2018 NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

AJ Baker

AJ Baker (Executive Producer / Host, Opening Night):  is the Executive Artistic Director and co-founder of 3Girls Theatre Company, where she’s served as Executive Producer for all of 3GT’s New Works Festivals and productions, overseeing the presentation of more than 60 on-stage readings and fully produced plays since the company’s founding in 2011. In addition to leading 3Girls Theatre, AJ is an award-winning playwright whose full length plays include DISRUPTION (world premiere April 2018, Z Below; 3GT 2017 Festival Prize winner; Semi-Finalist, 2018 Bay Area Playwright’s Festival); ENTANGLEMENT (world premiere Nov. 2016, Z Below; 3GT 2015 Festival Prize winner);  THE ANNIVERSARY EFFECT (Semi-Finalist, 2015 Bay Area Playwrights Festival; Top-10 Finalist, Capital Repertory Theatre’s 2014 Next Act! New Play Summit; Finalist, 2014 3GT New Works Festival); THE RIGHT THING (world premiere March 2012, Thick House); GLICKMAN’S THIRD ACT (Semi-finalist, 2011 Bay Area Playwrights Festival). A proud member of Dramatists’ Guild and long-time participant in the Will Dunne Dramatic Writing Workshops, AJ has also served on the board of PlayGround and as an independent producer for 429 Productions. She is a 3GT resident playwright.

Cat Brooks

Cat Brooks (Oakland Mayoral Candidate / Playwright, Festival Finalist: Tasha): Actor, playwright, poet, political activist. . .  the multitalented Cat Brooks began her theater career at the age of 8 and later obtained her B.A. in theater with an emphasis on classical works.  After graduation, she studied at the Royal National Theater Studio in London. Cat has performed across the world including playing Lady Macbeth at the Edinburgh Theater Festival in Scotland.  Cat is a 3GT resident playwright. She lives in West Oakland with her daughter. Click on the following links for more info about Cat Brooks.: Cat Brooks for Oakland, Anti Police-Terror Project, Justice Teams Network

Elizabeth Flanagan

Elizabeth Flanagan (Playwright, Frodo Lives): Elizabeth’s plays have been produced by: San Francisco Theater Pub, All Terrain Theater, Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, the Olympian Festival and Wily West Productions. She’s a member of the writer’s pool for  PlayGround, a cofounder of Ex Nihilo Theater, and former board member of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco. Elizabeth is a 3GT resident playwright.

Rachel Hamilton is a graduate of Northwestern University, an alumna of The Second City, Chicago, as well as a director, performer and an Emmy-nominated writer. Rachel cut her teeth in the Chicago Improv scene, sharing the stage with geniuses like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, and scads of other Improv luminaries.
Rachel teaches, directs and performs all over the country and makes her home in Sausalito, California with her ridiculously adorable Cockapoo, Marty, who is the best Improviser she knows.

Kimberly MacLean‘s love of improv has brought her to work with many Bay Area troupes, namely as a mainstage performer with BATS Improv. She most recently graced the screen as the lovable, quirky Tina in “All the Others Were Practice”.  Kimberly currently teaches at California College of the Arts and ACT’s Summer Training Congress. As the Director of Learning at Speechless, she designs & delivers improv infused curriculum to the corporate world. Some of Kimberly’s most celebrated work is improvising songs with her cat, Izzy, who has less than perfect pitch but great spirit for the art.

Jennifer Lynne Roberts

Jennifer Lynne Roberts (Program Manager & Head Writer, 3GT Investigates: Birth Rights): holds an MFA from California College of Arts. She’s co-founder/producer of Ex Nihilo Theater and ReproRights! Theater, and past member of the writer’s pool for Playground. Her play, THE KILLING JAR, a finalist for Dayton Playhouse’s FutureFest 2014, is slated for production with Spare Stage 2019. Short plays include: LUNCH HOUR and THE LAST DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY, Playground 2106/ 2017; MARS ONE PROJECT and MEET CLAUDIA, Wily West Productions 2014; PHOTO DYNAMIC THERAPY, Wily West/PCSF 2014; CHYROSOMELIDAE CRY NO MORE, Wily West/PCSF 2013. MARS ONE PROJECT won San Francisco Theater Pub’s Excellence in Theater Award for Best Short Play and was part of the Navigators Theater Company’s Lift-Off New Play Series and Otherworld Theatre’s PARAGON Science Fiction and Fantasy Play Festival. Commissions include San Francisco Olympians Festival V and VI; All Terrain Theater’s Women in Solodarity; REPRO RIGHTS! WOMEN@RISK in collaboration with 3Girls Theatre Company; and COWBOY NOIR: TALL TALES OF THE UNNATURAL for Pacific Play Company, Seattle. Jennifer was Head Writer for Wily West Productions summer shows, ZERO HOUR: THE MARS EXPERIMENT and I SAW IT. Currently, she’s developing the full-length play, ACCOMMODATIONS, through Quantum Dragon Theatre’s The Forge and BLISS POINT during residency at The Farm.

