Howling: A Fairy Tale
Playwright
Jordan Bird
Jordan Bird (she/her) is a neurodivergent theatre artist creating work at the intersection of the spiritually weird and oddly embodied. Her work provokes conversations around disability and trauma, and challenges the way the Other (disabled/marginalized/vulnerable) is told to exist in a world built for the privileged/secure/abled. In addition to being a selection for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival 47, Howling: A Fairy Tale has been recognized by the O’Neill NPC (Finalist, 2023), Bay Street Theatre’s Title Wave New Works Festival (Finalist, 2023), Normal Avenue’s NAP Series (Finalist, 2023), The Blue Ink Award (Semifinalist, 2024), and the DGF’s Virtual Playwriting Fellowship (Semifinalist, 2023). Other plays have been recognized or developed by the O’Neill NPC (Down Cellar, 2025; Poison Tree, 2024), the Workshop Theatre (Down Cellar, 2023), the Digital Dramaturgy Project (Poison Tree, 2024), Inkwell Theatre’s LAB Series (A Witness, 2021), among others, and her play Resurrection is published through Next Stage Press. Jordan has also served as a dramaturg, script evaluator, and freelance educator for 2 decades and is a Board Member at Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She has been a member of the Dramatists Guild since 2012, and you can find out more about her work on the New Play Exchange and at www.Jordan-Bird.com. Jordan lives on the land that was cared for and shared by the Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Band of Cherokee), S’atsoyaha (Yuchi), and Miccosukee peoples, land that continues to be honored and protected by the Indigenous presence that remains in East Tennessee.
Meet the Creative Team
Director
JESSICA BIRD BEZA
Je
ssica Bird Beza (she/her) is a Bay Area based director, producer, and intuitive life coach. She is dedicated to the intersection of artistic innovation and organizational health and builds sustainable, equity-driven ecosystems that prioritize human-centered storytelling and community care. She has held artistic leadership positions at The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre, and Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company as well as multiple consultant positions supporting casting, producing and fundraising. Jessica holds a B.A. in Music & Theatre from Point Loma Nazarene University and a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego.
Throughout her career, she has had a special focus on developing new work, producing multiple new play festivals, and had the opportunity to work, as a director or producer, with 100+ living playwrights such as Lindsay Joelle, Kait Kerrigan, JC Lee, BD Wong, PigPen Theatre Co., Laurel Ollstein, Thomas Gibbons, Herbert Siguenza, Inda Craig Galvan, Tom Salamon, and many more. She also served as Associate Director on the current Tony award winning Broadway musical COME FROM AWAY from its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in 2015 to Broadway in 2017.
She has developed new work at Theatreworks Silicon Valley, American Conservatory Theatre, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego REP, Diversionary Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, NYU Musical Theatre Graduate Program, and Playwrights Foundation. Select directing projects include: a San Francisco based Urinetown: the musical in ACT’s conservatory program, NNPN rolling world premiere of Uncanny Valley at San Diego REP, a surrealist interpretation of God of Carnage at New Village Arts, Car Plays (literally in a car) during La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival as well as co-writing and directing the BRAVO award winning one-woman show Woman in the Mirror: A Dancer’s Journey starring Michael Jackson impersonator Devra Gregory.
Dramaturg
ARIELLA WOLFE
Ariella Wolfe (she/her) is a dramaturg, director, teaching artist, and producer with 10 years of experience in New Play Development and Arts Education, with a background in community-engaged and devised theatre. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her work has also taken her to Los Angeles, New York, and Buenos Aires. Artistic Credits include EMERGING VOICES (producer/director, 2021-2026), Sandcastle New Play Reading Series (producer/director), EIGHT NIGHTS (director, staged reading benefitting HIAS), EVERYTHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED (asst. director, Boston Court Pasadena), HOMEWARD LA (director), and PHOTOGRAPH 51 (asst. director, South Coast Rep). Ariella received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Oregon and is a founding member of Sandcastle Theater Company (artistic / program director).
