Tongue, Tied
by M. Thomas Cooper
Plagued by malcontent sock puppets, two lost souls seek professional help. A zany and raucous exploration of accepting oddity—even if it's stuck to your hand.

M. Thomas Cooper has studied literature and theatre at Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, San Francisco State University and Portland State University. He’s had a number of short plays presented in conjunction with the Ashland 10-Minute Play Festival, Theatre in the Grove and Portland State University. In 2005 his play Rising was a finalist for a Seattle company’s Northwest Playwright Award. Another script, Godot, was adapted to film and produced by a Portland production company. His first novel, 42, will be published in June, 2008, by Ooligan Press.

Dead Right
by Elaine Jarvik
A friend's flawed obituary propels Penny and her unwitting husband Bill headlong into prickly unanswered questions about their own lives. A touching comedy about who we are, how we see ourselves and how we hope to be remembered.

Elaine Jarvik During her 24-year stint as a reporter for the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City, she was the winner of numerous journalism awards including Best of the West, the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors, and a Society of Professional Journalists national award for feature writing. Ms. Jarvik claims her four grandchildren among her achievements. She is also co-founder of the Senior Theatre Project, which takes plays to senior centers in Utah. She used to play the drums in the band Elaine and the Elaines and now has graduated to playing the conga in church.

In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love
by Michael Lew
Liz is looking for love and Lindy is looking to fix her broken heart—so they head, of course, to Paris. When Liz finds the man of her dreams, Lindy faces a decision: can we just let our friends be happy? Advisory: This play contains a mime.

Michael Lew's short plays Tenure (American Airlines Theatre on Broadway) and Keep Truckin’ (Atlantic Theatre) were recently produced by the 24 Hour Plays. His one-woman play Yit, Ngay (One, Two), is published in Plays and Playwrights 2006 and excerpted in The Best Women’s Monologues for the 21st Century (Applause). Pending publications include The Roosevelt Cousins, Thoroughly Sauced (2007 Sam French Festival winner) and Magician Ben Vs. The Wizard Merlin (Smith & Kraus). Mr. Lew received a Sloan commission from Ensemble Studio Theatre and works for New Dramatists. Writing residencies include Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab and Old Vic New Voices. Mr. Lew was a Westinghouse finalist for his work on homeobox genes and graduated from Yale College in 2003.

One Short Sleepe
by Naomi Wallace
A young Lebanese student spins a web of connections between what he knew, what his sister saw, and the war that threatened them both.

Naomi Wallace's work has been produced in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Her major plays include One Flea Spare, In the Heart of America, Slaughter City, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Things of Dry Hours and The Fever Chart: Three Short Visions of the Middle East. Her work has received the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Kesselring Prize, Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award and an Obie. She is also a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. Ms. Wallace’s award-winning film Lawn Dogs is available on DVD and her new film, The War Boys (co-written with Bruce Mcleod) will be released in 2008.