ABENA (Anne Page). From NJ, Abena is an actor/vocalist of dual Ghanaian and African-American descent. She originated and reprised the role of Nana in School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (MCC Theater, Center Theatre Group; Drama Desk Special Award). Vocalist of the Royalton Resorts theme song, “Royalton Life.” AMDA graduate. Abena is also a former Disney Cruise mainstage vocalist. Additional NYC credits: Goddess (MCC SongLab/NYSAF), Appointment With God (The Playwrights Realm), Ragtime (Ellis Island), How the Light Gets In - Water is Life (NYMF). TV: “Orange is the New Black,” “Daredevil,” “The Other Two,” "Celebs Have Issues," and “FBI.” Instagram: @abenadryl

GBENGA AKINNAGBE (Mister Nduka Ford) starred as Tom Robinson in the original cast of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway. Additional theater: Fulfillment (The Flea), The Thin Place (Intiman), and A View from 151st Street (The Public). TV: “The Old Man” (upcoming), "Modern Love," “The Deuce,” “The Following,” “The Good Wife,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “The Wire.” Film: The Sun Is Also A Star, All the Devil’s Men, Detroit, Independence Day 2, Edge of Darkness, and The Taking of Pelham 123. Akinnagbe is the founder of Liberated People, a social justice lifestyle brand, and of Enitan Vintage, an African-influenced vintage furniture line that was featured on “Antiques Roadshow.” He recently sold his original pilot “Lewisburg” to NBC.

PASCALE ARMAND (Madam Ekua Page). Broadway: Eclipsed by Danai Gurira (2016 Tony nominee, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play) and The Trip to Bountiful with the late great Cicely Tyson. Film/TV: “Prodigal Son,” “The Blacklist,” “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” Core member of Quick Silver Theater Company (QSTC). NYU Graduate Acting Program alumna. During the pandemic, Armand expanded her artistry into writing. Her one-woman show, $#!thole Country Clapback, is a 2021 Orchard Project participant. www.pascalearmand.com.

MAYAA BOATENG (Fenton/Simple) is a proud daughter of West African immigrants. She returns to Shakespeare in the Park after being featured in The Public’s Julius Caesar, directed by Oskar Eustis. Boateng was last seen starring in Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fairview (Theatre for a New Audience). Other notable theatre credits include Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation, or The Reeducation of Undine (Signature Theatre); Fairview (Soho Rep); Good Men Wanted (New York Stage & Film). On screen credits include “Orange is the New Black” (Netflix), “City on a Hill” (Showtime), and the culminating episode of Season 4 of “High Maintenance” (HBO). Education: NYU Graduate Acting, MFA.

PHILLIP JAMES BRANNON (Pastor Evans). The Public: Shipwreck, Tiny Beautiful Things, ToasT. Broadway: JUNK (Lincoln Center). Off-Broadway: Toni Stone (Roundabout); Log Cabin, BootyCandy (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); The Antipodes (Signature Theatre); The City of Conversation (Lincoln Center); Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Love and Information, Belleville (NYTW); We Are Proud… (Soho Rep). Regional: Williamstown, Steppenwolf, Huntington, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman, Kansas City Rep, Woolly Mammoth, The Wilma, Court Theatre. TV/Film: Roscoe on “Servant,” “The Sinner,” “The Blacklist,” “The Good Fight,” “Elementary,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Law & Order: SVU,” Contagion. Training: DePaul University.

BRANDON E. BURTON (Ensemble) is a St.Louis, MO, native and a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where he won the prestigious Herschel Williams Prize awarded to the top actor of the class. Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth, Richard II, Antony and Cleopatra. Yale Theater: Othello (Othello); Henry VI, Part 3 (York, George, Bona); Marty and the Hands That Could (Mike Money). Yale Rep: A Raisin in the Sun (Bobo).

JOSHUA ECHEBIRI (Slender/Pistol). Pittsburgh Public Theater: Romeo N Juliet (virtual). Williamstown Theatre Festival: A Raisin in the Sun, Something Happens for Joe, Soft. TV: He is recurring on the current season of "The Good Fight" on Paramount+. BA: Dartmouth College. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting. @joshuaechebiri. www.joshuaechebiri.com.

