Welcome to The Workshop Theater’s 11th Annual “Out of the Hat” Festival!
52 ACTORS and 26 PLAYWRIGHTS
matched by random draw
CREATED 26 short PLAYS
Loosely inspired by the prompt “tomorrow”
This year's festival will be performed over 4 nights (December 2, 3, 4, and 6) at
Episcopal Actors Guild
1 East 29th Street
New York, NY
All curtains will be at 7pm.
Choose the evenings you'd like to attend, or buy tickets to all 4!
Tuesday, December 2
Death and a Bite by Paul Buzinski with Fred Velde* and Jill Melanie Wirth*
Artichoke by Vincent Marano with Michael Gnat* and Tom Berdik*
See You by Alyssa See-Tho with Jane Lincoln Taylor* and Angela Reynoso*
Fleet by Ashley M. Thomas with Celeste Samson and Ethan Cadoff*
A Treat by Michael Lazan with Lori Faiella* and Heather Massie*
Cup 'o Kindness by Jon Lonoff with Diánna Martin and Jackie Jenkins*
Wednesday, December 3
Every Tomorrow by Laura Hirschberg with Jose Perez and Erin Treadway*
Lucy and Natalie Address the United Nations General Assembly by Alex Dmitriev with Lucy McMichael* and Natalie Mosco*
Gouting by Dan Caffrey with David Pincus and Liz Passero*
Bottom Dollar by Nathaniel Foster with Joshua Hendricks and Kalonjee Gallimore*
Lavender’s Purple by Kari Swenson Riely with James Armstrong* and Cecily Lyn Benjamin*
Signifying Everything by Tracy Newirth with Elliot Hoke and Lynda Kennedy*
Hungry by Dana Leslie Goldstein with Joanie Schumacher* and Tony Travostino
Thursday, December 4
The Pupae by Amir-Gabriel Gad with Megan Lomax and Robert Meksin*
Love Machine by Cori Diaz with Wilson Hernandez and Jolie Cloutier
I Never Thought This Would Happen by SMJ with Katie Braden and Joe Burby*
Yelda by Isabel Monk Cade with Jeff Paul* and Jason Howard*
An Idea and an Action by Blake Bonilla with Clew* and Jessica Carmona*
3421351 by Utkarsh Rajawat with Simran Pal Kaur and Juliet Lin
Saturday, December 6
Tomorrow and Today Seem Like Yesterday by Seth Bauer with Charles E. Gerber* and Gemma Berg
Let's Not Start the Gig Again by Thalia Sablon with Nate James Shelton* and Ben Sumrall*
U Gud? by M. D. Schaffer and Ginaury Vásquez with Aja Downing*
A Pint and a Plan by Liz Amberly with Christine Powers and Jody Prusan*
5iveSteak by Daniel Holzman with Emily Zacharias* and Joseph Franchini*
Please Talk Me Out of This by C.S. Hanson with Wende O'Reilly and Margo Hammond*
Dumpster Jam and Other Renewable Things by Erika Phoebus with Leslie Kincaid* and Sharahya Carter
*Equity Member appearing with permission of Actors’ Equity Association without benefit of an Equity contract in this Off-Off Broadway production.
Fred Velde is a native New Yorker and has been part of the New York theater scene for over thirty years. He has been a member of The Harbor Theatre since 1995 and is currently a member of The Workshop Theater. His theatre credits include The Price of Genius on Broadway, Sex by Mae West, OJ-Broadway, and Traveling Souls in Moscow as a member of The Phoenix Ensemble. As well as theater, he has appeared in film, soaps, Comedy Central and commercials. He is a member of AEA, SAG and AFTRA.
Jill Melanie Wirth is an actress/singer/writer who has worked in theatre, film, tv, concerts, commercials, and voice-overs in NY, Chicago, LA, and London. Off-Broadway: Kithless in Paradise. TV-Film: The Normal Heart (HBO). Solo Theatrical Concert: This is for You Daisy Ellington (92Y). Opera: Blind Injustice (MasterVoices). Jill has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, BAM, Vineyard Theatre, York Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, and La Mama. Jill has worked under the direction of luminaries Tom O'Horgan, André De Shields, Patricia Birch, Ryan Murphy and Ted Sperling. Jill and her husband David Wirth create/perform dramedies that examine End-Of-Life Issues, Historical Topics, and Sexual Matters. JillMelanieWirth.weebly.com
Vincent Marano is a Bronx-based playwright, director and dramaturg. An Indie Fixture for over thirty years he has done everything from directing musicals and lighting design to translating Machiavelli’s The Mandrake to critical acclaim. He has written dozens of plays produced in Tri-state area. He won the BRIO Award for Playwriting twice, in 2010 and 2023. He was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Playwriting Conference and Coverfly Sort Screenplay Award. He's been nominated for NYIT Awards for Best Short and Full-Length Script numerous times. Active member of The Workshop Theater, ShopTalk, NYTW Mind the Gap Program, The Actor's Studio Playwright/Director Unit and is a Council Member of the Episcopal Actors Guild. His one-act, Get With The Program was produced at the Chain Theatre Winter Festival 2025. Next up, his play By Chance will be part of the 2025 International Human Rights Arts Festival Celebration of LGBTQIA+ Stories on December 10th, 2025. Follow Vincent on Instagram @vincentmarano2
Michael Gnat recently costarred in the premiere of Bill Rogers’s Breaking the Trust (dir. G.vanHeerden), followed by two excellent short plays: Joe Hamel’s The Pow Wow (dir. C.Goutman) and Cate Allen’s Aftermath of a Dinner Party (dir. E.Nightengale) at New Circle. This summer he played Gloucester in King Lear (Theater2020). Other recent NYC: Marc Weiner’s Hidden (2023); George Pfirrmann’s Jersey Stories (livestream, CreateTheater, 2024); and Dave Doster’s Guardian Angel Blues (2024; dir. J.Strong). Some NYC favorites: Eddie Antar’s Drama Desk–nominated The Navigator and John McKinney’s The Chekhov Dreams (both dir. L.K.Burby); Evan Smith’s The Savannah Disputation and Sam Graber’s Shooter (including European tour) (both dir. K.Hilbe); Twelfth Night (Malvolio; dir. K.Curtiss); Michael Folie’s Slave Shack (dir. D.Whitfield); and Dark Planet (one-acts, Planet Connections). Feature films: The Subject, Off Jackson Avenue, Bobby G. Can’t Swim. Web: Scott Sickles’s Marianas Trench (Portland Stage, dir. K.R.Free); ONN’s News from the Year 2137. AEA, SAG–AFTRA. Thxoxox, Linda!
