The Sci Fi Selection

Reina Hardy is a playwright. Her plays, which usually contain magic and sometimes contain science, have been seen across the country, including at Rorschach Theatre in DC, the Vortex in Austin, and the NNPN National New Play Showcase. She's a Michener Fellow, winner of the KCACTF TYA Prize, finalist for the Terrence McNally Prize and the recipient of an Interact 20/20 Commission. She can make things happen with her mind.

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, and Co-Founder of the Obie Award–winning Vampire Cowboys of NYC. His work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been lauded as "Culturally Savvy Comedy" by The New York Times, "Infectious Fun" by Variety, and "Tour De Force Theatre" by Time Out New York. The Chicago Tribune praised him as a "refreshing, break-the-rules writer" as Time Out Chicago named his play SHE KILLS MONSTERS one of the 10 Best Plays of 2013. Scripts include WAR IS F**KING AWESOME; SHE KILLS MONSTERS (The Flea); KRUNK FU BATTLE BATTLE (East West Players); BIKE WRECK (Ensemble Studio Theatre); TRIAL BY WATER (Ma-Yi Theater); ALIENS VERSUS CHEERLEADERS (Keen Teens); SOUL SAMURAI; THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); LUSH VALLEY (HERE); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of ALICE IN SLASHERLAND; FIGHT GIRL BATTLE WORLD; MEN OF STEEL; and LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK. His scripts are published by Samuel French, Playscripts, and Broadway Play Publishing. Recent honors include being a 2014 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Fellow; a 2014 McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman Fellow; a 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow; a recipient of a 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award (She Kills Monsters); a 2012 TCG Young Leader of Color; and receiving 2012 & 2009 GLAAD Media Award nominations for his plays SHE KILLS MONSTERS and SOUL SAMURAI. He is a proud resident artist at New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights' Center, an alumnus of Youngblood, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Ma-Yi Writers Lab, and the Keen Company New Play Lab. His company, Vampire Cowboys, often credited for being the pioneers of "geek theatre," holds the unique distinction of being the first professional theatre organization to be officially sponsored by NY Comic Con. They've been praised by The Village Voice as "New York's Best Army of Geeks" and are currently in-residence at The New Ohio Theater and IRT.

Greg Lam is a playwright, screenwriter, and board game designer who lives in the Bay Area. He is the co-founder of the Asian-American Playwright Collective and a member of The Pulp Stage Writer's Room and the Pear Theatre's Playwright Guild. His full-length epic LAST SHIP TO PROXIMA CENTAURI premiered digitally at Kitchen Dog Theater in March 2021 and onstage at Portland Stage Co. in March 2022 after winning the Clauder Competition. His full-length play REPOSSESSED received its world premiere at Theatre Conspiracy in 2018. His serial play series TREACHERY ISLAND will premiere at The Pulp Stage in 2022. In 2019, he was named a fellow in the Dramatic Arts by the Mass Cultural Council and the inaugural Pao Fellow of the Company One PlayLab. Greg was a member of the 2016 Company One PlayLab Unit for the development of Boston area playwrights. His works have been produced by Company One, Fresh Ink Theatre, Pork Filled Productions, The Depot, The Boston Theatre Marathon, Open Theatre Project, Post Meridian Radio Theatre, Other World Theatre Paragon Festival, theatre@first, Navigators Theater, Fantastic.Z, Project Y, The Hive Collective, Culture Park, Silverthorne Theatre, The Pulp Stage, Ixion Theatre Ensemble, Eagle and Beaver Ensemble, 4th Street Theatre, Midwest Dramatists Conference, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Tiny Theatre, Pear Theatre, Wishing Wind Creations, Revolution Shakespeare, The Best of All Possible Podcast, Baldwin Wallace University, and others. In 2021 he curated a 39 play series called Sci-Fi Summer Shorts by Tiny Theatre. You can see works of his that have been filmed at https://tinyurl.com/greglam. Greg writes, largely, full-length epics which combine grinding moral quandaries with science fiction, short plays that are comic romps, and one-minute plays which are incredibly depressing. Greg is the co-creator of the "Boston Podcast Players" podcast (bostonpodcastplayers.com) Boston's virtual podcast stage for new works by local playwrights.