ANGELA GROVEY (Mama Quickly). A very proud native Texan who has learned to embrace the cold, Grovey is proud to be making her Shakespeare in the Park debut with this beautiful company. Broadway: Escape to Margaritaville, Leap of Faith. National Tour: The Play That Goes Wrong (Annie), Newsies (Medda). Coming up: Master (Netflix), “Modern Love” (Amazon). TV/ Film: “Monsterland” (Amazon), “The Blacklist” (NBC), “High Maintenance” (HBO), “Ray Donovan” (Showtime), “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix), “Iron Fist” (Netflix), Joyful Noise (Warner Bros), “30 Rock” (NBC), “The Unusuals” (ABC). Some of the theaters Grovey has danced across: Irish Rep, City Center Encores, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Vineyard, Papermill, Goodspeed. @angelagrovey

BRANDEN LINDSAY (Ensemble) is a southern gentleman born and raised in Greenville, SC. He received his BA from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS, and recently completed his MFA at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Lindsay has worked with some incredible directors such as Brandon Dirden, Tazewell Thompson, and Stevie Walker-Webb. He was also a part of the Nate Parker Film Institute where their film Baggage was screened at The Pan African Film Festival. Lindsay is looking forward to celebrating Black joy and being a part of a historical return to the Park.

ZONYA LOVE (Ensemble). Broadway: The Color Purple (Celie). Off-Broadway & First National Tour: Avenue Q. Regional: The Devil’s Music at Milwaukee Rep, Dreamgirls at Theater Under the Stars, Lights Out: Nat King Cole at People’s Light & The Geffen Playhouse, The Parchman Hour at The Guthrie, Sister Act, The Wiz, and Kiss Me Kate at Broadway at Sacramento. Plays: Emma and Max, Intimate Apparel. Television: “Bull,” “Blue Bloods,” “Smash,” “The David Letterman Show.” Love is an active member of BOLD and Broadway Inspirational Voices.

JARVIS D. MATTHEWS (Ensemble). Regional: Soft, Tempo (Williamstown); uber everywhere (National Black Theatre); Fences (Jamaica PAC); The Flying Dutchman (McCarter). Film: Love Is, A Cakewalk (GARAGE/GUCCI), Gabriela, En Route.

JACOB MING-TRENT (Falstaff). Most recently seen in The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix) and R#J (Sundance). TV: starred in the series “White Famous” (Showtime), played Panda in “Watchmen” (HBO), “Ray Donovan” season six (Showtime), “Feed the Beast” (AMC), etc. Film: Starred in the reboot of SuperFly (Sony), The Possession of Hanna Grace (Screen Gems), etc. Upcoming: “Only Murders in the Building” opposite Steve Martin and Martin Short (Hulu) and “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” (Hulu). Broadway: Hands on a Hardbody and Shrek The Musical. Several Off-Broadway productions, including Father Comes Home From the Wars..., for which he earned a Lortel Award for Best Supporting Actor.

JENNIFER MOGBOCK (Madam Nkechi Ford). Regional: As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ); Love’s Labour’s Lost, Antony And Cleopatra, Hamlet (Stratford Festival). Recent film credits include Sultana’s Dream (Magic Spell Studios), Stratford HD (Melbar Entertainment Group). TV: “Designated Survivor” (ABC), “Conviction” (ABC). MFA: NYU Graduate Acting. www.jennifermogbock.com.

JULIAN ROZZELL JR. (Shallow). Theater includes: Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; Old Head in The Inheritance; Father Comes Home from the Wars… (The Public/Mark Taper Forum); The Piano Lesson (Arden Theater); The Total Bent (The Public); Death of the Last Black Man…, Venus (Signature Theater); Measure for Measure (Hipgnosis Theater). Television includes: “Marvel’s Luke Cage,” “The Blacklist,” “Law & Order,” “Broad City,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “High Maintenance,” “Bull,” “Person of Interest.” Film includes: Otherhood, The Breaks, The Price of Silence, Peter Grass is Dead, and as Samson Finch in Red Dead Redemption II. Rozzell has performed voice-overs and commercials, notably in the “Rhythm is a Dancer” TD Bank commercial.

KYLE SCATLIFFE (Mister Kwame Page) is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Broadway: The Color Purple, Les Misérables, Hamilton, To Kill a Mockingbird. West End: The Scottsboro Boys (Olivier Award nomination). Tour: Hamilton. Off-Broadway: As You Like It, Big River (City Center Encores!). Regional: Ragtime (ZACH Theatre), Oklahoma! (5th Avenue Theatre). Television credits include “Bull,” “Chicago P.D.,” and “A Christmas Carol: The Concert” with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

DAVID RYAN SMITH (Doctor Caius). Broadway: One Man, Two Guvnors; Passing Strange. Off-Broadway: Where We Stand (Women's Project); Passage (Soho Rep); The Death of the Last Black Man... (Signature); Mankind (Playwrights Horizons); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, Pericles (Public Theater); Gone Missing (Encores); The Glory of the World (BAM); Marat/Sade (Classical Theater of Harlem). Regional: Repertory Theater of Saint Louis, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Barrington Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, California Shakespeare Theater, among others. Film: The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Medal of Victory, Bee Season.