Alyssa See-Tho is a multiracial, queer, Catholic writer who has worked on a variety of forms and cares deeply about creating social change through storytelling. Alyssa’s work has been developed and performed by theaters in New York City (Rattlestick Theater, The Tank, Workshop Theater, Et Alia Theater Company, Caveat, and The Green Room 42) and the San Francisco Bay Area (Gunn High School), produced online (What Next web series, COCAWrites: Plays on Zoom Festival), and on the radio (WNYU). She is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and the UNTITLED Musical Writers Group. She graduated from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University with a B.F.A. in Dramatic Writing and Performance Studies. Beyond writing, Alyssa has also produced and directed plays, short films, multimedia works, musicals, and web series.
Angela Reynoso is an AEA award-winning actress, playwright, director and multimedia DominiYorker artist born and raised in The Bronx with a BFA in Multimedia Performing Arts, Theatre track from Lehman College. She is a Concept Development grantee of the 2023 Bronx Cultural Vision Fund for her full-length debut of The Lambs of the Bronx. She is a recipient for the City Artist Corps Grant where she produced and starred in Broadway Bound Theatre Festival’s, The Love Hate Club. Off-Broadway/Regional credits include: Domino Effect (Gisel) with The People’s Theatre, La Gringa (Maria) with American Stage, Vámonos (Yoira) with INTAR Theatre. Web series credits: #30s (Aleia) on Youtube. Directing credits include: A Boy Called Lobo, with INTAR (Assistant Director), Ready or Not, for the Framing the Female Gaze Exhibit, Over the Wall a devised piece with Labyrinth Theatre Intensive, Love Stings with Conchshell International Film Festival. She starred as Jada in the award-winning Best Bronx Film, Alone With My Demons, part of the 2020 NYC Quarantine Film Festival. More information on www.TheAngelaReynoso.com
If June Ambrose and James Baldwin had a baby, it’d be Ashley! Ashley M. Thomas (she/her(s)/herself) was born and raised in Harlem, NY with roots in the deep South. She’s done a little bit of it all: writing, dramaturgy, directing, producing, teaching, and organizing, which she’s most proud of combining altogether as the Producing Artistic Director of Yale Cabaret. As an artist, all of her work centers on Black life from the mundane to the surreal. Her plays, poems, creative criticism, and short stories all are crafted with a spirited curiosity and passion for storytelling. Her work has been published in Jabberwock, Broadway News, and 3Views Theater. As a dramaturg, she helps writers get clear about their story and characters through deep listening and deeper questions. Ashley has dramaturged over 20 works both regional & Off-Broadway. She is a proud alumna of the First Wave Urban Arts Scholarship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work. Ashley also has developed work at The Workshop Theater and INTAR Theatre’s Unit 52. Somewhere between arts and administration, Ashley graduated with her MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale School of Drama. She enjoys a good fiction book, well-designed concert merch, and cooking for her loved ones. She’s a proud godmother to a teeny toddler. Ashley is a Libra Sun, Aries Rising, and Taurus Moon. You can catch her at ashleywrites.art
Celeste Samson (they/them) is an interdisciplinary theatre artist and costume designer from Queens, NYC. Off Broadway: Alexandria (J) at Dixon Place and Ramaavan (Surpanakha) at the American Theatre for actors. Recent roles/undergraduate work: Antigone (Ismene), Terminating or Sonnet LXXV or “Lass Meine Schmerzen Nicht Verloren Sein” or Ambivalence (Costume Design), Replacing Linda (Costume Design), Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (Scratchy), The Bacchae (Bacchae Chorus), Call Me By Any Other Name... Just As Sweet (Romeo), Miss You Like Hell (Costume Design), We Are Proud to Present A Presentation on the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915 (Costume Design), Deja Vu on the Obituary Page (Chloe), “Girl Scouts Play” (Girl Scout #2), and Revenge of Eve (Lillith), Love Interest (Beck Fears), Tourist Trap (Costume Design), True Crime (Sami), Town Hall (Costume Design), Infinite (Costume Design), Pliable Futures (The Influencer), True Crime (Nancy), Somebody Told Me There’s a Monster in the Lake (Robin), Short Plays Where the Queers Win (mostly) (Darrel), Hope Is The Thing With Feathers (Scott), Short Plays Where the Gays Win (Jo), Going Over It Again (Ava) and Gray Mud (Rachel). They are also a cast member at Timeslip Rocky Horror Picture Show and an improviser with Letter of Marque Theater Company. @celsolstice on Instagram
Michael Lazan is a writer who is a long-time member of The Workshop Theater who has also had his plays produced at or with Ensemble Theatre Studio, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, HERE, the "A Train Plays," and many others. He has written plays for the Out Of The Hat festival since 2000.
Lori Faiella has been a WorkShop member for many years and loves being given the opportunity to be a part of a new play! She has appeared in many WorkShop productions including LOL, From the Top and American Thighs. Other New York productions include Stay Over, Life, Death & Baseball, and Priscilla's Neurosis, a Samuel French Festival Finalist. Currently she is working on audiobooks from her home studio. Thanks WorkShop for continuing the Out of Hat tradition. www.lorifaiella.com
Fulbright Specialist Heather Massie is a NYC actor, playwright, and producer. Originally from Virginia, Ms. Massie has always been fascinated by the sciences, especially Astronomy. She studied Astrophysics at the University of Virginia, and Theatre Arts at The Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi. She has performed extensively in NYC and throughout the US. She currently tours the world, with her 31x Award-Winning, Internationally Acclaimed solo show "HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr", celebrating Hollywood film star and genius inventor Hedy Lamarr as a woman of science and technology. Massie has toured the show through 26 countries on 5 continents. This is the first in her planned trilogy of solo shows celebrating women in science, the next will be "Flying with Sally Ride! America’s First Woman in Space". She has been sponsored by US Embassies in Zimbabwe, Sweden, Iceland, and Tunisia. She served with her show as a Fulbright Specialist to South Africa through the US Department of State, World Learning, and the US Embassy South Africa; and again as a Fulbright Specialist to Australia through the US Department of State, World Learning, Fulbright Australia, Royal Society Victoria, and Australian Science Communicators.
