KATORI HALL (Playwright) is a Pulitzer Prize and Olivier Award-winning playwright and television creator/producer hailing from Memphis, Tennessee. A two-time Tony Award nominee, she won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, The Hot Wing King, which she will soon direct for the first time at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in early 2023. She is currently the showrunner and Executive Producer of the Starz drama series, P-Valley, which she adapted from her stage play Pussy Valley. The critically acclaimed and record-breaking series returned for its second season on June 3, 2022. P-Valley was named to countless ‘Best of 2020’ lists for its first season and, among many honors, has received Gotham, Independent Spirit, GLAAD Media, and NAACP Image Award nominations. Katori recently signed an overall deal with Lionsgate Television to continue to develop and produce groundbreaking content across their linear and streaming platforms. For Broadway, she most recently wrote and produced the hit musical, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, based on the life of the iconic performer, receiving two Tony Award nominations for her work as both playwright for ‘Best Book of a Musical’ and as producer in the ‘Best Musical’ category. For the musical’s acclaimed West End production, she also received an Olivier nomination for ‘Best New Musical.’ Her play The Mountaintop, which vividly reimagines the final night of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, premiered at Theatre503 in London in 2009, then transferred to the West End, where she won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2010. It later opened on Broadway in October 2011 to critical acclaim in a production starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett. The Mountaintop will soon premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles from June 6 – July 9, 2023. Katori's other works include the award-winning Hurt Village, which is currently in development as a feature film; plus Hoodoo Love, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, WHADDABLOODCLOT!!!, Our Lady of Kibeho, Purple is the Colour of Mourning and The Blood Quilt. She is also the proud recipient of the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Lark Play Development Center Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, two Lecompte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, NYFA Fellowship, the Columbia University John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement, National Black Theatre's August Wilson Playwriting Award and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. Katori is an alumnus of the Sundance Episodic Lab's inaugural class, as well as the Sundance Screenwriting Lab. She also participated in Ryan Murphy’s Half Foundation Directing Program and directed the award-winning short, Arkabutla.

Lili-Anne Brown (Director) a Chicago South Side native, works as a director, actor and educator, and has performed in, directed and produced many award-winning shows in Chicago and nationally.  Recent directing credits include: The Nacirema Society…, School Girls, or The African Mean Girls Play and the world premieres of Ike Holter’s I Hate It Here and Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre); Dreamgirls (McCarter Theater and Goodspeed Musicals), FELA! (Olney Theater), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Huntington Theatre), Ain’t No Mo’ (Woolly Mammoth and Baltimore CenterStage), Rent and The Color Purple (The Muny), Once on This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Acoustic Rooster...(Kennedy Center and National Tour), Put Your House in Order (La Jolla Playhouse), Cullud Wattah (Victory Gardens). She is the former Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she focused programming on Chicago-premiere musicals and new play development with resident playwrights.  She has received 2 Helen Hayes Awards, 5 Jeff Awards, 2 BTA awards and one African American Arts Alliance Award for excellence in directing. She is a 2021 recipient of the 3Arts Award for Theatre and the 2023 Zelda Fichandler Award Finalist.  She is a member of SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and a graduate of Northwestern University. 

LAUREN M. NICHOLS (Scenic Designer) is a freelance designer, CAD draftsman, and model builder native to Chicago. Previous Writers credit: Tiger Style. Other designs include A Home What Howls (Steppenwolf YA), Motherhouse (Rivendell); Cinderella (Village Theatre- Seattle); Blues for Alabama Sky, and Anna in the Tropics (Remy Bumppo) which was Jeff nominated for Best Midsize Set design. She has also designed for UIC, University of Chicago, Lifeline, Victory Gardens, DePaul Opera, Jackalope, Harper College, Glass Apple, Young People's Theatre, Chicago Children's Theatre, Shattered Globe, Renaissance Theatreworks Milwaukee, The Gift Theatre, Firebrand, Hell In a Handbag, Teatro Vista, Raven, and BoHo. As an associate she has worked with Court, Julliard, NY Theatre Workshop, Drury Lane, St. Louis Opera, Goodman, Milwaukee Rep, and The Alliance among many others. She currently teaches drafting and digital design as an adjunct professor at both The Theatre School-DePaul University and Northwestern. She is the recipient of the 2024 Michael Maggio Award for Emerging Designers. Upcoming shows include projects with Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences, Steep, and Paramount. MFA Northwestern. laurenangeldesigns.com

YVONNE L. MIRANDA (Costume Designer) is excited to make her debut at Writers Theatre for this production of The Hot Wing King. A USMC war veteran who has pursued degrees in Fashion & Stage Design who has been nominated for the 2022 Helen Hayes Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Woolly Mammoth Theatre & Baltimore Center Stage’s co-production of Ain’t No Mo and has been named American Theatre’s Role Call People to Watch. You can check out more about Yvonne and her upcoming work at www.yvonnemirandadesigns.com

