WP Theater’s 2016 Annual Women of Achievement Awards Gala
Women’s Project Theater’s 31st Annual Women of Achievement Awards Gala took place June 13, 2016 at the Edison Ballroom. The evening, which was hosted by comedian and playwright Lisa Lampanelli (#StuffedPlay), honored Emmy Award winning actress and activist Martha Plimpton; film, television, and Broadway producer Jenna Segal; and actress, producer, environmentalist, and UNICEF ambassador Trudie Styler.
On hand to perform and present were Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order), Heidi Thomas (creator of Call the Midwife), Celine Rattray (The Kids Are All Right), Beth Malone (Fun Home), Dee Hoty (Bright Star), and Monica Bill Barnes and Company, who performed a dance routine to James Brown’s “Sex Machine.”
The 31st ANNUAL WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS GALA honored Emmy Award winning actress MARTHA PLIMPTON; celebrated film, television and Broadway producer JENNA SEGAL; and actress, producer, environmentalist and UNICEF ambassador TRUDIE STYLER.
Hosted by Grammy nominated comedienne LISA LAMPANELLI, with special performances by Fun Home’s Tony Award Nominee BETH MALONE accompanied by composer RICK HIP-FLORES; three-time Tony Award nominated actress, currently starring in the award-winning musical Bright StarDEE HOTY accompanied by Orchestrator & Arranger MATTHEW AUMENT; acclaimed dance company MONICA BILL BARNES & COMPANY; and special presentations by Emmy Award nominee and creator of “Call the Midwife” HEIDI THOMAS; celebrated stage, screen, and TV actress, star of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and “The Father” KATHRYN ERBE and Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award-winning producer, The Kids Are All Right, and co-founder, Maven Pictures CELINE RATTRAY
The 2016 Gala was held on Monday, June 13, 2016 at 6:30pm at The Edison Ballroom, 240 W 47th Street, NYC
JOIN US! JUNE 13 at the 2016 WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS GALA honoring MARTHA PLIMPTON, JENNA SEGAL & TRUDIE STYLER!
Hosted by LISA LAMPANELLI with special performances and appearances by Fun Home on Broadway’s BETH MALONE; Bright Star: A New Musical’s DEE HOTY, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, “The Father” and Law & Order: Criminal Intent star KATHRYN ERBE, co-founder of Maven Pictures, CELINE RATTRAY & the creator of “Call the Midwife” PBS HEIDI THOMAS!
Hurrah for HAPPY HOUR! Attend Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s HAPPY HOUR! Every Wednesday thru May 25 at 6:30pm. Presented by Gibney Dance in partnership with WP Theater and The Joyce Theater. FOR $25 TICKETS USE DISCOUNT CODE WP25➠http://bit.ly/1TmtRLi
SOFIYA AKILOVA(Stage Direction) is a tv, film, and theatre actor, and a writer. She emigrated from Uzbekistan to New York with her family in 1990. She attended LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts and completed her bachelor’s in English Literature at Queens College. Sofiya is also an alumna of NYU Grad Acting. Recently, she has performed in productions at Yale Rep and The Old Globe Theatre. She has also appeared in the following television shows: Madam Secretary, TURN: Washington’s Spies, Allegiance, and Alpha House. Sofiya is a recent and proud member of the 52nd Street Project.
PAOLALÁZARO(Isabela/Glenys) is an actress and playwright born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She holds a B.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from SUNY Purchase College, M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University. In 2015 she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in To the Bone at Cherry Lane Theatre. Lázaro was also in Martyna Majok’s John Who’s Here From Cambridge at EST. She received the Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence grant at the Atlantic Theater for 2016-2017 for her play Tell Hector I Miss Him, premiering next season at Atlantic. Her most recent play There’s Always the Hudson will have a reading at Labyrinth Theater in May as part of their Up Next Series. Paola was awarded the Arts Entertainment Scholarship Award from NHFA, a member of the Public Theater’s 2015 Emerging Writers Group and was selected Playwright-in-Residence for the Sundance Theater Lab in Morocco 2016.
