Phanésia Pharel (playwright) writes from a Caribbean feminist perspective on the divine metaphysical dilemma of colored girlhood. Through Afro-futurism her plays span revolutions, islands and combat gendered violence. She explores futures built on love by centering women's pleasure, safety and joy.
Honors include City Theatre National Short Playwriting Finalist, Jane Chambers Finalist, O’neill Semi-Finalist, Blank Stage “Future of Playwriting” Semi-Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist. Phanésia is a member of the EST/ Youngblood and the inaugural PlayGround-NY Writers Pool. Commissions include City Theatre Miami, the Latinx Playwrights Circle & Pregones/PRTT Greater Good Commission and Thrown Stone Theatre. Residencies include New York Stage and Film, Echo Theater Company of Los Angeles and the Playwrights Center. Publishing: Concord Theatricals, Smith and Kraus Best Plays of 2020, Reset Coalition 2020 Anthology and the City Theatre Anthology.
She is a Program Director for viBe Theater Experience, where girls of color are able to access high quality theater without financial barriers.
Phanésia is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America.
For television inquiries please contact Brandy Rivers at brandyr@industryentertainment.com
abigail jean-baptiste (director) is a theater maker, director and writer born & based in New York. Her work intersects with critical race theory, disrupts conditioned rules of behavior, and reimagines understandings of the past. She’s particularly interested in activating the ways live performance and theater are as essential to our humanity as eating food. abigail is currently a Soho Rep. Project Number One Artist. She is also part of the Roundabout Director’s Group, Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Classic Stage Company Associate Board and The New Georges Jam. In 2020, she was named one of the “Powerhouse Women Directors Theatre Fans and Industry Pros Alike Need to Know” by Playbill. abigail has worked on shows at The Public Theater, The Atlantic Theater, CSC, The Rep. at St. Louis, McCarter Theater, and on Broadway. Most recently, she directed THE STORY OF A CIRCLE by David Ryan Smith (Soho Rep.) and A CASE FOR BLACK GIRLS SETTING CENTRAL PARK ON FIRE by Kori Alston (Clubbed Thumb, Reading Series). Upcoming: the salt women (Playwrights Horizons, Reading Series); THE HOUSE THAT WILL NOT STAND (Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans). A Proud Lilly Award Winner and New Georges Affiliated Artist. B.A. Princeton University.
Vanessa Mings (stage manager) After graduating with a BA in Theatre from Florida International University, Vanessa worked locally in Miami, Florida at a variety of professional theaters including; Main Street Players, City Theatre and African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. Vanessa has moved to New York City from Miami, FL. Since her move, Vanessa has worked with New York Stage and Film summer season and is currently a professional stage management apprentice at The Juilliard School. Vanessa is thrilled to work with Egg and Spoon theatre!
Torée Alexandre* (Donna) Originally hailing from Yonkers, NY, Torée is a graduate of Point Park University with a B.F.A. in Acting and a minor in Musical Theatre. She is a plant-based poet sending love, light, and lift to all. Torée is honored to be working with The Women’s Project Theatre again! She most recently finished a workshop of Covenant at South Coast Repertory, a new play by York Walker. You can catch her on Netflix in Marvel’s Luke Cage and Vampires vs the Bronx by Oz Rodriguez, or perhaps you’ll see her riding her bicycle throughout the boroughs! Glory to The Highest! Thank you Chi Talent Management. Giving thanks to Mommy, Mama, Paige, and Tilia!
Maya N Carter (Squeaks) is an interdisciplinary performer, theater-maker, and cultivator of joy; living and working on the unceded land of the Lenni Lenape and Canarsie People. As an artist educator, Maya seeks to decolonize access to artistic practice. They also facilitate the development of new plays and devised work in various capacities, including: Festival Curation, Dramaturgy, Movement Direction/Choreography, and Devising/Writing. Recent projects include: Living Tarot with Sacred Circle Theatre, and Tanya’s Lit Clit with Experimental Bitch Presents. They’re delighted to breathe into this poignant play with friends, old and new.
