(WISE, he/him/his) Lockdown (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). Broadway: Jitney, American Psycho, Fences, Come Back Little Sheba, King Hedley II, Salome, Piano Lesson. Off-Broadway: Paradise Blue, First Breeze of Summer, Intimacy, Tamburlaine, Fabulation.
(CORRECTIONS OFFICER, he/him) is a recipient of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship from TCG, the Thomas Barbour award for Playwriting and a member of the Civilians R&D Group. Off-Broadway credits include work at Signature, TFANA, the Public, Rattlestick, Working Theater and NYTW Next Door. Regional credits include Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Play House, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, O’Neill and the Sundance Theater Lab. Follow him @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com
(CLUE, he/him/his) is an actor from New York City and recent graduate of SUNY Purchase’s Acting Conservatory. This past year he has been featured in a national commercial for Master Card, a live Pop tart commercial on Twitter and a live stream run in the Phoenix Theatre’s production of Henry VI part 3 playing Henry VI. He is forever in endless gratitude and debt to his mother and grandmother for their endless love and support. He would like to thank family, friends and predecessors for allowing him to stand on their shoulders. Black lives have and always will matter. His website is www.travisraeburn.com
(PLAYWRIGHT/LYNNE, she/her) is a writer, actress and comedian based in Los Angeles. She’s written for Castle Rock on Hulu and plays Heather Culbreth in the animated comedy Dicktown on FXX’s CAKE. She’s currently developing a pilot with Big Beach TV and writing on an upcoming series for HBO. Obehi is an alum of the Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater and the Colt Coeur artist residency. Her plays have also been developed at SPACE on Ryder Farm, WP Theater, New York Theatre Workshop and Lark Play Development Center. You can see her face on a screen at The National Museum of Natural History talking about the lessons learned from dinosaur extinction.
Headshot Credit: Leslie Hassler
(DIRECTOR, she/her) is a director and theater maker based in New York City. Recent work includes Panopticon (Gracie Gardner), Cherie Dre (Sacha Yanow) and MADONNA col BAMBINO (Sarah Einspanier and Deepali Gupta). She is currently developing United States v. Gupta with Deepali Gupta and Ohio with The Bengsons (co-director Anne Kauffman). Caitlin was a co-founder and Artistic Director of Seattle’s critically acclaimed Satori Group. She is an alum of The Drama League Directors Project and the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship and a member of the New Georges Jam. Proudly born and raised in Dorchester, MA.
Headshot Credit: Delaine Dacko
(MILLS, he/him) most recently was seen in Bart Freundlich’s independent feature AFTER THE WEDDING, where he shared the screen with Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore and Billy Crudup. The film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and then released in theaters last summer. Esola will next be seen in the independent film TANKHOUSE, directed by Noam Tomaschoff. On the small screen, Alex played the role of Freddy Blakestone in Paolo Sorrentino’s HBO limited series THE YOUNG POPE and reprised his role in Season 2, THE NEW POPE. He also has recurred on Jenji Kohan’s hit Netflix series ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, and guest starred on BLUE BLOODS, LAW AND ORDER: SVU, MR. ROBOT, SCREAM, ODD MOM OUT, MYSTERIES OF LAURA, and EYE CANDY . On stage, Alex played Marco in Ivo van Hove’s award winning production of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Alex is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of The Arts’ Stella Adler Studio.
Headshot Credit: Matthew Murphy
(JELANI, he/him) Andy Lucien’s credits include The Siblings Play (The Rattlestick Theater), The Qualms (Playwrights Horizons), City of Conversation (Lincoln Center), On Every Link A Heart Does Dangle (The Lark), Seared (MCC), The Last Seder (Theatre Three). Regional Theater: Queen of Basel (Studio Theater), Cry Old Kingdom and 27 Ways I Didn’t Say Hi to Laurence Fishburne (Actors Theatre of Louisville), The Last Tiger in Haiti (Berkeley Repertory Theater/La Jolla). Film work: Seven Lovers, TV: The Blacklist (NBC), Daredevil (Netflix), Madam Secretary (CBS), Elementary (CBS) Film: Vows: The Series, Believin, Aperture.