MARJAN NESHAT (Aamani/Nasima) Recent theater credits include Irina in Three Sisters, Fallaci directed by Oskar Eustis, Scorched, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Aiesha Ghazali in The Near East, Masha in The Seagull with Dianne Wiest. She just finished work on the film The Book of Henry with Naomi Watts and a recurring role on the ABC drama “Quantico.” Other film and TV credits include a starring role in the independent film Almost in Love with Alan Cumming, RoboCop, Sex in the City 2, Funny in Farsi (directed by Barry Sonnenfeld), “Person of Interest,” “Royal Pains,” “Blue Bloods,” “Black Box,” “Unforgettable,” “Fringe,” multiple Law and Orders. She is a member of The Actors Center in NYC.
AMANDA QUAID(Inna) New York: The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons, world premiere by Madeleine George), Luck of the Irish (LCT3, Lortel nom), Cock (The Duke), A Public Reading…Walt Disney (Soho Rep, world premiere by Lucas Hnath), Pericles (Public, AEA St. Clair Bayfield Award), Equus (Broadway), The Illusion (Signature), Galileo (CSC), Happy Hour (Atlantic), The Witch of Edmonton (Red Bull), The Seagull (dir. Max Stafford-Clark), three plays at Irish Rep, most recently The Weir. Regional: Old Globe, Shakespeare Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Folger, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. TV/film: “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order: SVU,” Non-Stop. Faculty: HB Studio, The Freeman Studio.Quaid directed her first short film, English, in 2014, which premiered at Cannes Short Film Corner and will screen in May as part of the New York Women in Film and Television’s Immigrant Experiences Series. For more info, visit amandaquaid.com.
ANA REEDER (Renia) Broadway: Big Knife, Hedda Gabler, Top Girls, Sight Unseen; Off-Broadway: Radiance, The Maids, Happy Hour, Living Room in Africa, The Wooden Breeks, Small Tragedy (Obie), Humble Boy, An Experiment with an Air Pump,Time of the Cuckoo, Some Voices, Killers and Other Family, Maid, Macbeth, Henry VIII, Hedda Gabler (NYTW); London: The Distance from Here (Almeida Theatre) Williamstown: A Streetcar Named Desire. Film: No Country for Old Men, The Locksmith (original title: Homewrecker/ Best of Next/Sundance), Acts of Worship (Independent Spirit Award Nomination/Best Actress, Best Actress/Santa Barbara Film Festival), Marie and Bruce, One for the Money. TV: HBO’s You Don’t Know Jack, Damages, Law & Order, Blue Bloods. BA: Middlebury College, MFA: NYU.
ANDREA SYGLOWSKI (Pelagiya/Lera) recently appeared in the world premiere productions of The Nest by Theresa Rebeck (The Denver Center) and Of Good Stock by Melissa Ross (South Coast Rep). Her 2014 production of Venus in Fur at the Huntington Theatregarnered her the 2014 Elliott Norton Award for Best Actress in a Large Theatre, and an IRNE Award for Best Actress. She has participated in new play development workshops at The Roundabout, New York Theatre Workshop, Labyrinth Theatre Company, Bay Street Theatre, The Lark, Ars Nova, Jewish Plays Project, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, The New York Society Library, andBAM. Other credits include: Asking for Trouble (Ensemble Studio Theatre), The Walk Through (Slate Theatre Company), A Flea in her Ear, Bully to You, Schmoozy Togetherness, White Trash Anthem (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Three Sisters, Loves Labours Lost, Elijah, Carve (Chautauqua Theatre Company) Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare at the Manor) TV: ‘The Good Wife,’ ‘How to Get Away with Murder,’ ‘Elementary.’ Film: Every New York City Party Happens in a Bathroom. Training: USC and The Juilliard School, class of 2013, where she was the proud recipient of the Robin Williams Scholarship.
