Naghmeh Samini (PhD) is a playwright, scriptwriter, and lecturer in Dramatic Arts. Born in Iran, she earned her BA in Drama and MA in Cinema from the University of Tehran. She completed her PhD in Art Studies at Tarbiat Modarres University in Tehran, with a thesis focused on Drama and Mythology. Naghmeh was a professor at the University of Tehran for 15 years and has been an affiliate professor at the University of Washington (Seattle) since 2019.

Over twenty of her plays have been staged in Iran, France, India, Canada, the United States, and other countries. Notable works include Sleeping in an Empty Cup, Sky Horses Rain Ashes, The Home, and The Forgotten History of Mastaneh. Her screenplays, such as Main Line, Heiran, and Three Women, have won awards, and she is the scriptwriter for one of the most popular Iranian series, Shahrzad.

With over 25 years of research on One Thousand and One Nights, her insights are reflected in her theoretical publications, speeches, and creative works. Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, she employs magic realism and non-linear narratives in her plays. Naghmeh is also the author of several semi-fictional and theoretical books, including Wars and Bodies, The Theatre of Mythology, and I Am Sindbad, You Are a Traveler.

Sara Farivar, a prominent Iranian professor of theater history in Seattle, believes that contemporary theater has lost its purpose and is in need of a new dictionary—with fresh concepts and definitions. However, in the process of creating this vocabulary,she must confront her own mysterious past…The arrival of a young man who has recently come from Iran and is set to be Sara’s assistant during his PhD studies in theater, intensifies her internal struggles.

This play is the result of six years of my life outside of Iran, in Seattle. It reflects all the political, social, and theatrical experiences of recent years. In this play, theater speaks about theater itself, and concepts such as love, immortality, the conflict between science and art, and the very nature of theater are challenged.

Andrew (he/him) is a playwright, content creator, and performer. He’s the creator of The Legacy Plays Project—a nine-play, multi-century-spanning meditation on the journey of Black Americans through pivotal moments in American History. Select Awards/Accolades: 2024 Semifinalist—Page 73 Productions Fellowship, 2024 Finalist—Ojai Playwrights Conference (Golden), 2024 Finalist—NNPN National Showcase of New Plays, 2023 Finalist—Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (Golden), 2022 Semifinalist—Blue Ink Award (Last Drive to Dodge), 2021 Winner (Last Drive to Dodge) and 2020 Finalist (Riverwood)—Ashland New Plays Festival. His plays have been produced with companies including: ACT Contemporary Theatre (recently premiered Golden), Taproot Theatre Company and Seattle Public Theater, and have been developed with ACT Contemporary Theatre, Playwrights’ Center, and more.  Andrew is a 2023-2026 Playwrights’ Center Core Writer, a 2024 Willapa Bay AiR Fellow, and serves on the Dramatists Guild national council. Current commissions: ACT Contemporary Theatre. BFA: Cornish College of the Arts.

1876. A small group of Black political organizers fight to get Lochton its first Black mayor. But with the looming Presidential election threatening to end Reconstruction and Lochton on the brink of violence, these unsung heroes will have to risk it all to bring a country together without tearing each other apart.

Maggie Lee (she/her) is a Seattle playwright who creates imaginative worlds on stage in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with productions in Seattle, New York, Seoul, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. Her work includes Songs of the Moon (The 5th Avenue Theatre Educational Touring Company); Once More, Just for You (Seattle Public Theater, 2024 Gregory Award for Outstanding Original Script); And So That Happened (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works, 2019 Gregory Award for Outstanding New Play) and The Flight Before Xmas (Seattle Public Theater, Macha Theatre Works); and The Clockwork Professor,The Tumbleweed Zephyr, and A Hand of Talons (Pork Filled Productions). In 2021, she was a Hedgebrook writer-in-residence and a Jack Straw Artist Support Program residency awardee. She is currently a Resident Playwright at Seattle Public Theater, a board member of Rain City Projects (an organization supporting PNW playwrights), and a member of the Dramatists Guild. Her plays are available on New Play Exchange and published by Mneme Press.

In a strange, lonely seaport perched on the edge of eternity, the souls of the recently departed must gather a crew for a ship to sail away on their next long journey, past where the sea meets the sky. But who do you choose to travel with? And how long would you wait for someone, and will they be waiting for you? A new play about the true connections that hold us together after the ties that bind us have fallen away.