2021/2022 EVOLVING PLAYWRIGHTS GROUP

Circle X Theatre Co. announces the 2021-2022 Evolving Playwrights Group, a group for groundbreaking and provocative voices to dedicate their time, energy, and attention to developing ambitious, brand new plays. We encouraged playwrights to pitch the ‘impossible play,’ the play they are afraid to write that pushes the borders of language, form, or subject. Our second season is comprised of established playwrights paired with a mentor or playwright in conversation to provide guidance and support as they write their plays.

This Evolving Playwrights Group runs from October 2021-June 2022 and culminates in a public reading series.

**Edward Nguyen Borey**
Edward Nguyen Borey is a writer living in Los Angeles. Raised on both coasts and in the Midwest, he got his bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature. Besides literature, he studied East Asian history and photography, and after college he lived in Europe for a year in an utterly disastrous attempt at becoming a professional fine art photographer. Past gigs are far too numerous to list, even on the resumé, but the most memorable stint was possibly working as an EMT in LA. His screenwriting credits include a Black List entry, *Open Grave* (2013), and *Boss Level* (2021). He added professional playwright to his resumé in 2013, when East West Players produced *Christmas in Hanoi* on the mainstage. He continues to work in screenwriting.
Edward is in conversation this season with Giovanni Ortega.

Lisa Sanaye Dring

Lisa was honored as a recipient of the 2020/21 PLAY LA Stage Raw/Humanitas Prize. She's been a finalist for the Relentless Award, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, and the O'Neill Playwrights Conference. Her work has been developed/produced by La Jolla Playhouse, The New Group, Actors Theatre of Louisville, East West Players, Circle X, SCF @ Son of Semele, Playwrights’ Arena, Rogue Artists Ensemble, The Motor Company, Theatre of NOTE, and with the DCA's Reimagine Public Art Series. Lisa has been awarded fellowships at MacDowell, Blue Mountain Center, and Yaddo. She's currently a member of the Geffen's Writers Room. lisasanayedring.com

Lisa is in conversation this season with Carla Ching.

**Meg Miroshnik**
Meg Miroshnik is a Minneapolis-born, L.A.-based playwright and co-founder of the Kilroys. Her plays include *The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls* (Yale Rep; Alliance Theatre), *The Tall Girls* (Alliance Theatre; O’Neill National Playwrights’ Conference), *The Droll* (Pacific Playwrights’ Festival; Undermain Theatre), *Lady Tattoo* (Pacific Playwrights’ Festival), and *Quiver* (ACT One Festival). Her work has been developed and produced all over the country, including at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, the Playwrights’ Center, Cleveland Play House, Center Theatre Group, McCarter Theatre Center, The Lark, Chicago Opera Theater, and others. Awards: Whiting Award, Kendeda Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist. MFA from Yale under Paula Vogel.
Meg is in conversation this season with Dipika Guha.

**Ramiz Monsef**
Ramiz is a member of the 2019-20 Geffen Writers Room at The Geffen Playhouse. Most recently, his play, *The Ants*, was selected to be part of the 2020 Ojai Playwrights Conference.He is also co-author of the hit musical *The Unfortunates* which was produced at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival and ACT in San Francisco. He wrote that show’s accompanying graphic novel as well. He also co-wrote *The Many Deaths of Nathan Stubblefield*, which had its premiere in the 2017 Humana Festival at Actor's Theatre of Louisville. His play, *3 Farids*, was part of the Bushwick Starr Reading Series, the New Works Festival at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Playwrights Horizons, and the DNA Series at La Jolla Playhouse. Ramiz is an actor as well, and has appeared at: The Mark Taper Forum, The Geffen Playhouse, The Kirk Douglas, Berkeley Rep, Yale Rep, ACT, Seattle Rep, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Lookingglass, seven seasons at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, SecondStage (NYC), The Culture Project (NYC), and New York Theatre Workshop. On television, he has appeared on *Law & Order*, *Training Day*, *NCIS*, *SEAL Team*, *Modern Family*, *Kidding*, *Shameless*, *Young Sheldon*, and *The Watchlist* on Comedy Central. He is also in the film *Synchronic*.
Ramiz is in conversation this season with Jim Leonard.

