Vagrant Writers 2020/2021
Amanda Andrei - Writers' Group
With roots in the Philippines and Romania, Amanda L. Andrei hails from Virginia/Washington D.C. and currently resides in Los Angeles. Her plays include Black Sky (Madison New Works Lab; Semifinalist 2019 Screencraft Stage Play Competition; Finalist 2020 New American Voices Festival), Lena Passes By, Crocodile (The Last Escape), and Every Night I Die (Winner 2010 International Bottle Tree Award). Her plays have been read and/or developed by Pasadena Playhouse, Playwrights Arena, La MaMa, Artists at Play, Son of Semele, Relative Theatrics, Bucharest Inside the Beltway, La-Ti-Do, and others. Her screenplay, Lake Opaque, has been workshopped by the Southeastern European Film Festival (SEEFest) Accelerator Program. Amanda is the Producer of Arts & Education Initiatives at Aguas Arts Ink and a teaching artist with Fringe Benefits. She is a member of the Echo Young Playwrights group, Playground LA’s Writers Pool (2018 – present), Dramatists Guild of America and proud alum of VONA and Atlantic Center for the Arts. She holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California. Say hello at www.amandalandrei.com!
With roots in the Philippines and Romania, Amanda L. Andrei hails from Virginia/Washington D.C. and currently resides in Los Angeles. Her plays include Black Sky (Madison New Works Lab; Semifinalist 2019 Screencraft Stage Play Competition; Finalist 2020 New American Voices Festival), Lena Passes By, Crocodile (The Last Escape), and Every Night I Die (Winner 2010 International Bottle Tree Award). Her plays have been read and/or developed by Pasadena Playhouse, Playwrights Arena, La MaMa, Artists at Play, Son of Semele, Relative Theatrics, Bucharest Inside the Beltway, La-Ti-Do, and others. Her screenplay, Lake Opaque, has been workshopped by the Southeastern European Film Festival (SEEFest) Accelerator Program. Amanda is the Producer of Arts & Education Initiatives at Aguas Arts Ink and a teaching artist with Fringe Benefits. She is a member of the Echo Young Playwrights group, Playground LA’s Writers Pool (2018 – present), Dramatists Guild of America and proud alum of VONA and Atlantic Center for the Arts. She holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California. Say hello at www.amandalandrei.com!
June Carryl - Writers' Group
June Carryl grew up in Denver, Colorado and studied Political Science and English Literature at Brown University. Her plays include THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE (ADAA Saroyan/Paul Award) and COLOSSUS. Her theater credits include Fraulein Schneider in CABARET (Celebration Theatre), the Nurse in ROMEO AND JULIET (A Noise Within), and Gerty Fail in FAILURE: A LOVE STORY (Coeurage Theatre Company). Directing credits include OUR DAYS AFTER (Breath Project), TINY LITTLE PROBLEMS (Young Playwrights Festival, Blank Theatre), WHEN WE BREATHE (Blossoming Festival, Vagrancy Theatre)TV and film credits include HELSTROM, MINDHUNTER, BACKROADS, and DEAD WOMEN WALKING.
June Carryl grew up in Denver, Colorado and studied Political Science and English Literature at Brown University. Her plays include THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE (ADAA Saroyan/Paul Award) and COLOSSUS. Her theater credits include Fraulein Schneider in CABARET (Celebration Theatre), the Nurse in ROMEO AND JULIET (A Noise Within), and Gerty Fail in FAILURE: A LOVE STORY (Coeurage Theatre Company). Directing credits include OUR DAYS AFTER (Breath Project), TINY LITTLE PROBLEMS (Young Playwrights Festival, Blank Theatre), WHEN WE BREATHE (Blossoming Festival, Vagrancy Theatre)TV and film credits include HELSTROM, MINDHUNTER, BACKROADS, and DEAD WOMEN WALKING.
Weston Gaylord - Writers' Group
Weston Gaylord is a playwright, librettist and composer based in Los Angeles. He is a recipient of HUMANITAS Prize/Stage Raw PLAY LA 2020-21. Weston’s original work in immersive media often combines live performance, music, and virtual/augmented reality: Nothing Is Safe (Cannes XR), A Classroom Through Time (Anti-Defamation League), Chained: A Victorian Nightmare (MWM Interactive), Retrospective (Co.Reality), Gravity: A New(tonian) Musical (O’Neill NMTC Finalist, TheatreWorks New Works Festival). His writing has been featured in A Little New Music, Games For Change, and the Future of Storytelling Festival. He holds a BS in Symbolic Systems with a focus in Human-Computer Interaction from Stanford University. westongaylord.com
Weston Gaylord is a playwright, librettist and composer based in Los Angeles. He is a recipient of HUMANITAS Prize/Stage Raw PLAY LA 2020-21. Weston’s original work in immersive media often combines live performance, music, and virtual/augmented reality: Nothing Is Safe (Cannes XR), A Classroom Through Time (Anti-Defamation League), Chained: A Victorian Nightmare (MWM Interactive), Retrospective (Co.Reality), Gravity: A New(tonian) Musical (O’Neill NMTC Finalist, TheatreWorks New Works Festival). His writing has been featured in A Little New Music, Games For Change, and the Future of Storytelling Festival. He holds a BS in Symbolic Systems with a focus in Human-Computer Interaction from Stanford University. westongaylord.com
Ayesha Siddiqui - Writers' Group
Ayesha Siddiqui is a Los Angeles based playwright of Pakistani-American descent. Works include: Water Lily (Sundance Institute Playwriting Intensive, 2019), Windows (2019 Blank Theatre Living Room Series), and Baba, Jee (Father, Yes) (Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Winner, 2018). Her newest play, Rope, was scheduled to be produced in 2020 but cancelled due to the pandemic. She is a member of the 2020-21 Playground-LA Writers Pool.
