About the Authors

Britt & Steph during halftime
of a Steelers Game

Britt Kaufmann is a stay@home mom and a writer.  Her first play An Uncivil Union: The Battle of Burnsville was produced at the Parkway Playhouse this past June and her first book of poetry Belonging was published in January of 2011.  (It might be worth noting that her last play was a romantic comedy -- despite the fact it was set in the Appalachians during the Civil War. So, the new play should already be screaming comedy at you.)  Her poetry or essays have appeared in various publications such as WNC Magazine, WNC Woman, Main Street Rag, Now & Then, and Solander.  She also hosts a monthly women's open-mic, helps plan a literary festival, and is a sub with a SUITcase.  Plus, some other stuff...

December 2006 at the Carolina Panthers - Steelers  Game
The playwrights and their men.

Contact Britt at  britt [dot] kaufmann @ gmail.com  or PO Box 863 ~ Micaville, NC 28755

Stephanie Stark Poling
First and foremost, I am Stephanie Stark Poling, a thirty-something attorney who would much rather be onstage somewhere. (But really, is there much of a difference between the two? We are all pretending to be someone else, just some with better costumes.) I have one or two discernible talents, but a true penchant for turning things I like into actual, no-kidding obsessions which can (and probably will) take over my entire life. Some examples? Dave Matthews Band, certain documentaries, The Beatles, showtunes, gymnastics, Penguins Hockey, Twin Peaks, V (the one from the 80's with Marc Singer) and true stories where someone dies at the end. You know, pretty much the norm. I have been told this is charming and/or ridiculously annoying, and both are pretty much right.

There is no truer incarnation of this than my serious, passionate, often dysfunctional addiction to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This has caused me unimaginable joy throughout the years - many of my best life moments occurred because of something that happened on a football field, to people not me. (And the heartache? Oh, the heartache...)

So, obviously, with a resume and background like that, I have decided to collaborate with my talented good friend, Britt Kaufmann, and write a play. Sure, I have never written a play before, and I can be unfocused, sort of lazy, and leave everything undone until the day before the deadline. (I did mention I am an attorney, right?)  But, Britt Kaufmann wrote a doozy of a play last year called "An Uncivil Union: The Battle of Burnsville" and it was a smash hit here at The Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville, North Carolina. And this new work is about, wait for it,  football. Ah, the sweet smell of the perfect fit.