Mark Donnelly is a professional writer of prose, poetry and drama. His short story “Pale Green Walls” was published by Pure Slush Books this past February in an anthology on the theme of Loss. He also had short stories published this year by Aerogramme Center for Arts and Culture and Jerry Jazz Musician Magazine. Several of his poems were published in 2023 by Pure Slush, Jerry Jazz Musician, the Long Island Quarterly, and Long Island Sounds.
In the spring of 2023, Mark presented his biographical play about Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of UC Davis Senior Extension Program. Mark has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and is a longtime member of the Dramatists Guild of America. A native New Yorker, Mark moved to Davis in 2021 to be near his family. He lives in the Rancho Yolo adult community and is a member of the Rancho Yolo Radio Players.
Returning SOS actor Eric Baldwin will read “The Pale Green Walls,” by Mark Donnelly. Eric has performed all across the United States and Europe in roles as diverse as Henry V, Macbeth, Biff in Death of a Salesman, Prospero, Shylock, Pale in Burn This and Barry Champlain in Talk Radio. He was Artistic Director of the Quantum Theatre Company in Los Angeles and the founder of Resurrection Theatre in Sacramento.
Lally Pia is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an author. Her debut memoir, The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor won a publishing award with She Writes Press in April 2024. It received first place in the 2024 Chanticleer International Book Awards and a bronze medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
She was a finalist in the 2022 nationwide talent search for America’s Next Great Author. Her article about recovery from a stroke featured in The Davis Enterprise and on Doximity’s Op- Med. Her video interview, A Day in the Life of a Psychiatrist, landed over 67,000 views. On TikTok @theunlikelydoctor amassed more than half a million views. Lally ran the third-year medical school psychiatry clerkship program for California North State University and currently instructs medical students from the university.
Lally lives in Davis, California with her husband, Tim. When she is done conjuring up ideas for her next projects, she plays piano, spoils her two granddaughters, and is an avid Scrabble and Wordle player. She is currently completing Andorea, a psychological thriller.
Making her debut at SOS, Priya Mapleton will read “The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy,” by Lally Pia. Priya is a fourth year Human Biology student at UC Davis. Originally from Temecula, California, she grew up performing in local and school theatre and most recently portrayed the character of Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This is her first opportunity to do a dramatic reading and she is excited to deliver a truly inspiring story.