Jon Lonoff’s writing credits range from an adaptation of Aesop’s Fables for marionettes to a training film for Sunoco gas station attendants. His theatrical and film writing has included The Garbage Cantata (with Barry Keating), a musical about recycling; The Dark Knight, an independent film which won the Silver Award for Comedy at the Houston WorldFest Film Festival and was subsequently developed into an NBC-TV movie; and Key Changes and Other Disasters, awarded Best Musical Revue by the National Association of Cabaret and Concert Artists. His play Skin Deep, originally developed at the Workshop Theater Company in New York City, is published by Samuel French and has received over 60 stock and amateur productions throughout the US and internationally, including Sweden, Ireland, Australia and, currently, in repertory in Budapest, Hungary, under the title “Inch by Inch.”
Jackie Jenkins has crisscrossed the country performing theatre in multiple states before landing in NYC some 30 years ago. Having performed on stages both Off and further Off Broadway. She is a member of the Workshop Theater and Love Creek Productions. Roles have included Anna in “Mesquite NV” by Leegred Stevens, Catherine in “Miss Reardon Drinks A Little”, Beverly in Michael Cristofer’s, “Shadow Box” and Somerset Maugham’s, “Our Betters” . Jackie would be remiss in not mentioning her adoration for the work of Paul Buzinski, having performed in “Selection Day”, “Church Music”, “Dinner Party”, “Carefree Drive”, and “Fiddlin’ and Burnin”. SAG-AFTRA/AEA
Laura Hirschberg is a New York City-based writer, director, and stage manager. Her plays, including VERONA WALLS, FIRE THIEF, and SUPERTOPIA, have been developed, workshopped, and produced by Harvard University, Everyday Inferno, the Workshop Theater, Looking Glass Theatre, Caps Lock Theater, the Frigid Festival, LAB Theater Project, and many others. Her writing has been published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books and Smith & Kraus. Laura’s work has received special recognition from the Jewish Plays Project and from Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries at the American Shakespeare Center. Laura's plays to date have featured titans, Shakespearean characters, cowboys, superheroes, lady pirates, and the occasional talking whale. They also explore family, friendship, loyalty, love. And in one case, Big Foot. Visit New Play Exchange (newplayexchange.org) to explore more of Laura's work. For more information about Laura's latest projects, please visit www.laurahirschberg.com.
José A. Perez is a poet and actor whose work is rooted in lived experience and transformation. Raised in NYC’s foster care system and carceral systems, he discovered his artistic voice behind the wall while serving 20 years in prison as teenage lifer—sharpening his craft as a performer, writer, and storyteller while earning college degrees through Bard, Nyack, and New York Theological Seminary. José has since brought his artistry to stages across New York City, including Bushwick Starr Theater (Quince), The Shed (Chäk), Workshop Theater (When This Is Over, Out of the Hat Festival), and The Public Theater (Private Party). His poetry has been featured at MAD Wednesdays at The Shrine, Compagnia de’ Colombari’s Whitman on Walls, the Everson Museum of Art, and in university workshops and community spaces. Beyond the stage, José serves as a Program Strategist at Children’s Defense Fund–NY and a national child welfare expert, and contributes to NYC’s Reentry Council Board, grounding his creative work in service and advocacy. He is the author of ’Till Ink Meets Paper: Poems for Guendalina...My Mommy (2024) available on Amazon, poems dedicated to how he and his mother as both prisoners on Rikers rekindled their love with love letters and poetry.
Alex Dmitriev has written several plays as part of the Workshop Theater’s Out of the Hat series. As an actor, he most recently played Phil Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten, for Brave New World Rep; Morty in After The Revolution at Morningside Players. Before that, Papa Bettinger in AMT Theater’s production of Albert M. Tapper’s Bettinger’s Luggage. As a member of the Workshop Theater, he was seen in Leegrid Steven’s Mesquite, NV and Alan C. Brindel’s Through The Darkness. As a director, Alex has work at regional theaters across the country, in Canada, and in London. In NYC, seven shows for the York Theater Company including the Drama Desk nominated Lost in the Stars; the Abingdon Theatre, Pearl Theater and the Irish Rep. For Brave New World, he director Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge on a barge in Red Hook. He spent the pandemic rereading the Greeks, out of which he wrote The House of Atreus, a series of connected monologues starting with Zeus and tracing the lineage from Tantalus to Orestes; BNW presented a workshop of this piece at the Greek Temple in Prospect Park.
Lucy McMichael is pleased to be performing once again in Out of the Hat. New York City theater credits include: Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theater, Urban Stages, The Chain, Theater for the New City, the Workshop Theater Company, Abingdon Theatre Company, 600 Highwaymen. Select Film/TV: “Dare” (Sundance), “Knife Point” (Sundance), “The Christening of William Trumbull,” Who She Was,” “What If I Were You,” “The Choice,” “Law & Order.” Upcoming film: “Face to Face,” and “Waterfront.” Lucy’s reel is available on IMDB and Actors Access. AEA/SAG-AFTRA
Natalie Mosco Broadway debut in the original cast of Hair. Her career has spanned multiple continents: Broadway (The Magic Show), Off-Broadway (Housewives of Mannheim), and regional USA (including Paper Mill’s celebrated Follies); London's West End (Grand Hotel) and Paris (Hair); and Australia (Cleopatra, Stepping Out, Grease, The Archbishop's Ceiling, Dames at Sea, etc.). Television credits include "Carson's Law" (Australia) as well as many other series Down Under. She has danced with the Royal Ballet, written and performed in A Brush with Georgia O'Keeffe (WorkShop, Off-Broadway, Smithsonian) and Wallis in Wonderland (pre-production), and performed in her co-written Get Happy! (a tribute to Harold Arlen).
