The Finish Line

Katie Ðô (she/her) is a Vietnamese American woman with a mouth from New Jersey. She’s a proud alum of the Sống Collective’s Việt Writers Lab and the Public’s Emerging Writers Group. Đỗ is also the inaugural recipient of Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s Sokhary Chau Playwriting Fellowship. Her plays have been developed by South Coast Repertory (Pacific Playwrights Festival), Atlantic Theater Company (MixFest), The Sống Collective, The Public Theater, Orlando Shakes, and Artists at Play. Her play love you long time (already) was featured on the 2023 Kilroy’s Web and who hurt you? was a 2025 Venturous Theater Fellowship finalist. She also wrote on the Netflix show Partner Track. She is a first year MFA Playwriting candidate at UCSD. kteado.com

Jonah Gercke is a filmmaker, playwright, and journalist currently based out of New York City. They have filmed and produced documentaries in Palestine, Venezuela, China, and Greece, and have worked on film sets throughout the United States and India. Their narrative thesis film The Little Monk screened at Anthology Film Archive and the North Hollywood Cinefest. Their written work, including the feature article “A Bad Thing Haunts Slab City,” has appeared in outlets such as SPIN Magazine. They are a frequent collaborator of Jordan Howlett (more than 30 million followers across all platforms), and through this partnership they have written and edited content for Michael B. Jordan, Ryan Coogler, and Jordan Peele. Their stage work has been produced at New Village Arts Theater in Carlsbad, California.

Christopher Oscar Peña (he/him) is a story-teller originally from California, now residing in New York and LA. In 2019 he co-directed the world premiere of Sean Daniels adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s “lost novel” The Haunted Life at Merrimack Rep. The production marked the first time the Kerouac Estate had ever sanctioned an official theatrical adaptation of Kerouac’s work. Most recently, as a playwright, the Clarence Brown Theatre commissioned and produced the world premiere of his play The Strangers. In New York, the Flea Theatre produced the world premiere of his play a cautionary tail.   His work has been developed by Playwrights Horizons, the Goodman Theater, Public Theater, Two River Theater, INTAR, Ontological Hysteric Incubator, Playwrights Realm, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Old Vic, Orchard Project, Naked Angels, and New York Theatre Workshop, among many others.  This upcoming season, his play how to make an American Son will have its world premiere in a co-production between Arizona Theatre Company and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in New York. A two-time Sundance Institute Theater Fellow, he has also held fellowships with the Lark Play Development Center, was a recipient of the Latino Playwrights Award, an Emerging Artist Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow, and was a part of the US/UK Exchange (Old Vic New Voices).B.A. UC Santa Barbara / M.F.A. NYU-Tisch School of the Art.

Kian Kline-Chilton is a director and producer based in San Diego, dedicated to pioneering new theatrical experiences that examine and celebrate stories of queer resistance. Thanks to all those who continue to uplift them in their endeavors. Founder of Patchwork Theatre. BA in Theatre Arts from San Diego State University.  Recent credits include We Are Continuous (Diversionary Theatre), The Finish Line: A Bill and Judy Garrett Commission (Cygnet Theatre), and A LOT of assistant directing credits. @kian.k.c. on instagram. The website is taking a minute, but she coming.