JANET STANFORD (playwright) is a director, Equity Actor and playwright. As Artistic Director of Imagination Stage in Bethedsa, MD, she has helped transition the theatre from a community-based arts organization to a nationally significant regional theatre for young audiences and comprehensive arts education program.  She has commissioned 35 new works for children from American and international playwrights including Kevin Kling, Karen Zacarias & Deborah Wicks La Puma, Joan Cushing, David S. Craig and Charles Way.  Janet has received two Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Director (Dr. Dolittle and The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe) as well as the 2012 awards for Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding TYA Production for The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, a collaboration The Washington Ballet. Janet travels widely to festivals throughout the U.K., Europe, Scandinavia and South America seeking artists to work with at Imagination Stage.  Since 2009 she has partnered with Lyngo (Italy) and Tell Tale Hearts (U.K.) to bring Theatre for the Very Young (intimate and age-appropriate theatre for children ages 2-5) to Imagination Stage.