Maia Safani (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based creative producer, education programs strategist, and arts administrator. Her work centers community, accessibility, and collaborative placemaking. She is a former member of Signature Theatre’s artistic team, where she created Signature’s inaugural education program and line produced various artistic productions and initiatives supporting Signature playwrights, including Quiara Alegría Hudes, Dominique Morisseau, and Sarah Ruhl. Prior to Signature, she worked on global programs at The Lark Play Development Center, where she helped produce convenings and staged readings of works by writers from Russia, Mexico, China, Romania, and the Middle East. Beyond theater, she has also produced live music events and supported film and visual arts initiatives. She is currently the Associate Director of Arts Administration at NYU Gallatin. Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.
Danielle Stagger is a playwright and performer from Queens, NY. Her plays largely engage questions of performance, respectability, and shame through the exploration of the appropriate and the forbidden. She prioritizes the authentic presence of Blackness, queerness, and womanhood both on and off stage and, as an artist in practice, works to decentralize and destabilize the product-driven, linear theatrical process. Danielle is the inaugural recipient of the Lily’s Lorraine Hansberry Fellowship, is a two-time Eugene O’Neill NPC Finalist, and was a nominee for the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Danielle’s plays have been finalists for the SoHo Rep Writer/Director Lab, the Ollie New Play Award, and the Lark’s Venturous Playwrights Fellowship. She has been commissioned by Second Stage Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club; she holds a B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies from Stanford University and an MFA in Playwriting from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
Latoya Edwards (Tori/Freddie; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: White Girl in Danger (2nd Stage/Vineyard Theatre); The Rolling Stone (Lincoln Center); School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play (MCC & Center Theatre Group); Miss You Like Hell (The Public Theatre). REGIONAL: Shakespeare Theatre Company: Merry Wives; Berkshire Theatre Group: Hair; Adirondack Theatre Festival: Nikola Tesla Drops a Beat. TV/Film: Law & Order: SVU; The Get Down; Many Saints of Newark; Beauty; They Saw the Sun First; Enjoy Your Visit; Don’t Stay Safe. OTHER: Religion (Canada) AWARDS: BAFTA Award (They Saw The Sun First); 2 AUDELCO Award Nominations (White Girl in Danger and The Rolling Stone) Instagram: @latoyaedwards.nyc.
Amandla Jahava (Bree/Hazel; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) is a Kenyan-American artist based out of New York. She passionately creates and advocates for EDI stories from an EDI perspective for EDI people. Pilot Princess Credits: PEEP SHOW at FX, DMZ at HBO, HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A BLACK WOMAN at Showtime. Theater: PRACTICE (Playwrights Horizon) EXCEPTION TO THE RULE (Roundabout) SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE (Williamstown Theater Festival) Degrees from: fka Yale School of Drama ‘19, CalArts ‘16.
Russell G. Jones (Raymond; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) is an Audelco, Obie and SAG Award-winning actor who has worn many theatermaker hats as a fixture on New York City stages since the mid-90s. Russell proudly originated roles in plays by Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Tanya Barfield, Fernanda Coppel, Kirk Wood Bromley, and Stephen Adly Guirgis. On TV, he was a series regular opposite Edie Falco in CBS’ Tommy and recurrs on Only Mudrers In The Building for Hulu, Long Bright River for Peacock, Steven Soderbergh’s Full Circle for Max, and Godless for Netflix. Russell founded BLND SPOT EXPERIENCE and facilitates cross-cultural dialogue and critical thinking by providing tools and context for perceiving racial inequity and our roles in challenging it.
Adrienne C. Moore (Geneva; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) is an acclaimed stage, TV, film and voice actress. Theatre repertoire includes The Blood Quilt (Lileana Blain-Cruz, Lincoln Center Theater), Black Odyssey (Stevie Walker-Webb, Classic Stage Company), the revival of Ntozake Shange’s, For Colored Girls… (The Public Theater), The Taming of the Shrew (Phyllida Lloyd, Shakespeare in the Park), Milk Like Sugar (Rebecca Taichman, La Jolla Playhouse, Playwrights Horizons), John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only (Stevie Walker-Webb, Baltimore Center Stage), and 365 Plays/365 Days (Suzan-Lori Parks, The Public). Adrienne is known for her 3 time SAG Award winning role of Black Cindy on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” Additional credits include “30 Rock”, “Homeland”, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Pretty Hard Cases,” “Search Party,” “Bupkis,” “Poker Face,” “Juror #2”, “Shaft,” “Wonder Woman: Bloodlines”, and “We Lost Our Human.”
