Second Stage Readings Series

Celebration of New Writers

Directed by Matthew Salazar-Thompson

San Diego has a diverse and underrepresented pool of talented playwrights. Part of our mission is to produce new works. TRTC is dedicated to providing experiences and opportunities for artists and diverse audiences, both onstage and off.

Our evening of writers includes short new pieces with a discussion afterward. Our team brings together local talents in the best light, to introduce you to the next artistic wave.

Monday, February 13, 2023  7:30 PM

MOXIE Theatre

Meet the New Works

Meet the Playwrights

Amy Dell

Playwright (Choices)

Amy Dell has been performing in San Diego theatres since moving here in 2007.  She has enjoyed getting back into playwriting during the past several years, and she has appreciated the support and inspiration provided by The Scripteasers and The Old Globe’s Community Voices.  When not writing or acting, she works as an attorney and enjoys hiking with her husband and mutt.

James Hebert

Playwright (B-17)

James  is an Encinitas-based writer and the former chief theater critic for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror and won a number of awards for his journalism but so far none for his surfing. James currently serves as an Arts Commissioner for the city of Encinitas and Content Manager for the San Diego Tourism Authority. He is the proud dad of two young adults, Audrey and Zander, and lucky husband to fellow writer Sophy Chaffee. While James has written about hundreds of plays, B-17 represents his first try at writing one of his own, and he is deeply grateful to The Roustabouts for giving it a spin.

Peter Mitsopoulos

Playwright (The Coin of Shantar)

Peter has a few one-acts produced here in the San Diego area. His short play entitled The Ascending was produced at San Diego Mesa College in October of 2022 as part of their Festival of New Plays. In 2020 his stage adaptation of The Prince and The Pauper was published by Drama Notebook and has been produced twice at elementary schools. In 2015, he self-produced his full-length one-woman play about Joan of Arc entitled I, Joan.

Carla E. Navarro

Playwright (Always)

Carla is a Chilean-American actress and playwright who is driven by telling impactful stories and thrives on art that encompasses intricate human connections and raw emotions while exploring a variety of topics. She honed in on her writing during the pandemic with several workshops with Poolhouse Project and La Jolla Playhouse. She has seen her work showcased, read, and performed with La Jolla Playhouse, Circle Circle Dot Dot (virtual readings), and performed with OnStage Playhouse’s Monumental History. She is ecstatic to have her short play Always chosen for this year’s Celebration of New Writers by The Roustabouts Theatre Company. To learn more about Carla, please visit carla-navarro.com and see her in El Huracán at Cygnet Theatre Jan-Feb 2023.

Randy Reinholtz

Playwright (New Story of Rabbit and Frog)

Randy is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is co-founder and producing artistic director, and emeritus of Native Voices at the Autry. The award-winning producer, director, actor, activist, and playwright, has produced more than 35 scripts and directed over 75 plays in the United States, Australia, England, Mexico, and Canada. Off the Rails, his bawdy and irreverent adaptation of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure had its World Premiere and a sold-out run at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is a tenured professor at San Diego State University, where he served as Head of Acting (1997–2007), Director of the School of Theatre, Television, and Film (2007–2012), and director of Community Engagement and Innovation for the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts (2012–2015). Reinholz has been honored with the Ellen Stewart Award for Career Achievement in Professional Theatre, Playwrights Arena’s Lee Melville Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Gordon Davidson Award, SDSU’s Outstanding Faculty Award, and the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission and the City of Los Angeles Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Community.

Roy Sekigahama

Playwright (Kabuki Theater in Texas)

Roy’s short plays, Face the Music (2016) and Stuck in a Closet (2019) won prizes in Scripteasers annual play contest. The Purple Swastika (2017) and Bullets and Bagels (2020) were recognized by the Center for Jewish Culture’s 5-Minute Play Festival. Not Crazy, Rich or Asian (2021) was selected for The PGE Faces of America Monologue Festival #3. My Son’s Red Dress (2022) was read at The Roustabouts Theatre Co.'s Celebration of New Writers of Color. The Ghosts from the Pali (2020) was read at New Village Arts’ Final Draft New Play Festival. Desert Rock Garden was performed at New Village Arts (2022)

and nominated for Outstanding New Production (Craig Noel Awards) and received grants from the California Civil Liberties Program and the National Endowment for the Arts. Roy ushers at many San Diego theaters. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and sits on the Board of Directors of Playwrights Project.

Gill Sotu

Playwright (S.L.A.P)

Gil is a veteran, poet, playwright, DJ, and performing artist. He is a 2x Grand Slam Poetry Champion, 2x Raw Performing artist of the year, and a 5x TEDx San Diego presenter. Currently, he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre since 2017 and has taught within Centinela State Prison since 2019.  Gill has over ten years of experience working in carceral settings, five years in recovery settings, as well as with veterans and students from junior high to college. Gill is also currently a teaching artist with The La Jolla Playhouse, content creator for Made For Joy, and the Poet in Residence for tan Diego’s Writer’s Fest.  He is the former Artist In Residence for The Jacob Center for Neighborhood Innovation and Maker’s Church.  He has been commissioned to produce original pieces for leading arts and community organizations such as The San Diego Symphony, New Village Arts Theatre, The Unity Way, Feeding America, SD Fringe Fest, Classical Kids Live!, and the San Diego Opera to name a few.  Gill has produced, hosted, and curated large-scale community events for over 10 years.

