creator, curator, playwright, producer

Elizabeth Coplan was a theater kid when being a theater kid was NOT cool, especially in Texas. So, she graduated high school in three years, fled to New York City, and became a struggling actor. When she realized she could not eat AND pay rent at the same time, Elizabeth went to college. After receiving her diploma, she became the managing editor of Chief Executive Magazine in New York, and later moved to LA and then to Seattle as a professional services marketer, working for major Seattle-based national firms. In 2001, Elizabeth founded a consulting firm and advised clients like Merrill Lynch and the University of Washington School of Law. As a late-in-life emerging playwright, Elizabeth is known for The Grief Dialogues and her recent Off-Broadway play, "Til Death. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. Elizabeth lives on Bainbridge Island outside of Seattle where she raised two amazing young men, Spencer and Alexander, with her husband, Scott. Now as empty-nesters, they enjoy producing and investing in quality theater. elizabethcoplan.com and griefdialogues.com

Director

Dani Davis is an Emmy award-winning writer, a Tony-nominated Broadway producer, a Helen Hayes Award recipient for producing, a critically acclaimed theater director and choreographer, a television producer, and an entertainment entrepreneur. Her Broadway and national tour producing credits include The Lonesome West, Little Women, Billy Elliot, The Wedding Singer, Flashdance, and Dreamworks' Shrek The Musical (original and current). For Sony Classical Records and PBS, Dani wrote the libretto (Emmy award), and directed Handel's Messiah Rocks (7 Emmy noms), starring LaChanze, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. She also directed the national tour. Dani's award-winning regional directing and choreography credits include Mamma Mia, The Full Monty, Xanadu, and The UMPO Series: Summer Blockbusters, Jaws at the White Lotus, Rock the Bard. She is the director of Cindy of Arc starring Cynthia Kaplan (Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Baltimore Theater, Philly Fringe and New York) currently playing, raising money for voting and reproductive rights, She was the co-creator and executive producer for the series Girl Starter with Al Roker Productions (Discovery networks). Dani produces Broadway-based benefit recording projects, sits on the board of several organizations serving young people, and is a graduate of Duke University. She is the proud mother of two young artists, Noah and Nina, and lives in New York City and Cape Cod. thedanidavis.com

Associate Director

Andrew Coopman is a director, choreographer, and playwright of Middle Eastern descent. A Drama League Directors Project alumnus and current Artist in Residence with Skeleton Re(Presents), Andrew’s work as a director and choreographer has been seen on stages in Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, Ithaca, New York City, Seattle and more. Andrew also currently works as the Artistic Associate of The Drama League. Credits include: The Apollo of Bellac (Hangar Theatre), Head Over Heels (Lakewood Playhouse), Bryony Lavery’s Frozen: A Play (Cabaret Theater), Little Women (Seattle Musical Theater), Cinderella (Village Theatre), and Orfeo y Euridice (Seattle Opera). Andrew has also worked on multiple national tour remounts for TheaterWorksUSA including The Magic School Bus, Pete the Cat, and Charlotte's Web. Their original work, TAROT, will premier at Strawdog Theatre Company in Chicago. Other new work includes …and then the lightning struck and TREESON: A New Eco-Musical. They will also direct and choreograph the world premier of Alan Turing and the Queen of the Night at The Player's Theatre in August 2025. MFA Directing, University of Washington and MA, Educational Theatre, New York University – Steinhardt. Proud SDC member. IG: @arcoopman AndrewCoopman.com

Director of Photography

Elizabeth Vrkljan is a cinematographer based out of Brooklyn, NY. She specializes in highly stylized visuals that border on surrealism. Raised in South Florida, her work is deeply inspired by the Southern Gothic and how trauma shapes our visual reality. Her narrative work has played at festivals around the world including Chelsea Film festival, New York Shorts, Sarasota film festival, and Oscar qualifying Doc NYC and Palm Springs Shorts Fest. Elizabeth is a graduate of NYU Tisch, where she spent her undergraduate years working extensively as a nonunion gaffer and Local 52 permitted electrician. In 2021, Elizabeth returned to NYU as their youngest adjunct professor of cinematography to date. As of the Fall of 2024, she became the first woman to teach their titular production safety and set protocol course. She has a great passion for creating safer working conditions for crew both physically and mentally. elizabethvrkljan.com

grief counselor

Claudia Coenen is a grief counselor and a Thanatologist with a private practice in Hudson, NY. Claudia presents workshops, keynotes and in-service training on coping with grief and discovering resilience to live fully after loss. She is the author of Shattered by Grief: Picking up the Pieces to Become WHOLE Again and The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioner’s Guide, and the Karuna Cards, creative prompts for grief and difficult transitions and Seasons of Grief: Creative Interventions to Support Bereaved People, with chapters from 17 therapists, end of life practitioners, artists and poets, including Elizabeth Coplan. thekarunaproject.com