**James Anthony Tyler**
James Anthony Tyler is the recipient of the 3rd Annual Horton Foote Playwriting Award, an inaugural playwright to receive a commission from Audible, and a 2016 Theatre Masters Visionary Playwrights Award recipient. His plays include *Some Old Black Man* (Berkshire Playwrights Lab at St. James Place and 59E59 Theaters, and a University Musical Society filmed production), *All We Need Is Us* (Keen Company, currently streaming on all podcast platforms) *hop thA A* (Currently streaming on Audible), *Artney Jackson* (World Premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2018 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award), and *Dolphins and*
*Sharks* (LAByrinth Theater Company and Finborough Theatre in London). He’s a 2021/2018 MacDowell Fellow, a 2021 Hermitage Artist Resident, a 2018 Djerassi Fellow, 2018-2019 Amoralists Wright Club Playwright, 2017-2018 Nashville Rep Ingram New Works Playwright, 2016-2017 Ars Nova Play Group Resident, 2016 Working Farm Playwrights Group Resident at SPACE on Ryder Farm, 2015-2016 Playwrights’ Center’s Many Voices Fellow, 2014-2015 Dramatists Guild Fellow, and he was a member of Harlem’s Emerging Black Playwrights Group. He has an MFA in Film from Howard University and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University. He is also a graduate of The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program, and he was the Staff Writer for the OWN Network show *Cherish the Day* created by Ava DuVernay. Currently he is in the writers room for a new Apple Drama Series starring a two-time Academy Award nominated actress.
James is in conversation this season with Christina Ham.

2021/2022 MENTORS/PLAYWRIGHTS IN CONVERSATION

**Carla Ching**
A native (and current) Angeleno, Carla called NYC home for 16 years. She started off writing/performing autobiographical work with pan-Asian collective Peeling. Her plays include Revenge Porn or the Story of a Body (O'Neill 2021), *Nomad Motel* (NY Premiere: Atlantic Theater Company; NNPN Rolling World Premiere with City Theatre, Unicorn Theater Company, and Horizon Theater Company), *Fast Company* (South Coast Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre), *The Two Kids That Blow Shit Up* (Artists at Play, Mu Performing Arts), and *TBA* (2g). Her work’s been developed or produced by Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, CTG Writers’ Workshop, Huntington Theatre Company, The Kitchen, The Lark Playwrights Workshop, Lyric Stage, Ma-Yi, Midnight Rice, The O’Neill, Pork Filled Productions, and The Women’s Project among others. Former Artistic Director of 2g. Founding member of The Kilroys and proud member of New Dramatists. Co-recipient of the 2021 Horton Foote Playwriting Award from the Dramatist Guild and the 2021 Los Angeles New Play Project Prize. TV credits: *Fear the Walking Dead, I Love Dick, The First, Preacher, Home Before Dark,* and the forthcoming *Mr. and Mrs. Smith* co-created by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover. She’s developing shows with Netflix, Amazon, and FX.

Dipika Guha

Dipika Guha was born in Calcutta and raised in the UK. Her plays include Yoga Play (South Coast Rep, SF Playhouse, Playmakers Rep & others), The Art of Gaman (Theatre 503, London) and Unreliable (Kansas City Rep). She was the inaugural recipient of the Shakespeare’s Sister Award through the Lark Play Development Center, the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University and the Venturous Fellowship for her play Passing. She is currently writing plays for Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Repertory, Barrington Stage and Berkeley Rep. For TV, she’s written on American Gods, Sneaky Pete, projects at AMC and Netflix, Showtime’s Black Monday and currently The Marvelous Mrs Maisel on Amazon. Dipika is a proud member of New Dramatists and the Ma Yi Writers Lab and is an alumnus of the WP Lab, Ars Nova’s Playgroup, Soho Rep W/D Lab, the Geffen Writers Room, Playwrights Foundation and the Playwrights Center. Dipika received her BA in English Literature at University College London, was a Frank Knox Fellow at Harvard University and was awarded her MFA from the Yale School of Drama under Paula Vogel.

Giovanni Ortega

Giovanni Ortega (Playwright/Director) was recently commissioned by San Diego Rep to write The Butterfly of Chula Vista. In 2016, Ortega started The Body Series at the Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity in Singapore. The devised plays include Creation of My Body, Words of My Body, Thoughts of My Body and Map of My Body. They have also been workshopped at the National Theatre of Parramatta (Sydney) and East West Players (LA). Written commissions include National Poetry Festival Singapore - Benches, Palindromes, Belonging (film) & Atlas (film) as well as East West Players' Criers for Hire & ALLOS, The Story of Carlos, Bulosan. Giovanni is currently an Assistant Professor in Pomona College’s Department of Theatre for the Claremont Colleges and the Artistic Director for FilAm Arts Teatro.