Jen Silverman is a multi-hyphenate playwright, poet, and novelist whose work has been produced nationally and internationally, on and off Broadway. Their plays balance lyricism with grounded sincerity, and highlight the power of hope in seemingly hopeless times. Silverman is a Guggenheim Fellow, a three-time MacDowell Fellow, and recipient of the Yale Drama Series Award. Their play The Roommate recently closed its Broadway run, with Mia Farrow and Pattie LuPone in the leading roles.

Jamie has had the pleasure of exploring theatre as a tool for connection and change for over 20 years. After directing in LA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ohio, New York, and Portland, she now serves as founding co-artistic director of The Beirut Wedding World Theatre Project. Recent local credits include Jesus Hopped the A-Train, CoHo/Beirut Wedding, Topdog Underdog (Street Scenes) and B*tch in Kitchen as part of Salt with Shaking the Tree.

Jamie’s activism work has a heavy focus on survivors of sexual violence. Two local projects include the development of and tour of Telling – a piece where survivors tell their own stories with facilitated audience conversations (3 year partnership with OAASIS – a Portland based resource and advocacy organization for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse). And Made to Dance in Burning Buildings, an interdisciplinary dance/theatre piece of a survivor’s reclamation of self as she navigates PTSD.