SHEILA CURRAN BERNARD: Writer.
SHEILA CURRAN BERNARD is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning writer, filmmaker, and consultant. In 2016 she was honored with a New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship in Playwriting/Screenwriting, as well as its Geri Ashur Screenwriting Award. Her credits include nearly 50 hours of broadcast and theatrical film programming, including the nonfiction series Eyes on the Prize and School: The Story of American Public Education; and the documentary feature Slavery by Another Name, which premiered at Sundance in 2012. Her stage plays include A Firefly in August (2015 Boston Theatre Marathon; 2014 Warner Int’l Playwrights Festival) and Leaving Ibsen (finalist, Christopher Brian Wolk Playwriting Award, 2010). Bernard earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Goddard College and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Honors include selection as a Guest Artist at the Kennedy Center Summer Playwriting Intensive and residencies at the MacDowell Colony for the Performing Arts and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The author of Documentary Storytelling, now in its fourth edition and widely translated, and co-author of Archival Storytelling, Bernard has taught at Princeton University and Westbrook College and is currently an associate professor at the University at Albany, SUNY.
www.sheilacurranbernard.com
CYNTHIA CHAPMAN: Writer.
CYNTHIA CHAPMAN's play, The Journey, was a finalist for The Bridge Initiative's Bechdel Test Festival 2.0. She was the playwright-in-residence at the Michael Chekhov Association International Festival 2018. Recent productions: The Mother-Loving Train at the Boston Theatre Marathon XX; Mr. Roys’ Bicycle Repair Shop at the Warner International Playwrights Festival; A Shot of Theatre performed An Odd Couple; and Anna Sokolow: Truth in Motion, written for 365 Women A Year, was selected for the festival of Untold Stories of Jewish Women in NYC. Cynthia’s full-length plays include SkyChef, a Playwrights’ Center 2014 Core Apprentice Program Finalist, and House Rules. In 2016, she was an invited Guest Artist at The Kennedy Center Playwrighting Intensive. As an educator, Cynthia taught scriptwriting for Emerson College’s Pre-College Summer Program. Cynthia holds her MFA in Creative Writing for Stage and Screen from Lesley University and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild, Playwrights’ Center, Proscenium Playwrights and an associate member of The 9th Floor, NYC.
DARA O’BRIEN: Writer | Actor.
DARA O’BRIEN is a playwright and actress based in New York City. Her plays have been presented or developed at The Cherry Lane Theatre, Urban Stages, the Abingdon Theatre Company, Resonance Ensemble, and HB Studio. She received the 2015 Thomas Barbour Playwrights Award for her play Early Sunday Morning, which had a staged reading featuring Melissa Errico by The Schoolhouse Theatre, was a finalist for Capital Stage’s Playwrights Revolution, and was featured in the Naked Angels Tuesdays@9 Reading Series. As a founding member of WAC (Writer/Actor Collective) she is a co-creator of the upcoming podcast series, Bricks and Murder. She is also an actress whose work includes the New York premiere of Gidion’s Knot by Johnna Adams, directed by Austin Pendleton at 59E59 Theatres; and Lady Capulet in R&J for Web Series Shakespeare. In addition to the 9th Floor, her affiliations include Playwrights Gallery, The Geese, and the League of Professional Theatre Women. Member, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, Dramatists Guild of America.
www.daraobrien.com
Stuart Warmflash: Writer.
STUART WARMFLASH has been working in the theatre as writer, director and actor for over 40 years, including 10 years as the Producing/Artistic Director of the NYC non-profit Harbor Theatre. His plays have been presented throughout the U.S. and England. Film and television credits include the theatrically-released, award-winning, full-length documentary, Unforgotten. Recent theatre work includes Crush the Serpent and Mortar and Pestle. He holds a Masters in Anthropology and in Special Education, devoting several hours a day to assisting students with learning disabilities. He also writes executive speeches and commercial videos for corporate clients.