Lisa Marie Rollins

Lisa Marie Rollins – Director for 3GT Investigates: Birth Rights.
Lisa Marie Rollins is a freelance director, writer and new play developer.  She is a Directors Lab West member and a Sundance Institute Theatre Lab Fellow (Directing).  She has been a writing fellow with San Francisco Writers Grotto, CALLALOO London, VONA, Just Theater Play Lab and the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency. Regional directing and dramaturg work includes Crowded Fire Theater, Playwright Foundation, TheatreFirst, Berkeley Repertory Theater/ Ground Floor, Shotgun Players, Custom Made Theatre, Magic Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse and new plays by Lauren Gunderson, Geetha Reddy, Idris Goodwin, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, and creative collaborations with comedic artists W. Kamau Bell and Zahra Noorbakash. She holds graduate degrees from Claremont Graduate University and University of California, Berkeley and is Distinguished Guest Artist Faculty at St Mary’s College in Performance Studies. She is currently a Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theater and Artist-in-Residence at BRAVA Theater for Women in San Francisco. Her new book of poems, “Other Words for Grief” is newly released from Finishing Line Press (2018). She is currently developing her new play “TOKEN”. lisamarierollins.wordpress.com

Nia Fairweather is an award-winning Actress (The Roe Effect, Paralysis), Writer and Producer of OORDEEL, the viral filmic adaptation of her acclaimed monologue of the same name whose work has been featured at the Festival de Cannes, American Black Film Festival; on HBO, Nickelodeon, Cinemax and CBS to name a few. Nia employs awareness, empathy and vision to write and perform impactful stories that take audiences on poignant journeys through critical social issues; from prostitution in Thailand in ‘My Thai’, the scars of childhood abandonment in ‘Mommie Dearest’ and homelessness in ‘Sparrow’. Currently, Nia is developing NEW AMSTERDAM, the feature film adaptation of OORDEEL and gearing up for the launch of Untitled, a mix-medis short story series. You can connect (@NiaFairweather) and learn more about her work at www.niafairweather.com

Linda Maria Girón. Guatemalan-American actor and playwright from Los Angeles, CA, Linda currently resides in the Bay Area where she obtained a BA in Theater and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley. During her time at Cal, Linda was awarded both the Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prize for Acting and Playwriting and Michael Mansfield and Randy Sweringen Social Justice Award for her play Memoria del Silencio en el País de la Eterna Primavera. Her second play, white iris, premiered at Pianofight’s Shortlived VI and is currently being developed into a full-length. Post-graduation, Linda has worked with a number of Bay Area theaters including NCTC, SFBATCO, Brava Theater Center, Utopia Theatre, FaultLine Theater and Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts where she is currently a playwright in residence.

Amy Everitt, State Director for NARAL Pro-Choice California, has been an innovative advocate for reproductive freedom for women and families throughout California. Under her leadership, California became the only state to successfully regulate anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers and require them to share information about reproductive health options. Amy’s background in campaigns and elections, grassroots and grasstops organizing and coalition building has positioned NARAL as one of the top advocacy organizations for reproductive freedom in the state. She is regularly quoted in the press and has been published in the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle and Huffington Post.

Allie Lahey, Program Manager, NARAL Pro-Choice California.Allie is a loud and unapologetic feminist activist, social media nerd and organizer. At NARAL, she engages members and volunteers to help push forward innovative campaigns in California. Before joining NARAL in 2017, she was the Ohio State Organizer with URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, where she kickstarted their first integrated voter engagement program, training and mobilizing thousands of young Ohioans for reproductive justice issues, such as overturning the Hyde Amendment and stopping abortion bans. A Bay Area transplant, she is a 2014 Bowling Green State University alum, where she studied Human Development and Family Studies, Popular Culture and Sexuality Studies and lead campaigns for accessible menstrual products and stronger sexual assault services.She is also an active alum with Young People For, a national youth fellowship program, and is dedicated to mentoring fellow young progressive activists. She has worked previously as an advocate at a domestic violence shelter, and with Tech Trek, a STEM camp for girls.

Phyllida Burlingame is the Reproductive Justice & Gender Equity Director at the ACLU of Northern California and leader of the ACLU’s statewide Reproductive Justice and Gender Equity team. She sets the strategic direction for this work and employs an integrated advocacy approach, coordinating legislation, litigation, public education, and community engagement to achieve maximum impact. Phyllida has been working on reproductive health, rights, and justice in California for over 20 years and has been in her current position since 2011.

