty member at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. His play The Hero and the Scholar was a finalist for the Todd McNerney Playwriting Award and the Georgia College Arts & Letters Prize for Drama. He is also the author of the monograph Jonson: Volpone.
NOAH DIAZ
NOAH DIAZ is a playwright from the Iowa/Nebraska border. His plays have been developed with La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, The Playwrights Realm, The Sol Project, Two River Theater, Howlround Latinx Theater Commons, Seven Devils New Play Foundry, and WildWind Performance Lab. He is a recipient of the ASCAP Cole Porter Prize, a five-time recipient of playwriting awards from the Kennedy Center, and is currently under commission from La Jolla Playhouse, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan, Baltimore Center Stage, and Audible/Amazon Studios. MFA: Yale School of Drama. www.noahdiaz.me
JESSICA HUANG
JESSICA HUANG is a playwright based in New York, from Minnesota. She is the inaugural recipient of the 4 Seasons Residency; the 2019 resident playwright at Chance Theater; a 2018 MacDowell Fellow; and a three-time Playwrights’ Center Fellow. Her work includes The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (2018 Barry and Bernice Stavis Award, 2017 Kilroy’s List), Mother of Exiles (2020 Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, 2020 Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, 2020 Kendeda Prize Finalist),Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying, and Purple Cloud. She has commissions with Manhattan Theatre Club, TimeLine Theatre Company, Audible, Theater Masters, History Theatre, and Theater Mu. Her work has been seen or read at New York Stage and Film, The New Group, Atlantic Theater Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, The Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Minnesota Museum of American Art, Yellow Earth Theatre and more. She has received awards from the Sloan Foundation, the Jerome Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Jessica co-founded and co-directs Other Tiger Productions, a theatrical production company with a mission to pursue multidisciplinary collaborations, intentional inclusivity and a re-examination of traditional theater practices. She has been a member of the Civilians R&D Group, Page 73's Interstate 73 and Ars Nova Play Group. She attends the Playwrights Program at Juilliard.
ANYA PEARSON
ANYA PEARSON is an award-winning actress, playwright, poet, producer, and activist. She is thrilled to continue developing The Killing Fields at Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, which reimagines Agamemnon through the war on drugs and its effect on inner city communities. She was the inaugural winner of the $10,000 Voice is a Muscle Grant from the Corporeal Voices Foundation, for her choreopoem, Made to Dance in Burning Buildings. Made to Dance in Burning Buildings was showcased at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater and received its World Premiere at Shaking The Tree Theatre where Anya was the Playwright-in-Residence for the 2018-2019 season. Anya is currently working on a series of projects (in dialogue with to Made to Dance) aimed at empowering other survivors of sexual violence (especially survivors of color), raising awareness around the lasting effects of PTSD and trauma, and combatting rape culture. They include: a collection of poetry, a TV show, a documentary, a memoir, and a guide to healing co-authored with a leading trauma expert. Anya received the $10,000 Problem Play Commission from Bag&Baggage Productions to adapt Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure focused on mass incarceration and its effect on black families. Her adaptation, The Measure of Innocence received its World Premiere in March 2020. She was a finalist for the 2020 George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship in Playwriting and a finalist for the 2019 National Black Theatre’s I Am Soul Playwriting Residency. Anya runs a production company called Urban Haiku whose mission is to produce groundbreaking work that transcends the traditional boundaries of theatre while also serving as the catalyst for art and community action to combine for real social change. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Linestorm Playwrights, Couch Film Collective, and a graduate of the William Esper Studio in New York City. Her best production is her 7-year-old daughter, Aidee, who can be seen, most nights, trying to circumvent bedtime by asking deep philosophical questions like: “When are we going to see the world? When is my life going to truly begin?” www.anyapearson.com
MATT PELFREY
MATT PELFREY is a theatre, film and television writer. His plays have been produced around the country and include Cockroach Nation, Terminus Americana, An Impending Rupture Of The Belly, Pure Shock Value, Freak Storm
and the stage adaption of The Pilo Family Circus and John Ball’s In The Heat Of The Night.
Los Angeles Theatre Works produced an audio version of In The Heat Of The Night, which aired nationally on National Public Radio. A live version of the LATW production toured the U.S. His work is available from Broadway Play Publishing, Original Works Publishing, and Samuel French.
He is the winner of the Actor’s Theater of Louisville’s Heidman Award, a Backstage Garland Award for playwriting, and was nominated for an LA WEEKLY playwriting award and a Los Angeles Ovation award.
He worked as a writer on the MTV drama “Skins” and for the Facebook Watch series “Turnt.”
He is a member of the WGA. He received his BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State and his MFA in Playwriting from U.C.L.A. He is the program director for Point Park University’s MFA in Writing for Screen & Stage.
and the stage adaption of The Pilo Family Circus and John Ball’s In The Heat Of The Night.
Los Angeles Theatre Works produced an audio version of In The Heat Of The Night, which aired nationally on National Public Radio. A live version of the LATW production toured the U.S. His work is available from Broadway Play Publishing, Original Works Publishing, and Samuel French.
He is the winner of the Actor’s Theater of Louisville’s Heidman Award, a Backstage Garland Award for playwriting, and was nominated for an LA WEEKLY playwriting award and a Los Angeles Ovation award.
He worked as a writer on the MTV drama “Skins” and for the Facebook Watch series “Turnt.”
