LAUREN M. GUNDERSON is one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list thrice including 2022/23. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. She is the author of Broadway bound play BILLIE JEAN, about tennis icon Billie Jean King.  Her play The Catastrophist, about her husband virologist Nathan Wolfe, premiered digitally in January 2021. She co-authored the Miss Bennet plays with Margot Melcon, and The Half-Life of Marie Curie premiered off-Broadway and at Audible.com. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You; Exit Pursued By A Bear; The Taming and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists Play Service (The Revolutionists; The Book of Will; Silent Sky; Bauer, Natural Shocks, The Wickhams and Miss Bennet) and Samuel French (Emilie). Her picture book Dr Wonderful: Blast Off to the Moon is available from Two Lions/Amazon. She is the book writer for musicals with Ari Afsar (We Won’t Sleep), Dave Stewart and Joss Stone (The Time Traveller’s Wife), Joriah Kwamé (Sinister), Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (Justice and Earthrise), and K.ira Stone (Built for This). She is a board member of The Playwrights Foundation. LaurenGunderson.com

Margot Melcon is a theater artist, administrator and writer. She was the Director of New Play Development at Marin Theatre Company for seven years, where she dramaturged over 30 productions—including six world premieres—and administered the company’s two annual new play prizes and commissioning program. She has developed plays with TheatreWorks, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Crowded Fire Theater, Shotgun Players, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, the Kennedy Center, the New Harmony Project, and the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. She is currently the Program Executive for Promoting Culture at the Zellerbach Family Foundation. Margot is a graduate of California State University, Chico.

KYLE HADEN  is excited to be returning to City Theatre, where he most recently directed the Momentum reading of Inda Craig-Galván’s Berth Breach/Breech Birth. Other City projects include directing a reading of Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue and performing as Taylor in We Are Among Us. Other directing credits include the world premiere of Parental Advisory: a breakbeat play (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); The Royale; Hazardous Materials (Creede Repertory Theatre); the world premiere of The Devil is a Lie (Quantum Theater); Waiting For Lefty (Quintessence Theatre); The Chief (Pittsburgh Public Theater); The Realness; A Brief History of America (Hangar Theatre Company); Hamlet; The Winter’s Tale (Island Shakespeare Festival); and The Tens (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville). Kyle was named a 2018 Drama League Directing Fellow, and is a member of their Directors Council. Kyle is the former artistic director of the Ashland New Plays Festival. He currently serves as the Senior Associate Head at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, where he is also an Associate Professor of Acting. BA: Wake Forest University, MFA: Columbia University.

James Counihan is a Pittsburgh and New York based actor ecstatic to be returning to City Theatre. James recently finished his second national tour with Aquila Theatre’s repertory company performing Julius Caesar (Antony) and Pride and Prejudice (Bingley). Other credits include: The Great Gatsby, The Scottish Play, Pericles, and City Theatre’s Young Playwright’s Festival. James would like to thank his friends, Juli, City Theatre, and his family for all their unwavering support. BFA Ithaca College. IG:@jamescounihan. James-Counihan.com

Leyla Davis is a senior acting major at Carnegie Mellon University. She is very excited to be performing at City Theatre for the first time! Recent credits include Sellah in a New Work titled Heaven is Something to Keep You Warm, Ann in Babel, and Denise in Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary. As always, many thanks to her family who have always been supportive. @leylanfdavis

Gabrielle Kogut (she/her) is thrilled to return to City Theatre! Originally from the greater Philly area, she received her BA in Theatre Arts and BA in Communication Science and Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh. Credits include: Wave Me Good-Bye (Frigid New York Theater), Bad Jews (VetRep Theater), Annalies (Columbia University), YPF 2019 (City Theatre), The Color of the Leaves (Cincinnati LAB Theatre), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), and The Diary of Anne Frank (Prime Stage Theatre). Much love and thanks to her family for their endless support. @gabrielle__eve / gabriellekogut.com

Sophia Macy is a senior acting student at Carnegie Mellon University and is thrilled to be performing at City Theatre! Recent credits include Kristine in A Dolls House, Renee in Babel, The Maid in Boston Marriage, and Ada in How to Make Friends and then Kill Them. As always, thank you family. @sophmacy

Alex Manalo is a Fil-Am theater maker based in Pittsburgh and is elated to be back at City Theatre with a different set of sisters! Some recent credits: The Importance of Being Earnest (Pittsburgh Public Theater & Baltimore Center Stage) Guys and Dolls, A Musical Christmas Carol, Charlie Brown, South Pacific, and Gallery of Heroes (PCLO) Miss Bennet: Christmas At Pemberley, Young Playwright’s Festival (City Theatre) Evil Dead the Musical (PMT) and Repulsing the Monkey (Independently produced by Alex in the Lillie Theatre). When not performing, she can be found acting as a patient for several colleges’ medical students, giving a tour of her hometown on a Molly’s Trolley, choreographing dances for local high schools, or being the owner of Manalo Movement, LLC and curating workshops for healthier practices and intimacy work. Represented by the Docherty Agency. PPU Grad. Proud AEA and Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh member. Much love to this cast and crew, RPK and Appa. Mabuhay! @alexmanalo_ // alexmanalo.com

Alex Sheffield is so happy to be returning to the role of Lydia! She is a recent graduate of Musical Theatre at Carnegie Mellon University. Notable Credits include Young Frankenstein (Inga, Pittsburgh CLO), The Sound of Music (Ensemble, Pittsburgh CLO), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Lydia, City Theatre), A Little Night Music (Anne), A Doll’s House (Nora), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona Lisa Peretti). Born and raised in the UK. Sharing the stage/trying to not laugh with her best friend, Anna. Thank you, family! @AlexSheffield

Hansel Tan originally hails from the sunny isle of Singapore, and is honored to make his City Theatre debut! NYC: The Public, Lincoln Center, Tectonic, Prospect, The Flea, The Cell, Pan-Asian Rep, Ma-Yi, Red Fern, NAAP, NAMT, NYMF. Regional: Princeton Symphony, Quantum, Theatre Raleigh, Geva, Pioneer, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, O’Neill Theatre Center, North Shore, Flat Rock, Harbor Lights. TV/Film: “Madam Secretary” (CBS), “The Blacklist: Redemption” (NBC), “Complete Unknown” (Amazon), “In Game” (Webseries), “After the Frost” & “The Service” (Indie). As an educator, he has conducted workshops at CMU, Pitt, Juilliard Summer, Yale-NUS, and is completing his MFA in Performance Pedagogy.

MICHAEL PATRICK TRIMM  is thrilled to be returning to City Theatre after previously appearing in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Other Select Theater credits include: Public Theater (Julius Caesar) Pittsburgh Public Theater (A Few Good Men, American Son, Dial M for Murder, The Merchant of Venice), PICT (As You Like It, A Christmas Carol), Kitchen Theatre (Hand to God), Hangar Theatre (Little Women), Oldcastle Theater (Sheepdog), Ithaca Shakespeare Company (Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Kinetic Theater (The Illustrious Invalid), W.H.A.T. (Raging Skillet), and 4615 Theater (Dracula). Michael is an alumnus of Ithaca College (BFA Acting). michaelpatricktrimm.com