Previous Guest Artists

One of five children of Mexican Immigrants, Ruben C. Gonzalez is a critically acclaimed solo performer, actor, writer and director who hails from Los Angeles via Colima, Mexico. He is a 27-year veteran actor of the prestigious, El Teatro Campesino. He recieved his training at The London Academy for the Performing Arts, Circle in the Square Theatre School (NYC), El Teatro Campesino and holds an MFA in Dramatic Arts from the University of California, Davis. La Esquinita, USA has toured off-Broadway at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Aurora Theatre, Su Teatro Denver, CaraMia Dallas, The Guadalupe Cultural Center San Antonio, Teatro Bilingue de Houston, La Pena Cultural Center and at The Los Angeles Theatre Center as part of the inaugral ENCUENTRO 2014, the largest Latino Theatre Festival in the U.S. It will go into print in 2019 as part of an anthology coming out of Northwestern University Press. His previous solo works, Diary of a Mad Mexican and The Messiah Complex have garned him much critical and audience praise and have toured all over the U.S. and Poland. He has graced the stages in various productions at The Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, The Kennedy Center, The Lincoln Center Institute, Intar, HB Studios, New Dramatist (NYC) and Primary Stages among others. He has performed his solo works at countless Universities; Brown, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon St., Washington, UC Riverside, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, Vassar, Cornell, Northern Illinois, St. Mary’s and Loyola Chicago to name a few. For the stage, Ruben has directed; Conjunto Blues by Nicolas Valdez, Pilgrimage by Joe Quintero, Monica Sanchez’s The Chronicals of Odisia, Aliso in WorkerLand, Mi Abuleo Fue un Bracero and Iya by Luis Juarez and The Throwdown by Theatre Troupe Headrush. This winter he will be directing La Virgen del Tepeyac by Luis Valdez. His television credits include; Veronica Mars, Medium, Air America and The Minor Accomplisments of Jackie Woodman. Some of his silver screen credits include, Selena, The Master starring Jet Li, 2009 Sundance darling La Mission, Barrio Murders, Foodstamps, Suckers and The Perfect Game.

JOEL CELESTINO SETTLES is a multidisciplinary performing artist who owns and operates Creative Cultura, a cultural arts consulting & management company. He is a founding member of the award-winning performance group Comedia A Go-Go,the co-founder of SALTA the San Antonio Latino Theatre Alliance, and has written, directed and performed in an array of stage productions over the last 15 years. Some of his favorite productions have been Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll by Eric Bogosian (actor/director), La Reina del Acordeon: Eva Ybarra’s Life on Stage (writer/director) and El Padre: The Story of Hidalgo’s Revolution (writer/director/actor). He was a member of the 2014 Directors Lab at the Lincoln Center in NYC, holds a BA in Political Science, recently served as the Performing Arts Director for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and currently serves on the board of directors for the San Antonio Cultural Arts organization.

MARILYN TORRES hails from Harlem, New York. She’s graced the stage in plays such as Water By The Spoonful at The Old Globe, Breath Boom at Yale Rep, Agony of the Agony at The Vineyard, Bike America at The Alliance Theater and Ma-Yi Theater. She was also part of The Tribeca Theater Festival in Late Night, Early Morning, produced by Robert De Niro. It went on to be produced at The HBO Comedy Festival where it won a Jury Award for Best Theater Piece. Film credits include Maid in Manhattan, Lady in the Water, Bella, Bernard & Doris, The Arrangement, Musical Chairs and Home. She’s had principle roles on Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, The Unusuals, Flight of the Concord, Third Watch and The Chris Rock Show. Her most recent roles were on Marvel’s Daredevil, Untitled Louie CK film and The Big Sick. Marilyn has written solo shows called I Have Something to Say and Unzipped. Her monologues have been featured on ShowTime at the Apollo and HBO Latino. Torres is a teaching artist who works in publics schools, juvenile centers and Riker Island.

