Join us as we celebrate writers from across the globe in collection two of The COVID Monologues.

Writers biographies:

Elaine Hartel (Playwright/Actor, Spiraling) has been active in theater throughout Westchester County, NY, for over 40 years. She has performed in dramas and comedies, her favorite roles being Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman and Mrs. Watts in The Trip to Bountiful. She has directed major productions for theater groups in the county as well. As a playwright, her short play, Snapshot/America, was produced recently via Zoom by Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT). Spiraling is having its virtual premiere by The Covid Monologues Theatrical Productions. Elaine lives in Ossining, NY, with her husband, Herman Poritzky.

Julian Felice is a playwright from the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. He has had four plays published in the United States and three performed in London. He has won Best Original Play at the Gibraltar Drama Festival on five occasions and won the award for Cultural Ambassador at the inaugural Gibraltar Cultural Awards. He is also a recipient of the Governor of Gibraltar’s Coin in recognition of his achievements in playwriting and currently form parts of Mrs C’s Collective Theatre Company’s Writers’ Collective, a development programme for emerging playwrights.
Ken Preuss is a writer and performer who became a teacher to guarantee an audience 5 days a week. Although his one-acts and short plays have been produced in festivals and schools in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and 48 of 50 States, Ken can be found rooted near Orlando with his wife, sons, and a few too many pets.

Marj O’Neill-Butler, a resident of Miami Beach, Florida, is the Regional Rep for the Dramatists Guild – Florida Region. She is also a member of the New Play Exchange and the International Center for Women Playwrights. Her work has been seen in 28 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Great Britain, Scotland and Seoul, S Korea. She has had 45 different plays produced in multiple theatres, numerous readings and just about as many rejections. A published playwright and mother of two grown sons, Marj is a proud member of Equity and SAG-AFTRA.

Evelyn Mertens has had plays and monologues produced through Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT); Axial Theatre; Glass Ceiling Breakers, a co-production of Theatre Revolution and GoJo Clan; the 20/20 Aery Festival, a competition where she was a finalist several times; the Ariane Festival; Irvington Town Hall Theatre’s Stage Door series; and Manhattan Rep. She studied acting through the master level in Howard Meyer’s Acting Program, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Circle in the Square.

Ruben Carbajal's published theatre works include the 1980's high-school comedy THE GIFTED PROGRAM; the minimalist love story PORTLAND; and the one-act anthology HOLD & OTHER SHORT PLAYS. You can also find his plays and monologues in several collections, including OUTSTANDING MEN'S MONOLOGUES, FIVE MINUTE PLAYS and ONE MINUTE PLAYS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE THEATRE. In 2019, YOU CAN THANK ME LATER was the winner of the Marion Thauer Brown Audio Scriptwriting Award. 2020 productions include BURNING AIRLINES (Snowdance Festival, Minnesota Shorts Festival) and A CRAIGSLIST PLAY (Downtown Urban Arts Festival, The Sauk Shorts).

Lee Lawling:
Since 2018, I have had a renewed passion for writing and telling stories. I participated in the 2018 William Inge Playwright’s Festival with my one act play Crashing Through Kauai and my short Play Eve Addam’s Tearoom was a part of the BUA Takes 10: Stonewall Edition In Buffalo June 2019. My short play, Alien Lovers and Friends Anonymous will be produced twice this year, this summer in Virginia and later in November in London, England. 2020 has graced me in ways I had never expected, and I am truly thankful that I am still writing and still telling stories.

Charlotte Turner-McMullan:
Charlotte is a writer, director, actor, and Creative Director of Apricity Theatre, based in southwest England. She has an MA Performing Shakespeare and BA Drama Studies and Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, where she is now a PhD Researcher. Charlotte has worked with various local and international organisations, including The Barded Ladies, Invulnerable Nothings, the egg theatre, Black Dog Productions, and Dumb Blonde Theatre. In 2019 her play Everyone is Dead won Theatre West’s ‘Write on Women’ Competition and was produced in association with Bristol Old Vic. Her other writing credits include Morbo Amoris and There’s Nothing There.
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