He is a member of the WGA. He received his BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State and his MFA in Playwriting from U.C.L.A. He is the program director for Point Park University’s MFA in Writing for Screen & Stage.
GAY SMITH
GAY SMITH is thrilled to be returning to Seven Devils, with so many good experiences over the years as dramaturg, preceded by a dozen years at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and Padua Hills in L.A. (those early Sam Shepard and Irene Fornes days). She is now Professor Emerita of Theatre at Wesleyan after founding the playwriting program and teaching for 35 years. Her publications include several articles and a few books: Lady Macbeth in America: From the Stage to the White House; George Sand’s Theatre Career; George Sand’s Gabriel; edit and introduction for Plays by Phil Bosakowski. Living in Montana this past year, she is adapting a play from a novel written by a beloved western writer, in addition to continuing research for a historical novel with a cast of real historical characters: writers, artists, actors army captains, and French trappers, spanning time from the French Revolution to the American Civil war. She loves McCall, Idaho- a prime destination!
JENNY STERNLING
JENNY STERNLING is a native Idahoan who has worked in the Northwest for over 35 years as a professional actor, director, writer, and producer in stage, film, voice-over, and television. Her past theatrical adventures include founding a comedy improv troupe; starring in a Marine World TV special alongside a baby tiger; appearing as Lyubov Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, directed by Michael Hoffman at Boise Contemporary Theatre; and writing and producing dozens of custom-tailored corporate theatre productions with her company, Event Entertainment. As a theatre arts teacher for organizations including Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise State University’s MBA program, and Bishop Kelly High School (where teaches and directs theatre,) Jenny has collaborated with students and colleagues to write, produce and present numerous plays and films. After she toured numerous archives conducting research on a forgotten 19th-century form of melodrama called dog dramas, Jenny wrote a unique play: Taking the Seize: A Dog Drama. Selected as a Playwright in Residence, Jenny honed her play and skills at the 2015 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and her play Breathe Me was selected for the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference in 2016. She has been an actor for “Seven Devils” and a playwright in their “My Own Private Idaho” program. Jenny’s newest play, Madam Euphoria Reveals Your Future, was selected for Boise Contemporary Theater’s 5x5 Reading series in 2019.
DIRECTORS
BENNY SATO AMBUSH
BENNY SATO AMBUSH is a Director, Educator, Published Commentator, Consultant. Formerly: Senior Distinguished Producing Director-In-Residence, Emerson Stage, Emerson College, Boston; Producing Artistic Director - Oakland (CA) Ensemble Theatre (SPT); Associate Artistic Director - San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (LORT B); PEW Charitable Trust/TCG Director in Residence - Florida Stage (LOA); Associate Artistic Director - Anna Deavere Smith's Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue at Harvard University; Producing Artistic Director - TheatreVirginia (LORT C). Numerous directing credits at professional regional theatres and universities nationally. Adjudicator - American Association of Community Theatre. Current Member: National Alliance of Acting Teachers; National Theatre Conference; College of Fellows of the American Theatre. MFA - University of California, San Diego; BA - Brown University.
DANETTE BAKER
DANETTE BAKER is an educator & theatre artist based in Wichita, KS. She is the Director of Theatre in the School of Performing Arts at Wichita State University, and a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. Danette has been with Seven Devils since 2005 as an actor and director and is thrilled to be returning again this summer. Outside of Seven Devils select credits include The Moors, The Gun Show, The Comedy of Errors (directing); On The Exhale, Good People, 33 Variations, (acting); The Three Musketeers, August: Osage County, Macbeth, (fight direction). Danette has been recognized for her work from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region V, and received the 2019 Wichita State College Fine Arts Mickey and Pete Armstrong Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators and owner of Fightinfierce LLC.
MALLORY METOXEN
MALLORY METOXEN (she/her/hers) is a director dedicated to working with playwrights, developing new works, and obliterating the gender parity gap in theatre. She was Artistic Associate and Director of New Play Development for Renaissance Theaterworks (RTW) where she founded and ran Br!NK; RTW’s play development series for Midwestern woman playwrights. Select directing credits: All of the Everything, Lucky Numbers (Samuel French OOB Festival), Sex with Strangers, The Drowning Girls, (Renaissance Theaterworks), Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, The How and the Why (The Theatre School). MFA Directing ’21 - The Theatre School at DePaul University.
