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PLAYWRIGHTS' WEEK 2007
WRITERS
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South Asian Sampler Writers
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Richard Aellen (Playwright, NOBODY) worked variously as a steelworker, flight instructor, darkroom technician, busboy, and gold mine guard before he turned full-time to writing. During the Cold War he published five thrillers and an award-winning young adult novel, OZZY ON THE OUTSIDE. One of the thrillers, REDEYE, was translated into eight foreign languages and optioned by Warner Brothers. His first one act play, SQUARE ONE, was produced by the Manhattan Punchline Theatre and first full length play, FORGOTTEN VERDICT, won the Forest Roberts Playwriting Award and was produced at Northern Michigan University. Last year FARMERS OF MEN won the 2006 Stanley Drama Award while a one-act, SURPRISE VISIT, was a finalist in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Another one-act, RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, was produced as part of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival. Awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, the Columbia-Doubleday Fellowship, Writers Guild of America/East Fellowship, and Millay Colony Residency. Richard is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Seaplane Pilot’s Association, and the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. |
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Sharbari Ahmed (Playwright, RAISINS NOT VIRGINS) was born in Dhaka Bangladesh, but came to American when she was three weeks old. She received an MA in creative writing from NYU. Her short fiction has been published in The Gettysburg Review, Catamaran and the Asian Pacific American Journal. She wrote the introduction to the Barnes and Noble e-book version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility which has been translated into over ten languages. In 2003 RAISINS, NOT VIRGINSwon a First Words Literary Prize for South Asian American writers. The piece has been performed at Artwallah in L.A., and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. It has been taught at Boston University and mentioned in three separate academic books. Sharbari couldn't tell you what these books are about, and, besides, one was in German. In 2005 The Workshop Theater Co. developed and held readings and performances of earlier drafts of the play. In the spring of 2007 it had a staged reading at the Potpourri play reading festival in NY. The screenplay based on RAISINS NOT VIRGINS was both a Sundance Screenwriter's Lab finalist and a Tribeca All Access Finalist in 2007. Sharbari lives in Darien, CT with her husband and son and is a co-founder of Muslims For Peace. |
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Trista Baldwin (Playwright, SAND) is the recipient of two Jerome Fellowships (04-05 and 05-06) and a 2006-2007 McKnight Advancement Grant. Her work has been produced and developed nationally by groups including New Georges, LaMama, The Guthrie, The Empty Space Theater, Circle X, ESP, Stark Raving Theater, BPP, Overlap, Hypothetical, Synchronicity, Urban Stages, National New Play Network and HB Playwrights’ Foundation. Recent projects include DOE at the Tokyo International Festival, FALLING UP at Perishable Theatre Company and TERRA AUSTRALIS INCOGNITO, commissioned by The Production Company. Other plays include ELECTROPUSS, the cult-hit CHICKS WITH DICKS and the award-winning PATTY RED PANTS. Publications include WADE THE BIRD available through Playscripts, and PWC Monologues For Women, available through Heinnemann. Trista is a founding member of the Workhaus Collective, an Associated Artist of New Georges and a Core Member of The Playwrights’ Center. A native of the woods of Washington State, Trista has lived in NYC, which she misses all the time, and Arizona, which she only misses in winter. She received her Bachelor’s from The Evergreen State College and her MFA from ASU. Trista currently makes her home in Minneapolis where she is a professor of playwriting at St. Cloud State University. |
