A.J. Schaar:  Acclaimed comedic playwright and award-winning author, A.J. Schaar began writing for performance in the experimental theatre circuit; her early work is included in books of 21st century avant garde art (EU). Her first “traditional” play,  Rummy Starker Love Fest  was produced by her college, ASU, and then professionally in downtown Phoenix (“best avant garde” Tribune award). Her next play, Kill Socrates received a series of starry public readings before being produced at the Don Bluth Front Row Theatre (all artists nominated for awards). Her new interpretation of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters has likewise enjoyed starry readings with the New Fortune Theatre in San Diego, and Studio 34 in LA. Her Twelfth Night of the Living Dead was produced by Loud Fridge Theatre for sold-out audiences. And her American Monkeys, the world's first published abridgement of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" transcripts, was presented by New Fortune Theatre in partnership with The Library Foundation. Schaar’s other published works include the plays Triumph of Moriarty, Oggetto Metallico, WE THE PYRATES, and her novella, Storybook Coroner (recognized with the coveted “indie book we love” award by LoveReading, the UK's most trusted book-jacket book reviewers). ​

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Most recently (2026), she's been honored to make her Las Vegas debut by commission from the Nevada Conservatory Theatre (NCT/UNLV) with a short play called Mr. Mud E. Shoe;  one of her newest plays, The Farce (of an Authoritarian Coverup) in Progress, opened the new Living Room Productions NYC reading series, and is about to open the New Studio Underground at Studio in LA; a new one-man show created entirely from the words of Orson Welles (Orson Welles : Sacred Beasts) is also slated for a workshop production in at Studio in LA in Spring of 2027; her adaptation of  The Maltese Falcon is anticipating a full production in 2027 (announcement pending); she has been commissioned for a new play by the Ensemble Theatre Company at The New Vic; and for her body of work, she has been recognized by the Marquis' Who's Who in America, est. 1898. In addition to her artistic work as playwright ("one of the most thrilling voices in American theatre"-NCT), A.J. is also an award-winning actress, an accomplished cellist, the founder and editor of Black Chicken Unlimited (BCU: the exclusively indie publishing house for most curious bk-bk-bk-books), and the proud founding executive director of the highly acclaimed New Fortune Theatre Company; their motto: Theatre is for the Daring.