Laughton Royce (Jasen; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) In 2023 Laughton Royce, a New York-based actor and musician originally from Atlanta, fulfilled a lifelong dream going on as ‘Hamlet’ at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park, directed by Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon. And this April he will reunite with Kenny for a workshop of Trading Places.
Laughton originated the role of ‘Bobby’ in the developmental workshop of Purple Rain, helmed by Lileana Blain-Cruz; and was honored to participate in Rattlestick Theater and StoryBridge Productions workshop of the new queer African musical The Call.
Making his television debut on HBO’s The Gilded Age, Laughton most recently shot the independent feature Clean Hands opposite Zach Braff, Abigail Spencer and Esther McGregor under the direction of Jake Allyn. Next up, Nika Fehmiu’s independent film Between Us and the River where he plays ‘Casey’ a soldier dealing with the horrors he’s witnessed in the Iraq war.
Jean-Patrick Simeon (Ainsley; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) is an actor, writer, and educator from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, now based in Brooklyn. He studied Psychology at NYU and later trained at T. Schreiber Studio in New York. His work includes appearances on Law & Order and Zoey 101, as well as performances with New York theaters such as Rattlestick Theatre and The Flatiron Playhouse. He most recently appeared in the feature film Alchemy of Solitude (2024), where he received a Best Actor nomination at the Virginia Black Film Festival. He also teaches and advises students in the BA Theatre program at Brooklyn College.
Imani Pearl (Stage Directions; Particularly Meddlesome Ancestors) (she/they) is a NY-based artist. She appeared in the Broadway production of 1776: The Musical (Revival) and in Love + Science Off-Broadway at New York City Center. Their onscreen appearances include Fleishman is in Trouble (Hulu), Law & Order (NBC), and Extrapolations (AppleTV). She has also performed with Tectonic Theater Project, Abington Theater Company, The People’s Theater and has an upcoming reading with Classical Theater of Harlem. Imani is always happy to play a part in Black storytelling! website: imanipearl.com
Jesse James Keitel (Nicole/August; Find Me in the Mirror) As an actress, writer, and advocate, Jesse James Keitel has been pivotal in moving the needle for the LGBTQ+ community’s timely representation in Hollywood. TV/FILM: Big Sky (ABC/ Hulu), Queer As Folk (Peacock), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount), 56 Days (Amazon), Younger (Netflix), and the BAFTA & Student Academy Award winning Miller & Son — Upcoming: feature films Riding Shotgun & The Designer. THEATER: The Christine Jorgensen Show (off-broadway), Theo (Two River Theater, World Premiere), Beautiful Province (LCT3 Yale Drama Series). Vogue named her one of the “Rising Stars Poised to Dominate in 2022” and she was awarded the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award that same year. BFA Pace University.
April Schwartz (Stage Directions; Find Me in the Mirror) April Schwartz is a Brooklyn based performer and artist. Her recent credits include Jaguar Jones, Minerva the Great, and The Devil in Please Clap (Nu Box Theater), Erica in Likewise (Jerry Orbach Theatre, NYTF, Wesleyan University) Emma in Dr SilkFingers Will See You Now (The Tank); Wesleyan University productions: The Mayor in Wolfcrush, Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, various roles in Sonnets for an Old Century; and as a clown/mime in devised dance work (Colorado College).
Reed Northrup (Augie/Cole; Find Me in the Mirror) Reed Northrup is an actor and writer based in New York. Film/TV: Kevin Smith’s THE 4:30 MOVIE, Logic’s PARADISE RECORDS, David Mackenzie’s RELAY, HBO’s HIGH MAINTENANCE, and the voice of Javi on Adult Swim’s TEENAGE EUTHANASIA. He leads Sav Rodger’s film, PANCAKE SKANK, premiering fall 2026. He has worked with theaters such as: The Guthrie, Breaking the Binary, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ars Nova, National Queer Theater, and more. As a writer, he has both a television series and feature film in development. His short film, Miracle, is expected to shoot later this year. MFA Yale School of Drama, BA Sarah Lawrence College.
Aisling Galvin (Stage Manager) Aisling Galvin is thrilled to be working WP Theater. Previous credits include MEAT SUIT (Second Stage), Pericles (Public Theater); Artificial Flavors, Sex Variants (The Civilians); MEMNON (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Gruesome Playground Injuries (Lucille Lortel Theatre); Passing Strange (Long Wharf); Mystic Pizza (Paper Mill Playhouse); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Yale Rep); Paradise Ballroom (New York Stage and Film).
