Connect With Our Playwrights
Matthew J. Kaplan is a Brooklyn, New York-based writer, filmmaker, musician, and actor. His short films include “It’s Time For Tea” and “You Can Trust Your Neighbor.” Matthew's one-act plays “Copy and Paste,” “The Invincible Eddie Vincent,” “A Haunting Melody,” “This Is What Doctor Shaprio Was Talking About,” “The Man From West New York, NJ,” and “You Probably Have To Pee” have been staged at numerous New York City theatre festivals. His full-length play “The Shomer” is currently in development. Matthew is a songwriter and bass player with indie-rock bands The Bright Spots, and Misery Loves Company.
Matthew J. Kaplan
Jesse Read-Jones attended New York University, studying English and American Literature. More importantly, he minored in Creative Writing, and now you are reading this (and, possibly, other work of his). He mostly writes poetry in his personal practice, but dabbles in short fiction, fiction, non-fiction, and dramatic writing in collaboration with various writing communities. Jesse resides in Brooklyn, New York, where he has lived with his wife Isabel for more than a decade. His time outside of his work with children and creative writing is spent running, cooking, and overanalyzing movies and television shows with his wife. He also lives with a chihuahua mix (Chip--@runchichirun) and two grumpy cats.
Jesse Read-Jones
Susan Gitenstein Assadi has been working with Brooklyn Playwrights Connect since its launch in January. She wrote and directed Fleeting Beauty, which explores the emotional architecture of a star‑crossed relationship of a Jewish New Yorker and a Palestinian Muslim; not as a grand tragedy, but as an intimate, lived‑in story about two people who were never supposed to meet and yet can’t seem to let go of each other. Dolton Arms Charm Farm follows a Southern teenager who flees her over‑protected home to attend an elite girls’ boarding school in the Washington, DC area, where a hostile roommate pushes her into a bold, rule‑breaking rebellion against everything she was raised to believe. Writing and directing these two plays marks a new chapter in her creative journey. Over the years, she has taken meaningful pauses from the stage, but her passion for storytelling has remained a constant.
Her favorite directing credits include American Clock, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Zoo Story, and Getting Out, and several works by Tucson-based playwright Mary Caroline Rogers—whose voice and vision deeply influenced Susan’s own approach to theater.
She has also produced plays for Arizona Women’s Theater and Women In Theater in New York City, championing stories that center women’s experiences and amplify underrepresented voices. Susan holds an MFA in Theater Directing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Susan plans to develop Fleeting Beauty into a full length play for production soon in New York City.
s.assadi2@gmail.com
Susan Gitenstein Assadi
Jack Wohl is an actor and playwright based in New York City. His plays have been performed at Cannon Theater's 10 Minute Play Festival, Secret Theater's Short Play Festival, Flatbush Community Theater's Night of New Works, and Chain Theatre's 2026 Summer One-Act Festival. His short play “Blake and The Moose” was a finalist in The Theater Center’s Making it Happen Festival.
Jack Wohl
Phil Gagliano is a New York-based playwright, director, and teacher. He is the founder and artistic director of Brooklyn Playwrights Connect. Phil also teaches the Playwriting Workshop and the Monologue Workshop for Brooklyn Playwrights Connect. His most recent play, "Central Park Art", is currently in rehearsals for our upcoming "Pages To Performance 4" event. His play, "Ashes", was featured at the Flatbush Community Theater's "Evening of New Works" performance at the Urbane Arts Club in 2025.
Phil Gagliano
Sarah Germain Lilly (Playwright) has recently produced and directed a staged reading of her play Barbara Major and her short play Graduation at Theater for the New City and Flatbush Community Theater. Thanks to Brooklyn Playwrights Connect for hosting staged readings of her work. Sarah has worked since 2018 as an ally with Gays Against Guns, organizing and producing a podcast called Radio GAG: The Gays Against Guns Show. As a New York City teacher and Off-off Broadway producer, Sarah has been able to direct Enough Plays to End Gun Violence from 2022 to present: a project that stages short plays on the subject of gun violence written by students from across the United States. She was recently honored with other Director Producers at the Love N Courage Gala for Theater for the New City, a heartbeat of community theater and art for over fifty years, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Sarah is a Brooklyn Arts Council Grant recipient for her program Singing Social Justice. Barbara Major is her first play, sprung from her love of George Bernard Shaw and a curious coincidence involving the development of the Bushmaster Assault Rifle.
Sarah Germain Lilly
My writing journey began in high school with Mr. Gagliano, who introduced me to a creative side of myself that I really enjoyed. I always had a love for writing and found comfort in putting my thoughts and feelings onto paper. However, after high school, life became busy, and as the years passed, writing became something I left behind. Even though I stopped writing, the stories, emotions, and experiences I carried with me never really went away.
Eventually, I found myself looking for a way to cope, heal, and make sense of some of the things I had experienced. I began writing again, this time with a deeper purpose. What started as a way to get my story and emotions out became something much more meaningful. Writing has allowed me to express feelings that are sometimes difficult to say out loud and turn personal experiences into stories that others can connect with. Today, I see writing not only as a creative outlet, but also as a form of healing and a way to remind others that they are not alone in what they feel or experience.
Melanie Rivera
Paul Jacob is a financial analyst and published poet who has recently veered into acting, playwriting, improv comedy, and standup. In recent months he has played leading roles in several new works, including Phil Gagliano’s Sick to My Stomach, a Brooklyn Playwrights Connect production, and Sarah Lilly’s Barbara Major and Graduation at Theater for the New City. In addition, he has appeared in scenes from The Odd Couple and the Scottish play at Flatbush Community Theater, where he also does improv. As a playwright, his short play, Operation Majestic Rage, was presented in a staged reading by Brooklyn Playwrights Connect in June 2026. His current playwriting projects include The Leader, a story of the Roman emperor Caligula set in the present day; God and Satan on a Park Bench in Brooklyn; and It’s a Lot Harder to Stay Married Than to Get Married. Paul believes that theater, the arts, and laughter are essential to our common humanity.