Headshot Credit: Emily Lambert
(CHARLIE, she/her) hails from Brooklyn, NY. Her credits include You (Netflix), the Blacklist (NBC), the Sinner (USA), the Deuce (HBO) and Show Me a Hero (HBO). Natalie was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for her performance in the independent film Crown Heights. She currently stars in the Blumhouse horror Delivered now on Hulu.
Headshot Credit: Stan Demidoff
(Voicing STAGE DIRECTIONS, she/her/hers) is a writer and performer currently based in Los Angeles. Her recent solo works have been produced by The Tank NYC, Parsnip Ship and Salvage Vanguard Theater. She is currently earning an MFA in acting at UCLA.
Headshot Credit: Jen Rachid
(MARCUS, he/him) credits include premiere productions of Bruce Norris’ The Qualms at Steppenwolf (directed by Pam MacKinnon), Rolin Jones’ These Paper Bullets! at Yale Rep (directed by Jackson Gay), Keith Reddin’s But Not For Me (South Coast Rep), and Ethan Coen’s Offices (Atlantic Theater Company). He performed on Broadway in Larry David’s Fish In the Dark, directed by Anna Shapiro, Elaine May’s Taller Than a Dwarf, directed by Alan Arkin, David Mamet’s November, directed by Joe Mantello, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by James Lapine. Along with director Jenna Ricker, Greg conveniently co-wrote a starring role for himself in the acclaimed indie film, The American Side, which the San Francisco Chronicle hailed as a ‘stylish, tense, witty, imponderable and exhilarating tribute to film noir classics’ (take THAT, Bergman!). He produced the award-winning ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Qualified, also directed by Ms. Ricker, which premiered at SXSW in 2019. And with fellow- New Neighborhood members, Adam O’Byrne and Rolin Jones, Greg created the comedy series Luba’s Lot for Fox Television Studios. The pilot script is rumored to exist in a hermetically sealed crate at a Disney-owned warehouse somewhere in North Hollywood.
Headshot Credit: Jenna Ricker
(MEL, she/her/hers) is a New York City-based actor and co-founder of New Saloon Theater Co. Her theatre credits include Minor Character at the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and elsewhere, Testmatch at ACT, The Bridge of San Luis Rey at Two River Theater, Cute Activist at the Bushwick Starr, Choice at the Huntington and Wallis Annenberg Center, Far Away at Sharon Playhouse, and more. Her film and television credits include season three of HBO’s Crashing, Whatever this is., Snow Day, Places Thank You Places, and Lapsis, which was set to premiere at this year’s SXSW. She is a member of the Actors Center; you’ve maybe also seen her making fun of the current president in her 45 Selftapes series. @wise_dumb
Headshot Credit: Maria Baranova
(DESIGN CONSULTANT, she/her) is a Brooklyn based, new work focused, lighting designer for the live stage. Notable recent work includes Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbery, which earned multiple New York design awards in the 2019 season, directed by Danya Taymor. Recent and select productions include Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City (NYTW), “DADDY” by Jeremy O.Harris, Plano by Will Arbery, and countless collaborations with Caitlin Sullivan. Productions in process include a new play by Annie Baker, a re-envisioning of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, and a reworking of “DADDY” at the Almeida Theatre, London. Isabella is a proud USA829 member.
(ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, she/her/hers) is a director, creative producer, and performance maker from Bronx, New York. She has worked for The Museum of Modern Art, Clubbed Thumb, and Playwrights Horizons. Her recent production credits include: Pope.L’s Eating the Wall Street Journal (Flag Version) and Dressing Up for Civil Rights (MoMA); Ann Marie Dorr & Paul Ketchum’s Good and Noble Beings (created with Jeff Aaron Bryant, Dallas Estes, and Kedian Keohan; Exponential Festival, NACL, Soho Rep), Raja Feather Kelly’s UGLY (Washington Ensemble Theatre; The Bushwick Starr), Sam Myers’ Cow Camp (Downtown Art), and Sarah Einspanier’s Madonna col Bambino (created with Caitlin Sullivan and Deepali Gupta; New Ohio, Ars Nova). Kim received her B.A. from Williams College in Theater and Psychology.
