Playwright

Adam Szudrich

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The Stinkiest Thing

Australia

Playwright

Cris Eli Blak

Eli Blak is a writer for the page, stage and screen. His work includes The Brother's Survivor, winner of a Bronze Remi from the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival and "Soul Cowboys," winner of the 2020 Christopher Hewitt Award in Fiction. He is currently having work developed with Columbia University's Black Theatre Ensemble, The Pressure Players, and Et Alia Theater. His work has been produced, performed and/or published by the Negro Ensemble Company, Urban Stages (Off-Broadway), The Quean's Theatre (London), Melting Pot Theatre (Australia), Cleveland Public Theatre,and Black Theatre Network, among others. He continues to strive to tell stories of those so often underrepresented on the public platform.

Ava Hearts Riley

Louisville, KY

Playwright

Guy Newsham

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Alexa the Liar

Ottawa, Canada

Playwright

Ken Levine

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Surfs Up

Los Angeles

Playwright

Richard Castle

Richard Castle is a professional playwright and songwriter. LOVE STINGS, his new musical comedy, was commissioned by Northern Sky Theater and will have its world premiere in the summer of 2021. OKLAHOMA IN WISCONSIN, his 1950s-style family musical, premiered at Northern Sky Theater in 2017. THE ANGEL OF PAINTED POST was selected by Stephen Schwartz for the ASCAP/DreamWorks Musical Theater Workshop in Los Angeles. His comedy song Mr. Whiskers was a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition in 2020 and will be featured in “Sex on Broadway” at Zeiders American Dream Theater next year. His plays include VIRTUAL HAPPY HOUR, THE INFLUENCER, and THE AWARD. Other projects include book & lyrics for the vampire musical BLOODLINE, and lyrics for the Latino Theater Company production of L.A. CARMEN. Richard’s shows have been featured in the L.A. Stages New Musical Festival, and his songs have been performed at A Little New Music, a showcase of new musical theater writers, at Don’t Tell Mama in NYC, and with the Hexagon Revue in Washington, DC. Richard holds a degree from the USC School of Theater and has studied at the Songwriting School of Los Angeles. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Virtual Happy Hour

North Hollywood, CA

Playwright

Andrea Aptecker

A playwright and teacher from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Andrea Aptecker is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, and serves on the Board of Directors of Playwrights’ Platform. Plays and monologues by Andrea in 2020 include NEMESIS (Third Citizen Theatre Company), FETISH (The Queens of Cups London, Turn Point Theatre London), THIS HALLOWEEN IS FOR THE LADIES (Turn Point Theatre London), YOU CAN BAKE! (Taphouse Theatre: Shelter In Place, A Quarantined New Play Reading, Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center, American Actors UK Virtual Theatre Event, Playbill Virtual Theatre Festival), VENDETTA (Playwrights’ Platform Festival), UNAPOLOGETIC (Boston Theatre Marathon), IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST (Talking Horse Productions), and BEAUTY PARLOR (Lost Souls Monologues, London podcast). Andrea’s new short film is a documentary: IN THE DARKROOM. Her 10-minute play, UNAPOLOGETIC, has been published by Smith and Kraus (The Boston Theater Marathon XXII Anthology). You can read her plays on the New Play Exchange:

Get Sexy on Zoom

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Playwright

David Lipschutz

David Lipschutz: is a Chicago-based artist. He has written works performed with Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, BYOT Productions, LaffShows/Indyfringe, and Hell in a Handbag Productions, where he is a proud company member. Up next, you can see David in Handbag's Out, Darn Spot!(info at handbagproductions.org). Big thanks to Left Edge for keeping theatre vibrant, and to Erin, Tyler, Ash & the boys, and BC/KJOC.

PerSEVERance

Chicago, Illinois

Playwright

Jackie Martin

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No Right Time

Norwood, MA

Playwright

Ken Preuss

Ken Preuss is a former children’s magician, aspiring actor, and improvisational comedian who became a teacher to guarantee himself an audience 5 days a week. His 14 published one-acts for teens include Shuffling, Juliet’s Ghost, Alienated,and Campsite Chaos. His short plays, Binged There-Done That, Every Seven Minutes, A Dave with Destiny, and more are produced in festivals world-wide. Although his plays have reached Australia, Canada, Chicana, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and 48 of the 50 States, Ken can usually be found rooted near Orlando with his wife, sons, and an assortment of pets.

