James Edward Becton* (Nick/The Floater) is beyond thrilled to be part of this thought provoking piece of theatre. Selected credits include: The King of Ethiopia opposite Austin Pendleton’s King Priam in Dress of Fire; Willy in Double Cross by John Patrick Shanely; Second Witch in Fab Marquees’ Macbeth of the Oppressed; Louis Till in Planet Connections/LaMaMa prod. of Erik Ehn’s Clover; Mike in Waterwell/Public Theatre’s critically acclaimed WWII variety show Blueprint Specials starring Laura Osnes and Will Swenson; Axel in August Strindberg’s Playing with Fire; Jack Worthington in Take Wing and Soar’s production of The Importance of Being Ernest. For a complete view into James Edwards’ eclectic and diverse resume: www.JamesEdwardBecton.com. Thank you Amy, Catherine, cast and crew for bringing your “A-Game” time and time again.
Brenda Crawley (Ann/Air Duct Voice/Mom) Theatre credits: House of Karen, Columbia Stages, Oralia in Daughters of the Mock, Negro Ensemble Company, Heroina in Keys, Broadway Bound Festival, Nurse in Uncle Abram, the Little Eagle Project, La Madrecita in Camino Real, Columbia Stages, Mrs. O’Neil in The Sunshine Boys, Amateur Comedy Club, Luanne in First Time, Aching Dogs Theatre, Angela in The Names, The Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, Mrs. Muller in Doubt, The Gloria Maddox Theatre. Special thanks to Amy Green, Catherine Filloux, Rebecca Lovett and the great cast of whatdoesfreemean?
Justin Jorrell (Corrections Officer 2), an entertainer and performer in many genres, is seen in musicals as well as straight plays including Someday at the Wild Project Theatre or In The Room, Waiting at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival. Justin can be found performing as a vocalist, playing the saxophone, and as Master of Ceremonies for events all over the city.
Galway McCullough* (Lincoln/Corrections Officer 1/Merton/Parole Board Director) is an actor and fight choreographer who has been working in NYC since 2004. Some credits include: national voice-overs for Phillips-Norelco, appearances on Blacklist, Blindspot, Boardwalk Empire, independent films as well as extensive theatre credits. He is currently seeking collaborators for “The Intimacy Project” (facebook.com/The-Intimacy-Project-1367439289998228). More @ www.GalwayMcCullough.com
Liz Morgan (Miss Pierotti/Corrections Officer 3/Shanna/Mouse) is an actor and writer best known for her poem “Why I Was Late Today…” featured on the Huffington Post. Acting credits include: Company of Fools (Bright Half Life), Perseverance Theatre (The Mountaintop), Capital Rep (The Mountaintop), Trinity Rep (Boeing-Boeing), Huntington Theatre Company (Start Down), Harlem Shakespeare Festival (Othello), Playwrights Rep (The Hunchback of Seville), Rites and Reason Theatre (Na Luta) and a collaboration with Ntozake Shange on her choreoessay in development, Lost in Language and Sound. Film: Ted 2 with Seth Macfarlane. MFA: Brown/Trinity Rep. For more visit www.LizMorganOnline.com
Lisa Strum (Mary), a Philadelphia native, is an actress, playwright, producer, director, singer and educator. She received an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington in Seattle and has performed in regional theatres all across the country. Her solo play, She Gon’ Learn premiered at the Emerging Artist Theatre Festival at TADA!, followed by sold out performances at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row in NYC where the play received one of the festival’s Best Solo Show Awards. Other She Gon’ Learn performances include: The Obie Award Winning Fire This Time Festival; The National Black Theatre; The New Black Fest at The Lark Play Development Center; The Roselle Center for the Arts at University of Delaware and a workshop production at The Jersey City Theatre Center in New Jersey. As an actor, Lisa has worked at Lincoln Center Theatre with the Tony Award winning director of Hamilton, Thomas Kail, appeared at Summer Stage, Signature Theatre, New Federal Theatre, Intiman Theatre, The Obie Award Winning 48 Hours in…Harlem, ACT and The Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle. Lisa has also had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU and co-stared in the television pilot Citizen Baines with James Cromwell from Babe and LA Confidential. As an educational consultant, she has conducted numerous artist and professional development workshops in public schools, colleges and universities all over the country. Lisa is a staff facilitator at Columbia University for The Literacy Unbound Summer Institute and was the Theatre Specialist for the Abrons Arts Center, Barbara L. Tate Summer Arts Program at the historic Henry Street Settlement for nine seasons. Lisa was a Finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and was the recipient of the Playwrights Initiative Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in September of 2017.
Catherine Filloux (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright who has been writing about human rights and social justice for twenty-five years. Catherine was honored in New York City with the 2017 Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theatre. Her new play Kidnap Road recently premiered at La MaMa and was presented by Anna Deavere Smith as part of NYU’s Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue. Filloux received the 2015 Planet Activist Award due to her long career as an activist artist in the theater community. Recent productions include: Selma ‘65 which premiered at La MaMa and has been performed around the U.S; and Luz at La MaMa, and Looking for Lilith Theatre Co. in Louisville, Kentucky. Catherine is the librettist for three produced operas; and her most recent is Olga Neuwirth’s new opera, Orlando, to premiere at the Vienna State Opera in 2019. She is developing a new musical, All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go, with composer Jimmy Roberts, and John Daggett; it is a 2018 NAMT finalist. Catherine is a co-founder of Theatre Without Borders and a New Dramatists alumna. catherinefilloux.com
Amy S. Green (Director) is Associate Artistic Director of Nora’s Playhouse and Associate Professor of Applied Theatre and Interdisciplinary Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Amy is a director, actor, playwright, and dramaturg. She holds a Kennedy Center Gold Medallion for Lifetime Contribution to the Arts and is the author of The Revisionist Stage: American Directors Reinvent the Classics (Cambridge University Press). my is honored and grateful to have collaborated with Catherine Filloux on this beautiful script and with the company of whatdoesfreemean? to bring it to the stage.