Ayesha Siddiqui is a Los Angeles based playwright of Pakistani-American descent. Works include: Water Lily (Sundance Institute Playwriting Intensive, 2019), Windows (2019 Blank Theatre Living Room Series), and Baba, Jee (Father, Yes) (Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Winner, 2018). Her newest play, Rope, was scheduled to be produced in 2020 but cancelled due to the pandemic. She is a member of the 2020-21 Playground-LA Writers Pool.
Joseph Valdez - Writers' Group
Joseph is an actor, writer, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. His favorite theatre credits include: Pure Native, by Vickie Ramirez (Native Voices), Hole in the Sky, by Octavio Solis (Circle X Theatre Co.), Fixed, by Boni Alvarez (Echo Theatre Company), Macbeth (Vagrancy at Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles), and The Memory Stick, by Donal O’Kelly (San Jose Stage). Joseph’s full length plays include: Little Big Joe the Bug Squasher (Native Voices/2015 Hollywood Fringe), Swimming to China in My Birthday Suit (What’s the Story?), and Timestop (Bay Area Playwrights Foundation Semi-Finalist/Native Voices at the Autry’s 15th Festival of New Plays). Joseph is a member of both the Native Voices Artists Ensemble and Echo Theater Company.
Joseph is an actor, writer, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. His favorite theatre credits include: Pure Native, by Vickie Ramirez (Native Voices), Hole in the Sky, by Octavio Solis (Circle X Theatre Co.), Fixed, by Boni Alvarez (Echo Theatre Company), Macbeth (Vagrancy at Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles), and The Memory Stick, by Donal O’Kelly (San Jose Stage). Joseph’s full length plays include: Little Big Joe the Bug Squasher (Native Voices/2015 Hollywood Fringe), Swimming to China in My Birthday Suit (What’s the Story?), and Timestop (Bay Area Playwrights Foundation Semi-Finalist/Native Voices at the Autry’s 15th Festival of New Plays). Joseph is a member of both the Native Voices Artists Ensemble and Echo Theater Company.
Katherine Vondy - Writers' Group
Katherine Vondy is a Los Angeles-based writer and director working in theater, film, and literature. Kat received the Davey Foundation Theatre Grant for her play The Fermi Paradox. Her plays have been developed and produced with the Athena Project, Salt Lake Acting Company, Campfire Theatre Festival, HBMG Foundation, Paper Wing Theatre Company, The Script Readers (UK), All Terrain Theater, CalArts TSA, and The Vagrancy (where she currently serves as Writers' Group Moderator). Her plays have also been finalists for the B Street Theatre New Comedies Festival, Garry Marshall New Works Festival, and Relative Theatrics' Playwrights Voiced, and semi-finalists for the O'Neill NPC and The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. She has received dramatic writing residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, Starry Night, Wildacres, and the Voice and Vision ENVISION Retreat. As a director, Kat helmed Sharyn Rothstein's “Troublemaker” for The Pussy Grabber Plays LA Pop-up as well as The Complete Human Experience, a live show from noted musical comedy group Lost Moon Radio. She also directed the world premieres of All Terrain Theater's Suddenly Split and Swiping Over by Tracy Held, and Jon Caren's Friends In Transient Places with Fresh Produce'd LA. Her award-winning short film, The Broken Heart of Gnocchi Bolognese, has played at festivals worldwide. She has an MFA in Film and Television Production from USC, and received her BA from Amherst College. Find more information about all her creative adventures at katherinevondy.com.
Katherine Vondy is a Los Angeles-based writer and director working in theater, film, and literature. Kat received the Davey Foundation Theatre Grant for her play The Fermi Paradox. Her plays have been developed and produced with the Athena Project, Salt Lake Acting Company, Campfire Theatre Festival, HBMG Foundation, Paper Wing Theatre Company, The Script Readers (UK), All Terrain Theater, CalArts TSA, and The Vagrancy (where she currently serves as Writers' Group Moderator). Her plays have also been finalists for the B Street Theatre New Comedies Festival, Garry Marshall New Works Festival, and Relative Theatrics' Playwrights Voiced, and semi-finalists for the O'Neill NPC and The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. She has received dramatic writing residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, Starry Night, Wildacres, and the Voice and Vision ENVISION Retreat. As a director, Kat helmed Sharyn Rothstein's “Troublemaker” for The Pussy Grabber Plays LA Pop-up as well as The Complete Human Experience, a live show from noted musical comedy group Lost Moon Radio. She also directed the world premieres of All Terrain Theater's Suddenly Split and Swiping Over by Tracy Held, and Jon Caren's Friends In Transient Places with Fresh Produce'd LA. Her award-winning short film, The Broken Heart of Gnocchi Bolognese, has played at festivals worldwide. She has an MFA in Film and Television Production from USC, and received her BA from Amherst College. Find more information about all her creative adventures at katherinevondy.com.