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She received her BFA in acting from Texas State University’s theatre program, class of 2015 and is a graduate of the Penn State University’s MFA Acting program (December 2017). She has played roles such as the Jack Daniel’s-toting Marie from Robert O’Hara’s Barbeque, the ambitious hopeless romantic Olivia from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the powerhouse care-taker Athena from Mary Zimmerman’s Argonautika. She originated the role of Randy in Hansol Jung’s Double Think at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa and the revised Janeece in the world premiere of Ruben Santiago Hudson’s Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine. The Black and Latino Playwrights Conference was a pivotal experience for her and she is ecstatic to be back as a guest artist! “Bobcat Pride for Life!"

As a playwright, Sid has penned various stage productions in both Chicago and Los Angeles. Sid also wrote and performed his one man show Brother’s Tellin’ which opened for Lily Tomlin’s one woman show, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in Los Angeles. Sid was selected to participate in the Mark Taper Forum Blacksmyth’s Development Playwright program and as a resident playwright for the Queensbury Theatre in Houston. Lastly, he enjoyed serving as a dramaturg for Eugene Lee’s recent play, Emancipation Jones.

SHIRLEY JO FINNEY is an award-winning international director of theatre, television, and film, as well as an accomplished actress. She has worn her director’s hat in some of the most respected regional theater houses across the country including The McCarter Theatre, The Pasadena Playhouse, The Goodman Theater, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Fountain Theater, LA Theater Works, the Crossroads Theater Company, Actors Theater of Louisville Humana Festival, the Sundance Theater Workshop, The Mark Taper Forum Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the State Theater in Pretoria, South Africa. Most recently, Miss Finney directed and developed the critically acclaimed world premiere of Citizen: An American Lyric, by the award-winning PEN poet Claudia Rankin. Other recent works include Facing Our Truth: The Trayvon Martin Project at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. The Lark Foundations rolling premier of The Road Weeps by Marcus Gardley at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sisters Plays, Lisa B Thompson’s Single Black Female at the Crossroads Theatre Company, and Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit 67 at the Penumbra Theatre. She also helmed the international all South African Opera Winnie based on the life of political icon Winnie Mandela. Miss Finney is the recipient of prestigious awards such a SDCF’s 2017 Denham Fellowship for her production of Runaway Home by Jeremy Kamps, the LA Drama Critics Milton Katsleas Distinguished Career Award, the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award, The Los Angeles Drama Critics Award, LA Weekly Award, The NAACP and the Santa Barbara Independent Award for her directing work. She was honored with the UCLA Department of Stage Film and Television Distinguished Alumni Award, The Black Alumni Association’s Dr. Beverly Robinson Award for Excellence in the Arts, She is an alumnus of the American Film Institute’s Director Workshop for Women and holds an MFA degree from UCLA. She is also a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the Director’s Guild, and the Screen Actor’s Guild.

HERBERT ORLANDO SIGUENZA is a founding member of the performance group Culture Clash, along with Richard Montoya and Ric Salinas. Culture Clash is the most produced Latino theatre troupe in the United States. Founded in San Francisco in 1984, Culture Clash has performed on the stages of America’s top regional theatres including the Mark Taper Forum, The Kennedy Center, The Arena Stage, The Alley Theatre, The Berkeley Repertory, Yale Repertory, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Rep, Syracuse Stage, The Huntington Stage and countless universities and colleges. Siguenza has co-written, and/or performed in the following Culture Clash plays: American Night (Commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Palestine New Mexico, Water and Power, Chavez Ravine (all three commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum), Peace (Commissioned by The Getty Villa), Zorro in Hell! (Commissioned by the Berkeley Rep), The Birds (Commissioned by the Berkeley Rep and South Coast Rep), Bordertown (commissioned by the San Diego Rep), Radio Mambo, Nuyorican Stories, Anthems, S.O.S., A Bowl of Beings, The Mission and others. As a solo writer and performer Siguenza has produced Cantinflas! and A Weekend with Pablo Picasso currently on national tour. His latest plays Steal Heaven and El Henry (Best New Play San Diego Critics Circle Award 2014) have been produced at the San Diego Repertory and La Jolla Playhouse. Siguenza is also an accomplished visual artist and has exhibited both nationally and internationally. He has a BFA in printmaking from the California College of Arts, Oakland, California. TV and Film credits: Ben Ten Alien Swarm for the Cartoon Network, Larry Crowne feature film directed by Tom Hanks. He recently voiced main characters in Pixar’s Academy Award winning animation Coco.

