Our Verse in Time to Come @ Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Vernice is a Jamaican born, Afro-Caribbean theater artist who is passionate about the arts as the most universally accessible agent for positive social change. Directorial highlights include long-term collaborations with: Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, opera diva Jessye Norman, HBO comedienne Hazelle Goodman, and Hip Hop legend Malik Work. International credits: Three Women (Break the Silence) by anthropologist Dr. Omotayo Jolaosho for South Africa’s Market Theatre Lab (a performance about women finding their voices amidst gendered repression of their bodily and sexual autonomy); Nomansland (performed/co-directed) with Seth Baumrin’s Subpoetics International in Slovenia, Ukraine and Poland. Television: Shadowed director Felix Alcala on the CBS series Madam Secretary throughout filming of season 6 episode 9 “Carpe Diem.” Directed both the inaugural and revived productions of Bee Trapped Inside the Window by Saviana Stanescu for Heartbeat Ensemble, the Romanian Cultural Institute and Ithaca’s Civic Ensemble. Commissioned by Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., Bee is a work that explores the effect of modern-day slavery on the lives of three ethnically different American women living in CT.  Co-founded A Laboratory for Actor Training Experimental Theatre Company with Joann Maria Yarrow, to evolve work they began with Roberta Carreri at Eugenio Barba’s Odin Teatret in Denmark.

Actor-writer-musician Malik Work is a founding member of The Real Live Show, a groundbreaking music conglomerate known for bringing the NYC jazz and hip hop communities together for albums, events, and projects that transformed the culture of both.

Director Of Programming and Artistic Director, Folger Theatre

Devin E. Haqq is an Emmy nominated producer, a member of the Fiasco Theater Acting Company, an IFP alumni, and a Finalist for the HBOAccess 2020 Directing Fellowship. His feature film, Ambition’s Debt, won the 2017 Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the prestigious American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and the 2018 Paul Robeson Award Honorable Mention at the Newark Black Film Festival. Recently, Devin produced the short film Cupids, directed by Zoey Martinson, which had its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival as part of the 8:46 Films Initiative sponsored by Procter & Gamble (2022 NAACP Image Award Nominee). Cupids has since gone on to play at some of the top film festivals around the world, including Woodstock, Cambridge, Chicago International Film Festival (Gold Hugo Award Nominee), Riverrun, The American Pavilion at Cannes, and recently aired on CBS & BET networks. His latest short film project, The Mark, was nominated for Best Horror at the Academy qualifying 2020 LA Shorts International Film Festival and won Best Narrative Short at the 2021 Atlanta Shortsfest. Devin made his stage directorial debut in 2020 with a much-celebrated production of the critically acclaimed Pass Over by Antionette Nwandu at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ. He has since gone on to direct workshops and staff as an associate director on productions for such organizations as The Public Theatre, Folger Theatre, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Fiasco, and the National Black Theatre. 

Harlan is a graduate of Florida A & M University (BS Theatre) and the North Carolina School of the Arts (MFA Scenic Design). Companies Penn has designed for include the Birmingham Children’s Theatre, Black Spectrum Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, St. Louis Black Rep, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Paul Robeson Theatre, Anacostia Playhouse, American Stage Co., Forestburgh Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Theatre Alliance of Washington D.C. and many more.  Favorite Scenic design credits include: Gem of the Ocean, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Jar the Floor, The Piano Lesson, Jitney, Nicholas Nickleby, Blacken the Bubble, Flyin’ West, Dreamgirls, For Colored Girls, King Hedley, Chicago, Ain’t Misbehavin and Extremities to name a few. Harlan is also a proud member of United Scenic Artist Local 829 where he works currently as an assistant art director and Scenic artist on major films and network television shows.

Jeannette is a Helen Hayes nominated costume designer, illustrator, and fashion stylist based in Baltimore, MD. Selected design credits include: The Broadway national tour of On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. The Kennedy Center: national tour and world premiere of Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! She also designed the world premieres of Show Way, How to Catch a Star, and Earthrise. Gala Hispanic Theatre: On Your Feet!, La Casa de la Laguna, Ella es Tango, El Perro de Hortelano, Picasso, and Que las Hay! Adventure Theater MTC: Elephant & Piggie: We are in a Play! (Helen Hayes nomination, Outstanding Costume Design), Blueberries for Sal, and Luchadora. Theater Alliance Films: The Blackest Battle, Quadrant Series, and Protest in 8. Olney Theater Center: National Players Tour 70 and Thanksgiving. Other regional credits include 4615 Theatre, Pointless Theatre, Imagination Stage, Monumental Theatre, Dance Exchange, and Mosaic Theatre. She has assisted with costume designs for American Players Theater, Roundhouse Theatre, Folger Theatre, Wolf Trap Opera, and Studio Theater. She has worked as a costume designer/mentor with Arizona State University, University of Maryland, Bowie State University, American University, and George Washington University. She launched and runs her own clothing brand, called Ronni-X. Education: BA in Design & Production from Arizona State University, MFA in Design from the University of Maryland.  

