Gretchen Suarez-Pena is a long-time playwright and lover of the theatre. She has been acting, directing, and writing plays since her teenage years. Her most recent success was winning overall best full length play at the 2018 Tampa Bay Theatre Festival for her show Conversations in the Car. She also won first prize for her piece Dry Spell at the 30 by Ninety Theatre in Mandeville, Louisiana in their Night of One Acts Competition. Dry Spell was also showcased at the 2018 Tampa Bay Theatre Festival Short Play Competition. She also had success with her production and direction of Conversations in Bed, which premiered to a sold-out audience at the 2017 Tampa Bay Theatre Festival. Conversations in Bed then made its way to Lakeland, Florida for a full house performance September of 2017. Gretchen enjoys acting for local community theatres and assistant directing for local high school productions.