John Rustan

John Rustan learned to write plays in the Occidental College playwriting program headed by the late Dr. Omar Paxson. He holds a PhD in theatre from the University of Oregon and has spent the past thirty-five years writing plays, as well as teaching theatre and directing plays at several universities, colleges, and high schools.

With collaborator, Frank Semerano, he has written plays that include THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF PEGGY SWEETWATER, THATAWAY JACK and the "Spuds Idaho Mysteries," THE TANGLED SNARL, and MURDER ME ONCE -- which have enjoyed professional productions and publication by Samuel French, Inc. The two authors currently have a third Spuds Idaho mystery in the works, entitled HOLLYWOOD LULLABY.

John recently wrote the play, BIG TESTING, a satire on the negative effects of high-pressured standardized testing and the college entrance industry on education. Other short works include SPEEDMATING (busy couples have their entire relationships in ten minutes), DAMAGED GOODS, and TRUTH BE TOLD.

In January 2019, he collaborated with Lisa Carstens on FACEROOM, (if the government shut down all social media, where would people meet?) produced as part of the Crazy Dukes short play festival in Portland, Oregon.

John's theatre career has also included work as an actor on stage, and professional film and voice-acting. His professional dialect coaching business, DialectsCoach.com, teaches various regional dialects and foreign accents to actors in the San Francisco bay area, and as far away as Australia.

He lives in the bay area with his wife and son.