Stage Manager
RAYE GOH
Raye Goh* (Raye/they) started working in theatre/performing arts in 2018. After training and serving as a community health worker from 2020-2022, Raye returned to theatre in early-2023 with a renewed focus on queer/trans & BIPOC storytelling, and a budding interest in the overlap of disability justice and theatre/performing arts. For the following two years, Raye had the good fortune to try on many different hats across theatre disciplines, discovering that they like to wear many hats! In late-2025, Raye joined the inaugural cohort of SFBATCO’s Stage Manager Training Series and completed formal stage management training in a professional setting. This will be Raye’s first Bay Area Playwrights Festival, serving as stage manager for *Howling: a Fairytale* by Jordan Bird.
Meet the Cast
Sam Hannum (she/they, LIN/WOLF 1) is a multi-hyphenate production and performing artist based in San Francisco, working in theater, opera, commercial, and film. This will be their first production with Playwrights Foundation (yay!). Earlier this spring, Sam made their Met debut in Innocence at The Metropolitan Opera in NYC, following its American premiere at The San Francisco Opera in 2024, in which Sam was also cast. Sam can be spotted onstage and off at Marin Theater, Oasis, and Great American Music Hall, and most recently ODC. Off the clock, you can find her laying in the grass at Dolores Park, swimming at the beach, or snuggling a friends’ cat (to whom she is allergic but does not care). Big thank you to Leigh, Jordan, Tessa, and the whole BAPF47 team for this opportunity.
Joe Marano* (he/him, SY/WOLF 4) is thrilled to be working on this beautiful project in his favorite city (don’t tell his family from New York City). Previous credits include CJs Grill (Apple TV), Fatal Family Feuds (Oxygen), Danny Will Die Alone (Amazon Prime). Joe is also excited for the 2027 release of his upcoming Great American Songbook cover album “Song My Mom Told Me to Sing”. Much love to everyone who worked on this piece! Insta: @joe_marano, TikTok:@joemarano0
Jennifer S. McGeorge* (she/her, MONA/WOLF 3) is honored to be a part of this years Playwrights Festival. She has appeared most recently with the Ross Valley Players in Crossing Delancey (a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award-winner) and Our Town. Some favorite Bay Area credits include Rita in Casa Valentina (NCTC), Margery in Vinegar Tom (Shotgun Players), and Rosie in Mamma Mia! (Mountain Play Association). She has also worked with Berkeley Rep., Livermore Shakespeare (SPARC), Marin Shakespeare Company, Prospect Musicals (NYC), McCarter Theatre Education Department, and Williamstown Theatre Festival among others. Jennifer would like to thank her family for their unwavering support.
Elenor Irene Paul (she/they, BIRDIE) is a queer multidisciplinary actor, costumer, and artist. A Sonoma County native who is deeply connected to and inspired by nature, Elenor has been creating theater since their earliest memories. Onstage, you could have seen her at OASIS, San Jose Stage, or Ross Valley Players. Elenor is passionate about making art and seeking joy in spite of the current late-stage capitalistic empire hellscape. Outside of theater, they make time for birding, cooking, and their friends and family.
Shelby Saumier (they/them, STAGE DIRECTIONS) is a queer, neurodivergent, genderfluid (non-binary femme) actor, poet, playwright, and educator. Shel is excited to collaborate on their first show with the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Shel believes theater has the power to change the world, provide healing, and allow for reflection and growth. Central to their creative and academic practice is their commitment to challenging binary thinking in art, science, and society, embracing a spectrum-based approach to storytelling and identity. Shel considers themselves to be an activist and seeks to provide cultural equity, celebrate diversity, and center queer voices and stories on and off stage. Shel recently performed in English by Sanaz Toossi at Capital Stage, The Seagull by Anton Chekhov at SFSU, and two new works, Lemon Fever by Evelyn Ch’ien and Speak Easy by Fernando Mendoza in the New Works Greenhouse Festival 2026 in partnership with Crowded Fire Theatre.
Don Wood (he/him, MAL/WOLF 2) is excited to work with BAPF! A Bay Area actor since 1984, Don is currently an artistic company member of Shotgun Players, avid disc golfer, and former member of Bindlestiff and Paducah Mining Company.