JASON LYNCH (Lighting Designer) is a Chicago-based lighting designer for live performance and makes his Writers Theatre debut with this production. Additional Chicago credits include work with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Congo Square Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Definition Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, TimeLine Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theater, among others.Regional credits include Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, City Theatre Company, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Goodspeed Musicals, Huntington Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, and Trinity Repertory Company. Jason was also the recipient of the 2022 Equity Jeff Award for his work on Choir Boy at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the 2019 Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award, which recognizes emerging theatrical designers within the Chicago area. He is represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE and The Gersh Agency.www.jasondlynch.com, @jasonlynch.design on Instagram.

WILLOW JAMES (Sound Designer) is a Chicago-based artist, educator, arts leader and DJ who centers his work around exploring Black identity, new works, and activism. He currently serves as the Civic Engagement Director at Definition Theatre (where is also an ensemble member). He is also a Court Theatre teaching artist, Resident Sound Designer at Artemisia Theatre, and Adjunct Faculty at DePaul University. Writer's Theatre: The Band's Visit. Chicago projects include Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution (Court Theatre); The Penelopiad (Goodman Theatre); Antigone (Court Theatre); Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Chlorine Sky (Steppenwolf Theatre), An Educated Guess (Definition Theatre), Regional: TheatreSquared, American Players Theatre, NAATC, Alleyway Theatre, and Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis. worksbywillow.com

GREG GEFFRARD (Intimacy Director) Previous credits include: CHICAGO: Steppenwolf Theatre: Sanctuary City and Chlorine Sky (Intimacy), Choir Boy (Intimacy & Violence),The Lyric Opera: The Factotum (Intimacy & Violence); Remy Bumppo: Galileo's Daughter and Routes; Court Theatre: Fen (Intimacy & Violence); Chicago Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors; REGIONAL: Opera Theatre of St. Louis: Treemonisha, Tosca, Cosi Fan Tutte, and Susannah; Denver Center of Performing Arts: The Color Purple; Huntington Theatre (Boston): K-I-S-S-I-N-G and Joe Turner's Come and Gone. UP NEXT: Theatre Cedar Rapids: Fairview; Speakeasy Stage: Strange Loop; Writers Theatre: Hot Wing King. OTHER: Associate Faculty with Theatrical Intimacy Education, and Director of BFA Acting & Associate Artistic Director at Brenau University.

KATIE KLEMME (Stage Manager) WT credits include Eurydice, A Distinct Society, Tiger Style!, Wife of a Salesman, 2021 Wordplay Gala, and Into the Woods. National credits: Hamilton (Eliza Tour Sub); Sorin: A Notre Dame Story (Tour). Regional credits: Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theater Center, ArtsEmerson. Select Chicago credits include Brooklyn Laundry, Dial M for Murder, The Porch on Windy Hill, Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, Intimate Apparel, Mr. Dickens' Hat, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, Landladies, and You Can’t Take It With You; Notes from the Field (TimeLine); Villette (Lookingglass);  If I Forget, Indecent, Lettie (Victory Gardens), Mr. Burns: a post-electric play 10 out of 12, The Realistic Joneses, The Santaland Diaries (Theater Wit); and 10 seasons at American Theater Company as a resident stage manager.

CHRIS BERRY (Vocal/Dialect Coach) is an artist and educator. He received his BFA in Acting from North Carolina A&T State University ('08) and his MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep ('11). He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Playwrights Realm. He previously served as the Arts Director at the Penumbra Center for Racial Healing. He served as the President of the Black Theatre Network, where he produced two national conferences: Black Theatre: Unapologetically Black and Black Theatre Week during the COVID lockdown. He also served as the Director of Education and Humanities and the Program Director of the Black Arts Institute at the Billie Holiday Theatre. As a dialect coach, he has had the pleasure of working for the Signature Theatre's production of The Hot Wing King and the television show P-Valley. As an educator, he has served as an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Florida A&M University.

TOR CAMPBELL (Associate Director) is an emerging director and choreographer based in Chicago, recently completing his MFA in Directing at Northwestern University in June 2024. Tor's professional directing credits include Disaster the Musical at Fordham University, The Prom at Northwestern University, and The Hero Within at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He has served as assistant director for productions such as Birthday Candles at Northlight Theatre and A Christmas Carol at The Goodman. As a choreographer, his notable works include The Prom and The Hero Within, both in 2023 with his upcoming debut at Paramount this summer, The Full Monty. Tor's achievements include winning Best Direction of a Musical at the Los Angeles Theatre Awards. His teaching experience spans Northwestern University and the University of California, Irvine, focusing on directing, movement, and musical theater techniques. Tor is passionate about using theater as a tool for social change, and he actively engages in community service and artistic leadership, aiming to create inclusive and impactful theatrical experiences. 

