About the Playwrights

Unclaimed Baggage by Keith Whalen

Keith’s plays have been produced across the country and internationally. His play “Youth for Dark” won Best Play in the Tales from the Brookside Festival, and was a semifinalist in the 46th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. His play “Exophilia” was an Official Selection of the short play division of the 2023 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, and in October was produced at the Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre at SMSU. In September, Keith’s play "The Beauty of Numbers" won Excellence in Playwriting from the Theatre Association of NY State, and won Best Short Production in the TANYS festival in November. Keith also directs plays, and writes and directs sketch comedy. Keith is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild.

Choices by Constance G.J. Wagner

Constance G.J. Wagner, writer, poet, playwright, theatre critic, and Lecturer in Writing and Literature at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey, has spoken regularly as a Tolkien scholar on all things Middle-earth at both academic and fan-friendly events nationally and internationally since 2005. At the upcoming New York Tolkien Conference this June, she will preview a chapter of her forthcoming book of literary criticism: The War Within: Frodo as Sacrificial Hero. She has had short fiction and poetry published through Oloris Books. A veteran performer with the NY Renaissance Festival, she has also seen her stage work (short plays and improv scenarios) produced most notably by Jersey City’s Juno Theatre Company.

Many thanks to WHATCo for staging this production of Choices.

20 Magical Minutes of Darkness and Silence and Peace by Tara Meddaugh

Tara is an award-winning playwright from Westchester County, NY. Her dark comedies, allegories and heightened dramas have been performed around the world, from Alaska to England, New York to Bangkok. Her plays and monologues have been published by Smith & Kraus, YouthPLAYS, Oxford Press South Africa, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA), Limelight, and Meriweather, including several appearances in “Best 10-Minute Plays” and “Best Stage Monologues” anthologies. Select honors include the Sloan Screenwriting Fellowship, the Arts Alive Recovery NY Regrant Award, the Shubert Fellowship in Dramatic Writing and the Bradford Gromelski Jury Award.Tara has taught playwriting at theaters, colleges, and school programs. She holds her MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Huge thanks to this amazing team bringing these raccoons to life! You can learn more about her work at www.tarameddaugh.com. 

What Happens in Pre-K, Stays in Pre-K:  Unadulterated Classroom Conversations by Holly Stefanik

Holly Stefanik is currently a Pre-K 4 teacher who is thrilled to to give audiences a sneak peek into her typical mornings through her play, “What Happens in Pre-K, Stays in Pre-K: Unadulterated Classroom Conversations” based on word-for-word conversations she has had with her adorable students! Holly is a graduate from Drew University with a Masters Degree in Teaching and a Bachelors in Theatre Arts. In 2022, she won the Oxnam Playwright Award for her play, “In The Name of the Mother.” Most recently, she has directed the WHATCo One Act Play Festival (2024), Tony Ricci Has Acid Reflux (2021), 21 Chump Street (2021), and ON THE BRINK (2020). She has also stage managed off-off Broadway at La MaMA in 2020 with “Bro-tox.” Recent performance credits include: Carrie (Miss Gardener), Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena) and Almost, Maine (Gayle). 

The Experience by Clinton Festa

Clinton Festa lives in North Carolina and is a Greensboro Playwrights' Forum member. Originally from Congers, NY, he began his career as a writer and cartoonist for his campus humor magazine. Since then he's had short plays produced around the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.  During the pandemic, he wrote and directed a seven-episode action-comedy podcast called The Malone Family in the Enchanted Forest, available on Spotify. Clinton runs an online book drive for inmates in prisons and juvenile detention centers called Sentences Book Donations. He lives in Greensboro with his wife and two children.

The Meadow by Ryan Kaminski

Ryan Kaminski is a playwright from New Jersey. His full-length thriller, Forgotten Falls, had stage productions at the Black Orchid Theatre Group in New York City in February 2020 and at the Grange Playhouse in New Jersey in September-October 2023. His second full-length thriller play, The Patient, had a stage production presented through the Not Your Average Theatre Group in Florida in May 2023. His full-length horror play, The Destination was published by Ghost Light Publications. https://ghostlightpubs.com/products/the-destination-by-ryan-kaminski 

Kaminski has also written a full-length drama, The Guilty, and a full-length historical drama, To Stand Alone: The Untold Story of Antislavery Advocate Edward Coles. The two plays have had several staged readings online. His short plays The Sentence, The Meadow, The Actress, and The Deal have been featured on multiple podcasts and have been presented at various festivals, high schools, and universities across the United States, England, and Canada.

Gown by Robert Weibezahl

Robert Weibezahl grew up on Long Island and has lived in California for many years. His plays have been performed in more than a dozen states and Australia, and will be produced later this year in New York, California, Florida, and the U.K. Gimme Shelter won First Place at 8x10: The Eileen Moushey TheatreFest and Gown was selected for The Best 10-Minute Plays 2023, published by Smith & Kraus. His full-length play, And Lightning Struck: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Creation, is published by Next Stage Press. This marks his New Jersey debut.

Like Mom Used To Say by F.J. Hartland

F. J. HARTLAND holds an MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University where he was a Shubert Fellow and the recipient of the Bud Yorkin Playwriting Award. In August of 2019 his short play Tina was named Best Play in the Equity Library Theatre’s Summer Shorts Festival. His full-length comedy Games of the Mind won the Throughline Theatre’s Play Competition. His plays have been performed in New York City at the Quaigh Theatre, 13th Street Theatre, Lovecreek Productions, Lincoln Center Library Theatre, and GayFestNYC. Twice, he was the winner of the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Samuel French (now Concord), Next Stage Press, Original Works, and The Louisville Review have published some of his plays. In 2008, F.J. was awarded a Playwriting Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. F. J. has made a record-setting eighteen appearances in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival—winning “Best Play” four times. In addition to being a playwright, F.J. is an experienced stage director and a member of Actors Equity Association.

Bag of Bees by John Mabey

John Mabey (They/Them) is a writer and storyteller whose plays have been published and produced on stage in 7 countries and throughout the United States. John lived in Europe for a decade before residing in Atlanta and continues to work with theatre companies around the globe both virtually and in-person. Their work as a playwright is connected to their career in Psychology and certification as a Mental Health Counselor, infusing everything they’ve learned about behavior, emotion and relationships into their plays. John is also a published author on the topics of sexual identity and spirituality in academic books and journals. When not writing, they enjoy teaching and performing improvised comedy and true storytelling around the world.