Fabiola Andújar (The B’s/Ensemble; You Can Sit With Us) is an actor and writer from Utuado, Puerto Rico. Her screen credits include: Love & Death (HBO Max), Walker (The CW), Fear the Walking Dead (The CW), Spy Kids: Armageddon (Netflix), Las Hijas de Rosalía (Tribeca 2025 Official Selection), The Channel, Match Me If You Can, The Chosen, Hit & Run, and Wishing on Stars. Previous theater credits include: A Beautiful Death on 34th and Fifth (The Ensemble Theatre), for which she won “Best Performer in a Play” at the Broadway World Houston Awards; 21 Chump Street: The Musical (TEATRX); 10 Ways to Survive Life in a Quarantine (The Alpha NYC Theater Co); and Oskar and the Big Bully Battle. She’s a Miranda Family Fellow and MFA candidate at the David Geffen School of Drama.
Michele Selene Ang (Ashley; You Can Sit With Us) is a Chinese-Indonesian-American performer & writer from the Bay. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Performance from Fordham University and her screen acting work can be found on Netflix’s hit TV drama 13 Reasons Why and CBS’ Elementary. On the film side, you can find her in the indie movie How I Learned to Fly on Apple TV. Michele has originated lead roles in new plays at acclaimed venues like Lincoln Center, Yale Rep, East West Players, The Old Globe, and Berkeley Rep. You can keep up with her at michelesang.com!
Purva Bedi (Jayu/Ensemble; You Can Sit With Us) is an actor working across film, television, and theater. On stage, she recently appeared with the NAATCO in Cymbeline, The Lucky Ones with Boomerang Theatre, and Coach Coach with Clubbed Thumb. Her screen credits include Relay, Poclet Dream (upcoming), guest appearances on Elsbeth, The Good Wife, and One of Us Is Lying among others.
Jeff Biehl (The Mr’s/Ensemble; You Can Sit With Us) Broadway: PATRIOTS (Barrymore), MACHINAL (Roundabout). Off- Broadway: BURNING CAULDRON OF FIERY FIRE (Vineyard), WAITING FOR GODOT (TFANA), THE UNBELIEVING (Civilians), MERCHANT OF VENICE (TFANA and Lyceum Edinburgh), LIFE SUCKS (Wheelhouse – Drama Desk Nom. Outstanding Actor), CATCH AS CATCH CAN (Page 73), THE RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN…. (Playwrights Realm); CHARLES FRANCIS CHAN JR’S… (NAATCO); 10 OUT OF 12 (Soho Rep), LIVES OF THE SAINTS (Primary Stages), POOR BEHAVIOR (Primary Stages), ISAAC’S EYE (EST); FULFILLMENT (Flea), BURNING (New Group). Film: “A Master Builder”, “Ricki and the Flash”, “Worth”, “Relay”. Television: “The Path”, “Vinyl”, “Mysteries of Laura”, “Forever”, “Southland”, all “Law & Orders.” Training: Juilliard.
Ashley Ganger (Asha; You Can Sit With Us) is thrilled to be a part of the reading for YOU CAN SIT WITH US. She is an Indo-Canadian actress now based in NYC. Her on screen credits include the television series GRAND ARMY as well as LATE BLOOMER. She has also starred in the feature film CALORIE as well as the short film ALL AT ONCE. @ashleyganger
Imani Russell (Z; You Can Sit With Us) is a born and raised and representing Brooklyn artist. Trained in classical music, musical theatre, and acting, Imani made their Broadway debut in November 2023 in the new musical HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO. Imani has performed off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They also write music under the name NANí. Selected Off-Bway/NYC: TROPHY BOYS (MCC); ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME (2ST). Thank you Russell Fam, Kiyomi, and CLA. Pa’lante pa’siempre! @imanithecowboy
Gabe Calleja (Stage Directions; You Can Sit With Us) A New York City native, Gabe attended Bucknell University where he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering, but don’t let that fool you. While there, he spent most of his time on the stage starring in shows such as The Lovesong of J. Robert Oppenheimer (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Black Comedy (Brindsley), and Radium Girls (Arthur). Unable to resist the call of the stage, Gabe moved back home to continue his training at The Acting Studio New York’s Meisner Conservatory. His most recent New York stage credits include R.U.R. (Domin), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Picasso) and, Buscando a Copi (Didier), where he had his Spanish theater debut and won the Fuerzafest award for best supporting actor. Gabe is slated to make his Off Broadway debut later this month in the production You and Me.