Dan Caffrey is a Brooklyn-based playwright and pop-culture critic. Most recently, his stories have focused on the physical and psychological effects of the climate crisis, including River Watchers, an immersive theatre experience on a moving 14-person canoe in Brooklyn's Newtown Creek (co-created with Dina Vovsi and Jens Rasumussen). Dan is a proud alumnus of several Workshop Theater Intensives and the 2023/2024 Civilians' R&D Group. He has been a three-time O'Neill Finalist and seven-time Semi-Finalist, two-time Finalist for Princeton University and The Civilians' The Next Forever project, Jerome Fellowship Semi-Finalist, shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship's 2021 Theatre Prize, Semi-Finalist for the Princess Grace Awards Playwriting Fellowship, Resident Artist at Tofte Lake Center, M.F.A. Scholar at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and his work has been published in several anthologies by Smith & Kraus, including The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2021. His plays have recently been developed/produced by Gloucester Stage, Think Tank Theatre, the Atlantic Acting School, Hot Playwright Summer, The Orchard Project, American Records, Mixily Presents, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, Jarrott Productions, Kitchen Dog Theater, Hot Kitchen Collective, Genesis Ensemble, Otherworld Theatre Company, and Pegasus PlayLab, Sundown Collaborative Theatre, The Road Theatre, as well as many colleges and universities all around the country. His play "A Seed" was part of the 46th Annual Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, produced by Concord Theatricals. His play "Duckass" was part of the 2022 festival, making it to the final 12. Dan has also written for a variety of pop-culture publications, including The A.V. Club, Consequence, Pitchfork, and Vox. His first book, Radiohead FAQ, is currently available from Rowman & Littlefield. He co-hosts The Losers' Club: A Stephen King Podcast (recipient of Joe Bob Briggs' Silver Bolo Award For Excellence In Horror Media) and Halloweenies: A Horror Franchise Podcast.
Nathaniel Foster is a New York City-based playwright and performer. He was a 2017 Kennedy Center New Play Dramaturgy Fellow, a 2018 ASTEP Artist as Citizens Fellow, a 2018 Cape Cod Theatre Project New Play Development Fellow, and a 2019 New Play Development Apprentice at The Public Theater. He was a member of The Workshop Theatre's Winter//Spring 2020 writers' intensive. He was a 2020-2021 ArtHouse Inkubator Playwright and a 2021 resident playwright at The Strides Collective. He was a finalist for the 2024 Ojai Playwrights Conference, a member of The Kennedy Center's 2024 Black Playwrights Gathering Cohort. He was the recipient of the 2018 Kennedy Center Ken Ludwig Young Playwright Award. His plays have been seen or developed at The Kennedy Center, The Workshop Theatre, New York Theatre Festival, The Brick, Permafrost Theatre, Fort Collins Fringe Festival, Southern Utah University, Pharmacy Theatre, Mirrobox Theatre, The Strides Collective, Live and in Color, The Hollywood Fringe Festival, and The Tank.
Hailing from Central Jersey, Joshua Hendricks made his professional debut as a child actor in several television and commercials appearances, including an ad for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2013. Since then, he has undergone training at NYU Tisch, gaining BFA in Drama and a Minor in Filmmaking and Production. Additionally, he was able to receive training at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London! His recent credits include roles in short films such as “Ty” in Roast (Dir. Liz Kurtz & Lauryn Darden, AFHS Productions) and "Chase Benjamin" in BlackStar Film Fest’s 2023 film The Freedom to Fall Apart (Dir. Dave Gaines). He’s also performed in Pushcart Players' theatrical productions of Cuentos del Árbol as "Man Two" and Lift Every Voice: A Letter to the Editor as "Junebug". His most recent work was in Soul Soiree’s The Monologue Slam sponsored by BET! He is very excited to be a part of this project and hopes to continue to grow as both an artist and human being.
Kari Swenson Riely is a singer, pianist, actor and writer based in Manhattan. A versatile performer, Kari’s career has included musicals, cabaret, opera, extensive oratorio work, and many recitals and solo appearances with regional orchestras in the Midwest and on the East Coast. She has performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Don't Tell Mama, The Public Theater, The McCarter Theatre, and The Workshop Theater Company among others. She has been heard on the radio as one of the voices of HipHopera and on several recordings ranging from avant-garde jazz to classical. Film: Never Forever, Life in Flight, Bunk and The Bicycle, which she wrote and produced. TV: Law and Order: SVU, Cupid, New Amsterdam.
James M. Armstrong Another year, another OOTH, and that is just wonderful! It is a joy to be participating again this year. It is an honor and a rare pleasure to be part of something with so many great writers and actors. Special thanks to my OOTH partners this year, Cecily and Kari, for being so great to work with and, as ever, to Thomas and everyone at The Workshop for their efforts in making it happen yet again.
Cecily Lyn Benjamin is an actor, director and writer with degrees from UCLA and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Film and TV credits include: A24's Sing Sing, Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, the web-series, Off-Off Kilter, AFI’s One of the Boys and The Friends. Stage credits include: Freedom’s Last Stand, The Revolutionists, The Color of Justice (national tour), Verbatim Verboten (with guest artist Olympia Dukakis), and NY Times Critic’s Pick Interchange at the WorkShop Theater. (SAG/AFTRA/AEA)
Tracy Newirth is an actor, singer, writer, employee, daughter, wife and mother. Lots of hats make a happy head. Or something like that. Enjoy all your “tomorrows”!
Elliot Hoke (he/him) is an actor, director, dancer, writer, video editor, audio editor, and probably some other things he’s forgetting right now. Based in Manhattan, NY by way of Bethlehem, PA, Elliot earned his BA in Drama and Media Studies with honors from Vassar College, where he was part of the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre and Shakespeare Troupe. He was a member of the 2021 Hangar Theatre Lab Company and One Year Lease’s 2022 Apprentice Company. He has performed at the IndyFringe Theater Festival and Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival and directed for the Secret Theatre's Queen's Short Play Festival. He is a co-founder and the graphic/web designer for the 46 Minutes Collective. Recent roles include: Paris in Carnival Romeo and Juliet (938 Collective), Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest (Indigo Inferno Productions), Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (IF Only Productions), and Feste in Twelfth Night (Play Phase Productions).