FINAL WEEK OF THE PIPELINE FESTIVAL
WEEK 5: April 21 – April 23
QUEENS
The award-winning playwright Martyna Majok unveils her latest work for Pipeline Festival audiences.
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Produced by Rachel Karpf Reidy
Starring Sofiya Akilova, Paola Lázaro, Marjan Neshat, Amanda Quaid, Ana Reeder, Andrea Syglowski
Martyna Majok, author of WP’s recent hit IRONBOUND, continues her exploration of the people on the fringes of society through a fierce and funny new play about immigrant women seeking more than the American Dream. Don’t miss this chance to see this award-winning playwright’s newest work in its earliest stages! #QueensPlay
(Producer) Rachel Karpf works with artists and cultural institutions to produce theater and live performance pieces that inspire, delight, and move audiences. Recent works include Todd Almond and Courtney Love’s Kansas City Choir Boy (ART/Beth Morrison Projects) and Jay Scheib and Keeril Makan’s Persona (M.I.T & National Sawdust/Beth Morrison Projects). As Associate Director of Page 73: Clare Barron’s You Got Older, directed by Anne Kauffman (2 OBIE Awards, 4 Drama Desk Award noms., Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist); George Brant’s Grounded, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll (Drama Desk Award nom.); Cori Thomas’ When January Feels Like Summer, directed by Daniella Topol (co-produced with EST). With the Institute for Psychogeographic Adventure, she has produced large-scale site-specific performance adventures including in the Brooklyn Museum (BEAT Festival), PRELUDE, Stony Brook University, and throughout the DUMBO neighborhood. For 13P: Lucy Thurber’s Monstrosity, Julia Jarcho’s American Treasure, and Madeline George’s The Zero Hour. Other projects at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, New York Theater Workshop, and the Commonweal Theatre. Creator of the lecture series Saloon; grant review panelist for NSYCA and others. BA: Dartmouth College. rachelkarpf.com
WEEK 5: April 21 – April 23
QUEENS
The award-winning playwright Martyna Majok unveils her latest work for Pipeline Festival audiences.
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Produced by Rachel Karpf
Starring Sofiya Akilova, Paola Lázaro, Marjan Neshat, Amanda Quaid, Ana Reeder, Andrea Syglowski
Martyna Majok, author of WP’s recent hit IRONBOUND, continues her exploration of the people on the fringes of society through a fierce and funny new play about immigrant women seeking more than the American Dream. Don’t miss this chance to see this award-winning playwright’s newest work in its earliest stages! #QueensPlay
(Director) Tamilla Woodard is a theatre director working nationally and internationally. Currently, she is serving as the Artistic Director of The Five Boroughs/One City Project, a multi-year initiative of The Working Theater. The project supports the commissioning and development of 5 Playwright/Director teams working in collaborations and creating theatrical works in response to and inside of working class communities in all 5 boroughs. She is co-founder of PopUp Theatrics, a partnership creating site specific and immersive productions around the world. She is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab and former Audrey Fellow at New Georges. She graduated from The Yale School of Drama’s Acting program and is the recipient of The Josephine Abady Award from The League of Professional Theatre Women and The Charles Bowden Award from New Dramatists. Her work has been presented and developed at the Working Theater, NYTW, New Georges, HERE, The Lark, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, PS122, DR 2, The Culture Project, Urban Stages, Dance Theatre Workshop, The Kitchen Theatre and for festivals and theater’s Internationally. Most recent work includes: A Midsummer Nights Dream, NY Times Critics Pick, Cherry Smoke by James McManus, and La Ruta by Ed Cardona Jr, for Working Theater, NYC (NY Times End of Year List of Notable productions). For PopUP: Broken City: Harlem, a site specific commission by The Harlem Arts Festival. Long Distance Affair, a Skype immersive performance with editions in Romania, Argentina, Mexico, Scotland and the US; INSIDE, a site specific production with editions in Bucharest and Madrid. Upcoming: The Block by Dan Hoyle, Working Theater and Broken City: Wall Street, PopUP Theatrics.