MESSIAH HAGOOD-BARNES is a Miami native currently living in New York City. Messiah is a rising senior studying Theatre and Dramatic Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a current recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Award for Comic Playwriting, and semi-finalist for the Dr. Gaffney’s Competition Playwriting Award.

JELISA JAY ROBINSON is a playwright and writer from Houston, Texas. Her plays include The Stories of Us, Fae and Paciencia, and Delivery. Her work has been developed and/or presented at the Teatrx’s Reflexion: The New Works Project (Houston), Austin Latino New Play Festival, Teatro Vivo (Austin), Now Africa Festival (New York), The Black and Brown Theatre (Detroit), The Rec Room (Houston) and Vision Latino (Chicago). Jelisa’s short works include Minutes and Digits and Fight Til the Death (14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival), Payment, Freedom, and Dreamer’s Cry (Austin One Minute Play Festival), Mi, Myself and Ay, Papi , The Third Wheel, Pop-Buelo (Fornes Playwriting Workshop Presentation 2016), and Ice Cold Milk and an Oreo Cookie (UT Lab Theatre 2010). Jelisa was commissioned by Echame Un Ojo Latinx Arts festival in Austin to write Fae and Paciencia and was one of 14 playwrights nationwide chosen to participate in the inaugural Maria Irene Fornes Playwriting Workshop taught by Playwright Migdalia Cruz. She was also one of five playwrights nationally selected as a finalist for the inaugural Seattle Public Theatre Emerald New Play Prize. Jelisa has held residencies with Vision Latino Theatre Company (Chicago) and the National Playwrights Retreat (Colorado). Jelisa has hosted writing workshops at Texas State University, University of Texas - RGV and other spaces in Texas. She was an alternate for the national Fulbright Fellowship in 2018.

JADE KING CARROLL is a a NYC based director. Selected credits include: Proof of Love (Audible/New York Theatre Workshop); Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth (Playwrights Realm); Detroit ‘67, Intimate Apparel, The Piano Lesson (McCarter Theatre); Having Our Say, The Piano Lesson (Hartford Stage); From the Author of (The Rep); Having Our Say (Long Wharf Theatre); The Revolutionists, Sunset Baby (City Theatre); Autumn’s Harvest (Lincoln Center Institute); Skeleton Crew (Dorset Theater Festival, Marin Theater/Theatreworks – Palo Alto); Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money (Atlantic Theater); alondra was here (Wild Project); The Etymology of Bird (CitiParks Summer Stages); A Trouble in Mind (Two River Theater & Playmaker’s Rep); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Whipping Man (Portland Stage). Associate Director for A Streetcar Named Desire and The Gin Game (Broadway); The Children’s Monologues (Carnegie Hall). Jade received the Paul Green Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Professional. Past Fellowships & Awards: New York Theatre Workshop, Van Lier, Second Stage Theatre, Women’s Project, McCarter Theatre, SUNY 40 under 40, TCG New Generations Future Leader, and Gates Millennium Scholar.

MARTINE KEI-GREEN is an Assistant Professor at SUNY: New Paltz, a freelance dramaturg, and the President of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Her dramaturgical credits include: The Greatest with the Louisville Orchestra, Fences and One Man, Two Guvnors at Pioneer Theatre Company; Clearing Bombs and Nothing Personal at Plan-B Theatre; Sweat at the Goodman; productions of Radio Golf, Five Guys Named Moe, Blues for An Alabama Sky, Gem of the Ocean, Waiting for Godot, Iphigenia at Aulis, Seven Guitars, The Mountaintop, Home, and Porgy and Bess at the Court Theatre; The Clean House at CATCO; Hairspray, The Book of Will, Shakespeare in Love, UniSon, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, Comedy of Errors, To Kill A Mockingbird, The African Company Presents Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Fences at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

WILLIE DIRDEN is happy to be participating in this project. He is a veteran of regional theatre. His stage credits include A Raisin In The Sun, Cementville, Lilies of the Field, Waiting for Godot, Of Mice and Men, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Jitney, Two Trains Running, The Boys Next Door, The Fantastics, Twelve Angry Men, A Hatful of Rain, Finnian’s Rainbow, and The Manchurian Candidate. Willie’s film credits include, Rough Riders, Arlington Road, The Rookie, and The M. C. Hammer Story.