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Chisa Hutchinson (Playwright, SHE LIKES GIRLS) studied theater at Vassar College and at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neil Center. Since then, her work has been performed at such venues as the Workshop Theater, NYC Theater Slam, and Vital Theater. She was a recipient of the Molly Thatcher Kazan Memorial Prize in Theater and a finalist in the New Generation Playwriting Competition. Most recently, Chisa ventured (predictably) into screenwriting and earned semi-finalist status in an International Writing Competition sponsored by Talent Scout and WriteMovies.com. For grocery money and human contact, Chisa teaches Playwriting and English Lit at Sage Hill School in Orange County, CA. She would like to thank the kid who drives a Hummer to school and the senior citizens who regularly raid her recycling bins for reminding her that there is always something to write about . |
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Melinda Lopez (Playwright, GARY) is a playwright and actress. She was the first recipient of the Charlotte Woolard Award, given by the Kennedy Center to a "promising new voice in American Theatre," a recipient of a Mass Cultural Council award in playwriting, and was a Calderwood Fellow at the Huntington Theatre. Her plays include SONIA FLEW (Huntington Theatre Company, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, Steppenwolf, Milagro Theatre, The Play's the Thing, NPR. ) SONIA FLEW won Best New Play, Independent Reviewers of New England, Outstanding New Play, Elliot Norton Award. Other works: ALEXANDROS, (Laguna Playhouse, spring 2008,) GOD SMELLS LIKE A ROAST PIG (Women on Top Festival, Elliot Norton Award - Outstanding Solo Performance,) MIDNIGHT SANDWICH/MEDIANOCHE, (Coconut Grove Playhouse), THE ORDER OF THINGS (CentaStage, Kennedy Center Fund for New Plays). She is currently developing commissions for the Laguna Playhouse and South Coast Rep. Her new play GARY was part of the Steppenwolf Theatre's First Look Series this past summer, and she is thrilled to continue work on it with the support of the Lark. Ms. Lopez has served as a panel member for the National Endowment for the Arts and the LEF Foundation. |
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Daniel Macdonald (Playwright, VELOCITY) is a playwright, actor, director and teacher. He holds degrees from St. F.X. University, St. Mary’s University (Nova Scotia) and the University of Regina. His play PAGEANT premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects’ National PlayRites Festival in Calgary and has had productions in Regina, Fort MacMurray, Alberta and Austin, Texas. MACGREGOR'S HARD ICE CREAM AND GAS has had productions at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon, Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg), and Ship’s Company (Nova Scotia). He recently co-wrote and directed the film series REDEMPTION, SK. He has taught both at university and high school and has collaborated on several plays with and for young people, including TRAGEDIE and WAKING. As a teacher/coach his high school improv team won the Canadian National Improv Championship. He is the former president of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre as well as a recipient of the Regina Writer’s Award. He is also two-time winner of the SIMPIA showcase award for acting. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with his wife, Heather, his daughter, Averie and Eddy, the Cat. |
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Jordan Seavey (Playwright, CHILDREN AT PLAY) co-runs NYC theatre company CollaborationTown, writing, co-writing, and/or performing in the ensemble-created plays DANTE'S INFERNO, THE TRADING FLOOR, THE ASTRONOMER'S TRIANGLE, THEY'RE JUST LIKE US, and THE DEEPEST PLAY EVER: THE CATHARSIS OF PATHOS. His last play, 6969 , was produced at 59E59 Theaters and garnered CTown 6 NYIT Award nominations. His other plays include ANN COULTER: I'M GOING TO BLOW YOUR FUCING BRAINS OUT, ARE YOU WRITING FROM THE HEART?, 69 LOVE SCENES, THIS IS A NEWSPAPER (NYFringe Award, 2003), CHRISTOPHER T. WASHINGTON LEARNS TO FIGHT, EXES(MEETING)EXES) (with Boo Killebrew; Boston Theatre Marathon and HERE), AMERICAN CHILD and THE LONG DISTANCE. He has spent time at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, studied dramatic writing with Charles L. Mee and Craig Lucas, was a 2003 Edward F. Albee Foundation fellow in playwriting, and a 2007 resident at Robert Wilson's Watermill Center. BFA: Boston University. Next up: co-writer of CTown's newest play, TOWNVILLE, at La MaMa, October, 2007. |