Headshot Credit: Aliyah Blackmore
(STAGE MANAGER, she/hers) is a Production and Stage Manager based in New York City. She recently completed the Production Management Apprenticeship at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, as part of the Professional Training Company. At Actors Theatre: New Play Projects (PM), Solo Mios (PM), and the 44th Humana Festival of New American Plays (PM Apprentice). Off-Off Broadway: MADONNA col BAMBINO (Stage Manager) at the New Ohio Theatre and Dutch Masters (Assistant Scenic Designer) at the Wild Project. Additional Theatre: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Assoc. PM) and Purple Valley Plays (Scenic and Lighting Designer) at Williams College, Ars Nova (PM Apprentice), and The Williamstown Theatre Festival (PM Intern).
Headshot Credit: Jack Scaletta
(AYE DEFY Stream Manager, he/him) is thrilled to join this collaboration between AYE DEFY and WP Theater. Virtual Theater: The Tribute Artist (Primary Stages); rain falls special on me, Uhuru (AYE DEFY); The Way of Water, Crying on Television (Play-PerView); Much Ado About Nothing, A Tell-Tale Heart, Redux (Pittsburgh Public Theater). Off-Broadway: The Confession of Lily Dare (Primary Stages); for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, The Loophole (Public Theater); The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater Company). AYE DEFY Resident Stage Manager. In addition to stage management and broadcast design, Thomas is also a writer and education consultant, advising leaders across the country on best practices in adult education and contextualized instruction.
Headshot Credit: James Daniel
(AYE DEFY Founder, Co-Producer, she/they) is a multi-hyphenate artist based in Los Angeles. Virtual Producing: A Doll’s House, Part 2, Cadillac Crew, Rinse Repeat, The Way of Water (Play-PerView), My H8 Letter…, Uhuru, Salt Pepper Ketchup, rain falls special on me(AYE DEFY). New York acting: If Pretty Hurts… (Playwrights Horizons), School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (MCC Theater, Lucille Lortel Award, Drama Desk Award), The Homecoming Queen (AUDELCO nomination, Atlantic Theatre Company), Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man… (Signature Theatre Company), Mother Courage and Her Children (CSC, Rosemarie Tichler Award), and Frontières Sans Frontières (Bushwick Starr). Regional: School Girls;… (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Skeleton Crew (Dorset Theatre Festival), and Our Town and A Christmas Carol (Actors Theatre of Louisville). TV: “Black Mirror,” “Russian Doll,” “Bull,” “The Affair,” “Master of None,” and “Broad City.” She received her BFA in Theatre from Adelphi University and was a member of the Professional Training Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Headshot Credit: Gabriela Della Corna
(AYE DEFY Co-Producer, she/they) is an actor, director, writer and producer based in NYC. Virtual producing credits include THE WOODS. by Jahna Ferron-Smith, MODEL MINORITY by Chloé Hung and Ole White Sugah Daddy by Obehi Janice. As a multi-hyphenate artist, Leslie has developed, devised and acted in new works at La MaMa E.T.C., Primary Stages, Target Margin, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and The Bushwick Starr. Acting credits include Measure for Measure (Shakespeare’s Globe, London) and Di & Viv & Rose (Theatre Row). Leslie’s interview-based play Trigger Warning has received readings at The Barrow Group and Columbia University. A former member of The Literary Wing at The Lark and staff at The Lilly Awards, Leslie has a passion for amplifying vibrant stories and celebrating writers. She received her MFA in Acting from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of The Arts and trained at NTI as a director in the Theatermakers program at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
Headshot Credit: David Noles
(PLAYWRIGHT, she/her) is an award winning playwright and screenwriter. Produced plays: Lockdown; When January Feels Like Summer; Citizens Market; My Secret Language of Wishes; PA’S Hat and more. Produced and Developed at: WP Theater; Rattlestick Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Page 73, Ensemble Studio Theatre; City Theater Co. Pittsburgh; The Goodman Theater; Pillsbury House Theater; Mixed Blood; Horizon’s Theater, Mosaic Theatre Co.; and others. She has won the American Theater Critics Osborn Award; Edgerton Foundation Prize; Was a 2017 runner up for The Dramatist Guild Horton Foote Playwriting Award; is a two time Theodore Ward Prize winner. Cori is a New Dramatists Resident. She has been awarded Fellowships at O’Neill National Playwrights Conference; Sundance Theater Lab; MacDowell Colony; Bogliasco Foundation; Baryshnikov Arts Center; and more. Film and TV Projects include: Original screenplay for HBO Films and Tribeca Productions; JuVee Productions; and more.. Cori is presently co-writing the memoirs of Sex Trafficking victim Sara Kruzan for Knopf/Random House. Founder: The Pa’s Hat Foundation a 501c(3) in 2012. Pa’s Hat is an organization focused on helping former child soldiers and other marginalized citizens of Liberia, West Africa with educational and work related assistance. Ongoing volunteer at San Quentin State Prison with the anti-violence program No More Tears. Board of Directors: of New Dramatists, Pa’s Hat Foundation, Project FEEL, and No More TearsSQ. Cori is represented by Leah Hamos and Vernalis Co at The Gersh Agency, Kirsten Jacobson at Good-Fear Eve MacSweeney at Fletcher and Co.
