Present day, writer’s office: A frazzled playwright facing writer’s block, filled with self-doubt attempts to write a play under a tight deadline, while her characters act out what she is frenetically describing.
Deborah Bostock-Kelley is a multi-time, award-winning playwright, and a director, producer, actor – pretty much in that order. Her work has appeared across stages in Tampa Bay, competing in every year of the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival and was honored with the inaugural Tampa Bay Theatre Festival Denise Deneen Award recognizing her work in the theatre community. Her one-acts have also been performed at Carrollwood Players One Act Weekend, 4×6 Festival, and Tarpon Arts. In collaboration with Peter Nason, her last play about a school shooting “A Necessary Conversation” won “Critic’s Choice” in Powerstories’ Voices of Truth Festival in March 2021, Regional Broadway World’s 2018 “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” Awards, and was nominated for Creative Loafing Best Script of the Decade, and 2021 Best Original Production.
Naomi Sample has Bachelors of Fine Art in Theatre from the University of South Alabama, where she participated in many productions from comedy, musicals and dramas. She has been in a few products in Pinellas and Hillsborough County, including Eight O’Clock Theatre’s ANYTHING GOES, West Coast Players’ THE RABBIT HOLE, Carrollwood Players’ LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE, and Powerstories Theatre’s Voices of Truth original production, A NECESSARY CONVERSATION which won “Critic’s Choice” March 2021. Visit NAOMISAMPLE.COM to find out more.
Andrew, a Navy Veteran of 17 years and still serving, has been acting since 2018. Working on both stage and film, he has worked on many projects. His most recent film, The Handler, is being submitted for the Orlando Independent Filmmakers challenge and is in post-production. The last time he was on stage was in the show Auntie Mame at Carrollwood Players Theater, as well as Excursion Fare, where he played the calm but stern Henry and multiple roles in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Andrew is excited to be working with Deb Kelley again, helping bring another one of her original plays to life.
Kari Tepfenhart last appeared on stage in Breast Advice with Powerstories Theater. She has also produced and acted in shows with Carrollwood Players. By day, Kari is a local high school Spanish teacher.
Amy C. Ragg has been at home on Tampa Bay Area stages since she was in elementary school, a long, LONG time ago. An educator for more than twenty years, she remembers the days before active shooter drills and making sure she could fit an entire class into a closet. Those drills still make her cry every time. She knows that A Necessary Conversation is exactly that and hopes that it inspires the dialogue that we need to help change our world for the better. She thanks Deb for entrusting her with telling Rose’s story, and considers this role one of the great honors of her life.
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