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Laura Shamas’ plays have been has been produced by Philadelphia Theater Company, Denver Center Theater Company, Walnut Street Theater, Studio Arena, West Coast Ensemble, and Grove Street Playhouse (N.Y.C.), among others. Her work has been read/developed at numerous theaters, including Soho Theatre (London), Williamstown Theatre Festival (RE-SOURCING, 2006), The Old Globe (San Diego), The Geva Theater, and The Utah Shakespearean Festival. She has nine published plays (including UP TO DATE, LADY-LIKE, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, PORTRAIT OF A NUDE, and THE OTHER SHAKESPEARE), and has been honored with several playwriting awards, including a Fringe First Award for Outstanding New Drama (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), a Drama-Logue Award, a Marquee Award, and the Warner Brothers Award. Shamas received a 2006-2007 Aurand Harris Fellowship from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America to co-write a new holiday show. A ten-minute version of PISTACHIO STORIES was part of ReOrient 2006, produced in San Francisco by Golden Thread Productions. “We Three”: The Mythology of Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters, her archetypal study, was published by Peter Lang USA in 2007. She also works as a screenwriter and film consultant. Recently, she taught MFA Screenwriting at Hollins University in Virginia. |
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Jonathan Yukich's (Playwright, THE DAY THE BIRD FLU CAME)
plays have been seen in Canada, Australia, and England; as well as in several U.S. cities ranging from Anchorage, Alaska to Buffalo, New York. He received the ACTF/Kennedy Center's 2003 Paula Vogel Award for Playwriting and was a semi-finalist for the 2006 Princess Grace Award. In 2007, his play AMERICAN MIDGET received its premiere at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles and his adaptation of "Frankenstein" premiered at the Montana Repertory Theatre. Also in 2007, he attended the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference for a workshop/staged reading of his most recent full-length, GIRL. His work has been published by Playscripts, Inc., Smith & Kraus, and Meriwether Press, and he was recently named one of “50 Playwrights to Watch” by The Dramatist magazine and a finalist for the 2007 Heideman Award through the Actors Theatre of Louisville. He currently lives and teaches in New York. |
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Sarovar Banka (Festival '02) is a playwright and filmmaker based in the Philadelphia area. Full length plays: ASHES produced at Rights and Reasons Theatre in Providence, R.I. (2000), THE MORAL IMPLICATION OF TIME TRAVEL received Weston Award for best undergraduate play at Brown University, workshopped at the Lark Theatre as part of the Indian Diaspora Playwrights Festival (2002). One acts: THE ONLY SURVIVING HEIR OF ONCE GREAT MAHARAJA produced in Despina Production’s Seven-Eleven series at the Lower Tenement Theatre (2003), THE END OF APURNAS commissioned and produced by Rasa Productions at Theatre Row Studios (2003), A PLAY FOR MY DENTIST Hard Lemonade Reading Series at the Asian American Writers Workshop (2004). Wrote, produced, and directed a short film EDGAR selected by The Rhode Island International Film Festival and The Rome International Film Festival (2005). Member of the Lincoln Center Director's Laboratory, as a writer, 2007. Currently working on another full length play, JETLAG, and several feature film projects.
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Aasif Mandiv (Festival '01) New York stage credits include; his critically acclaimed One- Man Show SAKINA'S RESTAURANT (OBIE Award), the Broadway revival of OKLAHOMA!, HOMEBODY/KABUL at B.A.M, TRUDY BLUE, DEATH DEFYING ACTS, THE BRAVE, SUBURBIA, EINSTEIN'S GIFT and the political docudrama GUANTANAMO; HONOR BOUND TO DEFEND FREEDOM.
Regional credits include; The Steppenwolf Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, The Bush Theatre in London, and The Williamstown Theatre Festival. Some film and television credits include; the title role in Merchant-Ivory Films THE MYSTIC MASSEUR, SPIDERMAN 2, MUSIC AND LYRICS, THE SEIGE, ANALYZE THIS, RANDOM HEARTS, FREEDOMLAND, EDDIE, DIE HARD 3, ABCD, AMERICAN CHAI, UNDERMIND, THE WAR WITHIN, SORRY HATERS, "Jericho", "E.R", "The Soprano's", "Sex and the City", "Oz", "CSI", "Law and Order", "Ed", "Nash Bridges", "The Bedford Diaries", "Tanner on Tanner", and the upcoming films: PRETTY BIRD, THE UNDERSTUDY AND EAVESDROP.