WEEK 5: April 21 – April 23
QUEENS
The award-winning playwright Martyna Majok unveils her latest work for Pipeline Festival audiences.
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Produced by Rachel Karpf Reidy
Starring Sofiya Akilova, Paola Lázaro, Marjan Neshat, Amanda Quaid, Ana Reeder, Andrea Syglowski
Martyna Majok, author of WP’s recent hit IRONBOUND, continues her exploration of the people on the fringes of society through a fierce and funny new play about immigrant women seeking more than the American Dream. Don’t miss this chance to see this award-winning playwright’s newest work in its earliest stages! #QueensPlay
The award-winning playwright Martyna Majok unveils her latest work for Pipeline Festival audiences.
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Produced by Rachel Karpf Reidy
Starring Sofiya Akilova, Paola Lázaro, Marjan Neshat, Amanda Quaid, Ana Reeder, Andrea Syglowski
Martyna Majok, author of WP’s recent hit IRONBOUND, continues her exploration of the people on the fringes of society through a fierce and funny new play about immigrant women seeking more than the American Dream. Don’t miss this chance to see this award-winning playwright’s newest work in its earliest stages! #QueensPlay
(Producer) Rachel Sussman is a New York-based producer committed to nurturing diverse work through creative collaboration. She serves as the Director of Programming for The New York Musical Theatre Festival and is a co-founder of The Indigo Theatre Project as well as The MITTEN Lab, a new emerging artist residency in her native state of Michigan. Rachel has worked with such companies as Second Stage Theatre, 321 Theatrical Management, RKO Stage, Goodspeed Musicals’ Mercer Colony, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, The Tony Awards, and CREATE-Ireland in Dublin, Ireland. Producing credits include: Talk to me about Shame (FringeNYC, Overall Excellence Award), Lemon Cake (133rd St. Arts Center), The Imaginary Menagerie (Joe’s Pub), and, most recently, The Woodsman (59E59 & New World Stages). She is currently developing a new musical with composer/lyricist Shaina Taub. Rachel is a trustee for The Awesome Foundation NYC and sits on Advisory Boards for The Musical Theatre Factory and Strangemen & Co. She is a graduate of the Commercial Theater Institute and a University Scholar alumna of NYU Tisch.
When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay
Farah Bala (Shiraz) Originally from Bombay, India, Farah is an actor, producer & leadership coach based in NY. Barrymore Award Nomination for Outstanding Leading Actress (alongside theatre veteran Anna Deavere Smith). MFA Theater: Sarah Lawrence College; 2-year recipient of the Fezana Performing Arts Award. Select Theatre: Tales from the Tunnel; Honor Killing; In the Book Of; One-woman show To The Death of My Own Family, Macbeth, Two Gentlemen of Verona. Select Film & TV: Entre Nos; The War Within; Karma, Confessions and Holi; Broad City. New play development at The Actors Studio, Labyrinth, Women’s Project, Red Bull, Rising Circle, The Lark, Ma Yi, among others. Profiled in Umbrage Edition’s national award winning book, GREEN CARD STORIES – one of 50 profiles of recent immigrant stories from around the world. farahbala.com
Soraya Broukhim (Azar) NYC Theatre Credits: Petrol Station (NYU/BAM), No Place to Hide (The Living Theatre, Bread & Puppet Theatre), I am Gordafarid (NYTW & Rising Circle), Soundwaves: The Passion of Noor Inayat Khan (Fringe), Blackbird (One woman show, Schmucks Theatre), Here We Are, History of the World, SMOPS, Korach by Judith Malina (The Living Theatre), Red Tent Fabrik (JoyceSoho), Antigone, Betrothed (Ripe Time), Gut Girls (Chocolate Factory), Woyzeck (CultureProject), Innocent Erendira (Here), Logic of the Birds (Lincoln Center). Regional Theatre: Scorched (Syracuse Stage), In the Heart of America (Interact Co. PA), Wintertime (San Jose Rep), Afghan Women (Passage Theatre, NJ), Sodom & Gomorrah (O’Neill Playwrights Conference), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (CT), & Blue Demon (WTF) dir. Darko Tresnjak. Europe: Antigone (Romania, UNESCO/ITI). TV/Film: “Madam Secretary,” Xenophilia, Flat Tire, Headshot, Rosewater, America 1979, Eugenia & John, An Encounter with Simone Weil, The Push. Graduate of Fordham University LC, BAADA, NTI, & St. Petersburg Arts Theatre Academy. Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Fordham University and Artistic Associate of the Living Theatre. sorayabroukhim.com
