Hannah Ii-Epstein (she/her) is a Native Hawaiian creative writer and award-winning dramatist from the North Shore of Oʻahu. Her work centers Native Hawaiian identity and LGBTQIA+ experiences, blending cultural tradition with contemporary storytelling across theatre and film. She earned her MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University and is the Artistic Director of Nothing Without a Company. Hannah has written over fifteen 24-hour plays and produced over ten. She is a founding member of BearCat Productions, a member of Tree Moss Hawaiʻi, and was part of the inaugural Native Hawaiian Storytelling Writers Immersive Program. Her short film Queer Up the Details will screen at the Evolution Festival by AAAC on May 3, 2026.
Lawrence Leopoldo writes plays that wander between the real and the surreal, usually with a sense of humor sneaking in through the side door and immediately joining the ensemble. Based in Chicago, he works with CIRCA Pintig and is part of the revival of Riksha, a Filipino American arts and literary magazine, where stories about memory, migration, and unreliable timelines tend to collide. His artistic practice is powered by an unusual mix of professions—he has fixed things, cooked things, and occasionally rewritten scenes in his head while standing in line for coffee. He is especially interested in moments when the ordinary world cracks open and something cosmic wanders in without a stage manager. He is excited to make a brand-new play in 24 hours and promises to pretend everything was intentional.
Mikael Silan is a Filipino-born multifaceted artist from Cavite, Philippines. Having recently immigrated to Chicago, he begins his journey pursuing his Theatrical Dreams. He writes plays tied to his roots and personal struggles that are often about his identity, community, and love. He is one of the Ensemble members of CIRCA Pintig's 2026 Season.
Lani T. Montreal writes to create her home in the diaspora. She is a queer feminist Filipina writer, performer, educator, and community activist based in Chicago, whose works have been published/produced in North America, Asia, and in cyberspace. Her play Panther in the Sky was a 2024 finalist for Chicago Readers' Best New Play, and her solo show Anak ni Tapia: Leaving Mother has received accolades in the U.S. and abroad. Montreal is a two-time 3Arts Residency Awardee (2009 and 2016), 2017 alumna of the VONA Writers of Color Workshop, and 2024 Links Hall Co-MISSION Artist Fellow. She was a semi-finalist for the Dramatist Guild 2023 Fellowship Award, and voted 1st Runner Up for 2024 Chicago Reader’s Best Playwright.
Liz Haas (they/them, she/her) is a theater artist based in Chicago. Their play A Home Education was featured in a staged reading at Bramble Theater Co. in 2025 and in the play reading series Re/Generation Studio at About Face Theatre in 2023. Liz has been a member of PlayGround-Chicago's Writers Pool since 2024; their plays “Have Some CEO” and “Being Cesario” were featured in Monday Night PlayGround. They were assistant director and understudy for Rupture/Repair and a devising ensemble member for Still/Here at Free Street Theater. Liz holds a B.A. in history from Smith College, where they spent a lot of time in the theater as a playwright, stage manager, actor, and director.
Georgie Morvis is a playwright, filmmaker, and occasional drag queen based in Chicago, by way of Kalaheo, Hawai’i and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Their writing has been published in Smokelong Quarterly, Autostraddle, Pigeon Review, Cast of Wonders and New Flash Fiction Review. Their work-in-progress play Lychee and Other Exotic Fruits was read at Circa Pintig’s 2025 Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival. They were a Lambda Literary Fellow for Screenwriting in 2023. Their short film Shrimp Heads is currently in pre-production and won the Judges’ Prize at the ‘Ohina Filmmakers Lab 2022.