After 25 years in Nebraska, Brigid Amos has recently moved back to her home state of New Jersey. Her plays have been produced, presented as staged readings, or podcasts in ten states as well as in the UK. She is the winner of the 2022 Goshen Peace Play Contest and has been a finalist for The Woodward/Newman Drama Award, Kitchen Dog Theater’s New Play Festival, and the Loft Ensemble as well as a semifinalist for many others. Her most recent full-length play, Dove, was developed with ASOTO (A Stage of Their Own) in New Jersey and had its regional premiere with Angels Theatre Company in 2022. Brigid is thrilled to have Shall We Dance? As part of B3’s First Feminist Festival and honored to be counted among this group of women playwrights!

Dawn Branch has been working in the film industry for over a decade. Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dawn studied at Hendrix College and Boston University before moving to Los Angeles. A theatre kid from childhood, in the last few years Dawn has taken up writing once again. Follow along on IG @DawnWroteAPlay

Eliana Burns: Eliana Burns (Festival Organizer/Director, LMK) is a local actor, director, and designer. She serves as Vice President on the B3 Theater board. Eliana holds a masters of Sustainability Solutions, where her main focus was environmental justice and equity. She recently assistant directed 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Mesa Encore Theatre, and directed Holy Inappropriate during B3’s Evening of Feminist Theatre last year. She’s appeared in shows all over the valley, her favorite recent role being Florence Unger in The Odd Couple - Female Version (MET). She’s very excited to be organizing and directing this festival. She would like to thank Ilana and Charlotte for all their hard work, her mom and her partner for their support, and her roommates for letting her invade their house with theatre kids. She'd also like to thank Izzy for the best friend inspiration. She hopes you enjoy the show! Follow all her crazy projects @doodling on Instagram.

Erin Buvala-Benites, the Artistic Director of Virtual Theater Lab, embarked on her artistic education at Phoenix College in the '90s, later honing her skills with NYU-TISCH and Beth Morrison Producers Academy. Throughout the pandemic, Erin demonstrated her feminist spirit, showcasing her versatility in numerous virtual projects as a director, producer, and performer. Not only did she grace notable B3 productions like "Holy Inappropriate," "Canterbury Tarot," and "Coming Out for Christmas" as a performer, but she now debuts her first directing project with B3 Theater, "Melody" by Sarah Groustra, and is honored to direct the exceptionally talented Julie Peterson in the telling of this fascinating story. Erin Buvala-Benites remains dedicated to shaping the future in theatre arts, infusing her work with passion, inclusivity, and empowering storytelling.

Elizabeth Dudak, also known as Betsy Dudak, splits her time between a small town outside Chicago and in the suburbs of Liverpool, NY with her rescue dog, Barkly, who thinks he’s a cat. Her ten-minute play, Gloria and Her Dragons, was chosen as one of 20 plays to be a part of the Los Angeles Roads Theater 2022 Summer Playwrights Festival. As E. A. Tobolski, she penned her first nonfiction book, See Me Grieve: A Widow’s Journey, a series of essays based on the sudden, unexpected death of her husband who was her person for 33 years. What the Heck, Dec?!, her first romance novel, was a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence finalist. Wanna Bet, the second in the Reed Brothers series, is a 2020 Contemporary Romance Stiletto Contest finalist. Elizabeth has been taking playwriting classes for the past three years at the University of Chicago’s Graham School and The Dramatist Guild. She is currently working on more ten-minute plays, a long length play, and a third romance book. For more information on Elizabeth and all her work, please visit her website at www.betsydudak.net.