Seconds

Oviedo, Florida

Director

Argo Thompson

Argo Thompson is the Artistic Director of Left Edge Theatre. Recent directing credits at Left Edge include Sweat by Lynn Nottage, Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl, and Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Gurgis. He is an award-winning director / producer of over 100 north bay productions including Best Director, Best Production and Best Ensemble - Theatre Bay Area Awards and Best Comedy Production, Best Ensemble, Best Drama Production - the Marquee Theater Journalists Awards. Other favorite directing projects include SantaLand Diaries at 6th Street Playhouse (founding Executive Director/ Artistic Director), Angles in America parts 1 and 2 and Fully Commited at Actors Theatre.

Alexa The Liar, SweatPants, An Interview With George, Ava Hearts Riley

California

Playwright

Greg Vovos

GREG VOVOS is a playwright, screenwriter, and theater director, working in the vibrant Cleveland theater scene. He’s a two-time winner of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in Playwriting (Complete and Total; How to be a Respectable Junkie); a 2016 Cleveland Public Theatre Nord Playwriting Fellow (Well Beings); Dobama Theatre Playwrights Gym member; and proud Dramatists Guild member. Greg was resident playwright for the Willoughby Fine Arts Association’s Theatre for Healthy LivingProgram for whom he’s written 15 plays about issues facing youth today. His work has been seen around the world, translated into several languages, and published by Dramatic Publishing, OriginalWorks, and PPT Press. He’s taught playwriting at several theatres and universities, including University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Baldwin Wallace University, and Case Western Reserve University. He earned his MFA in Playwriting from UNLV where he studied with Julie Jensen, and a B.A. in English from The Ohio State University. Healso writes greeting cards for American Greetings. He’s married to his best friend and together they have two amazing kids, and a lot of pets. He's thrilled to be working with the great artists at Left Edge Theatre.

An Interview with a George

Rocky River, Ohio

Playwright

John Minigan

John Minigan was a 2019-2020 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing. His plays have been developed with Orlando Shakespeare Theater, New Repertory Theater, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Portland Stage Company, The Landing Theatre, and the Great Plains Theatre Conference. Queen of Sad Mischance was a 2020 winner of the New American Voices Festival, and Gold Prize winner in the 2019 Clauder Competition for New England plays. Noir Hamletwas a Boston GlobeCritics’ Pick, an Elliot Norton Outstanding New Script nominee, EDGEMediaBest of Boston Theater for 2018, and enjoyed a successful run at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe. His work has been included in the Best American Short Plays, Best Ten-Minute Short Plays,and New England New Playsanthologies. John is a five-time winner of the Firehouse New Works Contest, a winner of the Nantucket Short Play Contest, the North Park Playwrights Festival, the Rover Dramawerks Competition, the Longwood 0-60 Contest, New York’s 8-Minute Madness Festival, the Nor’Eastern Playwriting Contest, Seoul Players Contest, and the KNOCK International Short Play Competition. He teaches acting and playwriting at The Hanover Theatre Conservatory and serves as a Dramatists Guild Ambassador for Eastern New England. johnminigan.com

No Regrets

Massachusetts

Playwrights

Linda Lau and Rae Mansfield

Linda and Rae both have Ph.D.'s in drama from Tufts University. Linda teaches theatre at the Older Adults Program at Santa Rosa Junior College. Rae is the Honors Faculty-in-Residence at the University Massachusetts, Lowell and was a member of the production staff of the ART's Oberon Theatre at Harvard University. They are interested in challenging audiences and artists to question the dominant culture, and think critically about people and the world we live in. They write plays about underrepresented populations, social problems, and unconventional people struggling with normality. They are also co-founders of Theatre for Lifelong Learning which promotes older adult well-being through theatre research and practice.

Sweatpants

Sebastopol