“Nevertheless, She Persisted”
Date: November 15, 2019
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: 1723 31st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
Price: From $0/”Pay What You Will” to $25.
A reading of short plays about women who persisted in the face of over (or under) whelming odds.
Featuring Maureen Hawkins, Gabriela Noble, Annie St. John, Sara Schweid, Asa Sholdez and Rebecca O’Neil.
“Who Will Witness for the Witness” by Susan Hansell
A lyrical play exploring the lives and the life-outcomes of four factually-based women from Nazi-era Europe, as they ponder truth, life, fact, death and existence.
“Fenix” by Diane Burbano
After acid is thrown in a young woman's face, a Phoenix (Fenix) rises.
“Growl” by J. Lois Diamond
Simin Behbahani is heading to Paris to read her poetry when she is detained in the Tehran airport. Despite being 82 and almost blind, she is interrogated throughout the night. Will her principles prove to be stronger than her fears?
“In the Ladies” by Ann Timmons
When a lovesick man invades the Ladies’ Room, he sets off a series of interactions that could only happen in this rare public “women only” space.
Playwrights
I feel fear. Of course I feel fear. But I do not let it stop me.
Simin, “Growl”
Diana Burbano
Diana Burbano, a Colombian immigrant, is an Equity actor, a playwright and a teaching artist at South Coast Repertory and Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble.
Written work includes: Policarpa, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Brown Swan lab 2017, Drama League Rough Draft series May 2017, Honorable Mention, Jane Chambers Award 2017, Parsnip Ship 2017 Fabulous Monsters, Latinx Play Festival, San Diego Rep 2017, Festival51 2016 winner, about women in Punk Rock,Picture me Rollin’ (featured at the 35th annual William Inge Festival and Inkfest at 2cents.), Silueta, (about the Cuban artist Ana Mendieta), with Tom and Chris Shelton, and the TYA Shakespeare mash-up, Caliban’s Island winner 2017 Headwaters New Play Festival at Creede Repertory. (Published by YouthPLAYS). Libertadoras, Vamping and Linda were written for the 365 Women a Year project and have been performed around the world, with Linda featured in more that 20 festivals over the last year, including Center Theatre Group’s community library series. Her short play Rounds Per Second is in Smith and Kraus’s 5-minute play anthology. She is currently writing material for Center Theatre Group’s Chisme y Queso series, for Rogue Artists Plummer Park project and for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational touring show.
She manages Sleep Till Noon Productions and The Gourmet Detective. Diana is one of the original members of the writers circle for Latino Theatre Association/ Los Angeles. She is also a member of The Dramatists Guild and The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights
J. Lois Diamond
J.Lois Diamond is a playwright, poet and performer. Her full length, one-act, and ten-minute plays have been performed at various off-off Broadway venues, including Theater for the New City, The West Bank Cafe and The Hudson Guild. Her work has been produced regionally and as part of The InspiraTO Festival in Toronto. Her play Hello Ocean had a reading at The 2018 Inge Theater Festival. She has been a featured poet at The Cornelia St. Cafe. She is a member of Polaris North and The Dramatists Guild. She recently studied with Tina Howe at The Dramatists Guild Institute. Her play Growl was produced as part of The Downtown Urban Arts Festival in May of 2019 at The Wild Project, and most recently was included as part of Theatre Odyssey’s One Act Festival in Sarasota, Florida October 31-November 3. Her play “Slicing an Onion” will be part of the International Human Rights Art Festival at The Wild Project in NY on December 10
Susan Hansell
Susan Hansell first wrote for the stage by constructing texts for Bay Area dancers, choreographers, and performance artists, including herself. As a result, stylized language and physical elements remain theatrical aspects in her plays. Early pieces can be viewed on YouTube and have been published in More Monologues for Women by Women (Heinemann).
Subsequently in New York, her work began on full-scale plays, including My Medea, a selection of the Best American Short Plays series (Applause); and American Rose, a Jane Chambers Award finalist, commissioned by Sightlines and produced at The Ohio Theatre, NYC.
