By the Queen

Whitney White (Playwright) is an Obie and Lilly Award–winning director, actor, and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Tony Award nominee, a recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing award, an Artistic Associate at the Roundabout, an Associate Artistic Director at Shakespeare Theatre Company and part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Her original musical Definition was part of the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab, and her four-part musical exploration of Shakespeare’s Women and ambition is currently under commission with the American Repertory Theater in Boston and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has developed work with: Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theatre, Ars Nova, The Drama League, Roundabout, New York Theatre Workshop, The Lark, The Movement, Jack, Bard College, NYU Tisch, Juilliard, Princeton, SUNY Purchase, South Oxford, Luna Stage and more. Whitney was a staff writer on Boots Riley’s I’M A VIRGO (Amazon, Media Res). Whitney is a believer in collaborative processes and new forms. Her musical discipline is rooted in indie-soul, and rock. She is passionate about black stories, reconstructing classics, stories for and about women, genre-defying multimedia work and film. Past fellowships include: New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship, Ars Nova’s Makers Lab, Colt Coeur and the Drama League. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA Political Science, Certificate in Musical Theatre: Northwestern University.

Nicole Brewer (Director) is a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.  She is critically aware of the impact of racism in the industry and centers her directing practice in anti-racism. Directing credits: Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy of Classical Acting: The Winter’s Tale; Baltimore Center Stage and Long Wharf Theatre: Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities; as well as numerous projects as a guest director at colleges and universities across North America. Ms. Brewer is on faculty in the acting department at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. She earned her MFA in Acting from Northern Illinois University and her BFA from Howard University.  Nicole shares her anti-racist theatre approach to theaters and institutions all over the US, Canada, and the UK. Nicole is a proud mother of three. She is grateful for her community whose support allows her to continue to pursue her artistic bliss.

Faedra Chatard Carpenter (Dramaturg) (PhD in Drama from Stanford University, MA in Drama from Washington University, BA in English from Spelman College) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Performing Arts at American University, a professional dramaturg, and cultural critic. As a professional dramaturg, Carpenter has worked on innumerable projects at venues such as Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mosaic Theatre Company, Theater J, Dance Place, Crossroads Theatre Company, and Arena Stage. Folger: Dramaturg: Metamorphoses.

Ebony Gennes (Production Stage Manager) Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet; Theater J: The Chameleon; Olney Theatre Center: Lend Me a Soprano; Cumberland Theatre: The Outsiders, Company, Rock of Ages, True West, Clue. Academic: It’s a Wonderful Life, Ricochet Dance Concert. Education: Frostburg State University, BS. Instagram: @EbonyGennes

Jadah Clay (M) is currently a junior at Howard University majoring in Musical Theatre. Folger Theatre: debut. Howard University: Broadway Our Way, The House That Will Not Stand, Boys Don’t Look at Boys, Long Time Since Yesterday.

Kalyne Coleman (Maggie) Folger Theatre: debut. Broadway: Kalyne recently made her Broadway debut in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White. Off-Broadway: Brooklyn Academy of Music: What to Send Up When It Goes Down; Vineyard Theatre: Lessons in Survival; Barington Stage: America v. 2.1 The Sad Demise and Eventual Extinction of the American Negro.

William DeMeritt (Ensemble 1) Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth (Beaumont). Off-Broadway: Twelfth Night (Classical Theatre of Harlem, Yale Rep), The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre). Regional: The Old Globe: Henry 6; Guthrie Theatre/ Cincinnati Play House: Shane; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Shakespeare In Love, Indecent, Merry Wives of Windsor; Alabama Shakespeare Festival: It’s a Wonderful Life; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: The Gradient; Humana Festival of New American Plays: We, The Invisibles; Dallas Theater Center: Sense and Sensibility, more. International: Amsterdam Fringe Festival: October in the Chair & Other Fragile Things. Writer, Co-creator: Origin Story (New York Independent Ttheatre Award, Best Solo Performance). Film/Television: The Normal Heart, The Noel Diary, Playing Sam, Our Son, The Floaters, The Flight Attendant, NCIS: NOLA, The Outs, more. Education: BFA, Marymount Manhattan, MFA, Yale School of Drama. williamdemeritt.com @demeritt

Nikkole Salter is an award-winning actress, playwright, educator, and arts advocate.  For her work she has received the OBIE, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Global Tolerance Award from the Friends of the United Nations a Selfdes-Kanin Fellowship from the Theatre Hall of Fame, and most recently a Lilly Award for her contributions to the betterment of the theatre field.  Her writing has been produced on three continents in five countries, been published in twelve international publications, and has been featured on the WNET program Theatre Close-Up.  She is currently the Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at Howard University and she is set to perform in the world premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s new play, We Are Gathered, at Arena Stage this spring.  She is a graduate of Howard University and NYU’s Grad Acting Program.  nikkolesalter.com

Gerrad Taylor (Ensemble 5) Folger Theatre: Metamorphoses. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: Macbeth, A Raisin in the Sun, Henry IV Part 1; Constellation Theatre Company: Incognito, The Skin of Our Teeth; Mosaic Theatre Company: Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World; Washington Stage Guild: Alabama Story, Everyman Theatre: Great Expectations; Prologue Theatre: Monsters of the American Cinema. Regional: Delaware Shakespeare: The Tempest; PCPA-Pacific Conservatory Theatre: Twelfth Night; Great River Shakespeare Festival: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry V, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Justin Weaks (Ensemble 4) was last seen in Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches (Helen Hayes Award; Supporting Performer in a Play) at Arena Stage and one in two at Mosaic Theater Company.  Woolly Mammoth Theater Company (Company Member): There’s Always the Hudson (Helen Hayes Award; Lead Performer in a Play), BLKS, Gloria, Describe the Night and a performance workshop of A FINE MADNESS, of which he was both writer and performer. DC area credits include work with The John F. Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre, Theater J, Theater Alliance, and more. Off-Broadway: i need space (The New Group). Regional credits include work with Barrington Stage Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shakespeare & Company and Barter Theater. Education: Greensboro College. @keithweaks

Matthew Elijah Webb (Ensemble 3) Studio Theatre: Fat Ham, The Colored Museum;  Broadway: Fat Ham (American Airlines Theatre), Our Town (Barrymore Theatre); Off-Broadway: Fat Ham (Public Theatre). @matthewelijahwebb