Janet S. Tiger

Playwright (Second Child)

Janet’s work has been performed internationally, from Kennedy Center and Off-Broadway to six continents- and published in anthologies in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Tiger has received an NEA-COMBO Fellowship as well as numerous grants and contest awards.  Her full-length, The Third Party, was a San Diego Theater Critics Circle Nominee for Best New Play, and she received a San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Program Fellowship for Caregivers Anonymous. Her first play was produced by the playreading group, Scripteasers, in 1981, and other theater groups where Tiger’s work has been seen locally include the San Diego Fringe, Holidaze, That24HrThing!, Lamplighters, Scripps Ranch, Ocean Hills Theatre and Clairemont Act One. Most recently Yartzheit, First Place Winner at the 2022 LFFJCC Five-Minute Play Festival won Best Play at the 2022 North Park Playwright’s Festival. She is honored that Second Child is her first Roustabouts showing! janetstiger.weebly.com and janetstigermonologuemania.blogspot.com

Meet the Cast

Anthony Hamm

Actor

Tony is privileged to be sharing the stage with such fine and exceptionally talented actors. Anthony was recently seen in a production of La Pastorela A Shepherds Play with Teatro Mascara Magica as The Archangel Michael. He has performed political satire sketch comedy with Black Kat Theatre. His previous stage credits include Jackson in A Day of Absence, MacDuff in Macbeth, and Morris Caden in As Bees In Honey Drown.

Jeff Hillman

Actor

Jeff is delighted to lend his voice to the Celebration of New Writers. Recent credits include Charlie Fox in Speed the Plow for Point Loma Playhouse, Bullshot Crummond in Bullshot Crummond for Onstage Playhouse, and Doc in Crimes of the Heart for Lamplighters Community Theatre. He has more recently directed a short film, Carry On, with Snarky Films for the 2022 San Diego 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) and received the award for Best Screenwriting for Snarky Film’s 2021 48HFP entry, The Art of Growing Up.

Carla E. Navarro

Actor

Carla is thrilled to be reading for this year’s Celebration of New Writers (including her own play!) and making her debut with The Roustabouts Theatre Company. Carla is a Latin-American actress who thrives on art that encompasses experimentation and awareness. She earned her theatre degree in Santiago, Chile where she ran her theatre company until relocating to San Diego. Local credits: El Huracán (Cygnet Theatre); Turning Off the Morning News, Drowning Girls, A Bright New Boise, A Piece of My Heart (Craig Noel nomination) (OnStage Playhouse); WOW Festival: Written in Stone (La Jolla Playhouse/Backyard Renaissance); G.E.W. (Moxie); Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Innermission). New plays workshops: Derecho(La Jolla Playhouse DNA New Works Series Reading), From Saints to Stars (Amigos Del RepLatinx New Play Festival Reading). To learn more about Carla, please visit carla-navarro.com and see her in El Huracán at Cygnet Theatre Jan-Feb 2023.

Hannah Trujillo

Actor

Hannah is an actor, teaching artist, director, and administrator based in Los Angeles, but her home will always be San Diego. Most recently she played Elena in It’s A Wonderful Vida at Onstage Playhouse. Last summer, she originated the role of Yolie in Octavio Solis’s new play Scene with Cranes produced by CalArts CNP. She graduated in 2018 with a BFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts, and is currently pursuing her MA in Arts Administration with the University of Kentucky. She has worked at SDSCPA as a teaching artist and director.  Hannah is now the Patron Services associate at Boston Court Pasadena. This is her first time working with Roustabouts, and she is so grateful for the opportunity. 

Meet the Creative Team

Matthew Salazar-Thompson

Director

Matthew Salazar-Thompson has been commissioned by The San Diego Repertory Theatre (Star Crossed), North Coast Repertory Theatre (Ted Williams: A Tip of the Cap, Mistletoe, Music & Mayhem!), Compass Theatre (9066, The 146 Point Flame), New Fortune Theatre (Cellar Door, Switching Tracks), Coronado Playhouse (If the Shoe Fits, A Roman Holiday), The Road Theatre (Who's on Alpha?), and Point Loma Playhouse (The Complete History of Theatre (abridged), A Christmas Carol: The Classic Radio Drama). His plays have been published through Dramatic Publishing, and Heuer Publishing. His original play, A Fare Ride was adapted into a film through New York-based Momi Films and is scheduled for several film festival premieres in 2023. He received his MA in Theatre from San Diego State University and his MFA in Creative Writing / Playwriting from UC Riverside.

Will Cooper

Dramaturg & Curator

Will Cooper is a playwright based in San Diego and Chicago and a founding member of San Diego's Roustabouts Theatre Co. His plays Book of Leaves, Jade Heart, and Margin of Error received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Jade Heart was last produced at San Diego’s award-winning MOXIE Theatre in 2014. His drama Margin of Error kicked off The Roustabouts' premiere season at the Lyceum Theatre in downtown San Diego and was selected as "Critic's Choice" by The San Diego Union-Tribune. It was also chosen as a Best Play finalist in the 2017 Craig Noel Critics Circle Awards. Following its run, the play was honored to be read at UCSD as a teaching tool of the Departments of Philosophy, Theatre, and Ethics & Sciences. Will is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. willcooperplaywright.com