The lovely cast of “She Is History”
She is History
2018 Staged Reading at Theatre West
Universal City, CA
Written by Amy Simon
Directed by Samantha Shada
Featuring Suzanne Collins, Riley Rae Baker, Deanna Gandy, Maria Kress, Anne Leydon, Linda Rand, Clara Rodriguez, Amy Simon, June Schreiner, Ashley Taylor and Rosemary Thomas
This play is currently available for full production. Read more at ShesHistory.com
Synopsis: A play about women who make and made history featuring appearances from such great ladies as Bella Abzug, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul, Anne Crittenden, Lucretia Mott, Nancy Pelosi, Susan B. Anthony and more.
Searching for Mrs. Pan
2017 Short Play Performed at Write Act Repertory
North Hollywood, CA
Written by Linda Rand
Directed by Samantha Shada
Produced by John Lant
Stage Manager Jonathan Harrison
Lighting by Ken Cosby
Featuring Nancy Lantis and Tinks Lovelace
Synopsis: Reviewed by the Tolucan Times as “a fascinating, albeit skewed view of our beloved fairy tales.”
The ladies of “She is History”
She is History
2017 Staged Reading at Theatre West
Universal City, CA
Written by Amy Simon
Directed by Samantha Shada
Featuring Jeannine Anderson, Riley Rae Baker, Maria Kress, Linda Rand, Julia Silverman, Amy Simon, Ashley Taylor and Rosemary Thomas
This play is currently available for full production. Read more at ShesHistory.com
Synopsis: A play about women who make and made history featuring appearances from such great ladies as Bella Abzug, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul, Alice Williams, Anne Crittenden, Flora Campbell, Lucretia Mott, Nancy Pelosi, Susan B. Anthony and more.
Staging “Portrait of the Widow Kinski”
Portrait of the Widow Kinski
2017 Staged Reading at The Blank Theatre’s Living Room Series
Hollywood, CA
Written by Sara Jean Accuardi
Directed by Samantha Shada
Produced by Ryland Shelton
Lighting by Aurora Culver
Featuring Joanna Miles, Frank Collison, Jon Prescott, and Tinks Lovelace
This play is currently available for full production. Read more on New Play Exchange.
Synopsis: A promising artist falls into obscurity. Decades later, his widow, once a promising artist herself, works tirelessly to find an audience for his neglected work. A chance encounter yields the possibility of a gallery show and a critical reexamination, but the opportunity to finally secure her husband’s legacy forces her to take a hard look at the past.
Brad and Emilia are scientists in “The 100th Monkey Effect”
The 100th Monkey Effect
2012 World Premiere at The Attic Theatre
Culver City, CA
Written by Christina Cigala
Directed by Samantha Shada
Produced by Christina Cigala & Samantha Shada
Production Design by Ashley Cole
Featuring Brad Harris and Emilia Richeson
Synopsis: Brad and Emilia are mad scientists. They’ve got some songs to sing and stories to tell, and did I mention the most important scientific experiment of all time? If you’ve got a wild side, or just like getting blazed while watching episodes of Quantum Leap, join the scientific research team of the THE 100TH MONKEY EFFECT.
The cast and crew of “Armageddon”
Armageddon: A Night of Laughs and Pleasant Songs
2011 World Premiere with The Hollywood Fringe Festival
Hollywood, CA
Written by Josie Campbell, Mike Poisson, and Samantha Shada
Directed by Josie Campbell
Produced by Samantha Shada
Production Design by Allen Glover
Featuring Talia Derry, Ben Fuller, Rachel Garcia, Sara Hagan, Alicyn Packard, Bing Putney, Alex Salem, Aly Sykes, and Thu Tran.
Synopsis: ARMAGEDDON: A NIGHT OF LAUGHS AND PLEASANT SONGS sprung from the sy-fy obsessed minds of three, Los Angeles based writers. Seeking to create an interactive audience experience, ARMAGEDDON combines live music and sketch comedy to explore the important themes of love, life and zombie decapitation.
Katie Muller and Harry Vaughn in “The Lover”
The Lover 2007 Production with Emerson College
Boston, MA
Written by Harold Pinter
Directed by Samantha Shada
Produced by Emerson College
Featuring Katie Muller and Harry Vaughn
Synopsis: A couple struggles to find each other through experimenting with erotic story games.
Shawn Verrier and Claire Morrison in “Marat/Sade”
The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade aka Marat/Sade
2007 Production with Emerson College Department of Performing Arts
Boston, MA
Written by Peter Weiss
Directed by Magda Romanska
Assistant to the Director, Samantha Shada
Produced by Emerson Stage
Featuring Seth Adam, Michael Borges, Mariam Bibilouri, Patrick de Nicola, Chris DeVita, Quincy Ellis, Daniel Hainsworth, Meredith McAllister, Claire Morrison, Elizabeth Parker, Nicholas Peciaro, Daniel Perrault, Nick Ronan, John Redmond, Benjamin Sloane, and Shawn Verrier.
Synopsis: Year 1808, confined in the insane asylum after some of his more flamboyant ‘affairs,’ notorious Marquis de Sade stages the assassination of Marat, one of the French Revolution’s bloodiest leaders. The actors are the other inmates; the audience – the visitors of the asylum. In this play within a play, madness and sanity, violence and affection, theatre and reality blend seamlessly in the shadow box of death, politics and desire.
Two Rooms
2007 Production with Rareworks
Boston, MA
Written by Lee Blessing
Directed by Samantha Shada
Produced by Rareworks
Lighting by Ryan Fischer
Sound Design by Brendan F. Doyle
Projections by John Alfred Tyson
Featuring Christopher Spada, Sara Greco, Mark Cramer, Julia Misaki
Synopsis: TWO ROOMS depicts the struggles of a woman whose husband is being held hostage in Beirut Lebanon in the 1980s. Not too distant in our past, the hostage crisis of the 1983-1990 Lebanese civil war must be reconsidered in light of recent political developments along the coastal Middle East.
Nick Casey and Kyle Andrews in “The Tragedy”
The Tragedy
2007 Production with Emerson College Shakespeare Society
Boston, MA
Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Samantha Shada
Directed by Samantha Shada
Produced by Rareworks
Lighting Design by Ryan Fischer
Set Design by Jessica Survelas
Sound Design by Brendan F. Doyle
Fight Choreography by Ian McCafferty
Dance Choreography by Colleen Arnold
Featuring Kyle Andrews, Kirstin Bennett, Andy Blaustein, Stephanie Blecher, Nick Casey, Daniel Cohen, Brendan F. Doyle, Paulina Jaeger, Hannah Klinger, Jenna Lyng, Danielle McAdams, Jesse MacDonald, Shaunagh McGoldrick, Alex Salem, Christopher Spada, Shawna Wright
Synopsis: Adapted from William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, THE TRAGEDY tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers named Romeo and Julian.
Samantha Shada 