MARISA VARELA was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she studied at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. Her solid and vast career spans 40 years of experience between Argentina, Puerto Rico and Texas in numerous television shows, soap operas, commercials, plays and a dozen films. She has also written and produced theater for children and adults. Her latest work in theater includes: Bless me Ultima (Ultima), Burning Patience (Rosa), The House of Bernarda Alba (Poncia) for which she received an ATAC Globe Award for excellence as Leading actress in a drama. Dead Man Cellphone, for which she received an ATAC Globe Award Nomination in Comedy category. She was also in The Shoes, industria Argentina at Matari Theater, Into The Pines at the Black & Latino Conference (2010) at TXST, Electricidad (grandmother), Among the Sand and Smog (the mother). Las Nuevas Tamaleras (Dona Mercedes), Lydia (Lydia), Black Out Day ( Lilian), The Clean House (Anna), for which she received an ATAC globe award for Excellence as Supporting Actress In A Comedy. Los Locos Bajitos (Enriqueta Mary), Next (Loli), Today I Am Happy (Zulema), The Shoes are a series of one-woman shows that she performs on tour. She was also in Mission Park, directed by Bryan Ramirez, and Manglehorn, directed by David Gordon Green (sharing scenes with Al Pacino). She is so proud to be back at the Black and Latino Celebration once again.

MELISSA MAXWELL is a director, writer, actor and motivational speaker. As a writer, she is a Julie Harris Playwright Competition finalist, has received five Black Theater Alliance Award nominations, an Audelco Award nomination and a New Professional Theatre’s Our Words Award. She has directed at Repertory Theatre of Saint Louis, Soho Playhouse, The Pearl Theatre Company, The Kitchen Theatre, Off the WALL Theatre, Vital Theatre and various universities across the country. She is a company member of the Great River Shakespeare Festival. She has also performed at George Street Playhouse, The Public Theatre in Lewiston Maine, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Pearl Theatre Company, Capital Rep, Helen Hayes Performing Arts, Cincinnati Playhouse, Crossroads Theatre. Television and film credits include: Mrs. Fletcher, HOSTAGES, The Thomas Crown Affair, Law & Order, The Sopranos, Third Watch, Oz, Special Victims Unit, Never Again, Petty Crimes, 13 Conversations About One Thing. Her plays include, Salt in a Wound, Unrequited Love and Fetus Envy. She has presented two TEDx Talks. Taking Ownership: Melissa Maxwell at TEDxMosesBrownSchool and On Courage: Melissa Maxwell at TEDxBarnardCollegeWomen. She is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC and the Dramatists Guild.

ROB URBINATI is a freelance director and writer based in New York City. He has directed at The Public Theater, Culture Project, Abingdon Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Pearl Theatre, New York University and theatres and universities across the country. He is Director of New Play Development at Queens Theatre. Rob’s plays include Mama’s Boy, Hazelwood Jr. High, Murder On West Moon Street and Death by Design, published by Samuel French. UMW: University of Mostly Whites, The Queen Bees and Cole Porter’s Nymph Errant are published by Steel Springs Stage Rights. His book, Play Readings: A Complete Guide for Theatre Practitioners is published by Focal Press/Routledge. His plays have received over 200 productions worldwide. Rob is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