CHRISTY MONTOUR-LARSON
CHRISTY MONTOUR-LARSON Christy has been directing at Seven Devils Playwright Conference since 2008 and is proud to sit on its Board of Directors. Based in Denver, she is a multiple Denver Post Ovation and Colorado Theatre Guild Henry award-winning director, recently named Top Director by Westword Magazine, 5280 Magazine and CBS4 Denver. She recently directed the world premiere of Kyle John Schmidt’s The Secretary at Curious Theatre, where she has been a member of the Artistic Company for 18 years. Christy's work has also been seen in Colorado at the Denver Center, the Arvada Center, Creede Repertory, Theatre Aspen, Phamaly, Theatreworks, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Lake Dillon Theatre, Local Theater Company, Town Hall Arts Center and Boulder Ensemble.Nationally, Christy has directed at Pioneer Theatre, Tent Theatre, New American Theatre, Rochester Civic Theatre, the Duluth Playhouse, Dark Horse Theatre.Christy received her MFA in Directing from Rutgers University. MEMBER OF SDC
AMY SALTZ
AMY SALTZ For Seven Devils: Jeni Mahoney's Kandahar, Judy Anderson's Go Home Now, Robert Schenkkhan's Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates; and A.P. Andrews' Burning Barn, among others. At B.C.T. she directed Jeni Mahoney’s Fata Morgana. Amy directs classic, contemporary, and new plays throughout the U.S. and abroad. TV: “Another World” and “Search for Tomorrow”. Member of the Directors Guild of America and the Society of Directors and Choreographers, Professor Emeritus at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University where she served as head of the Graduate Program in Directing at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University for 12 years. She can’t wait for the pandemic to be over so she can come back to McCall for the next conference. MEMBER OF SDC
DONYA K. WASHINGTON
DONYA K. WASHINGTON (she/her/hers): The Way North by Tira Palmquist (readings at Seven Devils and Amphibian Theatre). Atlanta: Downstairs by Theresa Rebeck (Actor’s Express); An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Actor’s Express); Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan adapted by Theroun D’arcy Patterson with music by Eugene H. Russell IV (Alliance Theatre, Theatre for the Very Young); Oregon: OSF Presents: Fill in the Blank by Claudia Alick (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) NYC: Eve’s Song by Patricia Ione Lloyd (workshop, The Playwrights Realm); God, Man and Devil by Jacob Gordin (Target Margin Theatre); Cold Keener by Zora Neale Hurston (Target Margin Theatre).
DRAMATURGS
JOHN M. BAKER
JOHN M. BAKER is NYC-based dramaturg and producer. He is the former Director of Artistic Programs at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Artistic Associate at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Literary Manager at Woolly Mammoth. For Seven Devils, he has developed plays with James Still, Jen Silverman, Duane Kelly, and Jim Price, among others. He has spent more than a decade dramaturging new work for The O'Neill National Playwright's Conference, and has dramaturged world premieres with Clubbed Thumb, Dallas Theatre Center, Lincoln Center Theater, Ma-Yi, Seattle Rep, South Coast Rep, and Woolly Mammoth. Training: BA, Boston University; MFA, The University of Iowa.
HALEY FLUKE
HALEY FLUKE is a dramaturg from Oregon currently based in Philadelphia. She serves on the programming committee for New Georges, and was the Literary Manager of Company One Theatre, the Literary Associate of Washington Ensemble Theatre, and a producer with Seattle’s Gay City Arts. With Seven Devils: A Little Ghost Story, ¡O Cascadia!, The Way North, And Then The Moon Swallowed The Sky, Modern Slave, Flee. Other favorite credits include: Peerless, The T Party, An Octoroon (Company One); We Live In Cairo (NMTF); As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) and Ed, Downloaded (Washington Ensemble Theatre.) Haley was an editor for the 2016 New England New Play Anthology.
MARTINE KEI GREEN-ROGERS
MARTINE KEI GREEN-ROGERS is an Assistant Professor at SUNY New Paltz and President of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Her dramaturgical credits include: Sweat at the Goodman; King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Five Guys Named Moe, Blues for An Alabama Sky, Gem of the Ocean, Waiting for Godot, Iphigenia at Aulis, Seven Guitars, The Mountaintop, and Home at Court Theatre; Hairspray, The Book of Will, Shakespeare in Love, UniSon, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, Comedy of Errors, To Kill A Mockingbird, The African Company Presents Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Fences at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
HEATHER HELINSKY
HEATHER HELINSKY is a freelance dramaturg based in Philadelphia and the Literary Manager for Playwrights Foundation/Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Fifteen years of experience as a professional dramaturg, specifically in the area of new play development and focused on advocating for women playwrights and writers of color. She is an independent dramaturg providing research and analysis, consultation, and workshops to playwrights, directors, theater companies, and college-level education programs. Select theatres: Accessible Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Apothetae, Borderlands, Denver Center, Great Plains, PA Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Irish & Classical, Pittsburgh Public, PlayPenn, Playwrights Realm, Sundance Theatre Lab, Woolly Mammoth, and 6NewPlays in San Francisco, amongst others. Production dramaturgy on notable plays: JT Rogers’ Oslo at PlayPenn, Tira Palmquist’s Two Degrees, Caridad Svich’s Guapa. She also served as a Barrymore Judge for two consecutive seasons for Theatre Philadelphia, reviewing 60-80 productions per season. Heather also has a huge heart for mentoring the next generation of dramaturgs and playwrights, and since 2012, has been a guest artist in various capacities for the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival and has been a reader for seven years for their David Mark Cohen & Steinberg Award. She has also mentored emerging playwrights through the Kennedy Center’s Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop (’16-‘19) and the VSA’s Discovery Series for emerging writers with disabilities. She also has been a member of the NNPN community of artists-at-large, and has dramaturged twice for their summer MFA Playwrights Workshop. Teaching: Visiting Professor at University of Arizona (’07), Carnegie Mellon (’12), Brooklyn College (’15), Lesley University, and guest workshop at Yale in spring (’19). Training/Awards: M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from the A.R.T./Moscow Art/Harvard (’07) and the O’Neill National Critics Institute (’16). Current board member for LMDA as VP of Freelance. www.helinskydramaturgy.com
TIRA PALMQUIST
TIRA PALMQUIST is known for plays that merge the personal, the political and the poetic. Her play The Way North (Seven Devils 2018) was a Finalist for the O’Neill and an Honorable Mention for the 2019 Kilroys List, and was featured in the 2019 Ashland New Plays Festival. A proud Board Member of Seven Devils, Tira has been involved with Seven Devils since 2012. Tira’s other plays include Two Degrees (Denver Center, others), The Worth of Water (Clutch Productions), Safe Harbor (Lower Depth Theater Ensemble), Ten Mile Lake (Serenbe Playhouse), Age of Bees (NYU Stella Adler Studio, MadLab Theater, Tesseract), And Then They Fell (MadLab, Brimmer Street, New York Film Academy). Tira has also been commissioned to write new work for the UC Irvine graduate acting students: Hold Steady (2019), and All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (2020).
