Spark Artist

Sara Jean Accuardi is an award-winning playwright born and raised in Portland, OR. Her plays include THE STORYTELLER, THE DELAYS, PORTRAIT OF THE WIDOW KINSKI, < 3, LANDSCAPE, BREAK, GROW LEARN PLAY, CHICK FIGHT! A RECKONING IN 9 MOVEMENTS, and THE IMPORTANCE. Her work has been seen in theaters throughout the country, including Shaking the Tree Theatre, Vivid Stage, Theatre Vertigo, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Portland Center Stage, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Spooky Action Theater, Theatre 33, The Blank Theatre, and Victory Gardens Theater, among others. 

THE STORYTELLER was the recipient of the 2023 Oregon Book Award for Drama and the winner of the inaugural International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition. It will have its world premiere at Artists Repertory Theatre in April 2025.  THE DELAYS premiered at Theatre Vertigo with subsequent productions at Ball State University and Doane University. It was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and the winner of the 2019 Drammy Award for Outstanding Original Script. 

In addition to writing plays, Sara Jean partners with Portland Center Stage to teach playwriting workshops in high schools and middle schools throughout the Portland metro area. She has also served as the mentor for the Young Playwrights program at the JAW New Play Festival for four years and counting. Sara Jean has received the Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship for Drama and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild and LineStorm Playwrights. She holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University.