Dee Etti-Williams (Assistant Sound Designer)

Tatiana Bustamante (Assistant Intimacy Director) is a Latine artist originally from Miami, FL. Tatiana holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and an M.A. in Arts Presenting and Live Entertainment Management from the University of Miami. She has worked throughout the city as an educator, administrator, and actor at various theatres including Goodman, Court, Paramount, Teatro Vista, Drury Lane, Porchlight, and Theo Ubique. Tatiana is also a Writers Theatre Teaching Artist and is so excited to be back for The Hot Wing King! 

Imani Ross (Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to be making her Writers Theatre debut with this production of The Hot Wing King. Based in Chicagoland, she has accumulated years of experience in production, education, stage management, project management and event planning. She has worked with many local and national companies including Drury Lane Theatre, Woman Evolve, The Fearless Fund, Lifeline Theatre, ONE Church LA and The All Nations Collective. Select local credits: A Chorus Line, Mary Poppins (Drury Lane Theatre), From the Mississippi Delta (Lifeline Theatre). 

BRADEN ABRAHAM (Artistic Director) joined Writers Theatre as Artistic Director in 2023. He comes to Writers from Seattle Rep, the largest resident theatre in the Pacific Northwest, where he advanced the organization as a director and producer, including the development and premiere of many new plays. He directed six world premieres for Seattle Rep and over 20 productions including: True West, Clybourne Park, Photograph 51, Ibsen in Chicago, Betrayal, Luna Gale, A View from the Bridge, A Great Wilderness, Breakin’ Hearts and Takin’ Names, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Among his initiatives as Artistic Director, Braden committed Seattle Rep as one of the first partner theaters to bring the Public Theater’s model for the Public Works program across the country. Seattle Rep’s Public Works strengthens community connection through making ambitious productions of participatory theater. Braden also re-envisioned the New Play Program, commissioning and premiering plays by Anna Zeigler, Samuel D. Hunter, David Grimm, Justin Huertas, Samantha Silva, Cheryl L. West, and Karen Hartman, and supported the work of dozens of playwrights and directors through premieres and the Other Season development lab. Many projects developed through this program went on to acclaimed runs at Seattle Rep and around the country including Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s Come From Away, Cheryl L. West’s Shout Sister Shout!, Erica Schmidt’s Mac Beth, and Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice.  Under his leadership, Seattle Rep was the only theater outside New York and London to present David Byrne’s Here Lies Love. Most recently, Braden initiated 20x30: Reimagine the Anthropocene, to commission twenty new plays by the year 2030, and New Directions, a unique commissioning program designed to support generative work from directors. Around the country, Braden has developed new work at Ojai, O’Neill, Denver Center, and Perseverance Theatre. He has been a guest artist at Stanford, Gonzaga, Seattle University, and the University of Idaho. He conceived and developed Way Stations, a series of interactive walking tours in Seattle for the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards and is the co-creator of Gordon Hempton: Let it Happen, an audio installation about the life and work of Emmy-Award winning sound ecologist Gordon Hempton. He is married to Cheyenne Casebier and the proud papa of Phoenix Faye Abraham.

Kathryn M. Lipuma (Executive Director) has served as the Executive Director of Writers Theatre since March 2007 where she is responsible for overseeing all management, administration and operations for the company. Most recently, she led the planning and construction of WT's award-winning performing arts center, designed by internationally renowned architect and MacArthur Fellow and "Genius" grant recipient Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, which opened in February 2016. Prior to Writers, Lipuma spent nine seasons as Executive Director at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre Company in New York. At Signature, she worked with and produced plays and programs from such acclaimed writers as Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornés, John Guare, Bill Irwin, Romulus Linney, Arthur Miller, Paula Vogel, August Wilson and Lanford Wilson. During her tenure, she helped create and launch Signature’s groundbreaking $15 Ticket Program. Prior to her time at Signature, she spent six years with Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. Lipuma currently serves on the Board of Directors for Arts Alliance Illinois, the statewide advocacy coalition; the Board of Directors and Past Chair of the League of Chicago Theatres, an alliance representing more than 200 Chicago-area theater companies and producers; and as an Advisory Council Member for The Actors Fund. Lipuma is the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre. She is also the co-creator of DoNorth, an umbrella organization joining four cultural neighbors—Chicago Botanic Garden, Kohl Children’s Museum, Ravinia Festival and Writers Theatre—to attract new audiences to the cultural, environmental and community activities of the North Shore. She is a graduate of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.