Darlesia Cearcy* (Mom/Middle Class Lady) is a Broadway veteran with 6 Broadway shows who was last seen in the episodic High Fidelity on Hulu as well the “Judge” on FBI. Other dynamic roles on Broadway include: ‘Sarah’ in Ragtime, for which she received a Helen Hayes Nomination; ‘Nettie’ in The Color Purple; ‘Lottie Gee’ in Shuffle Along, and most recently as ‘Erzulie’ - The Goddess of Love in Tony Award-winning revival of Once on This Island. Other Broadway credits include The Goodbye Girl, Tony Award-winning The Book of Mormon. She has sung with the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra for “Pop Goes the Fourth” on ABC and has sung for the President and Democratic National Convention of 1998. She’s sung on MTV’s Most Wanted, VH1, Top of the Pops in London, and was nominated for a Viva Award for her single release “Everlasting...” (she co-wrote with B-zet) later underscored an episode of “Baywatch.” Television: “Law and Order: SVU”, “Rescue Me”, “Mercy”, “House of Cards” and Nurse Jackie She will appear as ‘Aunt Sarah’ in Nina Simone: Four Women in the Berkshire. Please visit: urvisionhousse.com for more on Darlesia’s work and performances. AEA/SAG-AFTRA
Alison Cimmet* (Ms Peg) Currently: Preparedness (HERE/Bushwick Starr). Broadway: Gary; Amelie; She Loves Me; Mystery of Edwin Drood; Bonnie & Clyde; Baby, It’s You!; Tale of Two Cities. NYC/Regional favorites: Romeo & Juliet (Westport Country Playhouse); Into the Woods (Fiasco/The Old Globe); John Guare’s 3 Kinds of Exile (Atlantic Theater); Mame (Kennedy Center). Film/TV: Big Sick, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Ray Donovan, Blacklist, Younger, Bull, Evil, Dickinson. Training: Brown University, Upright Citizens Brigade, The Actors Center.
Sam Encarnacion* (Softfists) is an actor and teaching artist. Selected acting credits include: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (IRT) The Bandaged Place ( New York Stage & Film) Peter and the Starcatcher (Virginia Stage Co.) Skin Deep Skin Tight ( Precariat Prod.) Long Way Go Down (Harold Clurman Lab),The Brothers Size ( Syracuse Stage & South African Tour) and Top Dog/Underdog ( Peoples Theater Lab) TV: Law & Order SVU, Jessica Jones.
Alisha Espinosa* (JT) is an Afro-Boricua actor, playwright, and the Director of Education and Outreach for the Latinx Playwrights Circle. Recently, her play, The Language of the Unheard, was a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill 2021 NPC. She was also a semi-finalist for the WP Theatre LAB 2021 and wrote for the 48 Hours in El Bronx 2021 Digital Festival. A selection of her work can be found on the New Play Exchange Network. Select Acting Credits: Seize the King (Classical Theatre of Harlem) Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theatre), Alma (Old Globe), Hamlet (Stage One), Shakespeare the Remix (Capital Rep), Much Ado About Nothing (KY Shakespeare). alishaespinosa.com | @la.espi | MFA UMKC
Tabatha Gayle* (Babygirl) is a black multi-disciplinary creator and performer. As a director, actor, writer, and poet, she has worked with companies and off-broadway theaters such as HERE Arts Center, Musical Theater Factory, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Poetic Theater Productions, Ars Nova (ANT Fest), Prelude Festival, Out of Chaos (UK), The Tank, New York Musical Festival, The Bushwick Starr, New York Theater Workshop, The Resident Acting Company of New York, and Virginia Stage Company. She is a Resident Artist with New Light Theater Project.
Toney Goins* (Wide Eyes) is a Philadelphia native with family roots in Ardmore, PA. He began his educational journey at an all-boys private school on the Main Line attending PreK through 12th, graduating in 2014. In 6th grade, Toney discovered his passion for acting when assigned to dramatize various poems for his English class. From that point on, he performed in middle school and high school plays. During the summers of 2010, 2012 and 2013, Toney performed in Upper Darby Summer Stage plays and Shooting Stars programs. He made a name for himself by winning local theater awards for acting and choreography.
In 2014, Toney attended The Juilliard School in NYC for drama and graduated in 2018 receiving the Career Advancement Grant. In 2019, he made his New York acting debut in the Off-Broadway production of Toni Stone. Toney was featured in the ABC television series, For Life (Executive Producer, Fifty Cent), as Ronnie and in the Russo Brothers' movie, Cherry with Tom Holland. Currently, he is a new cast member on the Showtime drama series, Billions. Look for Toney in season 6, expected release date in January 2022.
Malika Samuel* (Trina) Broadway: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Original Cast), The Music Man. Off-Broadway: Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP/Second Stage). TV: Evil, Orange Is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Chicago P.D., Law & Order: SVU, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, The Big C. Host of Nick Studio 10 and2013 Kids’ Choice Awards Pre-Show. Film: Holiday Rush, Submission, Central Park. Graduate of NYU/Tisch. Thanks & love to Paradigm, Sinclair Management, and A3!
*denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union for actors and stage managers.