Edward A. Hajj (Raba) is delighted to be a part of the first ever “Pipeline Festival.” New York credits include: Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre, New Georges, NAATCO, The Cherry Lane, Lark, New Dramatists, Naked Angels, Lincoln Center & EST. Regional: Actors Theatre, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf, Alliance, InterAct. Many thanks to Rachel, Lee, Riti, Lisa and the WP staff, my acting partners and the “rug-dealing” production team. The best is yet to come. edwardhajj.com
Rita Wolf (Mariam) started her career with the Royal Court Youth Theatre in London. Her first professional job was Joint Stock Theatre Co’s Borderline by Hanif Kureishi. She has gone on to a career in theatre, TV and film which in the US includes Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul at NYTW, BAM and Mark Taper Forum, David Grieg’s The American Pilot at MTC (Drama Desk nomination) and A.R. Gurney’s O, Jerusalem at The Flea. In 1991 she co-founded Kali Theatre Co in London to produce exclusively the work of female South Asian Theatre practitioners. Their latest show The Dishonoured by Aamina Ahmad opened in London this March.
When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay
(Producer) Kristen Luciani currently works in general management at DR Theatrical Management. She is also an independent producer and formerly served as Associate Producer to Elizabeth I. McCann. Kristen has previously worked with The Public Theater and Playwrights Horizons. Independent credits include: Judith (Kraine Theater) and We Declare You a Terrorist (Summer Play Festival). As Management Associate to Liz McCann and Joey Parnes, Broadway credits include: Hair, The Merchant of Venice, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Kristen is also the co-founder and Executive Producer of Paradox Productions, a boutique Executive Producing and General Management firm (www.paradoxprods.com). She holds a BFA in Theater/Producing from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts.
An inexplicable and life-altering event sends Cydney on a search for a divine solution to her earthly problems.
By Susan Soon He Stanton
Directed by Danya Taymor
Produced by Liz Olson
Starring Damon Daunno, Teresa Avia Lim, Kate Rigg
Cydney believes an angel rescued her from an ineffable trauma, and the truth may prove stranger than she imagines. In this mythic, hilarious, and poetic new play, Susan Soon He Stanton spins a dark fairy tale where a burnt feather may illuminate the possibility of a divine intervention. #CygnusPlay
Kate Rigg (Mama Hansen) Off Broadway: The Jammer, Three Kinds of Exile (Atlantic), BFE (LongWharf/Playwrights Horizons), Dogeaters (The Public) Vagina Monologues (Westside Theater) Most Fabulous Story (NYTW) Regional: Playmakers Rep, ATL, Brava, CTGLA, New World Theater, Out North, Conworks. TV: The Path, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order, Law and Order CI, Fox’s Family Guy, One Night Stand-Up, Dr. Phil, Comedy Central Women in Comedy, Showtime’s Hot Tamales, Film: Race Is the Place, That’s What She Said, The Naughty Show. Artist Residencies: Smithsonian Institute, NYFA, Comedy Central Theater. Lead Singer of the spoken word/rock outfit Slanty Eyed Mama. Stand Up Comic and solo artist in stadiums and dive bars around the world. Graduate: Julliard. www.katerigg.com
Teresa Avia Lim(Cydney Hansen) Theatre: NAATCO’S Awake and Sing and Macbeth Mobile Shakespeare Unit at the Public Theater, Peerless at Yale Rep, 4000 Miles at Long Wharf Theatre, Seminar at Philadelphia Theatre Co. Originated her roles in Water by the Spoonful at Hartford Stage, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them at Humana Festival/ Actors theatre of Louisville and Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West at Berkeley Rep. Also appeared in productions of Lorenzaccio, Pericles, Macbeth, and the Tempest at The Shakespeare Theatre of Washington DC. Television: “Blue Bloods”, “Limitless”, “Unforgettable”, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”. Film: Dispatched. Training: Yale School of Drama: An Inaugural Recipient of Jerome L. Greene Scholarship.