Stuart Spencer is the author of numerous plays that have been produced both in New York at the Ensemble Studio Theatre and around the country. His play RESIDENT ALIEN was produced at the Humana Festival of New Plays, and has since had numerous productions at many regional theatres, including the Milwaukee Rep and Florida's Hippodrome Theatre. RESIDENT ALIEN is published by Broadway Play Publishing. His play ALABASTER CITY was commissioned by South Coast Rep and his one-act BLUE STARS is published in the Best American Short Plays of 1993 – 94. As an undergraduate, his play THE GOLDEN ROSE was designated "Best Play" at the American College Theatre Festival. His book on the art of playwriting, The Playwright's Guidebook, was published in 2002 by Farrar Straus & Giroux under the Faber and Faber imprint. Edward Albee calls the book "indispensable" and David Lindsay-Abaire (FUDDY MEERS) says that the book "charts a straightforward course through the knotty and twisting wilds of playwriting. If you want to be a playwright, here's your bible." The book is currently in its second printing. As a screenwriter, he has been commissioned to write films for actor/director Campbell Scott and for director George Camarda. He has written the screenplay version of Resident Alien for Langley Productions in Los Angeles. Stuart currently teaches playwriting, dramaturgy, dramatic literature, and theatre history at Sarah Lawrence College. In the past he has taught at New York University, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, The New School for Social Research, SUNY/Purchase, the Ensemble Studio Theatre Institute for Professional Training, and The Young Playwrights Festival program, which brings the art of playwriting into New York's inner city schools. He has served as a theatre and film editor of Bomb Magazine, a quarterly magazine that publishes writing and art by, and interviews with, contemporary artists. His interview subjects include Robert Schenkkan, Campbell Scott, Joyce Carol Oates, John Ford Noonan, and Horton Foote. Stuart has held positions in the story editing department of CBS Films and the literary department of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he served as Literary Manager for two years. In this latter capacity he helped to discover and cultivate new American writers and their plays, supervised and served as dramaturg for an ongoing series of readings, workshops, and major productions of the theatre, and moderated the Playwrights Unit that included, at the time, such notable writers as Eduardo Machado and John Patrick Shanley. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

In 1976, Elaine Lee fled eastern North Carolina, taking refuge on the Isle of Manhattan. She landed acting work almost immediately, and in 1980, was nominated for an Emmy for her role on NBC-TV's The Doctors. With a group of young actors, she formed Wild Hair Productions and began co-writing plays with her sister, Susan Norfleet, including BRIEF CASES and THE CONTAMINATION OF THE KOKOMO LOUNGE. While working on the science fiction play, STARSTRUCK (Broadway Play Publishing), Ms. Lee met renowned fantasy artist, Michael Kaluta, and was lured out of television, into the exciting and much less profitable world of comic books! Specializing in sci-fi, fantasy and horror comics, Elaine is best known as the writer/creator of Vamps (with artist William Simpson, for DC/Vertigo) and Starstruck (with artist Michael Kaluta, for Heavy Metal, Marvel and Dark Horse). Lee and Kaluta subsequently produced a Starstruck spin-off, The Galactic Girl Guides, for Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine (Comico). Elaine created and wrote the sci-fi series BrainBanx (with artist Jason Temujin Minor, DC/Helix), as well as The Transmutation of Ike Garuda (with artist, James Sherman for Marvel/Epic). Some of her other comics work includes Saint Sinner (with Max Douglas, Clive Barker/Marvel), The Steeltown Rockers (with Steve Leialoha, Marvel), Ragman: Cry of the Dead (Gabriel Morrisette, DC Comics), Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny (with Will Simpson & Dan Spiegle, Dark Horse), and scripted a Prince Valiant mini-series (with Charles Vess & John Ridgeway, Marvel Comics). Ms. Lee's short SF stories have appeared in the magazines Heavy Metal, Eclipse, Epic Illustrated, and Taboo. Her collections of spicy science fiction stories, Skin Tight Orbit, Vols. I & II (NBM), and the trade paperback of the original Vamps, can be found in book stores and comic shops. Vamps and Starstruck, have been translated into numerous languages, from Norwegian to Brazilian Portuguese. From 1995 – 2000, Elaine wrote story, characters, game events and a series bible for the computer role-playing game Secret of the Black Onyx (Blue Planet Software) and served as director of motion capture for that project. From 1997 – 2001, Elaine helped to develop, then served as head writer for the CGI cartoon series, Stevie Stardust (Stardust Entertainment/Hallmark Entertainment). During 1999, Ms. Lee and her sister, Susan Norfleet, scripted episodes for the animated series Troll Tales (A-Film). In 2001, Lee sold a story/pilot for a virtual reality thriller (Firewalls) to Stardust Entertainment. Under the name Georgia Sullivan, she and her sister penned the humorous self-help book, Porch Dogs, published in 2004. From 2006 – 2008, Elaine developed and wrote animation scripts for Niolan, a Belgian company creating kids' cartoons for the European market. Elaine produced new material for a 13-issue series of the digitally remastered Starstruck, with all new painted color by Lee Moyer (IDW, 2009-2010). The critically acclaimed series includes new pages of art, never before published Galactic Girl Guide stories and special features. An 8"x12", 360-page hardback collection of the series, Starstruck Deluxe Edition, was released in March 2011, and is now available on Amazon. Her audio adaptation of the original play Starstruck was released by The AudioComics Company (Oct 2010) to universally positive reviews and is available as a 2-DC set, or as MP3 downloads from iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and Audible. Elaine's short story "Mischief" appears in the anthology Chicks in Capes, from Moonstone Books. The last issue of her comic mini-series Murder on Mars, based on 1960s blonde bombshell pulp detective Honey West, is about to be released. And keep an ear out for Lee's audio play, commissioned by the National Audio Theatre Festivals, TransMars Tango, starring Philip Proctor, of Firesign Theatre fame! Currently a producer with The AudioComics Company, Elaine is busy turning her Honey West series into a script for an audio movie. She's also chipping away on a fantasy novel, The Soulfire Gate, and is working with her son, Brennan Lee Mulligan, on an undisclosed project. Elaine and her musician husband, Richmond Johnston, live in upstate New York and are the parents of three incredible sons and a black cat named Rupert. Residents of the Hudson Valley may have seen articles by Elaine in InsideOUT, The Blue Stone Press, Ulster County Press and The Weekender.

