CanDid Conversations: Premiere

Hosted by Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
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24/25 spots left
The Committee hosts intergenerational conversations between dramaturges in order to learn from the histories and celebrate the futures of each region’s artist-landscape. For the Philadelphia Metro Region, Heather Helinski will be joined by panelists: Quinn D. Eli is a playwright, dramaturg, and educator, originally from the Bronx, NY. His short plays have appeared in Best American Ten-Minute Plays and been produced throughout the country. Longer works can be found on NPX, including Hot Black/Asian Action, a satire about sexual and racial stereotypes, and In Common, an interracial ghost story, produced by Purple Rose Theater. He is a cofounder of Jouska PlayWorks, a Philadelphia-based initiative for playwrights of the African Diaspora. Recognized as an artist-advocate by the Kilroys in 2025, Eli heads the Theatre program at the Community College of Philadelphia. Liv Shoup (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based writer and educator. She writes plays, screenplays, and more that focus on exploring the humor in both the good and bad parts of life. Her goal with her writing is to make people laugh and feel seen so they go “that’s so me!” but also feel called out so they go “oof, that’s so me”. Liv loves to uplift an underdog – whether that’s someone of a marginalized gender or sexuality, someone neurodivergent, or someone who just doesn’t fit in – and make them the hero of their own story. She is a proud member of the Drexel University Department of Performing Arts, where she studied in her undergrad years, and currently works as Audience Services Coordinator and occasional adjunct instructor. Liv’s, two woman comedy Girlfails just had a successful run in July 2025 and is being published by 1319 Press in 2026! Other works include: Girlfails (pilot), finalist in the New York Script Awards and Melbourne International Screenplay Festival; Trauma Queen (play), long listed for Seattle Public Theatre with an upcoming residency at Spokane Playwrights Lab; Skinny Legend (play), Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival 2023.

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