Damon Daunno (Jason) is an Actor and Musician from New Jersey. He received a B.F.A. in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Some acting credits include: Broadway: Kneehigh Theater Co.’s Brief Encounter. Off Broadway: Kneehigh Theater Co.’s Wild Bride (St.Ann’s Warehouse), Tristan and Yseult (St.Ann’s Warehouse). Regional: Oklahoma! (Bard), These Paper Bullets! (Geffen Playhouse), The Last Goodbye (Williamstown), Fly By Night (Dallas Theater Center), Jesus in India (Magic). Film & TV: “The Following” (Fox). He is also a composer and multi-intsrumentalist and has produced scores for short and feature length films. He is represented by Abrams Artist Agency and Authentic Management.
(Playwright)Susan Soon He Stanton’s plays include Takarazuka!!!, Today Is My Birthday, SEEK, The Things Are Against Us, Cygnus, The Underneath, and more. Her plays have been produced or developed at Clubbed Thumb, East West Players, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theater Workshop, Kennedy Center, The Flea, Washington Ensemble Theater, Joe’s Pub, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and others.
She is a two-time Sundance Institute Fellowship/Residency recipient. Writing groups and residencies include Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group, Playwrights Center Corewriter, SoHo Rep Writer-Director Lab, Lark Van Lier Fellowship, Hedgebrook, and MaYi Playwrights Lab. Other awards include Southern Rep’s Ruby Prize Runner-up, Susan Glaspell Prize Finalist, Kilroy’s List, a Susan Smith Blackburn nomination, and a NET Partnership Grant with Satori Group. She is a writing consultant for Disney Creative Entertainment. She received a Feature Film Development Grant from the Sloan Foundation. Films include Dress, Dispatched, Good House, and Same Will. BFA: NYU Tisch, MFA: Yale School of Drama.
(Producer) Liz Olson is a freelance producer and the General Manager/Line Producer of Tectonic Theater Project (Carmen, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, Uncommon Sense). Previously, she was the Managing Director of Studio 42, where she produced Ken Urban’s Wasps and worked on productions of Bekkah Brunstetter’s Miss Lilly Gets Boned and Gregory S. Moss’s Billy Witch. In the past, she has worked at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYTW, Playwrights Realm, and Two River Theater Company. She is the producer for Reentry, which tours US Naval bases as part of their soldier reintegration training. This brings her full circle in life as she is a third generation Navy brat who now produces theater for the Navy. Freelance includes Couriers and Contrabands and Be A Good Little Widow. She holds an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University and a bachelor’s from The College of William and Mary.
(Producer) Pearl Hodiwala is from Sydney, Australia and has a background in development, fundraising and producing and theatre management. Pearl has worked as Philanthropy Coordinator at Belvoir Street Theatre, and Producing Fellow at The Public Theater. Currently, Pearl is Strategy and Business Development Coordinator with Disney Theatrical Productions and Managing Director of Kaimera Productions (www.kaimeraproductions.com). Selected works: Jupiter (a play about power) (La Mama), The Fall (Flamboyan Theatre) and Underland (59E59). Member of the Women’s Project Producers Lab 2014-2016. Bachelor Arts and Science from Sydney University and Masters of Arts Administration from Columbia University.