Aasif is also a correspondent for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
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Sonia Pabley(Festival '03) Her play SEX IN OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES was an IAAC South Asian
Playwrights Festival selection and received a Lark Barebones production. She graduated from Columbia University and works in the publishing, theatre, and film industries. |
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Anuvab Pal (Festival '03) Plays include CHAOS THEORY (Finalist- BBC World Playwriting Competition 2007, Alter Ego Productions, SALAAM Theatre, Producers Club, Here Theatre, 78 th Street Theatre Lab, American Theatre of Actors, American Place Theatre, Greenwich Street Theatre- all in NYC, ArtWallah Festival- Los Angeles, Georgetown University, STAGE festival–Washington DC, Edward Albee Theatre Festival- Alaska, Rasik Arts- Toronto), OUT OF FASHION (Asian-American Writers Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Source- in NYC, Edward Albee Theatre Festival – Alaska), LIFE, LOVE, AND EBITDA (Lark Theatre-South Asian Diaspora Festival 2003, Epic Theatre – in NYC, Finalist-Playwrights Center/Guthrie Theatre- Minnesota, Artwallah Festival-Los Angeles), FATWA (New York International Fringe Festival 2004, Blue Heron Arts Center-NYC, Silk Road Theatre-Chicago), PARIS (Lower East Side Tenement Museum -7.11 Convenience Theatre Festival 2005). His most recent play THE PRESIDENT IS COMING premiered at The Rage Productions/ Royal Court Theatre Writers Bloc Festival in Mumbai, India and received at staged reading at Salaam Theatre, NYC . His screenplays include the independent films: LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS – Best Feature NYU First Run Film Festival 2007 (Dir: Manish Acharya- with Shabana Azmi and Ayesha Dharker), CROSSROADS – selected for The Mumbai International Film Festival’07 and The Osian Film Festival 2007 (Dir: Rajyashree Ojha- with Victor Banerjee, Soha Ali Khan, Zeenat Aman). LIFE, LOVE, AND EBITDA played as part of the Public Theatre's New Work Now! 2005 Festival . His work has been featured in Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York , Theatermania , NY Theatre, Village Voice, Mint/ Wall Street Journal, Playbill, India Today, The Hindu, Rediff/ India Abroad, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Mumbai Mirror, and many other publications.
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Aladdin Ullah (Festival '02) Has been trailblazing the way as one of the first Southasians to perform as a stand-up comedian on National tv on shows such as Showtime at the Apollo, and BET's Comicview. He was featured in the popular PBS documentary DESIS: Southasians in NY. As an actor his Theater credits include his one man show INDIO directed by Loretta Greco at the New Works Now! festival at the Public Theater and Mike Batistic's Port Authority Throwdown at the Culture Project. Film credits: Professor Gautaum in American Desi. He has been seen in several commercials and done hundreds of voiceovers for tv and film. Currently he is in "Uncle Morty's Dub Shack" on Imaginasiantv. (ch.560 Time Warner) As a writer Aladdin was a finalist in the Julliard playwrighting fellowship and developed tv projects for Nickelodeon. |
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Kesav Murthy Wable (2006-07 IAAC Resident Playwright) is the 2006-07 Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) inaugural South Asian Playwriting Fellow at the Lark Theatre and Play Development Center in New York City. He received this honor for his one-act play FOR FLOW based on Beckett’s WAITING FOR GODOT. He is currently working on his new play entitled, CHAKRAS. In 2005 he completed the script ASHOKA'S WHEEL which was selected for a directed reading as part of the Chicago-based company Rasaka Theatre’s reading series. The reading was staged on March 1 st, 2006 to a full-house that thoroughly appreciated the merits of the piece (see www.ashokaswheel.com). In July of 2006, ASHOKA'S WHEEL was featured as a finalist in the Chicago Dramatists’ “Many Voices Project”. As an actor, he appeared as ‘Darius’ in Yong Soo Pak’s film ANTIGONE 5000. He has performed in numerous stage productions including ‘Stephen’ in Israel Horovitz's LINE at the 13th Street Repertory Theater, Hossein in KHADDISH IN EAST JERUSALEM at the Theater for the New City and Murellus in JULIUS CEASAR at the National Black Theater—all staged in New York City. In 2004, Kesav collaborated with eyeBLINK ENTERTAINMENT to stage an adaptation of Indian folk tales, "Beneath the Banyan Tree", that he co-wrote with Qurrat Kadwani. Kesav is a third year law student at Brooklyn Law School.
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This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
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