2026 Plays in Progress

by Vanessa Miller | Directed by Aidyn Stevens

In this dark comedy, when the patriarch of a dysfunctional family dies, three generations of women confront their secrets and clashing values all while navigating the rituals of death. But sometimes burying your feelings is harder than burying the man himself.

Content information: Grief, discussions of death and dying, dealing with your mother/daughter, funerals.

Playwright

Vanessa Miller is a Teacher, Director, Actress, Filmmaker, Writer and Script Doctor. She was a founding member of Wooden O and the Managing Director for its first thirteen years. Vanessa has directed productions for many companies including Village Theater, Seattle Shakespeare, ArtsWest, Seattle Opera, and Cornish College for the Arts. As an actor, she appeared on different stages including Seattle Rep, Intiman, and Village. Vanessa earned her BA from UCLA and studied at LAMDA.

Director

Aidyn Stevens is a multi-hyphenate artist passionate about creating community through embodied storytelling for all. Aidyn began directing with Shattered Glass Theatre’s Incubator Mentor Program and discovered her passion for developing new plays. Her other new works projects have included Bugged by Miriam BC Tobin and Age of Sail by James Lyle with Edmonds Driftwood Players, Carmilla by Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones, the trail to dry creek by Tess Berger with Copious Love Productions, and the 14/48 Festival.

by Lisa A. Price | directed by Zanne Gerrard

A brilliant and accomplished African American mycologist, Dr. Catherine Babin, is called in to help solve the suspicious death of a US Senator and leading climate champion. Racing against the clock, Dr. Babin leads her two battling graduate students to solve the climate mystery in the face of an antagonistic colleague and a political journalist with ulterior motives. A mycological murder mystery, set in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Content information: Murder, poison, climate change, political wrangling, mushrooms

Playwright

I am a scientist and physician, who minored in musical theater dance as an undergraduate. That has lent to being a trained observer with a lyrical lens. I write to foster my life, and to affect others so that they may foster their own in a positive way.

My overall goal as a writer is focused on the deconstruction of calamities as well as joy, through examination of the paths which lead to them. In this way, the stories can be used as tools, as we discover ways of interjecting means to enhance joy, or interrupting dysfunction before calamities happen.

Director

Zanne Gerrard (she/her) returns to the Shattered Glass Project having directed the reading of 'In Between Places' by Caro Wilcox in April 2025. Zanne has directed productions and staged readings for GreenStage, SIS Productions, Edmonds Driftwood Players, the Mae West Fest, and Erinys Productions. She received a B.A. with honors in Theatre from Wesleyan University and an Executive MPA from the UW Evans School. She is honored to help develop Dr. Price’s 'Anatomy of Flight.'

by Betsy Hanson | directed by Shana Bestock

In January 1946 three strangers meet in a Chicago train station during a blizzard. At first the three women (all born in the late 1890’s) are uncomfortable with each other as they note their different backgrounds, but gradually they share stories that illuminate their common experiences and struggles as women, wives, and mothers. Based on biographical information about the maternal grandmothers of the playwright and her actor collaborators, Carrie Schnelker and Carol Sage-Silverstein.

Content information: adult themes of loss, prejudice, and violence.

Playwright

Betsy Hanson grew up in Central Illinois, lived for many years in Japan, and moved to Seattle in 1977. She has written fiction (her novel Always Gardenia was featured on Nancy Pearl’s TV program), short plays, prize-winning short stories, book reviews,
poems, and translations of fiction by Japanese women writers. She started the Japanese language program at Seattle University and has received grants from The Elizabeth George Foundation, 4Culture, and the Jack Straw Cultural Center.

Director

Shana is a Seattle-based theater director, educator, and nonprofit leader. She spent 17 years as Artistic and Education Director at Seattle Public Theater and 4 years as Artistic Associate at ACT Contemporary Theater/Union Arts Center, developing premieres, partnerships, and youth programs. A Fulbright Specialist, she works internationally at the intersection of theater, social justice, and teacher training, and leads Climate Change Theatre Action programs. She is the founder and Executive Director of Penguin Productions.

by Anna Tatelman | directed by Emily Fortuna

Attention Must Be Paid is inspired by the true history of dramatist Arthur Miller. This script is about the relationships between Miller, his wife and photojournalist Inge Morath, and their son Daniel. Daniel was born with Down Syndrome. His parents institutionalized him shortly after his birth and kept him a secret their entire lives. This non-narrative play exposes both the causes that led to this decision and its lasting reverberations.

Content information: Themes of prejudice toward individuals with developmental differences.

Playwright

Anna Tatelman (she/her) holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans. Her plays have been produced by theatres such as the Detroit Repertory Theatre, As If Theatre, Infinity Box Theatre, Drunken Owl Theatre, and Femuscripts. Recent accolades include being named a semi-finalist for both The Road Theatre’s Summer Playwrights Festival and ACT’s New Works Northwest Festival, getting accepted into the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and having a play published in ProPlay. www.annatatelman.com

Director

Emily Fortuna is a longtime Seattle theater-maker, frequently of new works. She has directed new work with Latitude Theater and Drunken Owl Theater, and has performed with Book-It Repertory Theatre, Harlequin Theatre, Annex Theatre, eSe Teatro, Jet City Improv, and many others. When making theatre, they are drawn to stories that are socially and personally meaningful. She hopes what you see on stage will continue to inspire you to bring more goodness into the world.

by Miriam Tobin | directed by Aidyn Stevens

How do we—as individuals, as a community, as a whole nation—move on after large-scale disasters and continue to thrive as a society? 25 years ago, a tragedy occurred in a small town in middle America. Hamad is a PhD student, researching The Accident as it approaches its 25th anniversary. He travels to the town where The Accident occurred to interview Jane, the last remaining survivor. Each has their own set of information about what happened that day and the years following.

Content information: Themes of disaster, trauma, mass death, government accidents.

Playwright

Miriam BC Tobin (she/her) is a Seattle-based playwright, theatre artist, and educator. Her work leans toward the absurd, and she experiments with language and structure to bring the extraordinary into the ordinary. She has performed on stages and taught drama across the US and Europe. Honors include a Hedgebrook residency, PEN Writing Scholarship, and London Dramatic Academy Fellowship. Recent performances and readings of her plays have been with Drunken Owl Theatre, Edmonds Driftwood Players, and The Shattered Glass Project, and she was a 2025 semi-finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her poetry, fiction, and dramatic writing has been published in various literary journals, and she is also the Lead Drama Editor with The Clockhouse. Miriam also runs SCRiB LAB, a playwriting organization aimed at community and education. www.mirbct.com

Director

Aidyn Stevens (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist passionate about creating community through embodied storytelling for all. Aidyn began directing with The Shattered Glass Project Incubator/Mentor Program and discovered her passion for developing new plays. Her work with playwrights is focused on relationship building and shared goal creation. Aidyn enjoys being a player in the new work development process, and she has been involved in numerous staged readings and new work processes in Seattle. She loves creating joyous theatrical experiences and world-building for complex genre pieces. Aidyn hopes to work with more new collaborators and to direct playwrights’ new plays in fully staged productions. Aidyn also works as a facilitator and teaching artist of theatre for youth, elders, and disabled folks. Outside of the arts Aidyn is a birth doula and loves working with new parents on their journey into parenthood.