THE ACTING COMPANY
JONATHAN BANGS
JONATHAN BANGS is a recent graduate of the California Institute of the Arts. The youngest of four he’s always been the entertainer of the bunch. A few years into his professional career he’s been involved in various productions located at The Kennedy Center, A.C.T., Center Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Shakespeare Center, Boston Court, Boise Contemporary Theatre Speakeasy Society, and WLACC. When he isn’t on stage fulfilling his passion, Jonathan is most likely making music with his production company 55thdiVISIION.
ORION BRADSHAW
ORION BRADSHAW is a licensed Drama teacher and longtime Theatre artist - and is a proud member of the Actors' Equity, National Education, and Oregon Education Associations. He is also heavily involved in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Access work - and has acted as panelist, facilitator, and collaborator with the Racial Equity Coalition of Southern Oregon, the Deconstructing Whiteness Learning Space, the Leading Equity Center, and Matthew Reynolds Consulting LLC. Orion is thrilled to collaborate with the Seven Devils New Play Foundry once again, after a two-year hiatus! Let's Create!
KATHLEEN M. BRADY
KATHLEEN M. BRADY is a member of the Denver Center Theatre Company for more than 20 years she has performed in many productions including Beauty Queen of Leenane, Arsenic and Old Lace, Dancing at Lughnasa, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Trip to Bountiful. She has appeared on TV as Dorothy Yobs in Season 5 of Breaking Bad and in numerous commercials. Kathleen has received accolades from Westword for Best Actress in a Drama for the show Well in 2010, and Denver Post’s 2009 Theatre Person of the Year.
FALLON BROOKING
FALLON BROOKING (SAG/AFTRA) has been acting since the age of 5. In 2018, she received a BFA from CalArts. She is thrilled to be part of the conference this year! Theater Credits include: Beneath The Juniper Tree 2015 (Dir. Fernando Below; CalArts), Peer/Gynt 2016 (adapted and directed by Jong Hee Woo; CalArts), Our Illiad 2017(Dir. Jessica Hanna; CalArts). Fallon was also a featured dancer in the music video for LoveWar, a song by Brandon Eugene Owens, directed by Grace McCarthy. Film Credits Include; The Stepford Wives (2004) and My Super-Ex Girlfriend (2006).
CANDY BROWN
CANDY BROWN holds a BA in Performing Arts from St Mary’s College of California. Ms Brown began her professional career in musical theatre on Broadway stages under the tutelage of legendary Broadway directors, choreographers and performers who include mentors Bob Fosse and Hal Prince. She has been seen in numerous television commercials, episodics and films as well as regional theaters as an actor, director and choreographer. She is a proud guest artist at the Denver School of the Arts Theatre Dept. Most recently, Ms Brown received a Legacy Award for her contribution to Dance in New York City.
STEVEN J. BURGE
STEVEN J. BURGE is excited to return for his fourth summer with the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. He’s a a Denver-based theatre-maker who‘s performed at theatres including the Aurora Fox Arts Center, the Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, the Curious Theatre, and the Tony Award- winning Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Favorite shows include First Date the Musical; Little Shop of Horrors; Nunsense, Amen; and the title role in An Act of God. Much love to Jeni, Paula, A.P. and the entire Seven Devils family for their commitment to the development of new work for the American theatre and beyond!
MATTHEW CAMERON CLARK
MATTHEW CAMERON CLARK is a writer, actor, director, and seventh generation Idahoan. He founded Boise Contemporary Theater, where he served as Artistic Director for 23 years. He has co-written four plays with Dwayne Blackaller: A Nighttime Survival Guide, The Uncanny Valley, Narwhal! Unicorn of the Sea, and Rabbit/Moon, which was workshopped at Seven Devils in 2017. His new company, City of Trees Productions, has multiple projects in development, including the short film Dust, which was awarded the 1 Potato Screenwriting Prize by the 2020 Sun Valley Film Festival.
FRANCHELLE STEWART DORN
FRANCHELLE STEWART DORN Credits: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, ACT, Yale Rep, Long Wharf, George Street, Great Lakes, Cleveland Playhouse, Arizona State Theatre, SCT, Everyman, Guthrie, OSF, CATF. Off-Broadway: Red Bull, Signature. Austin: Zach, and Austin Shakespeare. TV: Dr. Rita Madison on NBC’s “Another World.” Awards: nominated for seven Helen Hayes Awards, winning three; Austin Critics’ Circle for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Edge of Peace, Medea. MFA, Yale. Professor, UT-Austin
BRUCE FAULK
BRUCE FAULK was born and bred in Chelsea, but now lives in Inwood/Upstate Manhattan. He graduated from the original HS of Performing Arts and Carnegie Mellon. TV this season: Tommy, Bluebloods, Madame Secretary and Prodigal Son. Stage: Education at 59e59, Hamlet at Roundabout, A Movie Star… at Signature and two glorious summers with Seven Devils. His play, Wally and the Chosen Few, was produced by The Drilling Company and the film version won Best Ensemble Cast at the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival. Bruce produces web series with fbcfilms.com and is grateful to Seven Devils for having him back.
