Monica Cross studied English at New College of Florida (2006-2010), before going on to Mary Baldwin College (now Mary Baldwin University) where she earned her Master of Letters (2012) and M.F.A. (2013) in the Shakespeare and Performance graduate program.  She was a part of the first year of the MFA company model, and a founding member of Roving Shakespare.  

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She has been the Playhouse Manager at the American Shakespeare Center, the Production Manager at Starlite Players, the Text Coach at the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival, and a Costume Designer for The Urbanite. From 2014-2019, she was the Production Manager and Technical Director of the Black Box Theater at New College of Florida, where she also taught courses in theatrical design. She has also taught at the University of South Florida St. Peterburg and Ringling College of Art and Design.

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Most recently, she has turned her attention towards playwriting. Her short plays have been produced in across the United States and online. Her one-act, Cyrano on the Moon, was produced at both the Tampa Fringe Festival and the Minnesota Fringe Festival as well as digital performances. And her first full-length play, Wonder of Our Stage, was the winner of The Players New Play Festival in 2018 and produced as part of the Players Summer Sizzlers Series in 2019.  Her newest full-length play, The Aria of Julie d'Aubigny, the cross-dressing, sword-fighting, opera singer, wherein she seduces men and women alike, wins numerous duels, must be twice pardoned by the King, and eventually finds true love., was a semifinalist for both the O'Neill New Play Conference and the American Shakespeare Center's Shakespeare's New Contemporaries. 

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She was also the recipient of the 2019 John Ringling Towers Individual Artist Award for Performing Arts, and a Fellow at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in 2019.

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Monica Cross has also worked in other areas of theatre as well.  You can explore her other work by following the links below.