Lynda Kennedy is a founding member of Gorilla Rep, bringing quality theater to people where they are, for free, for decades. During the pandemic Gorilla put out vertical versions of three classic Shakespeare plays, Macbeth, Hamlet and Richard III, where Lynda got to reprise some of her favorite roles such as First Witch and Rosenkrantz. Most recently she enjoyed speaking modern English while playing a regular modern mom in a short play, Hour Glass, at the Secret Theatre. She is so pleased to be in her second OOTH! Proud AEA and SAG-AFTRA member. BFA NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Dana Leslie Goldstein is a playwright, lyricist and librettist who has won the New England New Play Competition, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Prize, Different Voices New Play Award, ACTF New Play Award, Henry Hoyns Poetry Fellowship, AWP Intro Award, an Academy of American Poets Prize and numerous development grants. Her work has been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, Symphony Space, Cherry Lane, Culture Project, Women’s Project, The York, Theatre80, Theater for the New City, New Dramatists, Center Stage, BMI, Vineyard Playhouse, Pulse, Theater Row Theatre, Gene Frankel Theatre, The Barrow Group, Acorn Theatre, The Lark, Beckett Theatre, Neighborhood Playhouse, The Workshop Theater, Torn Page, The Road Theatre (Los Angeles), Nuyorican Poets Café, Estrogenius Festival, Brave New World Rep, Axial Theatre, Players Club of Swarthmore (PA), Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga (TN), Clamour Theatre (FL), American Stage Company (FL), Left Edge Theatre (CA), PAN Theater (CA), Spooky Action Theatre (DC), Rainy Day Artistic Collective (Seattle, WA), Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY, Pacific Theatre (Vancouver, Canada), TischAsia (Singapore), Red Brick Theatre (Manchester, UK), Baggage Productions (Melbourne, Australia), at the Columbus Black Theatre Festival (OH), the New York Musical Theatre Festival, on Ellis and Liberty Islands, at the U.N. and on Equity TYA tours. Dana’s plays are published by Next Stage Press, Smith & Kraus, Applause Books, Sordelet Ink and Palmetto Press. Dana is a librettist and lyricist in the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop and a resident playwright at PlayGround-NY, and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. For more information, visit www.danalesliegoldstein.com. Agent: Michael Moore, Michael@MichaelMooreAgency.com
Joanie Schumacher has been a member of the Workshop Theater since 2003, working as an actor and occasionally, as a costume designer. She is happy to again participate in Out Of The Hat 2024! AEA
Tony Travostino is a New York actor and member of Workshop Theater. He is very happy to participating in this Out of the Hat. tonytravostino.com
Amir-Gabriel Gad (they/them) is a Philadelphia based playwright and visual artist. Described as writing “children’s plays for adults” they use absurdism, figurative language, metanarrative tools, pastiche, and bricolage to weave stories that defy single genres; from nose-busting sci-fi horror schlock to golden age internet subculture nostalgia to break-up triggered clone adventures. They hold a BFA from the (former) University of the Arts, and have been a facilitator for The WorkShop Theater’s Season Intensive for three years. They can be found among salamanders under a rock, or @mirmulmir on most social media.
Wilson Hernandez (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary artist who is a proud DominiYoker raised in the Bronx, New York. He is an Actor, Model, and Director. He recently graduated from Lehman College with his BFA in Multimedia and Performing Arts. Acting credits include: Two Noble Kinsmen(Theseus), In The Heights(Usnavi), Daddy Love(Lee). Who’s Gaze is it anyway?(Host). Love's Labour's Lost(Don Adriano de Armado). A Boy Called Lobo(Horse Jack Daniels). Lambs of the Bronx(Casímiro). Courting Mayhem(Andre Hollingsworth). Sea and Sky(Spaceship). He’s The First(Ernesto Sanguillèn).
Jolie Cloutier
SMJ (they/them) is a mixed-Latiné, non-binary, and NYC-based playwright originally from Mount Vernon, OH. They are proud to be the Executive Director of Andy’s Summer Playhouse. They were a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Their work has been seen in various forms with Ars Nova, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, New York Comedy Festival, Latinx Playwrights Circle, The Orchard Project, and Live Arts in Charlottesville. Recently, SMJ has been a finalist for the 2024-25 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting at New Dramatists and 2024-25 Ars Nova Vision Residency. They were a semifinalist for the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (2022-2025), the 2025 National Music Theater Conference, the 2026 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the 2024 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. SMJ’s musical this old haunt is a NAMT-Recommended musical. They are a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys.
Katie Braden
Joe Burby’s Voice acting work includes many museums and tours internationally, featuring audio guide work at Ellis Island National Park; English dialogue for many foreign language cartoons and films: “Valhalla” (Tyr), and “The 800” (Yang Guai), the top grossing film of 2020. Film work includes the role of vigilante leader Bill in “Lawless State” from Riseflix. Joe is also a visual artist, and a playwright: “Zephyr”, “The Jumping-est Frog of Calaveras County”. Past roles include Macbeth, Doc Gibbs in “Our Town”, Duke Frederick in “As You Like It”, Reverend Paris In “The Crucible”. Joe is an avid motorcyclist, and enjoys playing guitar and banjo. He recently added filmmaker to his list of things that keep him very busy, shooting and editing Pied Piper’s “Robin Hood”, “Mercy” (Inwood Film Fest, New York Cinefest), and his current project, “Choice”, which was made with a grant from Inwood Film Festival. Classically trained in acting at SUNY Fredonia, Joe believes in revealing the truth in the moment inside the sacred space of the theater. Visit joeburby.com.
Isabel Monk Cade is a writer/actor/producer of theatre, film, television, and solo works. Her work has been read & produced at The Barrow Group, Primary Stages, and Naked Angels, BasedIN, among others. Isabel’s film work includes: ‘Interim’ (Screencraft Film Fund Semi-Finalist), ‘While He Talks’ (WMM Int’l Film Fest, Black Bear Film Fest), ‘Her False Self’ (associate producer, dir. Rachel Mason). Additionally, her original solo shows have been performed at The Makers Ensemble, The Tank, Hamantaschen Monologues, El Barrio Artspace, Center at West Park and more. She recently wrote and directed the ‘Sex and the City’ spoof commercial for Recess’ Zero Proof “Cosmo”, which went live online January 2025. Select Performance: ‘Webster’s Bitch’ (Playhouse on Park, Regional Premier), ‘The Learned Ladies’ (Centenary Stage), ‘Young Women of Valor’ (OOB Fest, Classic Stage Company), ‘Webster’s Bitch’ (Short, Vineyard Theatre), “LaGarage” (Reading, Irish Rep), One and Only Amanda Palmer (The New Museum), Another Revolution (Centenary Stage Co). Upcoming: Isabel will be bringing a lab of her solo show MY WAY to Toronto December 2025.