E.B. HINNANT
E.B. HINNANT is an actor and a songwriter from South Carolina, based out of New York City. You may have seen him as “Jake” in Clarkston recently at Boise Contemporary Theater, or in several Off and Off-Off and Off-Off-Off Broadway productions in New York. He’s very grateful to be back with Seven Devils. Talk to him about friend okra, televangelists, or Dolly Parton.
MICHAEL HISAMOTO
MICHAEL HISAMOTO* (he/him/his) Credits include Stage Kiss, Fast Company, Hold These Truths, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (Lyric Stage Company of Boston), Charlotte’s Web (Wheelock Family Theatre), Yellow Face (The Office of War Information), and more. In addition to his acting work, Michael is a playwright and director. Michael believes in educating the next generation and happily offers career consultation free of charge to young disenfranchised artists. Michael is a graduate of The Orange County High School of the Arts, BFA: Boston University. MFA Candidate ‘22: Brown/Trinity Rep. Proud member of AEA. michaelhisamoto.com
PATRICE JEAN-BAPTISTE
PATRICE JEAN-BAPTISTE Patrice lives in Milton, Massachusetts and is thrilled to be part of this new virtual world play reading with Seven Devils! She is an actor, teacher, piano player who has been in the world of theatre arts in all three roles for many years. You may have seen her most recently in a cool play reading at Central Square Theatre in Massachusetts called Black Odyssey. She continues to love and thrive in this virtual world and hopes to see everyone live and in color soon!
STARR KIRKLAND
STARR KIRKLAND is an actor and spoken word artist from California based in New York. Favorite credits include TJ loves Sally 4 Ever (Jack), of the woman…(Normal Ave), HOTTENTOTTED (The Tank), Julius Caesar (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), Hephaestus (Theater in Asylum), The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Columbia Stages), and The Average-Sized Mermaid (State of Play). She works with Realize Your Beauty promoting self-esteem and positive body image through theatre arts, and performs an original one-woman show promoting literacy at The Morgan Library and Museum as Belle da Costa Greene. Thanks, Loves! www.starrkirkland.com
DALE LI
DALE LI is delighted to be back for his 2nd appearance at Seven Devils. From roles as diverse as Dracula, a Nazi captain, Frida Kahlo’s lover, a surgeon turned 1950’s box maker, and multiple samurais, playing a bus driver / dead raccoon at Seven Devils was for sure a highlight! Looking forward to virtually reconnecting with friends, colleagues, and like-minded theatre goers. Stay safe, stay stimulated!
JAMIL A.C. MANGAN
JAMIL A.C. MANGAN Mangan's credits include Harmond Wilks in Radio Golf (Everyman Theater), Martin Luther King Jr. in The Man in Room 306 (Luna Stage Company), Martin Luther On Trial (National Tour), North Of The Boulevard (CATF) and Mother Courage (Classic Stage Company). He has performed at Arden Theater, Premiere Stages, Gulfshore Playhouse, Theaterworks Hartford, Perseverance Theater, Philadelphia Theater Co., Orlando Shakes, and Billie Holiday Theater. Mangan has appeared on Gotham (Fox), Manifest (NBC), Quantico (ABC), The Good Cop (Netflix), The Following (Fox), and Blue Bloods (CBS). www.JamilMangan.com
BILLIE McBRIDE
BILLIE McBRIDE Recent performances include: For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday for the Aurora Fox, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime for BETC, Life Sucks also for the Aurora Fox, Sunday in the Park for The Arvada Center and Enchanted April for CSFAC. Her NYC credits include Torch Song Trilogy at the Helen Hayes and Safe Sex at the Lyceum. Since moving to Colorado, Billie has worked at: The Denver Center, The Arvada Center, Curious Theatre, CSFAC, Miners Alley, And Toto Too, and BETC for which she is a proud ensemble member. She has won 3 Henry Awards, the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2016 True West Award. Billie is also a director and a member of Actor’s Equity.
SHEILA McDEVITT
SHEILA McDEVITT is the founder and former co-Artistic Director of id Theater, co-founder of the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and an id Theater Honorary Board Member. Numerous producing, acting and directing credits. Sheila had the pleasure of Understudying Ms. Carol Kane in In Betweens by Bryan Goluboff off Broadway. She founded and sits on the Board of 6/15 Green: A Community Garden and the Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens Land Trust in Brooklyn, NY. She is a member of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Food Justice Task Force. Always happy to be back home in Idaho. Proud Member of AEA!
