A moderated discussion between prominent makers in our field. Audience members are encouraged to come with questions! How did you make that show, that venue, that movement? The more practical the question, the better.

Moderated by Ryan J. Haddad

Jaclyn Backhaus Jaclyn Backhaus is a playwright and a creative director for Fresh Ground Pepper. Plays include Men On Boats (Clubbed Thumb & Playwrights Horizons, John Gassner Award Nomination, Outer Critics Circle); You on the Moors Now (Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, The Hypocrites in Chicago); the upcoming musical Folk Wandering (Pipeline, Spring 2018); a few others. She was the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Clubbed Thumb. Her work has been developed by Playwrights Horizons, NYTW, MTC, EST, Ars Nova, The Public, The Civilians R&D Group, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Live Source, and Bonnaroo. BFA: NYU. She hails from Phoenix, Arizona.

Jennifer Kidwell is a performing artist. Recent projects – Underground Railroad Game, Home, Not Every Mountain, Demolishing Everything with Amazing Speed, I Understand Everything Better. 2013 TCG/Fox Resident Actor Fellowship (with Pig Iron Theatre Company), 2015 Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant, 2016 Pew Fellow. Jennifer Kidwell is a performing artist who resides in Philadelphia.

Scott R. Sheppard is an OBIE Award winning theater artist and Co-Director of the Philadelphia-based theater company Lightning Rod Special. Recent credits: creator/performer Pig Iron Theatre Company’s Period of Animate Existence, performer in PITC’s Gentlemen Volunteers. Co-creator/performer of Underground Railroad Game (OBIE Winner, Lortel Nomination, Ars Nova 2016), co-creator/performer of Holden (George & Co.) and performer in Stinky Cheeseman (Barrymore nomination, Arden Theatre). He is a 2016 recipient of the Independence Foundation Fellowship for Performing Arts.

Ryan J. Haddad is an actor, writer, and autobiographical performer. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was most recently featured in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival. He has performed original work at La MaMa E.T.C., Dixon Place, and The New Museum. His acting credits include The Maids and two Lucy Thurber world premieres at Williamstown Theatre Festival, “Noor and Hadi Go To Hogwarts” for Theater Breaking Through Barriers, and an appearance on the Netflix series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Ryan was a member of the The Public Theater’s 2016-17 Devised Theater Working Group. ryanjhaddad.com