Kimberly Ellis is a nationally recognized Progressive leader who has been credited with revolutionizing Democratic politics in California. Most recently, Kimberly was a candidate for Chair of the California Democratic Party, where she inspired thousands and lit the spark of an ongoing movement for the next generation of Progressive activists. Kimberly is the former Executive Director of Emerge California – the state’s most effective training program for Democratic women to run for and win elected office, and before this role, served as the National Affiliate Director of Emerge America.
Kimberly holds a juris doctorate from the John F. Kennedy School of Law, a Bachelor of Arts from Jacksonville University and is a Fellow with the Truman National Security Project.
Kimberly serves on a number of boards and advisory councils, including Fund Her, K to College and the California Young Dems Black Caucus.

Mary Powelson

Mary Powelson (Program Manager, GirlWrights / Director, Frodo Lives): is an actor, director, playwright, theatre arts educator and development specialist with more than thirty years of experience working for non-profit arts and education programs, including over a decade as a Bay Area arts program administrator. In addition to her many other theater-related activities, Mary is the Communications and Theatre Arts Director of the Salesian Boys & Girls Club, an after-school program for boys and girls in North Beach and a 3GT Associate Artist.

Margery Kreitman

Margery Kreitman (Program Director, LezWrites!): is the author of  “Please Wait For The Beep” (Cable Car Award nominee), produced in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City, “Picture Me” (Jane Chambers’ Playwriting Award), produced by Theater Rhino, “Digitally Yours” – a sketch comedy revue, created and performed with Karen Hirst, produced by Theater Rhino and The New Conservatory Theater.  She also wrote the comedy, “Sax and the Single Dyke”, co-produced by Sarah Heartburn Productions and Theater Rhino. Margery’s solo works include “Home Plates” (‘Dean Goodman Choice Awards), “Thirty Years Later”, “Phenomenal Dread of Intimacy”, “Mug Shots” “Payday at Pukalani” (A Maui Fringe Festival winner), “Bouncing”, “A Singular Story”, “The Boot,” and  “Soul Stone.” She has performed her pieces in at various Bay Area venues including The Marsh, The Exit, CounterPulse, StageWerx, Berkeley Marsh, The New Conservatory Theater, Noh Space, The Magic Theater, Theater Rhino, Venue 9, The Garage, The O’Hanlon Center, The Plush Room, The Tides Theater and The Thick House. Her short stories have appeared in various journals including Pisgah, Rockhurst Review, Gargoyle, Dos Passos Review, and Clackamas. Her work also appears in the book, Scenes and Monologues for Young Actors, published by Smith and Kraus. Margery has taught acting, improvisation and playwriting and was a faculty member at ACT’S Young Conservatory, The Academy of Art University, and many Bay Area public and private schools.  She also taught acting for seniors at the San Bruno Senor Center and with them created a short screenplay about alcohol abuse and the elderly. It was made into a film starring members of the acting class and aired on cable TV. Margery was also the creator and director of Positive Spirit and Visible Proof, two writing and performance groups for HIV positive young adults. She is a 3GT resident playwright.

Zach Kopciak

Zach Kopciak (Festival Producer / Dramaturg, Innovators Series): is a deviser, producer, dramaturg, performer, and director specializing in non-traditional theatrical forms and contexts. Currently based in San Francisco where he is the Associate Artistic Director of 3Girls Theatre, he has also recently worked with The Speakeasy (Boxcar Theatre),  SF Sketchfest, First Person Travel, Epic Immersive, The Circus Center, and Bonfire Makers. In the past, Zach has worked with Guerilla Science in New York and DC, Kid Cactus in Los Angeles, and with Secret Cinema, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Box, and Enter Level5 in London, where he received his MA from the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Bowstring Collective (Innovators Series: Triple Maven): featuring devisers Emma Shelton, Jena McRae, Siobhan Marie Doherty, Jaime Lee Hart, Molly Benson, Lexie Papedo, Margery Fairchild, and Gabrielle Patacsil, collectively weave personal experiences and family histories into multi-disciplinary performances in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bowstring creates rich, immersive stories that blend music, dance, theater, technology, and comedy to explore the evolution of womanhood over generations.

Liar Liar (Innovators Series: Two Coins for the Ferryman): founded by Akaina Ghosh, Madison Wetzell, and Jacob Ritts, Liar Liar reinterprets Classical narratives through feminist lenses. Utilizing physical, immersive, and interactive theater practices, Liar Liar explores unconventional methods of storytelling that re-center feminine voices and revolutionize the theatrical experience. Liar Liar’s first production, The Bacchae: For Madwomen Only, translated and adapted from Euripides’ play by Wetzell and directed by Ghosh, debuted in Tilden Park during the Summer of 2017.

