Each Monday night the Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University and Mill Mountain Theatre present a talk by a prominent working professional theatre artist. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing the Monday Night Guest Speaker Series will be presented live via Zoom.
June 28, 7:30 pm (Eastern)
Keiko Shimosato Carreiro – actor, designer, director
Carreiro is the 2021-22 Bob Moss Residential Teaching Professional at Hollins University. She is a collective and board member with the Tony award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. Carreiro teaches with The San Francisco Opera Guilds’ Book to Bravo and Voices for Social Justice programs and enjoys raising up the next generation of artist/activists.
July 5, 7:30 pm (Eastern)
Bonnie Metzgar – playwright, screenwriter, director, producer
Metzgar is core visiting faculty with The Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University. In January 2020, her play You Lost Me had its world premiere at Denver Center Theater and was the recipient of an Edgerton New Play Award. A fighter for artists from marginalized communities, Metzgar served as artistic director of About Face Theatre, one of the largest theatres in the US dedicated to producing queer artists and advancing the cultural dialogue on sexuality and gender identity.
July 12, 7:30 pm (Eastern)
Nicole B. Adkins – playwright, educator
Adkins is core visiting faculty with The Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University. Her adaptation of the award-winning picture book A Sick Day for Amos McGee was featured at the TYA/USA Festival and Conference and at Alliance Theatre as part of their Toddler Takeover Festival in 2019. Adkins holds an M.F.A. in children’s literature from Hollins, is a part-time assistant professor at Kennesaw University, and a member of the Dramatists Guild, Working Title Playwrights, and TYA/USA.
July 19, 7:30 pm (Eastern)
Edward B. Smith – director, actor, producer
As an artist of color, Smith recognizes the power of experiencing one’s own history and world view manifest on stage and within administrative practices, as well as furthering connections to the stories of others. He holds a B.F.A. in performance and an M.A. in leadership/administration from Ohio University. For the last ten years, Smith has been a mainstay in the acting company at the Stratford Festival of Canada.
July 26, 7:30 pm (Eastern)
Dominic Taylor – playwright, director, educator
Taylor is a full professor at UCLA, School of Theatre, Film, and Television and core teaching faculty with The Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University. Taylor received his bachelor’s and master of fine arts degrees from Brown University. He is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers, a board member of the Givens Foundation for African American Literature, and an associate artistic director of America-in-Play.