SAM McMURRAY
SAM McMURRAY When thinking about composing a new bio I am often reminded of something an old friend, the now famous actor Sam Jackson often told me: "don’t nobody care.” Dis-irregardless here goes. I will henceforth speak of myself in the third person, as is the wont of many highly paid athletes. Sam McMurray was born,will live for a while, and probably die before he expects to. He has been an actor for over forty years. His parents and stepmother were actors, the mother of his children was an actress, and his oldest daughter is an actress. Guess it couldn’t be helped. Like any “ism”, it’s a family disease. A Greenwich Village Idiot, he grew up in the theatre world and after college entered that world as a dues paying Equity member. He cobbled a living together from appearances on the New York stage, as well as regional theatre, the occasional commercial and TV and film roles. He is particularly fond of Translations, A Soldier’s Play, Savage in Limbo, The Taking of Miss Janie, KId Purple, Comedians, and Gray Spades to name a few. He is a long time member of Ensemble Studio Theater and a veteran of many summers at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights conference, where he debuted works by John Patrick Shanley, James Yoshimura and Adam Rapp, among others,as well as a regular contributor to the Seven Devils in McCall, Idaho. The prospect of making a living wage appealed to him, so he relocated to Los Angeles in 1986. The timing was right, and he soon found work in features and on television, notably in Raising Arizona, L.A. Story, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Stone Cold, Mod Squad and Dear God. Not to mention Slappy and the Stinkers. He did the usual raft of guest shots on TV and appeared as a regular on The Tracey Ullman Show, Likely Suspects, A League of their Own, Matt Waters, Medicine Ball, Stand by your Man, his favorite, Dinosaurs, and Cristela. More recently, he recurred on King of Queens, Scandal, Friends, The Fosters, Freaks and Geeks, and Breaking Bad.
STEPHANIE MILLER
STEPHANIE MILLER is a recent graduate of Middlebury College, where she was a double major in Theatre, with a focus in directing, and in Neuroscience. She has previously worked with PTP/NYC and Project Y’s Women In Theatre festival. Stephanie also served as Assistant Producer for the 21st Century Theatre Festival and co-produced their production of The Pussy Grabber Plays. Stephanie is grateful for the opportunity to spend this summer with the Seven Devils Conference and is excited to further explore the process of new play development.
MIRTA SANTANA MORALES
MIRTA SANTANA MORALES is a Puerto Rican actress pursuing a Fine Arts bachelor’s degree, in Theatre Performance, at Wichita State University. She has appeared in multiple theatre productions, commercials, and a live-audience sitcom. Mirta has been in The Comedy of Errors, The Moors, Almost Maine, and the sitcom Thrilled to Announce to name just a few. Her ability to speak different Spanish dialects has opened doors for her to do Spanish voice overs, for furniture and public transportation commercials, in Wichita.
BHAVESH PATEL
BHAVESH PATEL Most recently seen on Broadway in The Nap at MTC and Roland; Maule in Present Laughter opposite Kevin Klein. Lincoln Center Theater: War Horse, Haydn's “Seven Last Words”; New York Theater: The Public, Second Stage, Roundabout, CSC; Regional: Westport Country Playhouse, Shakespeare Company, The Guthrie, St. Louis Rep, Pittsburgh Public; TV: New Amsterdam, Little America, Bull, The Blacklist, Instinct, The Code, Jon Glazer Loves Gear, Madame Secretary, Mysteries of Laura, The Good Wife; Film: The Sound of Silence, Gold, Wilding, Two Days in NY, James White; Education: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art - London, and MFA from NYU's Graduate Acting Program.
SARA RADEMACHER
SARA RADEMACHER is a theatre director, mother, Co-Founder and former Artistic Director of Elements Theatre Collective, and co-creator of The Outlet Project. She has developed and directed plays, musicals, opera and devised work with American and international playwrights such as Carolyn Dunn, Cheryl West, Alison Tatlock, Magali Mougel, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Linda Alper, DETEXT Collective, Idris Goodwin, Fabrizio Sinisi, and many more. Her regional work in dramaturgy, casting, artistic directing, and company devising informs her co-intentional practice. Sara holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University and is pursuing an interest in directing intimacy for the stage. www.SaraRademacher.com
JAMIE ANN ROMERO
JAMIE ANN ROMERO First National Tour: The Play That Goes Wrong; Off Broadway: Dracula (Classic Stage Company); Mary Page Marlowe (Second Stage Theater); Select Regional: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Paper Mill Playhouse); The Legend of Georgia McBride and others (Denver Center Theatre Company); US Premiere of Shakespeare in Love and others (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals; Arvada Center; International: Maxim Gorky Theatre Vladivostok, Russia. Television: "The Punisher", "House of Cards". Film: Viper Club.
AMY RUSH
AMY RUSH is a graduate of the University of Montana and holds an MFA in Theater Arts from UCLA. Some of her favorite roles include Roberta in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Powerhouse Theater, Santa Monica) and Darlene in Slight Alterations (Abingdon Theater, NYC). Amy has directed at the Lyric Theater (Los Angeles), Campfire Theater Festival (Boise), and the Alpine Playhouse. (McCall). Amy is a proud member of the board of directors for both the Alpine Playhouse and Seven Devils New Play Foundry. She lives in McCall with her husband, Neil, and their 2 children.
GAYLE SAMUELS
GAYLE SAMUELS recently appeared on Broadway in Children Of A Lesser God directed by Kenny Leon. She also just worked with Peter Dinklage playing The Chaperone in Cyrano and she just appeared Off-Broadway in MsTRIAL. Other TV and film credits include Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, Bull, The Americans and Black Nativity. She earned a BEST ACTRESS nomination from the Connecticut Critics Circle for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill and she recently directed a staged reading of Mississippi which won BEST IN FEST for the reading series at the 2019 NYMF Festival. On Broadway Gayle has worked with directors Hal Prince, Trevor Nunn, Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett in shows such as Sunset Blvd., Grind, Dancin’ and Dreamgirls.