Jeff Paul is happy to be working again with The Workshop and the fabulous artists involved in the Out Of The Hat series. Regional credits include Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Robert in Don’t Dress for Dinner (Barter Theatre), Scapino in Scapino, Lady Enid et al in Irma Vep (Riverside Theatre), Lenny in Lenny (Pittsburgh Laboratory Theater), Emcee in Cabaret (Pittsburgh Playhouse). A former Managing Director of The Workshop Theater Company, he has been seen on their stages as Roger Cornett in Mesquite, NV, Quilp/Goldsmith in The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit, Horace Bixby in Life on the Mississippi, and Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale. Film credits include Sole Proprietor (Insurgent Pictures), Dorian Blues (Day Dreamer Films), The Road from Erebus (NewLine/HBO). AEA/SAG/AFTRA
Jason Howard is an actor, fight choreographer, writer, director, producer, coder, and driving enthusiast. He has performed with the Public Theater, NYTW, The Workshop Theater, Theater for the New City, La Mama, The Nerve Tank, ManhattanTheatreSource (founding member), the Ontological, EST, Circle Rep, the Ohio and Gideon Media. He has toured internationally doing puppetry with Drama of Works. Co-Adapted/directed “Love That Dog” with NYCity Children’s Theater. Writing highlights: “Divine Providence”, “The Launch”, “The Monkey”. TV/Film highlights: “3rd Watch”, “Solar Vengeance”, “Soldier in the Shadows”, “Pandora Machine”. Podcasts: “Steal the Stars”, “Saturn’s Return.”, “Give Me Away”. jasonhoward.org.
Blake Bonilla (he/they/she) is a Filipinx-Costa Rican-American playwright from Lakewood, CA. He spent 5 years getting a B.A. in English (Creative Writing) from CSULB in the heart of southern California. They have made their professional stage debut in a reading of Alice Tuan’s Cock’s Crow at East West Players where Blake has also seen their work read, after frequently taking classes from the prestigious David Henry Hwang Writers Institute. They have recently graduated with an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University. Blake’s plays reflect her views on gender, sexuality, race, maturity, and transgression. Blake’s work has been read at The Workshop Theater and other downtown venues. A lifelong musician, they have begun their path as a budding composer and writer for musical theater. Blake has finished his second year at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a Librettist and has joined the Advanced Bookwriting Workshop to continue developing his work. His current interests include musicals about nudism, comedies about holy pets, and Tv pilots about never really knowing the person you were dating.
Jessica Carmona is an Award Winning Actress, Playwright, Lyricist/Librettist and Producer of Afro- Puerto Rican descent. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she received her B.F.A in Acting. She is an alumni of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Writers Workshop, Class of 2025. Jessica is a former Adjunct Professor of Contemporary Latino Theatre at CUNY LaGuardia Community College. She is Co-Librettist and Co-Lyricst on the new musical Olivia O The Musical, which was recently selected as a NAMT Recommended Musical. She is currently developing her original musical The Boogie Down Gospel, a re-imagining of the Gospel of Matthew as told through the lens of the Afro-Latino Community of the South Bronx in the 1990’s. She has worked for 4 consecutive years with Brooklyn Children’s Theatre, creating original children’s musicals each summer. As an Actress, she appeared on CBS ‘s FBI Most Wanted across from Dylan McDermott , as well as “NBC New Amsterdam'' with Ryan Eggold. She starred as Rosie in the new play “Pecking Order” by Robin Rice, and as Zoe in “Black Mexican” by Rachel Lynette. She appeared as Odessa/Haikumom in “Water by the Spoonful” at the Red Monkey Theatre Group, Antonio in “Twelfth Night” at the Red Monkey Theater Group, Samana in Platanos and Collard Greens, and Maddie in Nickeled and Dimed at Blackfriars Theater. She has also worked with Pregones/PRTT and R.Evolucion Latina on a production of The Tempest directed by Luis Salgado. Her indie film, “Millie and the Lords” won her the Best Film and Best Actress Award at The People’s Film Festival and the Viva Latino Film Festival as well as an Award for Film Excellence from the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival. It was also featured at the Georgia Latino Film Festival, Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, Rochester Latino Film Festival and was most recently on HBO Latino and COMCAST. Her original play “Elvira-The Immigration Play” was nominated for Best Play at the 2019 Strawberry One Act Theatre Festival and featured at the 2015 NYC Fringe Festival. Voice Over Credits include: “Flor” by Nelson Diaz- Marcano, “Bodega de la Sol” by Janelle Lawrence, produced by BRAATA Productions and “Timestorm” by Cocotazo Media. She is represented by Bonafide and Emerging Artists, LLC as well as Bramante Artists.
