RE/MEMORI (Of Hair Land & Sea) – Working Title
May 12 - 14 By Nambi E. Kelley
Directed by Machel Ross
Produced by Iyvon E.
Special thanks to National New Plays Network. Rebecca Martínez, Jasson Minadakis, Margo Hall, Danielle Ward, Shanesia Davis, Tahseen Aderman, Daaimah Mubashshir, Dr. Don Quinn Kelley. Carol Kelley, Jeannette Fay, John Quincy Adams Kelley, Materials for the Arts
The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States
The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union
UNITED SCENIC ARTISTS, Local USA 829, is a labor union and professional association of Designers, Artists and Craftspeople.
Nambi E. Kelley
(WRITER, she/her) Award-winning playwright/actress, was chosen by Toni Morrison to adapt her novel Jazz. Her adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son which had its world premiere at Court Theatre has been seen across the country and premiered off-Broadway in 2019 at The Duke on 42nd Street (The Acting Company; AUDELCO Award for “Best Play”). She is currently developing multiple commercial theatre projects and is a former playwright-in-residence at the National Black Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, The Dramatists Guild Fellows Program, and New Victory LabWorks. She is the recipient of the 2020 NNPN annual commission, the Prince Prize 2019, and a Dramatists Guild Foundation Writers Alliance Grant 2018-19. Nambi’s newly formed production company, First Woman LLC, is currently producing a digital and national tour of Nambi’s young audiences’ play, Jabari Dreams of Freedom, directed by Daniel Carlton. Also an executive story editor in television, Nambi served as a writer on Showtime’s “The Chi”, “Our Kind of People” (Fox), and on an Apple Plus show, TBA. She is also in development with several other film and TV projects. www.nambikelley.com
Machel Ross
(DIRECTOR, she/her) is a Dominican-American director and creative collaborator based in NYC, who specializes in the development of new work and aesthetic world building. Regardless of medium, she’s invested in generating rigorous images, in support of framing stories to their fullest potential. She’s developed work with Agnes Borinsky (A Song of Songs), Aziza Barnes (NANA), Daniella De Jesús (Mambo Sauce), Deaf West (“T“), PigPen Theatre Company (Phantom Folktales), Ellen Winter (This House Is your Home), and directed the world premiere of Jeremy O. Harris’ Black Exhibition at The Bushwick Starr. Machel is a 2022 Ars Nova Visionary Resident, and a 2020 Sundance Theater Lab Fellow. BFA-NYU
Iyvon E.
(PRODUCER, she/her) is a Nigerian-American creative producer, dramaturg, and company manager hailing from Brooklyn, NY. She is the Artistic Director of The Parsnip Ship, a radio-play series and platform amplifying underproduced playwrights via audio theater. In addition, she is the Director of Artistic Programs at Signature Theatre (NYC). She is a recipient of the Fulbright International Scholarship and Gilman International Scholarship (both to Italy) and the recipient of the 2019 Mark O’Donnell Prize. Iyvon is an Affiliate Dramaturg with Beehive Dramaturgy Studio. B.A. Brandeis University. M.A. Baruch College (CUNY) Arts Administration. @iamiyvon
Karen Aldridge (Memori)
Broadway: Originated the role of Mrs. Phelps in Matilda The Musical. International: Starred in the international tour of Battlefield and Le Costume, both directed by Peter Brook. Karen is a proud ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago. Chicago Theatre: extensive work at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Steppenwolf Theatre, as well as Writers’ Theatre and Next Theatre Company. Karen portrayed the role of Zelmare Roulette in Season 4 of the FX television series Fargo. She most recently appeared in SEVERANCE (Apple TV+.) Other television: The Get Down (Netflix), Chicago Fire (NBC), Chicago Med (NBC), Boss (STARZ!), Blue Bloods (CBS), Unforgettable (CBS).