Cynthia Ling Lee (Innovators Series: Lost Chinatowns): instigates postcolonial, queer, and feminist-of-color interventions in the field of Asian diasporic performance. Her interdisciplinary performance work has been presented at major theaters and alternative venues throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. Cynthia is an assistant professor of theater arts at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the Post NatyamCollective, a transnational, web-based coalition of dance artists whose work triangulates between art-making, activism, and theory.  www.cynthialinglee.com

Erin Gilley (Director, Bursting the Bubble): previously directed Equus and devised Rhino for Boxcar Theatre . She is currently the Artistic Director of elastic future and was also the Artistic Producer of Magic Theatre in San Francisco.  Directing credits include: Turning Tricks and Counting in Sha’ab (Golden Thread’s ReOrient festival); digital theatre productions Longitude and Peek A Boo(London International Festival Theatre); The Technology Cave in Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge (Magic Theatre); The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Deal and Beautiful (elastic future); Wreckage by Caridad Svich (Crowded Fire); The Woods by David Mamet (Theatre in the Woods); Criminal Genius by George Walker and Making Noise Quietly by Robert Holman (TheatreFirst). Assistant directing credits include: 12 Angry Men Bill Kenwright, West End); The Life of Galileo (Birmingham Rep/Royal Shakespeare Company); Khandan (Birmingham Rep/Royal Court Theatre). Next up is Fiction with Dragon Theatre. Ms. Gilley studied theatre as an undergraduate at Princeton University and received her MFA from Birkbeck, University of London.

Suze Allen (Bay Area Regional Representative, Dramatists Guild): is a published author, playwright, teacher, dramaturg and director with credits on both coasts.   She was the creator of Fresh New Works San Francisco , The Maine Playwrights’ Lab and Short Works Festival, Artistic Director for the SF Writers and Actors Lab, Director for Fertile Ground Writing Studio and the resident Dramaturge and playwriting instructor at The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco. Her work and the work she has directed has played the Dramatists Guild’s SF Footlights, Tides Theatre, Brava Theatre, 450 Geary, The Marsh, Intersection for the Arts, Noh Space, The Phoenix, OutNorth Contemporary Art House in Anchorage Alaska and The SF and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. Her show THE MANIC MAMA DANCE premiered at the Marsh Café and played Birthfest 2008. Suze co-authored the book, The Time-Starved Woman’s Guide to Emotional Wellbeing with SD Shanti and advises writers through her company Manuscript Mentor. Suze’s short play program, THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE , was featured at 3Girls Theatre’s 2013 Celebration of Women’s History Month. In 2012, Suze directed AJ Baker’s THE RIGHT THING and Lee Brady’s WHAT ABOUT BEN? at 3GT’s inaugural 2012 Celebration of Women’s History Month. Since 2012 Suze has been San Francisco’s representative to the Dramatists’ Guild.  She is a co-founder of 3Girls Theatre Company.

Susan Jackson

Susan Jackson (Playwright, Festival Finalist: Hudson’s Wife): received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Original Play for BLESSING HER HEART, 2009, which won “Top Ten” at SF FRINGE. Her plays have been staged- read/produced in: London, Sydney, New York City, South Carolina and all over the Bay Area.   HEATHEN, PASSED and A RAZING IN MISSOURI were performed for the Eugene O’Neill Foundation/PlayGround in Danville, Ca. The Southern Railroad Theatre Company has produced her work for the past five years. She is an alumnus of PlayGround, a member of Pear Writer’s Guild and the Dramatist’s Guild of America. She is also a Bay Area actress—she’s performed the roles of several famous women: Jackie Kennedy, Joan Crawford, Sarah Bernhardt, Stevie Smith,  and Dorothy Parker. In addition to her theatre credentials, Susan taught Theatre classes at City College of San Francisco, where she created and taught the Playwriting curriculum. Susan is a 3GT resident playwright.

Cat Brooks

Cat Brooks (Oakland Mayoral Candidate / Playwright, Festival Finalist: Tasha): Actor, playwright, poet, political activist. . .  the multitalented Cat Brooks began her theater career at the age of 8 and later obtained her B.A. in theater with an emphasis on classical works.  After graduation, she studied at the Royal National Theater Studio in London. Cat has performed across the world including playing Lady Macbeth at the Edinburgh Theater Festival in Scotland.  Cat is a 3GT resident playwright. She lives in West Oakland with her daughter. Click on the following links for more info about Cat Brooks.: Cat Brooks for Oakland, Anti Police-Terror Project, Justice Teams Network