Pastor, Counselor

Corey L. Kennard is Pastor of Amplify Christian Church and also serves as a national activist in the field of healthcare. He earned a Master's Degree from Ashland Theological Seminary and has been involved in the field of healthcare for over 20 years with over 15 years of experience in the areas of Palliative Care and Hospice. He is a Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) and currently serves in Administration as a Director at one of Detroit's largest hospitals. His work also includes serving as a Faculty Lead for Duke University's Institute on Care at the End Of Life (ICEOL) national training program called, "APPEAL." Corey is a Spiritual Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, and a national Leader and Board Member for several organizations. IG: @non.ebrand @iampastorcorey

Writer - Fusion

Paul Atreides is an author, playwright, and theater critic for EatMoreArtVegas.com. His newest play, The Last Confession, was a Finalist in the Carlo Annoni International Play Competition. His 10-minute Tryst won its category and placed third overall in Emerald Theatre’s 6th Annual competition. Fusion was adapted in 2020, and won awards in the Chicago and Las Vegas Film Festivals. His paranormal rom-com novels Marvin’s World of Deadheads, Jenna’s Gang of Deadheads, and Nathan’s Clan of Deadheads make up the World of Deadheads trilogy published through The Wild Rose Press. paul-atreides.com

Writer - The Number

Barbara’s plays are produced off-Broadway and nationwide in Seattle, Boston, Chicago and more. Her work is developed in NYC at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Rattlestick, Roundabout, Urban Stages; regionally at The Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva, Victory Gardens. Winner: Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Playwriting Award, the Israel Baran Award, and a runner up at the Sundance Playwriting Lab, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Heideman Award and Princess Grace Fellowship. Other honors: nominated for Edmonton’s Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and honorable mention, The Kilroy list. Plays and monologues published by Smith & Kraus and Applause.

Writer (Lifelines)

Donna Hoke’s work has been seen in 48 states and on five continents. She’s been nominated for the Primus, Blackburn, and Laura Pels prizes, and is a three-time winner of the Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play. In its final three years, Artvoice named her Buffalo's Best Writer—the only woman to ever receive the designation. Her feature film, Deadly Wives Club, recently premiered on Lifetime. Donna also is serving the Dramatists Guild since 2012, is an ensemble playwright at Road Less Traveled Productions, a blogger, New York Times published crossword puzzle constructor; and children's and trivia book author. donnahoke.com.

Writer - For My Brothers... Whenever I May Find Them

Nambi E. Kelley is an accomplished playwright and actress, developing multiple Broadway projects. She received The Prince Prize for Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution (Jeff Award nomination) and an NNPN commission for her play Re-Memori premiering at Penumbra Theatre and WP's Pipeline Festival. Nambi has been a playwright-in-residence at the National Black Theatre, Dramatists Guild, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Goodman Theatre. She adapted Toni Morrison’s Jazz and Richard Wright’s Native Son, the latter receiving a Drama League nomination and an AUDELCO Award for Best Production. A writer and co-producer for Peacock's Bel Air, her TV credits include Lady In The Lake, Our Kind of People, and The Chi. http://www.nambikelley.com/

Writer - Always and Forever, Jim

Amy Judith Reuben is a lifelong theater creative with a lengthy career in technical and production that paved the way for her becoming a self- producing playwright, specializing in historical drama set in The District, more commonly known as “Storyville,” in New Orleans, LA. Amy is currently writing her first opera libretto, and transforming a full length play into a musical. She is Mom to Shane and Rebekah, and a Kundalini yoga and meditation practitioner/teacher for 25 years. She comes to Grief Dialogues with immense gratitude, sharing her personal story honoring Jim Pickholtz, the love of her life.

Writer - Memorial Day

Leilani Squire is a member of EST/LA, Playwrights Unit, The Dramatist Guild, alumna of Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive and EST/LA’s Ignite Project. She’s published in Smith & Krauss’ 2023 Best 10-minute Plays and WE/US: Monologues for The Gender Minority. 15 Dead Souls won Veterans Repertory Theater’s inaugural 10-minute play competition. No Ordinary Mother, a finalist for The A Chronicles, was first read in New York in the spring of 2023. She’s Founder and CEO of Returning Soldiers Speak, 501(c)(3), whose mission is to empower veterans, first responders and their families tell their stories to the community through the written word and live theater.

Writer - Before You Go

Louisa Vilardi is a writer and photographer originally from northern New Jersey where she taught high school English and creative writing for over a decade before moving to the Hudson Valley. Her writing on grief has been featured by The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, and Her View From Home and her plays have been produced throughout the country. She is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild. louisavilardi.com

Writer - You Too

Tim Woods is a novelist and playwright. He's the father of two children, one living and one deceased. He's a long time practicing psychotherapist who lives with his wife of 40 years, Joyce Michaelson.

Writer - Poetry

Jenny is a poet who finds healing and vitality through her writing, giving voice to both situational and existential grief. She deeply values the connections formed with others who resonate with her work, reminding her that she is not alone in life’s complexities. Jenny's poetry has been featured in juried festivals in the Seattle area, including the annual Poetry Corners celebration and Arts Poetica. After living on Bainbridge Island for 20 years, she returned to her roots in NYC following a painful divorce. Her poems appear in several anthologies and literary magazines, including Meanderings, Grief Dialogues: The Book, and The Amethyst Review.