CIVILWRIGHTS
SHOW INFO
PART I
Anti-racism play series - 10-minute shorts
Produced by NewYorkRep, In Association with Rashad V. Chambers
This short play festival features a range of subjects, perspectives and content within BIPOC realities, which explores the current and ongoing anti-black political and social climate, followed by conversations about our current landscape and creating a more inclusive American Theatre.
CIVILWRIGHTS: Part I premiered on January 17th. In honor of Black History Month, it can be viewed February 22nd – 28th.
WRITERS
AKIN SALAWU is a writer, director, video editor & founder of LIT Council (a writers group for Men of Color @ The Tank). He is also a two-time Tribeca All Access Winner with a BA from Stanford and a Screenwriting MFA from Columbia. At Stanford, Akin founded ergo student theater troupe and was awarded the Sherifa Omade Ego Prize for mounting culturally diverse theater. Akin was a member of The Public Theater’s Inaugural Emerging Writers Group, Ars Nova’s Uncharted Musical Theater residency, & his first musical was part of The University of the Arts’ 2017 Polyphone Festival. Additionally, Akin wrote 2 short plays on Ferguson for Chicago's American Theater and wrote Chapter 5 in the book, The Obama Movement.
JAMES ANTHONY TYLER is the recipient of the 3rd Annual Horton Foote Playwriting Award and an inaugural playwright to receive a commission from Audible. His plays include Artney Jackson (World Premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2018 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award), Some Old Black Man (Berkshire Playwrights Lab at St. James Place and 59E59 Theaters), Dolphins and Sharks (LAByrinth Theater Company and Finborough Theatre in London). He has a MFA in Film from Howard University and a MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University. He is also a graduate of The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program, and he recently was the Staff Writer for the new OWN Network show Cherish the Day created by Ava DuVernay.
JEROME A. PARKER is an award-winning, theater-maker/screenwriter/librettist from NYC whose original works champion black and brown heroes confronted and jettisoned by their histories. Highlighted works for the stage and screen include BLISS: A SOLDIER'S TALE (Public Theater); LIKE JOHNNY IN THE DARK (Dramatist Guild); and KAYA: TASTE OF PARADISE (New York Film Academy) with music and lyrics by award-winning composer, Anna K. Jacobs.
He's an alumnus of Williams College, The Juilliard School, UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television and New Media, the Public Theater EWG; and his fellowships include the Dramatist Guild, MacDowell, New York Stage and Film, Freedom Train Productions and most recently, the Writers Guild of America East. His pilot, THE TALENTED TEN, is mentored by Frank Pugliese and recommended by Lydia Cavallo Zasa at the Screenwriters Colony.
Writer and Director of ANIMALS, Jerome’s currently an artistic resident at the Obie award winning theater, The Tank NYC, where his juke-box musical, THE BLACK QUEENS was workshopped virtually, and is now streaming: www.thetanknyc.org/theblackqueens And as a collaborative librettist with Experiments in Opera NY, EVERYTHING FOR DAWN will premiere in 2022. www.PattersonProjects.biz"
TEAMS
Akin Salawu - “N%#&r of the Month“
NAMAKULA - NOVALEEN
Namakula is a Jamaican/Ugandan American artist who’s built a robust career as an actor/VO talent and artistic producer in the medium of commercials, TV, film, theatre and digital.
Recent O/C appearances: Ryan Murphy’s ”The Politician” and Shonda Rhimes’ “Inventing Anna”. Notable credits: u/s in “Fairview”, 2019 Pulitzer Prize (Drama) and the VOICE of REI’s “Force of Nature” campaign, 2018 Cannes Bronze Glass Lion.
As an artistic producer, Namakula’s not only created her own work (ie: dark comedy webseries,“Kate & Kula”), but she’s also produced and cast projects for other creatives. Such as, 2 episodes of the international webseries “The Groom”. And, most recently, she was a field researcher on the PBS / RadicalMedia human interest doc project, "American Portrait”.
Namakula’s excited to be working on this third project with playwright, Akin Salawu and is ecstatically anticipating bringing the fiery, Noveleen Carter to life!