Sarah Groustra is a Brooklyn-based, Massachusetts-born playwright, actress, and theatermaker. Sarah's work has been produced by B Street Theater Company, The Chain Theater, Playdate Theatre Company, off-Broadway at the SheNYC Festival, and more. She was a finalist for the 2023 Jane Chambers Award, was named a 2022 Ascending Playwright by Yonder Window Theater Company, and was the recipient of the 2021 James E. Michael Playwriting Prize. Sarah has developed new work with Under Construction Playwright's Group (the Road Theater), Yonder Window New Works Collective, the Parsnip Ship New Play Group, Forager Theater Company, and Historically Close Friends. Sarah is an alumna of Kenyon College (2022), the 24 Hour Plays: Nationals (2022), and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. sarahgroustra.com // @ladypoachedegg

Yael Haskal is a writer and performer based in New York/Berlin. She is an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists and La MaMa's Great Jones Repertory Company. Her work has been performed at La MaMa, IRT, The Tank, Dixon Place, Midtown Int'l Theatre Festival (NYC); Echo Theater Company (CA); Ivoryton Playhouse, Warner Theatre (CT); Echo Theatre Dallas (TX); Theatre Simpson (IN); the InspiraTO Festival (Toronto); and others across the U.S. www.yaelhaskal.com.

Aly Kantor is a playwright, performer, and teaching artist from Long Island, New York. Her award-winning, internationally-produced work is pleasantly quirky, femme-focused, often queer, and full of speculation and subversion. She has several works in print through Smith & Kraus and Applause Books. Aly is a Creative Associate with EastLine Theatre, where her new adaptation of The Great Gatsby, These Gilded Souls, recently premiered in Westbury, NY. Aly’s full-length work has been developed across the country with organizations including Vivid Stage, Theatre Off-Kilter, Playhouse on Park, Music Theatre of Connecticut, The Bechdel Group, Mirrorbox Theatre, and New Normal Rep. Likewise, her short plays have been performed across the country, from Off-Broadway to Hollywood, CA. To learn more about Aly’s work, visit www.alykantor.com, or find her on NPX.

Ilana Lydia is the Artistic Director of B3 Theater, Inc. and has been for the last 7 years. She has a passion for Feminist Theater, and is incredibly proud of Eliana and the others contributing to this festival. Her educational background is in Philosophy, which she took in a Catholic school, so she has been itching to make this piece for years. Besides directing and playwriting, Ilana has gotten married recently and would like to welcome her wife, Monika Lydia, to her first acting role. She is elated you are interested in Feminist Theater.

Dolores E. Mendoza is a local actor, designer, and director. Fresh out of the White House as "Jean" in Stray Cat Theatre's POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive and her full-length directorial debut with Stray Cat's Gloria, she is thrilled to be working with B3 Theatre for the very first time as a part of their First Festival of Feminist Shorts. When not onstage, Dolores does freelance illustration and property design for theatre and film. Her next projects include tackling props for Mesa Community College's She Kills Monsters and Stray Cat Theatre's season closer, Sleeping Giant. She dedicates her work to her family, friends, and partner - her beautiful support network. "I love you all. Thank you for letting me dream."

Laura Neill is a Brooklyn-based playwright currently working on commissions for Ensemble Studio Theatre and Keen Company. She developed her play Winter People at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Her play I Love You Elizabeth Warren won the Clauder Competition Massachusetts prize. Productions include Isolated Incidents (Broadway Podcast Network and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, commission), Public Property (Salvage Vanguard Theatre), Skin and Bones (Wilbury Theatre Group), Don't Give Up the Ship (Fresh Ink Theatre), and DIVAS (OperaHub, commission). She was commissioned by SpeakEasy Stage Company's Boston Project (Just Cause). Her published plays include Game Night (Stage Partners), Funtown (YouthPLAYS), The Last Cookie (Stage Partners, Ten-ish: Comedies), One Kind of Fear (Flowersong Press, upcoming), The Last Red Lion (ScriptWorks’ Perfect Glitch), and Applause Books anthologies. Her plays have been recognized as semi-finalists or finalists by Local Lab, Premiere Stages, Blank/UCross Future of Playwriting Prize, Gulfshore Playhouse, McNerney Award, the Princess Grace fellowship, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the ATHE Judith Royer Award, and more. Laura was an affiliate of the Company One PlayLab, and was playwright-in-residence at University of Tulsa's WomenWorks; she has taught creative writing and theatre at universities across the country. She coordinates the "playwright amoeba," a casual hangout space for playwright community. MFA: Boston University. NPX: https://newplayexchange.org/users/1933/laura-neill