ALLISON SIKO
ALLISON SIKO is thrilled to explore new theatrical frontiers with Seven Devils! NYC Theater: Abingdon Theatre Company, American Theatre of Actors, Columbia University, Our Bar. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Rutgers Theatre Company, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. Television: Kathleen Stabler on "Law & Order: SVU,” “The Education of Max Bickford,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Film: Zero Avenue, Lizzy on Leroy Street, Speak, Crybaby Lane. Training: Rutgers University BFA, Shakespeare’s Globe (UK), Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Musical Theater Conservatory. Find Allison on social media @allisonsiko and at www.imdb.me/allisonsiko
MIRIRAI SITHOLE
MIRIRAI SITHOLE is a Brooklyn based artist. She has worked Off-Broadway in plays such as School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play and If Pretty Hurts.... She can also be seen in the most recent season of Black Mirror as well as the first season of Russian Doll. Forever grateful to be a part of the Seven Devils Family!
COURTNEY TUCKER
COURTNEY TUCKER is an artist originally from Chicago who also calls Jackson, Tennessee home. She recently received her MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University, and holds a BA in Theatre & Speech from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Theatre School credits include The Wolves (#25), Our Lady of Kibeho (Sister Evangelique), Twelfth Night (Maria), and Jane of The Jungle (Kayla). Courtney is represented by Paonessa Talent.
RICARDO VÁZQUEZ
RICARDO VÁZQUEZ is an award winning actor and multi-disciplinary theater creator most recently seen in the Broadway production of The Inheritance. As an actor he has worked in New York with Atlantic Theater, New York Stage and Film, HERE Center for the Arts, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Mass MOCA Museum, and Dixon Place, and has appeared regionally on stages including the Guthrie Theatre, Children's Theatre Company, Chance Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, Teatro del Pueblo and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He has appeared in feature films such as Gets Good Light (Tribeca Film Festival), Nina of the Woods (Cinequest Film Festival), Farmer of the Year, The Public Domain, and Death to Prom. In collaboration with Robert Rosen, he has created two solo pieces that celebrate the history of Puerto Rico: Juracán: The Jíbaro and his Three Sons, and Escúchame. He is a Playwrights' Center Jerome Many Voices Fellow; a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grantee, and received the coveted Twin Cities IVEY Award for Emerging Artist in 2013. More at Ricardo-Vazquez.com
ANN CATHERINE ZÁRATE
ANN CATHERINE ZÁRATE is delighted to return to 7 Devils having also performed at Creede Rep, ZACH, and more. Ann founded and serves as Artistic Director for Trinity Street Players in Austin, TX whose Coronavirus programming, Performing In Pjs, can be found on YouTube. Alongside husband and 7 Devils Playwright, Manuel Zarate, she runs HBMG Foundation’s National Winter Playwrights Retreat and the podcast, The American Playbook. Her favorite role? Mother to Baby Z.
DESIGN
G. W. ‘SKIP’ MERCIER, DESIGNER
Skip is delighted to join the mission of Seven Devil’s support of Playwright’s creative journey. He was Resident Designer for the National Playwright’s Conference at the O’Neill through the Lloyd Richards and Jim Houghton tenures and had the opportunity to work with hundreds of amazing and talented writers that continue to transform the landscape of American Theatre. G.W. Mercier is a set, puppet, and costume designer creating worlds for over 380 shows. He designed Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass by Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal at the Vivian Beaumont, receiving a Tony Nomination for scenery; and two Drama Desk Nominations for Scenery and Costumes. Off-Broadway, at the Vineyard Theater, Dream True by Tina Landau and Ricky Ian Gordon and Bed and Sofa by Polly Penn and Lawrence Klavan, procured him two additional Drama Desk Nominations for scenery. Regionally he was honored with the “Bay Area Critics Award” for Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life and another for Tarell McCraney’s Head of Passes both directed by Tina Landau. For the Public Theatre production in NYC he received the Vivian Robinson AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Set Design. The Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award honors him for Outstanding Talent and Vision in Design. Recent work includes: the premiere of Cheryl West’s Shout Sister Shout at Seattle Rep (aborted B’way trajectory by current events); an ALS production of Romeo & Juliet for ACT directed by John Langs; Regional premiere of In The Heights music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and book by Quiara Alegria Hudes, directed by Matt August for Pioneer Theatre; and an opera The Cunning Little Vixen for the New York Philharmonic with Doug Fitch. Dozens of play premiers in New York include Old Hats by Bill Irwin & David Shiner at Signature Theatre; Dead Man’s Cell Phone, by Sarah Ruhl at Playwrights Horizons directed by Anne Bogart, Urban Zulu Mambo with Regina Taylor for Signature Theatre, Miracle Brothers by Kirsten Childs, directed by Tina Landau, Eli’s Comin’ the work of Laura Nyro conceived and directed by Diane Paulus, and True History and Real Adventures by Sybill Pearson, with music by Mel Marvin, and directed by Michael Mayer, both at The Vineyard Theatre, where he is a resident artist. Finding Nemo by Bobby & Kristen Lopez (Avenue Q) is currently run in Disneyworld. Mr. Mercier recently completed two feature film screenplays: Massillon and Double Take. He wrote, directed, and designed Flock for Joan Schirle of the Del’Arte Company in Blue Lake, California, which he is currently adapting for Live Virtual Theatre. For children’s television, he created Eureeka’s Castle (Ace Award) for Nickelodeon. He was production designer for feature films: Hop Frog directed by Julie Taymor and Southie directed by John Shea. Mercier thrives collaborating with amazing writers, composers, directors, partner designers, artisans and actors creating original work or making established shows seem new. He is fueled by participating in the journey of redefining potential in theatre and being a pioneer of change.