New plays by Susan Hansell include the historically-driven three-act experimental drama At Dawn with the Rain and the Stars (one act of which was first presented at the 2017 William Inge Festival then produced as Every Concentrated Fragment in the 2018 One-Act Festival by the Tucson Players); the full-length experimental rom-com, Waiting for a Table at the Garden of Eden, from which a ten-minute stand-alone excerpt (In the Beginning...) was presented at the Midwest Dramatists Conference in 2017; and An Ocean of Bees, an absurdist-futuristic full-length, from which an early portion was presented at The Tank in New York City by the Bechdel Group on March 5, 2018, then developed in conjunction with The Bridge Initiative: Women in Theatre, and presented as a staged-reading at the Bechdel Test Festival in Phoenix, on April 27, 2019. Susan Hansell is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Ann Timmons
Ann Timmons holds an MFA (Acting) from the University of Illinois, and trained as a playwright in NYC at Playwrights’ Horizons. Her plays have been performed in many venues— Off-Broadway and national tour: Off the Wall: The Life and Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Washington, D.C: Becoming Calvin; National tour: Beyond Shadowlands; Virginia tour: The Jamestown Adventure Express. A founding member of Pipeline Playwrights, Ann’s one-acts have been produced as part of How’s That Workin’ Out for Ya? and How’s That Workin’ Out For Ya? 2.0 at the Capital Fringe Festivals, 2018 and 2019, in Washington, D.C. Currently living in NYC, Ann is a member of FAB Women, the developmental wing of The Barrow Group, and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, the Dramatists Guild, and the League of Professional Theatre Women. Find out more at www.anntimmons.com.
Performers
“…that’s when we keep on going even when the door slams in your face!
Waitress, “In the Ladies”
Maureen Hawkins
Maureen Hawkins has enjoyed a long and varied career as a professional actor on stage, screen and as a commercial voice-over artist. She has also directed several shows for some of Seattle’s small stages as well as for area schools.
Gabriela Noble
Gabriela's most recent projects have been for film and VO. In the past she has been in shows with Twelfth Night Productions, Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and Parley Productions. She looks forward to being more involved in the theatre community and is grateful to be part of "Nevertheless, She Persisted"
Sara Schweid
Sara most recently appeared as Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest (Burien Actors Theatre) and Aveline/Linda in Overcoming (Mampsh Productions). Some of her favorite roles include Viola in Twelfth Night, Gretchen in Boeing Boeing, Poppy in Noises Off, Kaliope in She Kills Monsters, Peter in Jesus Christ Superstar, and Lt. Sulu in Outdoor Trek. She’s performed at SecondStory Repertory, Theater Schmeater, Seattle Musical Theatre, and Seattle Fringe Festival, among others.
Asa Sholdez
Asa Sholdez is very excited to join The Shattered Glass Project. With a 25 year history in local theater as an actor, technician and producer it is a long standing favorite thing for Mr Sholdez to find troupes and shows with a unique voice and impassioned mission for the world we live in.
Annie St. John
You may have seen Annie performing in theaters all around the Seattle area, from the Edmonds Driftwood stage to Redmond’s Secondstory Rep, to Renton Civic Theater and all around the Seattle Parks in the summer with Greenstage. A couple favorite roles include Prospero in the Tempest, Jaques in As You Like It, and Belinda in Noises Off. Aside from acting, Annie is also a chef and owner of Happy Hour Cookies
Rebecca O’Neil
Rebecca is the artistic director of The Shattered Glass Project, a theatre company focused on amplifying the voices of women theatre artists. She most recently appeared as Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo at As-If Theatre in Kenmore. Other recent roles include: Jessie/Jackie/Jamie, Leaving Iowa; Dotty, Noises Off; Ouiser, Steel Magnolias (Driftwood). Ada/Corin, As You Like It (Ghostlight Theatricals). Karen/Joconda, To the Naked Eye (Playwright’s Theatre). Ensemble, Family: A New Play Festival (Fantastic Z Theatre).