Bios of 10 Minute Playwrights

JOE COSENTINO (playwright) has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane and Jason Robards. He’s written and directed many musical plays for family audiences (toured through Encore Performing Arts of NY and published through Eldridge Plays). His one-act plays, Infatuation (Manhattan Punch Line) and Neighbor (Interborough Repertory Theater) were performed Off-Off-Broadway (and published by Dialogus Publishing). He wrote The Perils of Pauline, available on CDROM (through Prentice Hall Publishers). He received his MFA from Goddard College in Vermont, and MA from SUNY New Paltz. He’s currently head of the Department of Performing, Visual Arts and Communications/Professor of Theatre and Speech at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

ALEXANDRA GERSTEN-VASSILAROS (playwright) is the author of Mean Time the new play about the insanities of war that was workshopped at the Vineyard Theatre. Previous work at the Vineyard includes The Argument (w/ Melissa Leo).  Her off-bway play Onimum Gatherum written with T. Rebeck, was a 2004 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  She has also won the Jefferson Award for My Thing of Love (on Broadway w/ Laurie Metcalf, Steppenwolf Theatre Co., dir. Terry Kinney) and premiered two other original plays at Steppenwolf. She recently developed a half hour comedy for HBO with Carl Capotorto. This fall, her short play Two Jews In Their Seventies (w/ Jerry Stiller and Bob Dishy) will be featured in a new pilot of radio plays for Public Radio. She is a member of PEN, Actors Studio and was a graduate NYU’s -TSOA. She has also written on occasion for the HUFF POST. She is in love with her husband of 17 years and has three boys.

ASHLIN HALFNIGHT (playwright) His plays include Balaton (Nominated for Best Play of 2009, NYITA), Good Pictures (Outstanding New Play – 2008 Talkin’ Broadway), God’s Waiting Room (Best Play, 2005 NYFringe), Diving Normal (Plays and Playwrights2007), and Artifacts of Consequence.  He is a Fulbright Award winner and is the recipient of a TCG Grant, a Ludwig Volgelstein Artist Grant, and the Howard Stein Playwriting Fellowship. He was an artist-in-residence at the National Theater of Hungary in 2005/2006, received a residency at The Royal Court, is a member of MCC’s Playwrights’ Coalition, and is Resident Playwright at the Railroad Playhouse. Ashlin received a BA from Harvard and an MFA in playwriting from Columbia.  His plays have been performed in Canada, the US, and Europe and his upcoming films include Northbound and the screen adaptation of Diving Normal.

WALTER KEADY (playwright) was born in Ireland and grew up on a farm. He was employed in the Irish Civil Service before studying (8 years) for the Catholic priesthood. After ordination he served as a missionary in Brazil. He resigned the priesthood and came to the United States where he worked for IBM as a software engineer. He retired in 1994 and began a writing career.
He has published four novels to date: Celibates And Other Lovers, Mary McGreevy, The Altruist, The Dowry. He lives in Hopewell Junction with his wife Jennifer.

QUINCY LONG (playwright) Productions include: People Be Heard, Playwrights Horizons; The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite, Atlantic Theatre and Mark Taper Forum. The Virgin Molly, Atlantic Theatre and Berkeley Rep. Joy was optioned by Icon Films, and it has been published by Dramatists Play Service as have several of Quincy’s other plays. Current projects include: Loulou, a musical, Ginger, Cat Productions in Toronto; Buried Alive, a one act opera adapted from Edgar Allan Poe short story and commissioned by American Lyric Theatre in New York; Church Laugh, a comedy in development with the Civilians R & D Group; and The Gospel According to Trains, a high-speed rail extravaganza commissioned by America-in-Play through the New York State Council on the Arts. Quincy is from Warren, Ohio and lives in New York City. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

ED NAPIER (playwright/director) His play, The English Teachers, was directed by Robert Lupone at MCC. His work has been performed at other NY theatres like the WPA, EST, the HB Playwrights’ Foundation and many other basement theatres all over downtown Manhattan. He was on the writing staff of Criminal Minds for two seasons, and this year, he sold a “medical genre” pilot to NBC. He lives in Dutchess County, NY with actress wife, Alexandra, and wonderful daughter, Delilah, but this summer is moving to LA. He’s currently developing two new pilots with his mangers, Jon Brown and Jeff Thal at Ensemble Entertainment. He’s a graduate of Columbia University and was kicked out of the playwriting program at the Juilliard School.

MARK SCHLUTZ (playwright) Plays include: Ceremony; The Gingerbread House; Deathbed; Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy; Polar Bear; Gift; Magic Kingdom; Brightness; and various one-acts.  He is the recipient of the 2005 Oppenheimer Award and the 2006 Kesselring Prize. He has received commissions from MTC (Sloan), Playwrights Horizons and The Exchange. He is a member of Rising Phoenix Rep, and is coordinator of MCC Theater’s Playwrights’ Coalition.   He holds an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.

MARISA SMITH (playwright) After working in the theatre as an actress, producer and theater book publisher (Smith and Kraus Publishers). Marisa wrote her first play in 2005 (Book Group). Commissions followed for: The Lumpkin Sister’s Christmas Caper, Queenie’s Christmas and Kong’s Reunion.  The Divine Family Comedy was a Lark Playwright’s Week finalist in 2007 and a finalist in the Harriet Lake Festival of New Plays, 2007. Other plays developed with support from the Lark Playwright Development Center include Dog’s Life, Saving Kitty (winner of Best Play 2010 from NH in the Clauder competition sponsored by Maine’s Portland Stage) and The Nap. 10 Minute Plays produced at the Boston Marathon and elsewhere include: The Dress Rehearsal, The Pre-Nup and Total Expression (Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theater of Louisville, 2010). Marisa’s plays have been produced in NH, VT, Mass. and Fla. She’s a graduate of Wesleyan University.

MARK ST. GERMAIN (playwright) His play, Freud’s Last Session, is currently playing at the Marjorie S. Deane Theater in NYC. His newest play, The Best of Enemies will premiere at the Barrington Stage Company in the Berkshires this July.

LAURA SHAINE (playwright) Laura Shaine (formerly Cunningham) is a playwright, memoirist, novelist and journalist.  Her plays have been produced by Steppenwolf Theater and are popular in Europe, Russia, England, and South America. Her work is anthologized in Vintage Anthologies and she’s received many awards including an N.E.A. and N.Y.F.A. Her memoirs, Sleeping Arrangements and A Place in the Country, first appeared in The New Yorker and her essays often appear in The New York Times. She is a graduate of N.Y.U.

AARON ZELMAN (playwright) began his career in theater, acting and writing plays. In 2000 he began writing and producing television. His credits include Law & Order on NBC, Criminal Minds on CBS and Damages on the FX network.  For Damages he was nominated for an Emmy and a Writers Guild award as a writer/producer.  Aaron is happy to be currently making his AMC debut on The Killing. He has a B.A. in psychology from Harvard University.