(DIRECTOR, he/him) directed the acclaimed World Premiere of Robert O’Hara’s BARBECUE at the Public Theatre and is the co-author and director of LANGSTON IN HARLEM (2010 Audelco Award-BEST MUSICAL.). New York: New York premiere of MISS EVER’S BOYS and the revival of HOME both for Melting Pot Theatre Co., and Duke Ellington’s BEGGARS HOLIDAY: York. Recent regional: Public Works WINTERS TALE: Dallas Theatre Center, THE WIZ at Ford’s Theatre (10 Best of 2018- Washington Post,13 Helen Hayes nominations), August Wilson’s THE GEM OF THE OCEAN: South Coast Rep, (LA TIMES TEN BEST OF 2017). GOODNIGHT TYLER: Alliance, THE MOUNTAINTOP: Trinity Rep, WIG OUT and CHOIR BOY for Studio Theatre, DC. Classical productions include: TROILIUS and CRESSIDA and TWELFTH NIGHT at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, CORIOLANUS and PRIVATE LIVES at Shakespeare Santa Cruz and THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Future productions 2019: GUYS AND DOLLS at the Guthrie. Mr. Gash is the former Associate Artistic Director of both Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Alliance Theatre; former Artist in Residence Studio Theatre DC and is Founding Director of The New Studio on Broadway at Tisch, NYU. BFA: CMU, MFA: UCLA. For Darius Smith.
(she/her) is a playwright/performer and native of Hong Kong and Taiwan. She received her B.A. from Yale and is an MFA Playwriting Candidate at the Yale School of Drama. Currently based in New York, Stefani has worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Berlin, Provence, and the U.S. She has been an awardee of the Jerome fellowship, finalist for the National Playwrights Conference, Jerome fellowship at Lanesboro Arts Centre, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Van Lier New Voices Fellowship, NAP Series, DVRF Playwrights’ Program, semi-finalist for the Page 73 playwriting fellowship, Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship, and the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. As a performer, she was most recently seen in Bedlam Theatre Company’s six-women production of King Lear at Bristol Riverside Theater Company, PA. She is fluent in English, French, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Her work in translation and non-fiction involve all four languages, and have appeared in China Hands, and the New York Times. She is currently commissioned to write a play for Roundhouse Theater Company in D.C. which will be produced in the spring of 2021.