CHRISTIN EVE CATO is a NYC based playwright and performer. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Indiana University. She completed her BA degree from Fordham University, and is also a graduate from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and the Performing Arts. Cato is affiliated with NYC theater companies, Pregones/PRTT, INTAR Theatre, and Hip-Hop Theatre Company, Rhymes Over Beats. With a Puerto Rican and Jamaican heritage, Cato’s artistic style is heavily influenced by Caribbean culture and the Afrolatinx diaspora. Plays include: Stoop Pigeons (2020 O’Neill NPC Semi-Finalist); jelly beans (Indiana University); What’s Up With Marjorie? (Teatro Vivo); From Hunts Point To Whitlock (Pregones Theater/Harlem9); Smacked-Up Love (Indiana University); and Just A Visit (“More Than Maria” Festival @ Play Your Part Seattle). Check out more of her work: www.christinevecato.com “I grew up artistically quenched: the sounds of the city, the smells of arroz con guandules and jerk chicken, family drama, neighborhood tragedies, adolescent curiosity, first love joys, triumphs and struggle. However, any time I watched television or was lucky enough to see theater, I longed to see myself portrayed. I longed to see stories that 9 were like mine- broken, jaded, with beams of hope found amongst lurking shadows. Stories about the street. Stories about the conflicting things I felt- being AfroLatina in a white world, being financially poor with a rich imagination, being underprivileged in opportunities but privileged with a good education, knowing my parents but never having their full parental support... This is why I write. This is why I create. Because somewhere out there, there’s another brown kid who is bright and impressionable, who grew up way before they needed to. This kid wants to be recognized and doesn’t want to feel alone, they fantasize about a world that sees them. They don’t want to be silenced.”- Christin Eve Cato

CELESTE BEDFORD WALKER’S eclectic award-winning canon includes over forty plays, videos, documentaries and films that have been performed and viewed in major venues across the country. She has received numerous commissions to write dramas, comedies, and musicals for theaters, schools, museums, and organizations. Recognized by the U.S. Congress for her historical contribution as producer and author of works that bring to light lost stories of African American history, her self-produced military drama Camp Logan has toured over 400 colleges/universities, military installations and commercial venues, including The Texas Festival at the Kennedy Center. Walker has received several honors and awards in theatre, including The Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Theatre Awards for Best Playwright/Best Play for positive portrayal of Blacks in the media; the National Black Theatre’s August Wilson Playwriting Award for significant contributions to Black and American Theatre; finalist in the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for outstanding work by a female playwright; finalist in 38th Annual Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival; BroadwayWorld.com Best Play Award; AUDELCO’s Best Revival of a Play, The Ensemble Theatre’s Salute to Texas Playwrights and others. She was commissioned to write a holiday musical as part of the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle grant for Houston’s Ensemble Theatre. Recently, her historical drama The Red Blood of War was selected to participate in the 39th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival New Play Lab in Independence Kansas. Due to COVID-19 it was postponed to spring 2021. Currently, as a member of Honor Roll! a theater advocacy and action group of women+ playwrights over forty, she and the other playwrights are joining forces to produce the readings of more than a dozen plays and monologues about Black, Indigenous and other women of color who have died at the hands of police. The readings will be performed virtually on October 22-23 and will include two keynote speakers. Walker’s work is also featured in the anthology Acting Up and Getting Down published by the University of Texas Press. A monologue from her play The Wreckin’ Ball about gentrification, was accepted for 100 Monologues From New Plays – Men, fall 2021, publisher Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. In addition to being a proud council member of San Marcos’ own Texas Institute of Letters, she’s a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Her plays, universal in theme, come out of the Black experience, embracing the sacred and the mundane, the serious and the comic, with an awesome delight in the wisdom and the witlessness of the human condition.

LYNNIE GODFREY studied Directing with Lloyd Richards. She is the recipient of the TYRONE GUTHRIE Award for Excellence in Directing, the NAACP Award for Producing among others. Directing credits include: the off-Broadway presentations of Unentitled by Charles White at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Thornton Wilder’s Infancy, Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Athol Fugard’s Boseman and Lena, Charles Fuller’s All’s Fair and Ossie Davis’ Purlie! Readings include Charles White’s Legacy and Celeste Bedford Walker’s Greenwood: An American Dream Destroyed. Ms. Godfrey is the Founder and Artistic and Producing Director of Essence of Acting. An invitational only member ensemble dedicated to providing the actors with creative opportunities and challenges their training and experiences. Essence of Acting is comprised with actors from Broadway, Television and film and new graduated acting students.