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: The Day You Begin, Long Way Down. Round House Theatre: Nollywood Dreams. Ford’s Theatre: Fences. Mosaic Theater: Native Son, Les Deux Noirs. Theater Alliance: Word Becomes Flesh (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Production). Imagination Stage: Havana Hop, All the Way Live (with sibling Paige Hernandez), Oyeme, The Beautiful and The Hip-Hop Children’s Trilogy. Adventure Theater: Luchadora.  Glimmerglass Opera: Stomping Grounds. Additional credits include music production for Hot 97 FM; Netflix, Smithsonian Associates, Words Beats & Life, Inc. and at DC Public Libraries.

Angelisa is a director and choreographer based out of Washington, DC.  Most recently she directed The Hula Hooping Queen at Imagination Stage and the 4-time Helen Hayes nominated (including Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Musical Production) Once on This Island for Constellation Theatre Company.  She also directed Wanda’s Way and Mamalogues for 1st Stage and co-directed the Helen Hayes nominated Day of Absence with Raymond O. Caldwell at Theater Alliance.  Her direction and choreography have also been seen at Arena Stage, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Young Playwrights’ Theater, Ally Theatre Company, In Series, Freshh Theatre Inc., University of Maryland, Bowie State University, Montgomery College and Catholic University.  Angelisa has an MBA, PhD in business and MFA in directing.  For more information visit www.angelisa.net.

Folger Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. GALA Hispanic Theatre: Jardin Salvaje. Round House Theatre: Nollywood Dreams, The Great Leap. The Kennedy Center: Beastgirl, Show Way. John Hopkins Peabody Institute: Les Mamelles de Tiresias. Two seasons at Muhlenberg College’s Summer Musical Theatre. Olney Theatre Center: Props Apprentice. Costume Design: Salisbury University: Mamma Mia!, Mud. Chelsea works part-time as the Costume Shop Manager and occasional Prop Master for Salisbury University, where she is also Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the resident theatre ensemble, Fultontown Theatre Company, through which she has directed and performed in two seasons of shows.

Danica is a New York/Washington D.C.-based casting director and theater maker dedicated to centering and celebrating the voices of the global majority. She began her casting career working for Marc Hirschfeld Casting, Warner Brothers Television Casting NY, and The Public Theater in New York before moving to Washington, D.C., to join Shakespeare Theatre Company in her current position as Resident Casting Director. Danica has worked on dozens of mainstage productions and workshops/developments in New York, New Hampshire, and D.C. Danica’s core values of generosity, advocacy, and equity led her to her role as founding trainer and educator for Broadway for Racial Justice’s Casting Directive, as well as projects connected to Netflix, LALIFF, JAG Productions, The Civilians, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and The Kennedy Center. She was named a 2021 TCG Rising Leader of Color and has sat on selection committees for INTAR Theatre and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. As a passionate believer in arts education and accessibility, Danica has also had the privilege of speaking at Roundabout Theatre Company, Shenandoah University, the Academy of Classical Acting at George Washington University and more. Danica holds a Bachelor of Arts with distinction in Film & Media Studies from Dartmouth College.

John is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Tulane University, Department of Theatre and Dance. He teaches Intermediate Acting, Advanced, African American Theatre History, and Theatre for Social Justice. He earned his BA in English from Webster University, an MFA in Acting from West Virginia University, and a Ph. D. in Theatre Research from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Reno Little Theatre: Sense and Sensibility. Organic Theatre, Chicago: Romeo and Juliet. Madison Repertory Theatre: Les Blancs. Arizona Repertory Theatre: The Merchant of Venice, The Greenbriar: Othello. Southern Rep: Airline Highway, Father Come Home from the Wars. In September his essay Romeo and Juliet at an HBCU was published in the essay collection Romeo and Juliet, Adaptation, and the Arts: ‘Cut Him Out in Little Stars’, The Arden Shakespeare.

Sarah designs for theater, themed entertainment, immersive experiences, and mixed-reality productions. Kansas City Actor’s Theatre: Dot. Music Theatre Heritage: Song & Dance, Camelot. Experience Theatre Project: The Great Gatsby’s: Daisy and multiple associate design credits with Kansas City Repertory Theatre and The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. BFA in Design and Technology at Western Michigan University and MFA in Design at University of Missouri – Kansas City.  www.skreeddesigns.com

Wardrobe Associate

cforkpah@folger.edu

Folger Theatre: Amadeus, 1 Henry IV. Everyman Theatre: Jump, Sense and Sensibility (ASM). CATF: 2022 Swing Stage Manager. Imagination Stage: Corduroy, Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth & Thumbelina in rep. Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences: The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: (1st or 2nd ASM) First You Dream, Follies, The Lisbon Traviata, Ragtime. Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Tempest Free for All (ASM). Ford’s Theatre: 13 productions as ASM including Violet, The Laramie Project, Fly, Parade, Sabrina Fair, Jitney. Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: American Utopias, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Arias with a Twist. Theater J: 15 productions including Talley’s Folly, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Sotto Voce, Broken Glass, Falling Out of Time.