Mike Lew leverages his razor-sharp wit and bombastic energy to create plays that are as hilarious as they are thought-provoking. A Chinese-American playwright, Lew’s work is a rioutous melding of personal, familial and cultural identities into one explosive comedic mix. He is a Tony voter, Dramatists Guild Council member, New Dramatists Resident, and recipient of the Richard Rogers Award. He is former co-director of Ma-Yi Writers Lab, the largest collective of Asian-American playwrights in the country.

Michael John Garcés is the artistic director of Cornerstone Theater Company, a community-engaged ensemble-based theater in Los Angeles. He has directed two other plays by Larissa FastHorse, Urban Rez (Cornerstone Theater Company) and Native Nation (ASU Gammage). Other recent directing projects include The Royale (Arizona Theatre Company); the just and the blind by Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Daniel Bernard Roumain (Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center); Epic by Ellen Struve (Great Plains Theatre Conference); What Happens Next by Naomi Iizuka (La Jolla Playhouse); The Arsonists by Max Frisch (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); Wrestling Jerusalem by Aaron Davidman (various venues including Guthrie Theater, Cleveland Public Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company). Other projects in Los Angeles include Café Vida by Lisa Loomer (Cornerstone Theater Company); Seven Spots on the Sun by Martín Zimmerman (The Theatre @ Boston Court); red, black and GREEN: a blues by Marc Bamuthi Joseph (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater). He will be directing Seize the King by Will Power at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in February. Michael is a recipient of the Princess Grace Statue Award, the Alan Schneider Director Award, and the TCG/New Generations Grant. He serves as Vice President of the executive board of SDC, the Theatrical Union for Stage Directors and Choreographers.