(Director) Lee Sunday Evans is a director and choreographer. Credits Include: Wellesley Girl by Brendan Pelsue at Humana/Actors Theater of Louisville, a workshop production of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew at Alley All New, D Deb Debbie Deborah by Jerry Lieblich at Clubbed Thumb; A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks… by Kate Benson at New Georges/Women’s Project Theater (OBIE Award), The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew at 59E59 Theatres; God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz at Juilliard; Family Play (1979 to Present) by CollaborationTown; and The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht with original music by Nicholas C. Williams. Additionally, her work has been presented/developed at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Sundance Institute Theater Program, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CATCH, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center. She is currently developing new projects with Andy Bragen, Kate Benson and Matthew Paul Olmos among others. As the resident director for CollaborationTown, she is currently developing a new musical as part of New Victory’s LabWorks, and working on a commission from LCT3. Upcoming: Macbeth at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.
When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay
(Producer) Rachel Karpf works with artists and cultural institutions to produce theater and live performance pieces that inspire, delight, and move audiences. Recent works include Todd Almond and Courtney Love’s Kansas City Choir Boy (ART/Beth Morrison Projects) and Jay Scheib and Keeril Makan’s Persona (M.I.T & National Sawdust/Beth Morrison Projects). As Associate Director of Page 73: Clare Barron’s You Got Older, directed by Anne Kauffman (2 OBIE Awards, 4 Drama Desk Award noms., Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist); George Brant’s Grounded, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll (Drama Desk Award nom.); Cori Thomas’ When January Feels Like Summer, directed by Daniella Topol (co-produced with EST). With the Institute for Psychogeographic Adventure, she has produced large-scale site-specific performance adventures including in the Brooklyn Museum (BEAT Festival), PRELUDE, Stony Brook University, and throughout the DUMBO neighborhood. For 13P: Lucy Thurber’s Monstrosity, Julia Jarcho’s American Treasure, and Madeline George’s The Zero Hour. Other projects at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, New York Theater Workshop, and the Commonweal Theatre. Creator of the lecture series Saloon; grant review panelist for NSYCA and others. BA: Dartmouth College. 
(Director) Tamilla Woodard is a theatre director working nationally and internationally. Currently, she is serving as the Artistic Director of The Five Boroughs/One City Project, a multi-year initiative of The Working Theater. The project supports the commissioning and development of 5 Playwright/Director teams working in collaborations and creating theatrical works in response to and inside of working class communities in all 5 boroughs. She is co-founder of PopUp Theatrics, a partnership creating site specific and immersive productions around the world. She is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab and former Audrey Fellow at New Georges. She graduated from The Yale School of Drama’s Acting program and is the recipient of The Josephine Abady Award from The League of Professional Theatre Women and The Charles Bowden Award from New Dramatists. Her work has been presented and developed at the Working Theater, NYTW, New Georges, HERE, The Lark, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, PS122, DR 2, The Culture Project, Urban Stages, Dance Theatre Workshop, The Kitchen Theatre and for festivals and theater’s Internationally. Most recent work includes: A Midsummer Nights Dream, NY Times Critics Pick, Cherry Smoke by James McManus, and La Ruta by Ed Cardona Jr, for Working Theater, NYC (NY Times End of Year List of Notable productions). For PopUP: Broken City: Harlem, a site specific commission by The Harlem Arts Festival. Long Distance Affair, a Skype immersive performance with editions in Romania, Argentina, Mexico, Scotland and the US; INSIDE, a site specific production with editions in Bucharest and Madrid. Upcoming: The Block by Dan Hoyle, Working Theater and Broken City: Wall Street, PopUP Theatrics.