GABRIEL LAWRENCE - SHERMAN
Gabriel Lawrence is an actor, educator and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY but raised in Houston, TX. NY stage credits include: X; or Betty Shabazz v. Nation and title roles in both Macbeth and Julius Caesar - The Acting Company; Carnaval - National Black Theatre (Adelco Award - Best Ensemble); 12 Angry Men - Billie Holiday Theatre. TV credits: Prodigal Son, The Deuce, Alpha House and recurring on ABC’s What Would You Do?. He teaches Shakespeare, acting, debate and filmmaking throughout Manhattan. As a filmmaker he has produced movie trailers and documentaries, news reports for ABC and FOX and corporately. He is a 2018 National Theatre Hall of Fame Emerging Artist who earned a MFA in Theatre form UC San Diego Theatre and a BA in Mass Communication for West Texas A&M.
SCOTT AHEARN - TODD
Scott Ahearn New York: Christmas in Hell (York Theatre), Composure (Workshop Theatre), Under the Knife: A Farce (Theatre for the New City), Nutcracker! (Amas Musical Theatre). Tours: Grease (Europe), Divorce Party (L.A., Toronto). Regional: Ogunquit Playhouse (Chicago); Arvada Center (The Full Monty, Forever Plaid); Phoenix Theatre (Best Little Whorehouse), Triad Stage (Dirty Blonde), McCarter Theatre (A Christmas Carol). Graduate of Brown University. M Night Shyamalan cut his scene from Glass but they hugged, so it’s cool. www.scottahearn.net
MADSIE “RACHEL” FLYNN - PEPPER
Madsie Flynn (she/her) is an actor and director living in NYC. She is a director and creator of new work for theater, music and film, including the upcoming PATRIARCHY punk rock show, and Dust & Shadow: Sherlock Holmes and the Jack the Ripper Killings. Madsie is a proud consultant for gender and queerness in theatrical work with the Ring of Keys Consultancy. She has been described by Time Out New York as "smart and ubertalented", and Time Out rated her solo show "There Will Be Feelings" (musical direction by Laurence O'Keefe) as a Critic's Pick. She can be seen on the upcoming NBC/Peacock show Dr. Death.
KEVIN R. FREE - DIRECTOR
Kevin R. Free is a multidisciplinary artist whose work as an actor, writer, director, and producer has been showcased and developed in many places, including FringeNYC; National Black Theater; The New Black Fest; The Moth Radio Hour; Project Y Theater; Flux Theater Ensemble; the Queerly Festival (of which he is now the curator), and The Fire This Time Festival, where he served as Producing Artistic Director for 5 years, winning an Obie for his work in 2015. He is also an accomplished voice actor, having voiced over 400 audiobooks and creating the voice of Kevin from Desert Bluffs on the popular podcast Welcome To Night Vale. Recent Directing Credits include Pipeline at Mile Square Theatre (named one of New Jersey’s top ten productions of 2019 by NJ.com); The Last Five Years and Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill both at Portland Stage in Maine; Topdog/Underdog at University of Arkansas; GLORY! at Dixon Place; and Wendy and the Neckbeards at Colby College and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet at Nevada Conservatory Theater. In 2020, he voiced 20 audiobooks, acted in a new webseries called The Building and the upcoming Close (But Not Too Close); Azure D. Osborne-Lee’s Crooked Parts and Sundown Support; and created a virtual variety show called The Reparations Show (in harmony with the George Floy Uprisings). He directed virtual productions of R. Eric Thomas’s Crying On Television; Scott C. Sickles’ Marianas Trench; short plays by Kristy Thomas and William Oliver Watkins, and a video version of Joe Landry’s radio play It’s A Wonderful Life. More info - www.kevinrfree.com and on Twitter @kevinrfree.
James Anthony Tyler - “Those Wishing”
JACOB DANIEL SMITH - LEVANTE
American actor, writer and director Jacob Daniel Smith is a Detroit native and a 2020 graduate of The Juilliard School. He also attented Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit from 2015-2016.
His love for film and storytelling began at a very young age watching African-American Classics and 70s Martial Arts movies with his Mother, Father, Grandmother and younger brother.
His performance credits include, Darius Young in Stewart & Lamb (2020), written by James Anthony Tyler, (in which he starred opposite Keith David); he played Malcolm in The Digital Shakespeare Company's Corporate Espionage themed Macbeth (2020), directed by Ilan Kaplan; and Amir in Pure (2020) Directed by Natalie Harris.