ARLENE CHICO-LUGO is an actor, educator, and producer with over 20 years experience in film, television, and the stage. Favorite theater performances: Native Gardens- Arizona Theatre Company (nominated best comedic actress), Evensong- Astoria Performing Arts Center (nominated outstanding actress in a lead role). Arlene is co-founder of Liberation Arts Collective and produced the award-winning play Where You From? What You Be About?. Film: “What is Was” (Amazon). TV: “Gotham”, “The Blacklist”, “Royal Pains”, “Law & Order.”

BRENDA THOMAS DENMARK has appeared on numerous stages including the Broadway productions of Neil Simon’s Proposals, and August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone. Other stages include Lincoln Center Theatre: (God’s Heart); Negro Ensemble Company: (From The Mississippi Delta); NFT (Trial of One Short Sighted Black Woman…); Circle Repertory Theatre: (Keepin’ An Eye On Louie; Borderlines; and Raft of The Medusa); Long Warf Theatre: (The Day The Bronx Died and Amen Corner). Films include: “In Too Deep,” “Mixing Nia,” “Hurricane,” and “Center Stage”, to name a few. Her career includes multiple episodes of “Law and Order” “SVU” and “CI” along with commercials and voice overs. She is an AUDELCO Award Winner and a member of Essence of Acting (EOA).

JUDY TATE was an actor for 25 years until she realized she couldn’t continue to drag her daughter across the country. So she started writing because the goal is to live a creative life. Now she is a four-time Emmy Award winning writer and WGA award recipient. She’s written scripts and story for several TV shows and her plays have been produced and presented in theatres around the country. She’s a co-founder and Producing Artistic Director of The American Slavery Project, www.americanslaveryproject.org, a theatrical response to revisionism in American discourse around enslavement and its aftermath. She is also Founding Artistic Director of Stargate Theatre, a work-readiness program developed at Manhattan Theatre Club in which justice involved young men, write, rehearse and perform an original work on one of MTC’s stages to develop their voices and pro-social skills. She teaches at NYU, Drew University, MTC, TDF and Harlem Dramatic Writers Workshop.

KATHLEEN CAPDESUÑER [she/her/ella] is an immigrant raised and Florida grown, Cuban American director and producer working in English, Spanish y Spanglish. She’s deeply committed to democratizing modes of creation, increasing accessibility and representation in the industry, and championing the work of living writers.  Select Credits Include: “Oliver” (Community Producer/New York City Center), “Everybody” (Director/NYU), “The Detour Plays” (Director/Playwrights Horizons & The Parsnip Ship), Conducta de la Vida (Director/Repertorio Español), “Red Bike” (Director/The New School), “Into the Woods” (Community Producer/New York City Center), “True West” (Assistant Director/Broadway), “No Shade” (Director/NYU) and “SHAME” (Director/Orlando & Edinburgh International Fringe Festivals). Awards/Honors: New York Foundation for the Arts New Work Grant, The Civilians Director in Residence, Repertorio Español Van Lier Directing Fellow, Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, Roundabout Theatre Company Directing Fellow, McCarter Theatre Center Directing Apprentice, BroadwayWorld Regional Award: Best World Premiere, and Fulbright Scholar Semi-Finalist.

Jonathan Acosta is an Actor, Playwright, Director, and overall theatre maker with over a decade of experience. Jonathan received their BFA in Performance and Production in 2022 from Texas State University. They are currently working on their MFA in Acting at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, having just started their second year. Jonathan is proud to be working with his Alma Mater and is so excited to be a part of BLPC for the fourth time. Select acting credits include, U/S Treville in The Three Musketeers by Ken Ludwig (Asolo Rep), Claudio in Lydia by Octavio Solis (Texas State University), Pompey in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (Texas State University). Most recently he Assistant Directed Urbanite Theatre's production of That Must Be The Entrance To Heaven by Franky D. Gonzalez.