Patricia Marjorie (Scenic Design)
is a Brazilian Multidisciplinary Theatre artist based in New York, with focus on set design, props and directing. Upcoming designer works: The Seagull and Ulisses by Elevator Repair Service; Eva Luna by Repertório Espanhol; Recent theatre credits Song of Songs (Bushwick Starr, dir. Machel Ross), 7 Minutes (Waterwell, dir. Mei Ann Teo); Wolf Play (Soho Rep, Ma-Yi Theater Company), Black Exhibition (Bushwick Starr with Jeremy O. Harris dir. Machel Ross), Preparedness by Hillary Miller (Bushwick Starr), SKiNFoLK (Bushwick Starr & National Black Theatre), Addressless (Rattlestick Theatre), In the Southern Breeze (Rattlestick Theatre) and Lost & Found (The Tank + En Garde Arts & Downtown Alliance). Recent interactive live performance credits include The Sunset PICNIC (The Tank) and Carnavalize the Matter (TheatreLab). Patricia has also recently directed What Will Become of Kaaron? (The Tank) and her own work as a playwright A Song to Keep the Wolves Awake (The Tank)
Cheyenne Sykes (Lighting Design)
is originally from the Coast Salish territory on so-called Vancouver Island, she works on a wide range of projects including dance, installation, music, and theatre. Select Recent Design Credits: Be More Chill (Area Stage Company, Miami), Polylogues (Colt Coeur), The Softstream (Digital Concert from Softee), PNEUMOTHERAPY (II) (Miles Greenberg at PERROTIN New York), HAEMOTHERAPY (1) (Miles Greenberg at Reena Spaulings), Black Exhibition (The Bushwick Starr), The Slow Room (PSNY), AGNES (59E59, Lesser America). Select Assistant/Associate Credits: Bonnaroo Site Lighting (David Weiner Design), Outside Lands Site Lighting (David Weiner Design), Mary (Kanye West at Lincoln Center), Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwright’s Horizons), “Daddy” (New Group/Vineyard), The Good Swimmer (BAM), Drake-Boy Meets World (European Tour).
Christopher Darbassie (Sound Design and Original Compositions)
is a New York based interdisciplinary artist. (Select Sound Credits): David Cromer’s A Case for the Existence of God (Signature Theater), NY Times Critic’s Pick This Beautiful Future (TheaterLab), Yoga Play (PlayMakers Rep. Co.), PS (Ars Nova), Fly Away (Petzel Gallery), Preparedness, Black Exhibition (The Bushwick Starr), MTA Radio Plays (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Neptune (Dixon Place, Brooklyn Museum). Chris has serviced sound design for installations, devised works and theatrical productions in collaboration with National Black Theater, The Movement Theater Company, WP Theater, Playwrights Horizons, The TEAM, Trinity Rep, Theater for a New Audience, The Atlantic, and The Shed. Wingspace 2019-2020 Sound Design Fellow. www.darbassiedesign.com
Caren Celine Morris (Production Stage Manager)
(she/her/hers) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist from The Bronx. She aims to promote inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in all of her projects. Caren has worked on projects with The Tank, The Shed, Ping Chong & Company, Derek Fordjour Studios, The Public, and The Bushwick Starr.
Ann C. James (Sensitivity Specialist)
has an extensive career in international stage direction and theater education spanning over three decades. James recently made her debut as the first Black Intimacy Coordinator of Broadway for Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over. In addition to her Broadway credit, she served as Intimacy Director and Sensitivity Specialist® for the provocative Off-Broadway productions of Moises Kaufman’s Seven Deadly Sins by Tectonic Theatre Project, Seize the King produced by Classical Theatre of Harlem, Twilight Los Angeles:1992 at Signature Theater, F*cking A at Fordham University and most recently for Dominique Morisseau’s compelling play, Confederates also at Signature Theater.. On the West Coast, James provides consultation and intimacy coordination for the television and film industry most recently working with Rashida Jones, Mark Wahlberg, Issa Rae, Will Ferrell and Cynthia Enrivo. Her intimacy work has featured James as an expert voice for Theatre Communications Group, HowlRound, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and Lincoln Center’s Directors Lab West. Her company, Intimacy Coordinators of Color, has partnerships with Adelphi University, New York University, Columbia University, American Conservatory Theater, Brown University, Trinity Repertory Theater and A.R.T./New York. James is in the second year of her studies as America’s first MFA in Performance Pedagogy with an emphasis in Afrocentric Intimacy Pedagogy at Loyola Marymount University.
Eisenberg Beans Casting (Casting)
Daryl Eisenberg, CSA & Ally Beans, CSA. Broadway: Gettin’ The Band Back Together. New York Theatre: Bedlam, Baghdaddy, Cherry Lane’s Mentor Project, New York Theatre Barn, and more. Regional/Other: May We All (LivelyMcCabe/CuzBro), Heartbreak Hotel (Broadway in Chicago), Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Norwegian Cruise Line, Tenors of Rock. Film: The Cathedral (Sundance), The MisEducation of Bindu, A Case of Blue, Shadows (HBO), Hands That Bind, Project Pay Day, Kendra and Beth. TV: Timberwood, Mulligan. Podcasts/New Media: Limetown, Shipworm, City of Ghosts, Falling in Love With Mr. Dellamort, Verdict.
