Terri Adams
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to be a princess. Being "painfully shy" and small for her age, she was a quiet little girl, and not really princess material. Then one day, when she was eight years old, she was cast in a school play. The play was HANSEL AND GRETEL. The part was a witch who pined to be a princess. The little girl had discovered her kingdom.She continured to revel in her kingdom through high school, college and even worked proffesionally. She played teenagers in the fifties, famous singers, struggling writers, irish maids, temptresses, russian ballerinas, southern hairdressers and even Barbara Bush. One day, she was no longer content to be merely a player in her kingdom. So she decided to direct. As a director, she expanded her understanding of life and this crazy world we live in. But, soon, she felt restricted by the material she had to choose from. That’s when directing was not enough and she decided to write. Along the way to becoming a writer, the little girl met her prince charming. They married, had three children and live in a castle on a hill. She also stumbled upon Art Within and decided to not only write her own plays but help others write theirs as well. And so, the little girl who wanted to be a princess, continues on her journey. The end of our tale? That, I’ll save for another day. Attempt something so great for God that it is doomed for failure unless He be in it.

Rick Bonn, in his decade as an executive in Hollywood,  has developed multiple feature films, television movies, and animated series including AIR BUD for Disney and ADVENTURES FROM THE BOOK OF VIRTUES for PBS. He's also analyzed more than 3700 scripts for various studios. The intersection of faith and art in media has long been a passion; he most recently worked at Fuller Seminary as Development Director for Reel Spirituality: An Institute for Moving Images, where he coordinated conferences and events to improve the theological dialogue between storytellers in the church and Hollywood. And despite all that busyness, he still hasn't quite left the dream of writing behind. Of his five screenplays, two have been optioned, and he's also written a children's video series and novel. He's currently co-writing a young adult fiction novel with youth evangelist Greg Stier and his articles and reviews have appeared on Aint-it-Cool-News.com and been published in PRISM. A graduate of Wheaton College and grateful mentee of Jim Young, he's honored to be included in this crucial discussion, to renew Arena theater ties with McFadzean, McLaughlin, and Murray Walker, and to create brand new ties with this incredible group.

Steve Broyles currently teaches drama at the Wesleyan School in Norcross, GA. He received his MFA in Script and Screenwriting from Regent University and has just recently relocated with his family to the vast North Atlanta suburbs. He previously taught at Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, Virginia. Because he is truly a renaissance man, he also worked for a year as the lead carpenter in the Regent University scene shop. And, whenever the fates allow, he can be found muttering partially memorized lines somewhere in a poorly attended theatre. Over the last year Steve has worked closely with Art Within to develop his script, “The Santa Trap.” However, due to his reckless and unyielding writing technique they forced him, at gunpoint, to join the creative team where he could be more closely observed.

Chris Cragin-Day
Born to missionary parents in the Philippines and raised in Hong Kong and China, Chris Cragin Day is a writer whose works, like her upbringing, are both global and spiritual. Though her pieces vary in tone from her outrageous comedy Debutantes Anonymous to her suspense drama A War in a Manger, those who know her work often point out common threads such as distinctly strong feminine characters, life and death faith confrontations, and the power of intimacy to tear down seemingly insurmountable barriers.

Though still a young writer, Chris’s experience includes a commission from Art Within Theatre in Atlanta (A War in a Manger), and awards such as finalist in the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville Ten-Minute Play Competition, Honorable Mention in the CITA Full-Length Play Contest, winner of the MWTC 10-minute play contest, and winner in the ATWAS Theatre Company One-Act Play Contest. She has had her works staged in Texas, North Carolina, New York City, Oklahoma, and Georgia.

Chris is also a director and actress. She earned her MFA in Stage Directing from Baylor University, and has directed and acted in Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and New York City. She is married to director, Steven Day.

Gillette Elvgren has been writing for over thirty years, his plays have been produced by professional theatre companies throughout the United States and Canada. He is co-founder and resident playwright for Saltworks Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, PA., as well as being resident writer for Children's Ministries, Scripture Union, Philadelphia, PA. There have been approximately 8,000 performances of Elvgren scripts.  While a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh he was head of the M.F.A. directing program and staff director for the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival. Presently he is a Professor in Theatre Arts at Regent University, Virginia Beach.

Jeanne Murray Walker is the author of six books of poetry, the latest of which is A DEED TO THE LIGHT, published by The University of Illinois Press (www.adeedtothelight.com) and many theatre scripts, which have been produced in Boston, Washington, Chicago, throughout the Midwest, and in London. Her writing has been honored with numerous awards, including The Prairie Schooner-Strousse Award, six Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Awards, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a coveted Pew Fellowship in The Arts. Jeanne’s plays have twice won The William and Arlene Lewis Playwriting Competition, a Stage Time Award from The Minneapolis Playwrights Center, the Washington National Theatre Competition, and The Charlotte Repertory Theatre New Plays Competition. Her poems appear in such journals as Poetry, Image, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, The Nation, and many anthologies. Her work was selected by The Academy of American Poets to be posted in busses and trains with the Poetry in Motion Project, and she is a former Atlantic Monthly Fellow. Jeanne lives in Philadelphia. She is married, with two children, and is a Professor of English at The University of Delaware.