Phoebe Mauro (Scenic and Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn-based designer, graduated from Purchase College, and would like to thank her partner and cat for being ever patient and supportive. phoebemauro.wixsite.com/scenicart
Rashidah Nelson (Costume Designer) is a costume designer and middle school sewing and crafts instructor in NJ. She is currently pursuing her BFA in Theater Production and Design at Montclair State University.
Sadah Espii Proctor (Projection and Sound Designer) is a designer and engineer of sound and visuals for theatre, virtual reality, and immersive experiences. Recent credits: General Technician, Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders (DR Theatrical Management), Video Engineer, Soundtrack ’63 (Soul Science Lab, Lincoln Center Education); Sound Designer, El Otro Lado Del Destino (Wi-Moto Nyoka, Fresh Ground Pepper Festival); Sound Designer, The Niceties (Portland Stage). She is a Member of the New Museum’s cultural incubator NEW INC.. M.F.A. Performance and Interactive Arts, Brooklyn College. B.A. Theatre Arts, Virginia Tech.
Veronica Bella (Graphic Design and Photography) recently graduated from Lawrence University with a BA in Art History and Studio Art. In the past, she has worked in galleries, arts education, photography, and graphic design. She is looking forward to getting more involved with the NYC creative scene.
Sharon Friedman (Dramaturg) is Nora’s Playhouse’s Literary Curator and Associate Professor of modern literature and drama in the Gallatin School of New York University. She is the editor of a volume of essays, Feminist Theatrical Revisions of Classic Works, and the author of numerous essays on feminist criticism and drama.
Jennifer Jacobs (Assistant to the Director) is a current student at Vassar College. She is majoring in Drama with a particular focus on Directing. Recently, she directed a production of Godspell at Vassar, as well as co-directed a production of student written work. She also has appeared on stage in various productions such as Spring Awakening, Bat Boy, Curtains and more. She’d like to thank her family and friends for their support, and would like to thank Catherine Filloux for bringing her into this important project.
Rebecca Lovett (General Manager) is the Managing Director of Nora’s Playhouse. She is also an actor and the Assistant Director of the Episcopal Actors’ Guild, a nonsectarian nonprofit providing emergency financial and sustenance assistance and career support to NYC’s professional performing artists. In addition to seeing her on stage and screen, you might spot her on occasion working front-of-house at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Rebecca was the General Manager for Nora’s critically-acclaimed 2015 world-premiere production of Laurence Leamer’s Rose starring Kathleen Chalfant (Clurman Theatre, Theatre Row). She was also the Marketing Director and House Manager for the 2016 world-premiere production of Rich Orloff’s Chatting with the Tea Party (Robert Moss Theater). www.rebeccalovett.com
Karen Oughtred (Stage Manager) is a multidisciplinary theater artist, teacher and Production Stage Manager. Stage Management includes: La MaMa, The New School, BAM, HERE, The Public, PS122, Soho Rep, Town Hall, Ohio Theater, 3LD and the National Museum of the American Indian. Karen is a writer, director and performer of interactive museum theatre for youth and seniors for the Mt Vernon Hotel Museum and the Jay Heritage Center, Rye. As a Teaching Artist, she works in senior centers delivering The Memory Project, storytelling through visual arts, theater & puppetry, which she co-created with Spica Wobbe in 2016. She is pleased to be working again with Catherine Filloux on her latest play. facebook.com/thememoryproject.storytelling
Casey Powers (Assistant Stage Manager) Casey Powers is a stage management major at Fordham University. Previous credits include Phantom of the Paradise: In Concert (ASM), La Metamorfosis (ASM), The Dreamer Examines his Pillow (ALD) and SM of the 2nd place Advanced Tech Challenge Team at the NJ Thespian Festival. She would like to thank God, her parents for their support, her sister, Mr. Wahlers and Mrs. Alexander. She would also like to thank Karen, Amy, Catherine, Rebecca, Barbara and Jen for being such wonderfully lovely people to work with!
Monee Stamp (Assistant Lighting Designer/Board Op) is a Third year lighting design Master of Fine arts candidate at Ohio University. She will be graduating in December of 2018. Beyond assisting, Moneé has also designed many shows in the past few years. She has enjoyed the chance to learn a new aspect of the Theatre and has enjoyed working with this cast and crew.
Barbara Drum Sullivan (Assistant to the Director) is an Artistic Associate of Nora’s Playhouse. She graduated from Hofstra University with a BFA in theatre; just a few decades later, she earned an MA in Classical and Contemporary Theatre from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (aka the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in Glasgow. Favorite stage roles include the Nurse in Romeo and Julie, Ida in Morning’s at Seven, and Mrs Cliveden-Banks in Outward Bound. Barbara has appeared on TV in Law & Order; she also works in film and records audio books. AEA, SAG-AFTRA.
Judith Elster (Production Intern) is a rising senior at The New School’s Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts, majoring in Theater and Politics. At the School for Creative and Performing Arts, her high school in San Diego, Judith refined her talents in acting, singing, dancing, piano, and guitar while discovering a passion for directing and playwriting.
Mouli Ghosh (Social Media/Outreach Intern) is a freshman at NYU Gallatin, planning to graduate in 2021. She is an actor from Australia and is intending to concentrate in Drama Therapy within a criminal justice context. She is passionate about finding alternatives to incarceration through community-centered approaches and the creative arts.