Utkarsh Rajawat is following the call of Rasha Abdulhadi, who they know of through “Notes on Craft” by Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, to use their bio to uplift resistance efforts against the US-sponsored, Israeli genocide of Palestinians (which is one of a complex of linked imperialist genocides being wrought by the US, like those in Sudan, Congo, and Turtle Island). You can contribute to the movement by donating to the Sameer Project and individual campaigns, buying e-Sims, endorsing PACBI, attending an action, engaging in BDS. I hope more institutions are moved to full-throated support, with their words, their resources, their (divestment from Israeli) money, as Palestinian people like those of The Freedom Theatre have been asking for. You can contact PACBI@wawog.com if you have questions or concerns, including legal ones, about your cultural or academic organization’s commitment. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Simran Pal Kaur is an NYC based multidisciplinary artist. She’s a Lehman College alumna who graduated with a BFA in Multimedia and Performing Arts. She uses her passions as instruments to tell stories that emerge from within her heart which connect people on a level of being human. Her mission is to inspire, be inspired, and spread love through the means of her artistry. CREDITS: Witch 1 (Macbeth), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Lord Dumaine (Love’s Labor’s Lost), Bogle (Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol), Masha (Three Sisters). Website: www.simranpalkaur.com
Charles E. Gerber is a 55 year veteran in this profession and among the proud founders of THE WORKSHOP THEATER. He's appeared numerous times on Broadway, and every conceivable NY stage, Regional stages, as well as starring in two National Tours. Television and Film credits include: the Emmy Award winning " THE MAGIC DOOR", "HOT HOUSE", "LAW and ORDER(s),"THIRD WATCH". ROYAL PAINS", "BLUE BLOODS", THE BLACKLIST", the Short Film," THE BIRTHDAY FISH"( Sundance),and most recently, the multiple award winning Short:'A KING'S CURTAIN" which has won 3 BEST DRAMA awards at L.A.SHORTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, THE BURBANK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, and The AMT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, where Charles was awarded BEST ACTOR at both BURBANK, and AMT...... for samples: YouTube/Charles E. Gerber2689.
“Born in Haiti, raised in Queens, I have my mother’s tongue and a New York accent.” Thalia Sablon is a Brooklyn-based playwright, producer, and artistic administrator with a love for collaborative and unconventional storytelling. She earned her MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers University in 2022 and holds a BA from SUNY Purchase. Her work explores themes of identity, anti-capitalism, Afro-surrealism, and intergenerational memory. Her work has been developed and presented with institutions such as The Tank, JACKNY, Conch Shell Productions, Third Culture Theatre, New Georges, and Rutgers University. Thalia’s recent plays include Dirty (I Am BOLD Women Festival), Racoon Princess (TrashFest), How to Steal Time and Other Important Poor People Skills (Blue Light Series at Flushing Town Hall), and Angela Davis’s School For Girls With Big Eyes (Rutgers University). Her short films Cry Wolf (producer) and Strung (co-writer/producer) expand her storytelling into screen media. As a producer and administrator, Thalia has supported early-career artists through full productions, festivals, and readings. Oh, Honey (Co-produced with Ugly Face Theatre), Prisoncore! (Exponential Festival), Being Up In Here (Exponential Festival) and Crawl Space (The Flea) are some of the projects that she has been fortunate enough to work on. She served as an Artistic Administrative Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop (2022–23) and currently works as the Artistic Programs Assistant at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where she facilitates programming for Youngblood and the EST/Sloan Project. Thalia is a Co-Facilitator of New Georges Jam!
Nate James Shelton
Ben Sumrall is a New York-based actor and media artist. A member of Actors’ Equity Association, he has also served as Board Chair of the Workshop Theater. Ben has performed in theatres throughout New York City, on Comedy Central, and was a part of the Drama Desk- nominated Ryan Case 1873. He has appeared in the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and the Tribeca Festival.
M. D. Schaffer (They/He) is an award-winning, Non-Binary, Ashkenazi, African-American playwright, librettist, lyricist, and Horror scholar born in Houston, Texas, and residing in New York City. They evoke American history, embodying historical and scientific facts to ground narratives that explore, uplift, and empower marginalized experiences in contemporary times. Their previous productions include “A Rodeo Clown” with the Obsidian Theatre Festival & “Drapetomania: A Negro Carol” with the We Will Dream Festival. Their dramatic works have been developed in collaboration with Art House Productions, Lighthouse Ladies LLC, National Queer Theatre, New Jersey Play Lab, Tier5 Theatre Company, and the Obie Award-winning Harlem9 Inc. Their work as a lyricist has been performed at Rattlestick Theater, 54 Below, and Musical Theater Factory. They’re a member of Ring of Keys, MUSE, Dramatist Guild, MAESTRA, & UNTITLED Musical Theatre Writers Group. They’re a 2023 recipient of the Pine Meadow Ranch for Arts & Agriculture Residency program with Roundhouse Foundation, a recipient of the 2025-2026 OPEN AIR MT Residency.
Ginaury Vásquez is a Dominican actor, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and dancer from the Bronx. Her recent stage credits include Macbeth (BronxShakes), It’s a Wonderful Life (Titan Theatre), and The Wiz (New York Black Arts). Additional credits include the Off-Off Broadway productions What If and Don Juan. She has also performed with the Children’s Theatre Company at Lehman College and appeared in numerous dance showcases with Hip Hop Theory [The Company] and The ChoreoJoey Project. Ginaury graduated summa cum laude from Lehman College with a B.A. in Theatre and Psychology. She is truly honored to be part of this festival and to share the stage with such talented artists.
Aja Downing is extremely pleased and excited to be apart of this project and ready for all the projects to come. Aja has been living and working in New York City for 10 years. She is extremely grateful and pleased for the community that she has found not only in this city, but through the wonderful community of theater and art. She graduated from AMDA in 2016. Some of Aja's previous roles were Lorrell Robinson in Dreamgirls ,Annette in TjLovesSally4eva, and St.Monica in The last days of Judas Iscariot. Aja would like to thank her Mom and dad for all their support and love! And also thank the incredible cast and crew of this project!
Liz Amberly won the Dan I Rodden Jr Play Award for her play Embers. This play was also semi-finalist in the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Festival and was developed at the Workshop Theater Company, where she has had many plays performed, including Ripples, Whisper Down the Lane, Lullaby Lost, Fourteen Million, and others, developing her work most closely with directors Elysa Marden and Thomas Coté. Her plays have been performed across the USA and UK and published by Samuel French, Smith and Kraus, and Applause. She does freelance writing of corporate videos for various companies and reading tips for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (published by Penguin Random House.) She also writes films including the short film A Double Whammy which aired on PBS and won the Reel-13 Award.
Christine Powers (she/her) holds a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She has trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and the Academy of Theatre Practices, Gardzienice in Poland. She received her MA. in Performance Studies from NYU in 2004. Christine has been a member of Big Apple Playback Theatre since 2009. She has performed her own experimental work in Boston, New York City and Singapore. Christine also holds a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and works as a drama therapist with trauma survivors. Christine is passionate about using physical theater methods to explore empathy and build community.
