Mat Smart’s (Playwright) The Hopper Collection recently received a world premiere production at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco (directed by Chris Smith). His New York credits include The Debate over Courtney O'Connell of Columbus, Nebraska and Shoes (Slant Theatre Project); Chopin's Preludes (The American Living Room Festival at HERE Arts Center); Telescopes (Soho Repertory Theatre Writer/Director Lab); and Pure (New York International Fringe Festival and psNBC’s “Highlights of the Fringe”). His other plays include Hand, Foot, Arm, and Face (Baldwin New Play Festival at the University of California, San Diego and recipient of San Diego Playbill's award for Best New Play); and The Bebop Heard in Okinawa (O’Neill Playwrights Conference). He is currently working on The 13th of Paris, a new play commissioned by South Coast Repertory; and the book and lyrics for Keep Ishmael, a new rock musical (with music by Ethan Deppe) that will be produced this summer by White Horse Theatre Company in Chicago. Mr. Smart is a founding member of New York City’s Slant Theatre Project, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the New Harmony Project. He received his M.F.A. from the University of California, San Diego.