Susan Norfleet Lee (also Susan Norfleet), an actress and stand-up comedian who works under the name Susan Norfleet, has made appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, as well as Comic Strip Live, Evening at the Improv, The Rosie O'Donnel Show, The A List, V H 1's Stand-Up Live and Jonathan Winters' and Elayne's Boosler's Showtime specials. In 1994, she was featured on Bob Hope's Young Comedians special. On the concert circuit, she has opened for noted musical talents The Judds, Peter Allen, Sheena Easton and k d Lang. Her film roles include parts in the movies Reality Bites, Josh and S.A.M. and Jerry Maguire. On television, Susan has appeared on The Golden Girls, Designing Women,

Dale Place resides in the Boston area and makes his living as an actor in New England and regional theatre. He may also be seen (sometimes briefly) in the films The Fighter, The Proposal, Gone Baby Gone, and What's Your Number? He and his wife enjoy traveling to Europe frequently. Dale found trying to be imaginative enough to write a play such a humbling experience that he has never attempted it again.

Constance Congdon has been called "one of the best playwrights our country and our language has ever produced" by playwright Tony Kushner in Kushner's introduction to her collection TALES OF THE LOST FORMICANS AND OTHER PLAYS. In addition to TALES OF THE LOST FORMICANS, which has had more than 200 productions worldwide, Congdon's plays include: CASANOVA, DOG OPERA, NO MERCY, LOSING FATHER'S BODY, LIPS and NATIVE AMERICAN. PARADISE STREET, was produced in Los Angeles and Amherst. Three commissions from the American Conservatory Theater: A MOTHER, starring Olympia Dukakis, a new verse version of THE MISANTHROPE, and a new adaptation of THE IMAGINARY INVALID, were all produced by ACT. Also at ACT: MOONTEL SIX, a commission by the ACT Young Conservatory and subsequently performed at London's National Theatre, followed by another production of the two-act version at San Francisco's ZEUM. THE AUTOMATA PIETÀ, another YC commission, received its world premiere at San Francisco's Magic Theatre in 2002; NIGHTINGALES went to the Theatre Royale Bath's Youth Theatre. Congdon's NO MERCY, and its companion piece, ONE DAY EARLIER, were part of the 2000 season devoted to Congdon at the Profile Theatre. She has written a number of opera libretti and seven plays for the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis. THE CHILDREN OF THE ELVI, Congdon's epic and NOT suitable for children, play received its premiere at the Key City Public Theater in 2007. Congdon's plays have been produced throughout the world, including Cairo, Tokyo and Berlin. Her new verse version of TARTUFFE is in a single-volume Norton Critical edition and in the Norton Anthology of Drama. In 2013, Congdon was the Honored Playwright at the GPTC and had a fully-staged workshop of her play about the water crisis in the West, TAKE ME TO THE RIVER. Her recent play HAIR OF THE DOG is about Shakespeare and Marlowe. Her most recent play, ENEMY SKY, is about drones, Islamaphobia, and late-in-life love. Congdon has received three NEA grants, two Rockefeller grants (one for Bellagio), an Albert Sloan grants for TAKE ME TO THE RIVER, The Berilla Kerr Award, Helen Merrill Award, The Albert Weissberger Award, New York Newsday's Oppenheimer Award for Best New Play in NYC, New England Theater Conference Award for Distinguished Service to the Theater (2004), two Great Plains Theater Conference Awards, one for Distinguished Service to the Theater and the other as the 2013 Honored Playwright. She is an alumnus of New Dramatists, The Playwright's Center of Minneapolis, and a current member of The Dramatists Guild and PEN. Congdon has taught playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, but her home is as playwright-in-residence at Amherst College where she has taught playwriting for 25 years. Her work is published by Norton, TCG, Inc, but mostly by Broadway Play Publishing.

Todd David Gross has had an extensive background in music, and is a veteran of such rock groups as The Burning Sensations, The Band Next Door, and The Shout! He has written several short stories and a novel entitled The Bear Went Over the Mountain. His science fiction trilogy, collectively entitled Loy, which is about a race of beings who are the ancestors of the two alien characters in THEM ... WITHIN US is about to be published. His other plays include THE VISIT, LIFE IN THE PARK, and SENSE MEMORY, which have been seen at Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Greenhouse Theatre.