ERIN CRESSIDA WILSON is a Professor of Playwriting in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She also is affiliated with the Department of Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Wilson formerly was a professor at Brown University, and before that at Duke University. Wilson is known for the 2002 film Secretary, which she adapted from a Mary Gaitskill short story. It won her the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. She also wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, and has authored dozens of plays and short works. Her Off-Broadway plays include The Trail of Her Inner Thigh at Labyrinth Theatre Company, The Erotica Project at Joe's Pub (published by Cleis Press) andHurricane at Classic Stage Company. Wilder is based on her own play, Cross Dressing in the Depression, which was produced at Soho Rep and the Magic Theatre.(As of 2003)

Composer-lyricist JACK HERRICK wrote music and lyrics for Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, which he performed with the Red Clay Ramblers in 1985. He wrote and produced music and lyrics for Shepard's two feature films, "Far North" and "Silent Tongue." For regional theatre, he co-wrote book, music and lyrics for Tar Heel Voices and Cool Spring, Kudzu, Ear Rings, Munci Meg and Glory Bound. In 2001, he wrote music and lyrics for Lone Star Love, produced by the Great Lakes Theater Festival. With the Red Clay Ramblers, Bill Irwin and Dave Shiner, Herrick created and performed Fool Moon, which earned a Special Tony Award in 1999. (As of 2003)

Composer-lyricist MIKE CRAVER's New York credits include Diamond Studs(Westside Arts), Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind (Promenade), Oil City Symphony (Circle in the Square Downtown, co author and original cast member with Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk and Mary Murfitt) and Radio Gals (John Houseman Theatre, co-authored with Mark Hardwick). Oil City Symphony received a Drama Desk and an Outer Critics Circle Award,Radio Gals received an L.A. Ovation Award. He co-arranged and musical directed the original Off-Broadway production of Smoke on the Mountainat the Lamb's Theatre. He was a member of the Red Clay Ramblers for many years.

LISA PORTES serves as the head of directing and the artistic director of Chicago Playworks for Young Audiences for The Theatre School. Primarily a director of new American work, her recent projects include: the world premieres of Ghostwritten by Naomi Iizuka (Goodman Theatre), After 100 Years by Naomi Iizuka (Guthrie Theatre), and Ski Dubai by Laura Jacqmin (Steppenwolf Theatre, First Look Repertory of New Work). New York credits include: Wilder by Erin Cressida Wilson and the Red Clay Ramblers (Playwrights Horizons), How to Write While You Sleep by Madeleine Olnek, Hurricane by Erin Wilson and Fur by Migdalia Cruz (Soho Rep). A director of new American plays and musicals, Lisa has directed numerous readings and workshops in such development programs as Sundance Summer Theatre Lab, Vineyard Arts Project, Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New Stages at Goodman Theatre, New Work Now at the Public Theatre, Mondays@3 at New York Theatre Workshop, the Cherry Lane Alternative, Hispanic Playwrights Project at South Coast Repertory Theatre, the McCarter Theatre Lab, and the Cape Cod Theatre Project. Lisa is an artistic associate at Next Theatre and Chicago Children’s Theatre. Awards include the NEA/TCG Career Development Grant, the Drama League Directing Fellowship and a Fulbright/Hays award. She received her M.F.A. in directing from the University of California, San Diego.