Jody Prusan is delighted to be back and in OOTH 2025. Tradition! Regional:-Saint Louis MUNY, Ahmanson and Lobero. Film: Things Like This Television: Parallax, Bull, Guiding Light, Sesame Street and numerous commercials, VO and audio book My Mother’s Money. Proud member of Actors Equity, SAG/AFTRA. http://resumes.actors.access.com/jodyprusan
Daniel Holzman is a playwright and artist from San Francisco. His work has been produced and supported by Clubbed Thumb, The Brick, The Tank, Fresh Ground Pepper, The Cell Theatre and more. Recent work includes: Berlindia! (The Tank), Middle School Play (Brick Aux), OLIVES (Clubbed Thumb ECWG), and Me & Who (O'Neill Finalist). He frequently collaborates with his sister Neena, who illustrates all his plays.
In another lifetime, Emily Zacharias was directed on Broadway by Mike Nichols, Joe Mantello, Ron Fields, Leonard Nimoy & Robin Phillips. She sang with the Lincoln Center Composers’ Series and soloed with Symphony Orchestras. She is a Founding Member of The Workshop Theatre and loves OOTH. At the Goodspeed Opera House, she created a new role for Stephen Schwartz’s most recent reworking of RAGS. Her last play was SETTLEMENTS by Seth Rozin at InterAct Thea in Philly. During Covid, she worked with Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto in their limited TV series, We Crashed. Emily is a longtime trustee of one of the oldest Adult Schools in the country. She teaches A Speaking Workshop, and directs Likely Stories (based on Selected Shorts.) Readers have included Christine Ebersole, Norbert Leo Butz, and the late, great Andre Braugher. Isaiah SheSer, creator of Selected Shorts, graced the stage half a dozen times.
Joseph Franchini trained with Stella Adler at NYU and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He received a Drama Desk Nomination for Best Actor in a Play for The Navigator by Eddie Antar which he also played in Los Angeles. Many other roles in New York include The Land of Swollen Faces by Paolo Bignami at The Tank, Cherry Jam by Kelly McReady (an adaptation of The Cherry Orchard), Zamboni by Sean Patrick O’Brian at Soho Playhouse, Mrs. Warren’s Profession at Manhattan Theatre Source, Eastside Stories at The Metropolitan Playhouse, Lucila's Story at the Connelly Theatre for the New York International Fringe Festival and Agamemnon and The Man with the Flower in his Mouth with the Worldwide Directors Lab. Other appearances include plays at Off World Theatre, Midtown Theatre Festival, Musicals Tonite!, 15 Minute One Act Play Series and The Actor's Guild. www.josephfranchini.com
C.S. Hanson is a playwright with off Broadway and regional credits. In NYC, her plays have been produced at Cherry Lane, Theater for the New City, Theater Row, NY Int’l. Fringe Fest., The Brick, Metropolitan Playhouse, and Estrogenius. Her work has been developed thanks to Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre, The Bechdel Group, Lake George Theater Lab, EST, LaMaMa, Abingdon, Naked Angels, The Lark, The Actors Studio, and NJ Rep. She is an alumna of American Lyric Theater’s Composer/Librettist Development Program, for which wrote the libretto for “Giovanni/a” (composer: Del’Shawn Taylor), presented at Symphony Space in June 2025. Hanson has received commissions from the Experimentals at LaMaMa, Working Theater, Nomad Theatrical, America-in-Play, and Gleams Theatre. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and Honor Roll. More at www.cshanson.com
Margo’s acting credits include stints @ Williamstown Theatre Fest (MA), Wilma Th. (Philadelphia), Asolo Th. (FL), Centenary Stage (NJ), Nickerson (Boston) and various locales in Manhattan; including EST, Circle Rep Lab, Huron Club (Soho Playhouse), Abingdon Theatre, Artistic New Directions, The Workshop Th, American Jewish Th @ 92nd St Y, infamous Club 57, and many more. She recently appeared in YouTube’s award winning “Nurses Station, Episode 9” as Mrs. McGrath. www.margohammond.com member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA, Dramatist Guild, ARTC, Actors Studio PDU and League of Professional Theatre Women
Erika Phoebus (she/her) is an NYC-based playwright who writes shapeshifting plays about pleasure, autonomy, and all things magical, strange, and a little horrific. Select plays include witch play (Great Plains Theatre Conference 2023; Seven Devils finalist; Soho Rep Writer Director Lab finalist), LET’S PRETEND (O’Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist), RUSALKA (Awarded Outstanding Script & Outstanding Production, Planet Connections Theatre Festival), KISS IT, MAKE IT BETTER (New Ohio Production). Her short play SHARK WEEK won the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival and is now published by Concord Theatricals, and has been produced by the Atlantic Theatre Acting School. Erika has received residencies through Fresh Ground Pepper’s BRB retreat, Theatre 4the People @theBarn, and was a finalist for Fresh Ground Pepper’s PlayGround PlayGroup (led by Jaclyn Backhaus). She’s currently participating in The Workshop Theater’s Fall 2025 Writers’ Intensive. As an educator, Erika has taught playwriting at Bowie High School (Austin, TX), Westerly High School (Westerly, RI), and Arizona Actors Academy (Phoenix, AZ), and has received her Mental Health First Aid Certification from the National Council of Mental Wellbeing. B.F.A. Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. www.erikaphoebus.com; IG: ephoebs
Leslie Kincaid - award-winning director, dramaturge, performer. Films Robin Hood, and Mercy recently won multiple awards in Hudson International, AMT, and Inwood Film Festivals. NY Innovative Theatre outstanding director award for Drama Desk nominated production The Navigator (The Workshop Theater) and NY Fringe Overall Excellence award for direction Zamboni. Always delighted to return to her acting roots, Leslie performs frequently with The Workshop Theater and UP Theater. She is a graduate of the Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts.
Sharahya Carter is an actor from Oklahoma who moved to New York at seventeen to study acting at NYU. She’s trained with Stella Adler, Bob Krakower, Larry Moss, and Catlin Adams, building a foundation rooted in both craft and curiosity. Outside of acting, she loves diving into sci-fi books and spending time in nature. She has two indie films set to release next year and is excited to return to theatre, where her passion for performing first began. Always growing and exploring, Sharahya brings authenticity and heart to everything she does.