Ignoisco Miles is an artist, teacher and director living in Los Angeles, California, where he is currently working as a Visual and Performing Arts instructor at ISANA Nascent Academy. He has gained hands-on experience practicing and teaching within Black performance traditions through his studies at Indiana University in African American and African Diaspora Studies and his work as director Camp S.O.U.L. summer music intensive which is steeped in the history, performance, and practice of Black music in America. In addition to his work in the classroom, Miles has directed and music directed various productions and new works. Some of the projects he has led are original plays, Identify Me and Ripples in the Water, new works Boulevard of Bold Dreams and Bridging the Gap, as well as such productions as Aida, Choir Boy, and Matilda the musical and Mothers and Sons by Terrance McNally.

 

David J. Cork is an actor, writer, singer, and filmmaker from Indianapolis, Indiana. After graduating from New York University: Tisch School of the Arts, David became a pioneer in actors creating their own work. His first written work, Bi: The Webseries, featured David as the lead role and was highlighted in publications such as The Huffington Post, NBC OUT and Now This. Since then, David has gone on to appear in numerous productions including, Gun Hill (BET), WuTang: An American Saga (HULU), The Politician (NETFLIX), How to Load A Musket (Off Broadway) ABC’s Discover Showcase 2019, Nana's Boys (SHOWTIME) and most recently appearing in Run The World (STARZ), Raising Kanan (STARZ) and The Black List (NBC). @DavidJayOkay on Instagram.

www.ioanaalfonso.com

@ioanaalfonso

Angel is an actor, playwright, drag artist and director from Arlington, TX. She focuses on creating stories that highlight the divinity in Black and Latinx queer expression, with previous original works exploring traditional spiritual systems, voguing/ballroom culture and the importance of community. Last seen on stage at the Denver Fringe Festival in the role of Danielle for the award winning original play “Josie’s Diner”, she is excited for another opportunity to embrace her heritage and identity with “The Brunch Club”.

website: https://tinyurl.com/angelmiguelgarcia

instagram: @an.anointed.angel

Ngozi Anyanwu is a playwright, storyteller, and most recently a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award winner. Anyanwu will have a world premiere of her play at The Steppenwolfe Theater this fall 2024z Her most recent play LAST OF THE LOVE LETTERS just premiered at the Atlantic theater fall 2021. Previous productions include GOOD GRIEF (Vineyard Theatre in NYC / Center Theatre Group in LA) and THE HOMECOMING QUEEN (sold-out world premiere run at the Atlantic Theatre). GOOD GRIEF was on the Kilroys List 2016 and a semi finalist for the Princess Grace Award, and won the Humanitas Award. THE HOMECOMING QUEEN was on the Kilroys List 2017 and was a Leah Ryan Finalist. Her play NIKE… (Kilroys List 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T and Space on Ryder Farm. Ngozi also has commissions with NYU, The Old Globe, Two Rivers Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre, and Steppenwolf. Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Space on Ryder Farm, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film and Page 73. She attended Point Park University (BA in Theater Arts) and received her MFA in Acting from University of California, San Diego.

Carl Gonzales is a Mexican/Indigenous Director, Playwright, and Actor. Recent directing credits include Anna In The Tropics (B. Iden Payne award winner) Clyde's, La Planchada (Playwright, Frontera Fest best of fest 2023) and Even Flowers Bloom in Hell, Sometimes, La Pastorela, and The Library. Carl is also an Artistic Associate with Creative Action, where we introduce a combination of the arts and social justice issues with young people. Carl is an alumni of Texas State University(B.F.A. 09)

TV credits include the anthology HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A BLACK WOMAN (Showtime), DMZ (MAX) directed by Ava DuVernay, Issa Rae’s series, RAP SH*T (MAX) and the FX pilot PEEP SHOW. Film credits include INTERVENTION directed by Nicco Aeed and Marina Templesman. On stage, she was seen in the critically praised run of Dave Harris’ play EXCEPTION TO THE RULE for the Roundabout Underground. She received her BFA from CalArts and MFA from the Yale School of Drama