Kate Rigg (Mama Hansen) Off Broadway: The Jammer, Three Kinds of Exile (Atlantic), BFE (LongWharf/Playwrights Horizons), Dogeaters (The Public) Vagina Monologues (Westside Theater) Most Fabulous Story (NYTW) Regional: Playmakers Rep, ATL, Brava, CTGLA, New World Theater, Out North, Conworks. TV: The Path, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order, Law and Order CI, Fox’s Family Guy, One Night Stand-Up, Dr. Phil, Comedy Central Women in Comedy, Showtime’s Hot Tamales, Film: Race Is the Place, That’s What She Said, The Naughty Show. Artist Residencies: Smithsonian Institute, NYFA, Comedy Central Theater. Lead Singer of the spoken word/rock outfit Slanty Eyed Mama. Stand Up Comic and solo artist in stadiums and dive bars around the world. Graduate: Julliard. 
Teresa Avia Lim (Cydney Hansen) Theatre: NAATCO’S Awake and Sing and Macbeth Mobile Shakespeare Unit at the Public Theater, Peerless at Yale Rep, 4000 Miles at Long Wharf Theatre, Seminar at Philadelphia Theatre Co. Originated her roles in Water by the Spoonful at Hartford Stage, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them at Humana Festival/ Actors theatre of Louisville and Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West at Berkeley Rep. Also appeared in productions of Lorenzaccio, Pericles, Macbeth, and the Tempest at The Shakespeare Theatre of Washington DC. Television: “Blue Bloods”, “Limitless”, “Unforgettable”, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”. Film: Dispatched. Training: Yale School of Drama: An Inaugural Recipient of Jerome L. Greene Scholarship.
(Playwright) Susan Soon He Stanton’s plays include Takarazuka!!!, Today Is My Birthday, SEEK, The Things Are Against Us, Cygnus, The Underneath, and more. Her plays have been produced or developed at Clubbed Thumb, East West Players, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theater Workshop, Kennedy Center, The Flea, Washington Ensemble Theater, Joe’s Pub, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and others.
(Producer) Liz Olson is a freelance producer and the General Manager/Line Producer of Tectonic Theater Project (Carmen, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, Uncommon Sense). Previously, she was the Managing Director of Studio 42, where she produced Ken Urban’s Wasps and worked on productions of Bekkah Brunstetter’s Miss Lilly Gets Boned and Gregory S. Moss’s Billy Witch. In the past, she has worked at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYTW, Playwrights Realm, and Two River Theater Company. She is the producer for Reentry, which tours US Naval bases as part of their soldier reintegration training. This brings her full circle in life as she is a third generation Navy brat who now produces theater for the Navy. Freelance includes Couriers and Contrabands and Be A Good Little Widow. She holds an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University and a bachelor’s from The College of William and Mary.
(Producer) Pearl Hodiwala is from Sydney, Australia and has a background in development, fundraising and producing and theatre management. Pearl has worked as Philanthropy Coordinator at Belvoir Street Theatre, and Producing Fellow at The Public Theater. Currently, Pearl is Strategy and Business Development Coordinator with Disney Theatrical Productions and Managing Director of Kaimera Productions (
(Director) Lee Sunday Evans is a director and choreographer. Credits Include: Wellesley Girl by Brendan Pelsue at Humana/Actors Theater of Louisville, a workshop production of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew at Alley All New, D Deb Debbie Deborah by Jerry Lieblich at Clubbed Thumb; A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks… by Kate Benson at New Georges/Women’s Project Theater (OBIE Award), The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew at 59E59 Theatres; God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz at Juilliard; Family Play (1979 to Present) by CollaborationTown; and The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht with original music by Nicholas C. Williams. Additionally, her work has been presented/developed at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Sundance Institute Theater Program, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CATCH, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center. She is currently developing new projects with Andy Bragen, Kate Benson and Matthew Paul Olmos among others. As the resident director for CollaborationTown, she is currently developing a new musical as part of New Victory’s LabWorks, and working on a commission from LCT3. Upcoming: Macbeth at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.