Eva Shannon-Dabek (Stage Manager; You Can Sit With Us) Off-Broadway: Public Charge, The Seat of Our Pants (The Public). Business Ideas, Deep Blue Sound, Grief Hotel, Winterworks (Clubbed Thumb). Prince Faggot, Sad Boys in Harpy Land, Wet Brain, Regretfully So the Birds Are, The Trees, Catch as Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons). Mary Gets Hers (The Playwrights Realm). Invasive Species. Education: BA in Theatre, Smith College; SM Fellow, Playwrights Horizons. Eva thanks her family and friends for everything!
Rachel Sachnoff (Julia; Beautiful Curtains For Sale) is an actress based in New York. Most recently, she starred as Abby in the short film Plus One and appeared as Vitrucchia in the Netflix series The Decameron. Previously, she appeared as Jane Jr in the New Group production of Evanston Salt Costs Climbing by Will Arbery, directed by Danya Taymor. Rachel has been in original productions with companies including New Neighborhood, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ars Nova’s ANT Fest, Dixon Place, The Tank, Cloud City, The Wild Project, The New Ohio, Two Headed Rep, Calliope, and the Brick. She’s developed new work Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, The O’Neill, The Bushwick Starr, The New Group, The Lark, Mabou Mines, and many more. rachelsachnoff.com @rsachnoff on instagram
Nicole Shalhoub (Nancy; Beautiful Curtains For Sale) Broadway: China Doll. Off Broadway: The Play Co., Lincoln Center, The Mint, St. Ann’s Warehouse. Regional: Berkeley Rep, The Kirk Douglas CTG, South Coast Rep, Yale Rep, The Goodman, Hartford Stage, Lookingglass, American Repertory Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, KC Rep. TV/Film:Recurring roles on Law & Order: Organized Crime and Evil, FBI, Goosebumps, Tulsa King, Blue Bloods, The Good Fight, The Village, Elementary, Seal Team, Bull, Madame Secretary, The Gaffigan Show, New Girl, The Mentalist, Legends, Scandal, The Good Wife, Sex & The City 2, The International, Wetware.
Paco Tolson (Terry; Beautiful Curtains For Sale)Paco was recently nominated for two Lucille Lortel Awards (Outstanding Lead Performance for Fiasco Theater’s Knight of the Burning Pestle and Outstanding Featured Actor for Vietgone at Manhattan Theatre Club) as well as En Grade Arts/The Vineyard Theater’s production of The Wind and The Rain—which earned a Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience. Paco originated roles in the Off-Broadway premieres of Poor Yella Rednecks (Manhattan Theatre Club), End Days (Ensemble Studio Theatre), The Children of Vonderly and Rescue Me (Ma-Yi Theater Company), and Ma-Yi’s production of SUMO at The Public Theater. With Fiasco: Twelfth
Night and Pericles (Classic Stage Company), and Measure for Measure (Actor’s Theater of Louisville). Regional: to the yellow house (La Jolla Playhouse); With South Coast Rep: Peter and
the Starcatcher, Vietgone, and Poor Yella Rednecks; with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival: The Winter’s Tale and Vietgone. Audio Drama: (There’s) No Time for Comedy (Playwrights
Horizons), The Memory Motel (Two River Theater), Witness (Paramount/Gideon Media), Out of Sight (Unknown 9), Henry V, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure (Play On Shakespeare). Film and TV credits include Billions, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Prodigal Son, Search Party, The Good Fight, Madam Secretary, Happy!, The Code, and 7 DAY GIG. Paco is a graduate of Brown University and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, Fiasco Theater, and The Actors Center. He is grateful for his incredible family and their enduring support. @pacotolson
Colleen Werthmann (Candy; Beautiful Curtains For Sale): Recently, [my utopias] by Jay Stull dir. Jillian Jetton (Exponential Festival); YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, dir. Katie Devin Orenstein (BCTR); Ariel Stess’s KARA & EMMA & BARBARA & MIRANDA (2025 OBIE), dir. Meghan Finn (The Tank). Colleen is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer (Daily Show, Nightly Show, Oscars, etc.). She’s also a founding member of The Civilians (MR. BURNS, GONE MISSING,THE LADIES, etc.) and the experimental theater group Elevator Repair Service (GATZ, TOTAL FICTIONAL LIE, etc.). Off-Broadway: Public, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons. Film/TV: SISTERS, SALT, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Law & Order(s).
