April 27

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11AM • Matt Thompson playwright, actor, director
2PM • Lily Hoang poet and fairytale writer
7PM • New Voices student reading

11AM – 12:15PM

^{playwright, actor, director} MATTHEW SALAZAR-THOMPSON

photo image © Matt Thompson

Matthew Salazar-Thompson

The 25th Anniversary Literary Arts Festival proudly welcomes stage actor, director, lecturer, and prolific playwright, Matthew Salazar-Thompson, delivering the LAF’s first scripted reading by a published playwright since 2003. And not a minute too soon!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Thompson is the author dozens of one-act and full-length plays over his career, many of which are published and distributed through Dramatic Publishing, Heuer Publishing, Eldridge Publishing, Brooklyn Publishing, and Norman Maine Publishing. As a director, Thompson has directed for The La Jolla Playhouse, North Coast Repertory Theatre and many other theatres in the San Diego Area. As a playwright, he is frequently commissioned by local playhouses, including The San Diego Repertory Theatre (Star Crossed), North Coast Repertory Theatre (Ted Williams: A Tip of the Cap, Mistletoe, Music & Mayhem!), Compass Theatre (9066, The 146 Point Flame), New Fortune Theatre (Cellar Door, Switching Tracks), Coronado Playhouse (If the Shoe Fits, A Roman Holiday), The Road Theatre (Who's on Alpha?), and Point Loma Playhouse (The Complete History of Theatre [abridged], and A Christmas Carol: The Classic Radio Drama). His play, Who's Afraid of Me, Myself and Edward Albee? was conceived of and mentored by Edward Albee, himself, and was later adapted to film by Aquanaught Productions.

In 2016 Mr. Thompson collaborated with La Mama Experimental Theatre Group in Umbria, Italy with resident master playwright Mac Wellman in the development of his comedy The Complete History of Theatre (abridged) and the revision of The 146 Point Flame, name-checked by Southern Theatre Magazine as one of the top ten plays to produce on the social topic of immigration. He also worked with Wellman in the development of Switching Tracks, a top five finalist for the Detroit New Works Festival in 2017, the Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival 2018, and North Coast Repertory Theatre’s Playwriting Showcase. His play, Señorita Julia, a modern adaptation of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, was produced by Pacific Playwrights Conference of San Diego in 2018 and as a staged reading at The Roustabouts Theatre in March 2020. His short play, A Fare Ride, was adapted into a film through New York based Momi Films and is scheduled for several film festival premieres in 2020.

Thompson received his Master of Arts in Theatre from San Diego State University and his MFA in Creative Writing / Playwriting from UC Riverside. Former Artistic Director of Point Loma Playhouse and former Associate Artistic Director of North Coast Repertory Theatre, his acting chops include favorably reviewed performances at the La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Lamb’s Player’s Theatre, Moxie Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, and others.

Matt Salazar Thompson has led Theatre courses at local area colleges and universities, including Grossmont College and San Diego City College. Currently, he teaches in the Theatre and Film Department at San José State University.

RESOURCES

BOOKS

Theatrical Paradigms of Narrative Theories and Social Justice. Matthew Salazar-Thompson, 2019.
The Collected Stories of the Octopus Knight. Matthew Salazar-Thompson/ Benthic Books, 2017.
The Visions of Acting. Matthew Salazar-Thompson, 2017.

LINKS AND RESOURCES

Official author website: https://wampamatt.wixsite.com/playsbymattthompson
San Jose State University faculty page: https://www.sjsu.edu/filmandtheatre/faculty_staff/salazar-thompson_matthew/index.html
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-salazar-thompson/

PUBLISHED PLAYS

The 146 Point Flame. Dramatic Publishing, 2017.
The Audition. Dramatic Publishing, 2005.
The Complete History of Theatre (abridged). Full-Length Play, Dramatic Publishing 2016; One-Act, Dramatic Publishing, 2018.
If the Shoe Fits. Dramatic Publishing, 2005.
A Roman Holiday. Norman Maine Publishing, 2010.
Señorita Julia (2018)
Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol. Eldridge Publishing, 2013.

COMMISSIONED AND SELECTED FULL-LENGTH WORKS

9066 (commissioned 2007)
Articles of Freedom
Cellar Door (commissioned 2014)
A Christmas Carol: The Classic Radio Drama (commissioned 2015)
Hemingway's Rose (commissioned 2006; semi-finalist for Best New Play, Actor's Alliance Festival, 2007)
Mistletoe, Music & Mayhem! (commissioned 2009)
Opera of the Oasis (commissioned 2007)
Selective Hearing (2010)
Star Crossed (commissioned 2009)
Sweet Rose of Tokyo (2008)
Switching Tracks (commissioned 2015; Semi-finalist, Detroit New Play Festival in 2017)
Ted Williams: A Tip of the Cap (commissioned 2010)
Who's Afraid of Me Myself and Edward Albee? (FringeNY Festival 2013)
Wondering Jew, The (2008; co-winner Lipinisky Jewish Arts Festival 2008: Best New Play)

COLLABORATIONS

with Linda Sherry Thompson. Beatrice the Butterfly. (Green Room Press 2009/Heuer 2011)
with Mike McCafferty. Who’s on Alpha? (written 1998)
with Theodore Reis. My Big Fat Greek Divorce (2008)
with Ted Reis. My Life as a Geek (commissioned 2007)
with Sunny Smith. The Triangle Tragedy (2007; Winner of Best New Short Play - Resilience of the Spirit Festival 2007)

OTHER PLAYS

Matt Salazar-Thompson catalogue of work, including full-length, one-act, and ten-minute plays, is available on his official playwright website: https://wampamatt.wixsite.com/playsbymattthompson

SELECTED ARTICLES

Cazares, Angel. "Human Issues, Experiences Displayed on Stage at New Play Festival." City Times (San Diego) 10 March 2019. https://sdcitytimes.com/campus-life/2019/03/10/human-issues-and-experiences-displayed-on-stage-at-new-play-festival/
Thompson, Diamond. "The 146 Point Flame Brought History to CHS Stage." Review. The Accolade 29 October 2019. https://theaccolade.org/2785/entertainment/the-146-point-flame-brought-history-to-chs-stage/
Westlin, Martin Jones. "Grossmont College Theater Hits Peak 'Theatricality' with Eurydice." Review. The Californian 20 November 2019. https://eccalifornian.com/grossmont-college-theater-hits-peak-theatricality-with- eurydice/

2:00 – 3:15 PM

LILY HOANG ^{avant-garde poet, essayist, fairytale writer}

This event is supported in part by a grant it has received from WACC, the World Arts and Cultures Committee of Grossmont College.

photo image © Lily Hoang

photo image © Lily Hoang Lily Hoang is the author of five books, including A Bestiary (finalist for a PEN/USA Award in Creative Non-Fiction) and Changing (recipient of a PEN/Open Books Award). A Spanish translation of A Bestiary received a national translation grant in Chile (forthcoming 2022). Her novel Underneath won the Red Hen Press Award for Fiction and is forthcoming in 2021. With Joshua Marie Wilkinson, she co-edited the anthology The Force of What’s Possible: Writers on Accessibility and the Avant-Garde.