JEAN YVONNE (Jay) TYSON, Frances K. Starr Design Fellow
JEAN YVONNE (a.k.a. Jay) TYSON is a multidisciplinary storyteller based in Washington. In the past few years of studying theatre and film at Whitman College, they have had experience working with scenic design, costume design, and props, as well as a bit of acting and sound design. Their work for Whitman's production of Ripe Frenzy won the national award for scenic design at this year’s KCACTF Region 7 festival, which is where they met Paula and wound up becoming the 2020 design fellow! https://jeanyvonnetyson.wixsite.com/portfolio
PRODUCTION & MANAGEMENT
MIKENZIE AMES, STAGE MANAGER
MIKENZIE AMES graduated from Boise State University with a BA in Theater Performance. She began stage managing at Boise Contemporary Theater under Kristy J Martin. She continued her career in New York working in immersive theater with Punchdrunk's Sleep No More and Paradiso: Chapter One. This is her third year at the conference. She currently resides in her hometown of Portland, Oregon.
WILL CHALONER, STAGE MANAGER
WILL CHALONER is a New York based Stage Manager. He is excited to be back working with the amazing team of Seven Devils. Off-Broadway: Sideways (Theatre at St. Clement’s), Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Stage 42), Afterglow (The Davenport Theatre), A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (Theatre at St. Clement’s), STOMP (Orpheum Theatre), American Hero (Second Stage Uptown). The Traveling Lady (Cherry Lane Theatre), Adoration of the Old Woman (INTAR Theatre), Member of AEA. Education: BA, University of Mary Washington. Love to friends, family and E-Rad.
HEIDI ECHTENKAMP, STAGE MANAGER
HEIDI ECHTENKAMP* Regional Credits: Denver Center Theatre Company: You Lost Me, A Doll’s House, Whistle Blower, Native Gardens and A Christmas Carol. American Musical Theatre of San Jose: Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, Gypsy, A Chorus Line and Tapestry; STAGES Always... Patsy Cline; Carousel Dinner Theatre: Thoroughly Modern Millie; Lone Tree Arts Center: 39 Steps and Sylvia; Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities: Putting it Together and Children of Eden. Other Credits: Teatro ZinZanni San Francisco: Production Facilities Manager. Catamounts: Entertainment Director for FEED-DREAMS, NOLA LUNA: Production Consultant, Seven Devils Playwright Conference: Stage Manager.
D. LYNN REILAND, STAGE MANAGER
D. LYNN REILAND* is pleased to be returning for her 4th conference with Seven Devils. Most recently she was the ASM for world premiere of Tony Meneses’s twenty50 and Stage Manager for A Doll’s House, Part 2 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts - Theatre Company. She has been a resident Stage Manager the DCPA since 2003, her most challenging project to date being DCPA/Off-Center & Third Rail Project’s immersive theatre experience Sweet & Lucky. She has also stage managed for both Curious Theatre and Phamaly Theatre Companies.
BEN VERSCHOOR, VIDEO EDITOR
BEN VERSCHOOR is a writer, editor, and game designer. He is originally from Idaho but has lived on the Oregon coast and in Washington, DC; New York City; and, currently, Chicago. As a function of his Gem State upbringing, he writes about right-wing extremists. His play Internet Hate Machines was a 2015 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist, and his first directed short film, “Birthday Wish,” was included in the 2018 Directors Circle Festival of Shorts. He most recently released his game Impress Conference, a Donald Trump Covid-19 update simulator, on Itch.io. Along with creating Ben enjoys going to the movies, riding his bike, and direct-action politics.
INTERNS
ERIN MITTMAN
ERIN MITTMAN is incredibly excited to share a summer with Seven Devils New Play Foundry! She is a rising Senior at Wichita State University pursuing a BFA in Theatre Design and Technology focusing in Stage Management and a minor in Political Science. While not working at WSU, she serves as a Stage Manager at Music Theatre for Young People in Wichita as well as working on the Stage Management Team for Music Theatre Wichita. Upon graduation, she hopes to find a way to merge her two passions to advocate for entertainers.
ALEX SIMPSON
ALEX SIMPSON is thrilled to be working with the Seven Devils New Play Foundry. Her previous credits include Floor Manager in Thrilled to Announce (Wichita State University) Set designer in The Outsiders (Edmond Memorial High School), Stage Manager in Follies 2017, 2018, 2019 (Edmond Memorial Highschool). Alex is a freshman pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design & Technical Theatre with a certificate in Stage Management. Alex’s mission is Be determined, Make connections, Be a light.
GRACE WARD
GRACE WARD is an Idaho based filmmaker and playwright. Her life dream was to win Dancing With the Stars but she ended up doing theatre instead. She’s beyond thrilled to be coming back to Seven Devils (via Zoom!) for her second year after interning in 2019. Grace is an alumnus of the National Theatre Insitute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and a current student at Boise State University. Currently, she is navigating the film school application process which is just as overwhelming as it sounds. If anybody has advice it would be much appreciated.