(they/she) is a Singaporean director/dramaturg/devisor. At the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice, they make work across genres, including experimental participatory work, music theatre, and documentary theatre. Teo’s work has been seen internationally including Belgium’s Festival de Liege (Lyrics From Lockdown, “Truly polished, meaningful and entertaining” –New York Times), Edinburgh International Fringe (MiddleFlight, “Stunning” –Scotsman), Beijing International Festival (Labyrinth – Top 8 in Beijing News). They have directed and/or developed new work at OSF (Phil Killian Fellow 2015), Goodman, Public, Berkeley Rep, Playwrights Realm, and the National Black Theatre. Recent work: Dim Sum Warriors the Musical by Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Du Yun for national China twenty-five city tour, Jillian Walker’s world premiere SKiNFoLK: An American Show at the Bushwick Starr (NYTimes Critics Pick, NYMag’s matrix “Highbrow and Brilliant”) Upcoming: Nia Witherspoon’s Chronicle X: Windows (with composer Troy Anthony) at the Shed. Teo is the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, a resident company of Playwrights Horizons and an artist service organization that provides all access and affinity spaces for the development of new musical theatre that dismantles oppressive ideologies towards collective liberation. www.meiannteo.com
(DESIGNER, she/her) is a multidisciplinary designer in lighting, sound, and video projection for live and virtual performances. Hao works with groundbreaking and innovative artists including Charlotte Braithwaite, Abigail DeVille, Mei Ann Teo, Ping Chong Company, The Talking Band, Mabou Mines, The Wooster Group, The Builders Association, The Hawtplates (Justin Hicks), Pioneers Go East Collective, Loco7, Nia Witherspoon, and New Stage Theatre, etc. Hao’s work has been seen internationally at Asia Culture Center (South Korea), WuZhen Festival (China), in the states at CAC (Cincinnati), Stanford, Jone Hall (Houston), and in New York at The Public Theatre, NYU Skirball, BAAD!, La MaMa, JACK, Bushwick Starr, Performance Space New York, New Stage Theatre, 59E59, A.R.T/New York Theatres, 14 Street Y, Stella Adler, The Performing Garage, The Gallery Players, The Tank, etc.
Bryna Turner’s plays include: Bull in a China Shop (LCT3, About Face, Aurora, Diversionary, The National Theatre); At the Wedding (Kilroy’s 2019 Honorable Mention; Development: A.C.T., Arkansas New Play Festival); RATS! (Clubbed Thumb Winterworks Festival); How to Separate Your Soul from your Body (in ten easy steps!) (Mason Gross School of the Arts). Indebted to: Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writer’s Group; WP’s 2018-2020 Lab. Recipient of: a MacDowell Colony Fellowship; Lincoln Center Theater’s Emerging Artist Award of 2018. MFA: Rutgers University. www.brynaturner.com
Rebecca Martinez is an NYC-based director, choreographer, deviser, and ensemble member of Sojourn Theatre. Upcoming projects: Songs About Trains (New Ohio Theatre, world premiere), DON’T GO (Sojourn Theatre, world premiere). Recent projects: I Am My Own Wife (Long Wharf Theatre); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Miss You Like Hell (Baltimore Center Stage), Wolf at the Door (Milagro Theatre, NNPN rolling world premiere), Anna in the Tropics (Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Henry Award for Outstanding Direction), Tomás and the Library Lady (Oregon Children’s Theatre). Rebecca has worked with INTAR, Working Theater, Signature Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Lark, The Playwrights Realm, New Dramatists, the 52nd Street Project, Radical Evolution among others. Member of: Sol Project Collective, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, INTAR’s Unit52, SDCF Observer, Latinx Theatre Commons Advisory Committee, 2019 Audrey Resident, New Georges Affiliated Artist, 2018-2020 WP Lab, 2017 Drama League Directing Fellow, Member of SDC. Awards: four Portland, Oregon Drammy Awards; Lilla Jewel Award. Rebeccamartinez.org
Stephanie Rolland is an NYC/NJ based creative producer and arts administrator. Her work as an artist is fueled by connection, experimentation and laughter. She finds her joy in bringing multi-faceted, swirling, human universes together in space to make magic. She is currently the Director of Theatre Operations at Theatre Row in Midtown. She co-founded Interfest, an *arts and ideas* festival focused on intersectionality and mutual liberation (www.interfestnyc.org). She was chosen as a member of Theater Communication Group (TCG)’s inaugural Rising Leaders of Color cohort in 2016 and the Americans for the Arts inaugural Diversity in Arts Leadership Lab in 2018. Stephanie also served on TCG’s National Awards Committee and the League of Resident Theater’s Diversity Committee. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama.