Jacob has also directed two short plays for Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley's Stars in the House (2020) and has written and directed the film TWOSTORIESTALL (2020) for Brett Epstein's Rule of 7X7.
Jacob is currently based in Michigan.
EBONY MARSHALL-OLIVER - OLIVIETTE
Ebony Marshall-Oliver is an actress, singer, storyteller. Off-Broadway; Ain't No Mo' (Public Theater), Seussical (TheatreWorks USA). Regional; Chicken and Biscuits (Queens Theatre), Sister Act (EverBlue Arts), Raisin (Astoria PAC), Dreamgirls (Dallas Theater Center), Memphis (Theatre 3 Dallas), The Color Purple, Ain't Misbehavin', and Charlayne Woodard's Pretty Fire trilogy all at Jubilee Theatre.
STEVIE WALKER-WEBB - DIRECTOR
Stevie Walker-Webb is an Obie award winning Director, Playwright, and Cultural Worker who believes in the transformational power of art. As a survivor of poverty and the associative violence that comes with growing up black and poor in America, he’s knows how liberating and necessary it is to create. He is a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop and recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Theatre. The Lily Award in honor of Lorraine Hansberry awarded by the Dramatists Guild of America.
He’s served as the Founding Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre and has created art and Theatre in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, and across America. He’s worked as the Outreach Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC and holds an MFA from The New School, and a B.S. in Sociology from the University of North Texas. His work has been produced by: The Public Theatre, American Civil Liberties Union, JAG Productions, Cherry Lane, Zara Aina, La Mama, The New Group, and Wooly Mammoth. For more information about Stevie visit steviewalkerwebb.com
Jerome A. Parker - ANIMALS
JAMES EDWARD BECTON - CHRISTIAN COOPER
James Edward Becton is a product of Stella Adler and Shakespeare & Company, is thrilled to be breathing life into this beautifully crafted piece of artistic commentary. In a career spanning over thirty-years, James Edwards' experience in acting and performance art is as diverse as it is eclectic, ranging in roles from the Orange Honker/ Tall Swing in Sesame Street Live to Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar to Witch 2 in Macbeth to Mother Felicia in The Black Queens or The House of Dinah to Jack Worthington in The Importance of Being Earnest to Edmund the Bastard in King Lear, and the list goes on. He is pleased to be able to play and present with this esteemed and distinguished cast and crew and welcomes you all to enjoy, as art persists to present.
JESSICA MYHR - AMY COOPER
Jessica Myhr was most recently seen as Ariel in The Tempest, Audrey in the Ken Ludwig farce Leading Ladies and Izzy in Rabbit Hole, where the Philadelphia Inquirer said “Myhr threatens to walk off with the show whenever she appears.” She’s worked at several New York City theatres including The Majestic Theatre (Broadway), The Beckett Theatre, St. Clement’s Theatre, The Clurman Theatre, The Storm Theatre, LABA Theatre, FringeNYC among others and regionally at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolinas, Actors Shakespeare Company, Amphibian Stage, Northern Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Phoenix Theatre PA, and Theatre with a View. Jessica was directed by Adam Arkin on Sneaky Pete (Amazon) and had a recurring role on All My Children (ABC). Select films include; Babyface, Jim and Emma, Bristol Goodman, Speed of Love, Textual Intercourse, Julia and Casual Encounters (currently available on Amazon). Jessica serves as the Development Director of The Phoenix Theatre PA and is the creator of her business Inherent Style where she styles actors from the inside out. MFA Rutgers University. www.jessicamyhr.com
DAVID GOW - HENRY
David Gow holds a BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. NY THEATER: Burning Leaves (Duke Theater), Chokehold (14th St.Y), Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone (Workshop Theater), Bleach (Wilson’s Lounge) Decky Does A Bronco (Royal Family); REGIONAL: The Waverly Gallery, Mothers and Sons (Shakespeare and Company), Up The Hill (Eugene O’Neill Center), Peter and the Starcatcher (Smithtown Performing Arts Center), Pirira (Luna Stages), Why Do You Stand There In The Rain (Edinburgh Fringe), Scooter Thomas Makes It To The Top of the World (Hollywood Fringe); TV: The Good Fight (CBS), Madam Secretary (CBS), Jon Glaser Loves Gear (truTV).