Noa Gardner (Playwright) thinks about the craft of playwriting deeply and often. He is a Native Hawaiian playwright born and raised in Kaimuki on the island of O’ahu and a graduate of the MFA Dramatic Writing program at the University of Southern California (2020). Using August Wilson as a model, Gardner is interested in presenting a body of work through his plays that speak to different facets of Hawaiian culture, presenting to an audience (sometimes for the very first time) a glimpse into the deep interior lives of Hawaiian people. Hawaiian families in Hawaiian homes. Currently, he lives on O’ahu and is a student at the University of Hawai’i Manoa seeking a second undergraduate degree in both Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies. He was a National Finalist for the Gary Garrison Ten Minute play award (2016), a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival (2023), a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill, and has had his one act and full-length plays read in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Son of Semele Ensemble, Los Angeles Theatre Company, Artists at Play and Pasadena Playhouse. He is very proud and excited to be the recipient of South Coast Repertory’s Elizabeth George commission and to showcase his play in this year’s Pacific Playwrights Festival.