Michael Shayan is an Iranian-American Jewish playwright based in New York. He is a 2017 Lambda Fellow and will participate in this year’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices. His work has been developed at The Lark in collaboration with director Lisa Rothe. He studied playwriting at Harvard, where he worked with mentors Sam Marks, Liz Duffy Adams and Robert Scanlan. He was the youngest elected Board Member at the queer New Conservatory Theater Center in San Francisco, and currently works at Google in NYC. He’s also a stand-up comedian, a YouTuber, and a proud member of the Dramatist’s Guild.

ELLIE HEYMAN is a freelance director and the Director in Residence at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater. Recent credits include: Jason Craig & Dave Malloy’s Beardo (Pipeline Theater), Erin Markey’s Boner Killer (Under the Radar/The Public Theater), Becca Blackwell’s They, Themself and Schmerm (Under the Radar/The Public Theater), Adrienne Truscott’s THIS (NYLA) and The Traveling Imaginary, a theatrical rock show with Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel) rated “Top 5 shows of the year” by NPR.  She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Boston University, a Drama League Alumni and a Time Warner Directing Fellow at the WP Theater. ellieheyman.com