Kelsea is thrilled to be directing her first short play, with the one and only B3 Theater! Previously seen in her role as Death in The Canterbury Tarot with B3, this will be her first time in the directors chair! She would like to give a huge thank you to Ilana and Eliana for giving her this extraordinary opportunity and being so wonderfully compassionate and knowledgeable! She would also like to send her love and gratitude to the author, Betsy Dudak! For without her willingness to share her story and create art from the past, we would not have this work to play and heal with! Thank you Betsy, this play is magnificently special. To the cast of Goodbye, My Girls, Thank you for going beyond! You have all created beauty and light in dark, muddy waters. Something not the faint of heart can achieve. She is extremely proud and in love with this production and theater company. Follow Kelsea on Instagram @kelsearay07 to stay up to date with her future acting adventures.

Angelica Saario is very excited to be a part of B3’s festival of feminist shorts this year and to direct Juliet Wakes Up. She has performed in multiple plays before with B3 Theater such as 2A, Sincerity, Frankenstein, Song to the Night Sky, and Herlandia. Angelica is 19 years old, and is attending Arizona State University for her BA in theater acting. She loves to stay active and working out and has been in sports her whole life. Outside of performing, directing and writing, Angelica is a certified yoga practitioner, reiki master and in natural healing. She is also currently working 2 jobs: One as a server and an actor with Phoenix Murder Mystery Company. Then on the side, she is an assistant teacher at Childsplay Theatre, and works with a sketch comedy troupe called Patent Pending.

Samara Siskind is a Florida based playwright, dramaturg and proud member of the Dramatists Guild. Her plays and monologues have been produced across the globe and featured in various anthologies including Shorter, Faster, Funnier: Comic Plays and Monologues, Great Short Comedies Volume 1 and Great Short Comedies Volume 2, Young Women's Monologues from Contemporary Plays Vol. 2, StageIt! 7: Thirty 10-Minute Plays, and The Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2023 by Smith & Kraus. Samara would like to thank B3 for having her along for this ride and her favorite road trip companions - Dan, Wes and Riley*.

Charlotte Strayhorne is a graduate of Xavier University with a B.S. in Communication Arts with a focus on Public Relations and Theatre. She has become a familiar face with B3 appearing in Sincerity Forever, Fefu and Her Friends, and A Wolf at the Door. Originally from Cincinnati, her other acting credits also include Working, Little Foxes, The Miracle Worker, Godspell, and Parade. She received an AriZoni for her performance in To Kill a Mockingbird at Hale Centre. She also was nominated for an AriZoni for her appearances in Fame and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In addition to acting, she has extensive credits behind the lights as Director, Stage Manager, running lights, and even House Managing. She enjoys crafting her art and encouraging others to Stay Strong in their journey and to Stay True to their destiny.

Lorraine has been acting, singing, directing for many years with so many awesome people. She is always looking for new endeavors and adventures. She loved working with the feminist shorts.

Carlin is thrilled to be directing their own short play, Blessed Fruit, that they wrote specifically for this festival. They are an interdisciplinary theatre artist and Managing Associate Artistic Director of B3, though they also collaborate with other companies in the Valley. Last seen as an actor in Ronin Theater’s Twelfth Night and designing for their full-length play, Coming Out for Christmas with B3, they are delighted to be a part of this incredible festival surrounded by so many other skilled theatre artists. To keep up with them work on social media, you can find them @carlincreating on multiple platforms. Neutralize the patriarchy!

Sarah is insanely excited to be directing Shall We Dance? For this kickass festival! Sarah has her BFA in Theatre Performance with a minor in Women's Studies from Chapman University. Past Directing credits include Murder on the Orient Express, The Odd Couple (Female Version), Pippin, F-Feminists, Terminal Lucidity, and Contemporary Voices: An Ethnodrama on Love and Sexuality. She would like to thank Eliana for the opportunity, and Lane for his endless love and support. (@whitesa21)