SARIN MONAE WEST (Ensemble).  RedBull Theater: Romeo and Juliet (virtual). Recent directors include: Whitney White, Brandon Dirden, Michele Shay, Arin Arbus. Upcoming: Mia MIA (La MaMa). BFA: Oklahoma City University. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting. @sarinmonae www.sarinmonae.com.

JOCELYN BIOH (Adaptation) is an award-winning Ghanaian-American writer/performer from New York City. Her written works for theatre include Nollywood Dreams at MCC Theater, which is currently postponed due to COVID-19; GODDESS, a musical, which will have its world premiere at Berkeley Rep in 2022; and the multi-award-winning School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play, which was originally produced at MCC Theater in 2017/2018 and has gone on to have over 20 regional productions. She is a former Tow Playwriting Fellow (2017) and has been commissioned by MTC, Atlantic Theater Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Second Stage.

SAHEEM ALI (Director) is a proud immigrant from Kenya. He is the Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director of The Public Theater. Recent productions include Romeo y Julieta, Richard II, Twelfth Night (The Public); Shipwreck (The Public, Woolly Mammoth); Fires in the Mirror (Signature Theater); The Rolling Stone (Lincoln Center Theater); The New Englanders, Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC); Passage (Soho Rep); Fireflies (Atlantic Theater Company); Dangerous House, Where Some Storms Are Born (Williamstown Theater Festival); Tartuffe (Playmakers Rep); Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theater); Nollywood Dreams (Cherry Lane); and Dot (Detroit Public Theater). He has workshopped new plays at Playwrights Horizons, Playwrights Realm, MCC, New York Stage & Film, Page 73, and The Lark. He is a Usual Suspect at New York Theater Workshop, Sir John Gielgud SDCF Fellow, and Shubert Fellow.

BEOWULF BORITT (Scenic Design). The Public: Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, Emergence-See!, Tales of an Urban Indian, Venice. Broadway: 23 shows including Act One (Tony Award), The Scottsboro Boys (Tony nomination), Thérèse Raquin (Tony nomination), Come From Away, Freestyle Love Supreme, Be More Chill, The New One, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Meteor Shower, A Bronx Tale, Prince Of Broadway, Hand To God, Sondheim On Sondheim, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, LoveMusik, and On The Town. Off-Broadway: 100 shows including The Last Five Years, Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish), Sleepwalk With Me, and Miss Julie. 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence.

DEDE AYITE (Costume Design) is a two-time Tony nominated costume designer. Broadway credits include A Soldier’s Play, Slave Play, American Son, and Children of a Lesser God. Select Off-Broadway: The Secret Life of Bees, Marie and Rosetta (Atlantic); By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Signature); BLKS, School Girls… (MCC); Bella: An American Tall Tale (Playwrights Horizons); The Royale (Lincoln Center); Toni Stone (Roundabout). Regionally, Ayite’s work has appeared at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf, Arena Stage, and more.  She has worked in television with Netflix, Comedy Central, and FOX Shortcoms. MFA: Yale School of Drama. Awards: Obie, Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes, Theatre Bay Area, and Jeff Awards; four Drama Desk nominations.

JIYOUN CHANG (Lighting Design). The Public: for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Broadway: Slave Play. Off-Broadway: Anatomy of A Suicide, Eddie and Dave (Atlantic); Marys Seacole, Plot Points in Our Sexual Development, brownsville song (LCT3); Sojourners, Her Portmanteau (NYTW); Something Clean, Too Heavy For Your Pocket, Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout); BAM, MCC, Signature, Guggenheim, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, Guthrie, The Old Globe, OSF, Studio Theatre. Falstaff Award 2012 (Troilus and Cressida). Nominations: Tony, Drama Desk, Theatre Bay Area, Henry Hewes Design Awards. Obie Award in special citation. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

KAI HARADA (Co-Sound Design). The Public: Soft Power, Public Works’ Hercules, Fun Home. Broadway: Head Over Heels, The Band’s Visit (Tony, Drama Desk Awards), Amélie, Sunday in the Park with George, Allegiance, Gigi, Fun Home, On the Town, First Date, Follies (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Million Dollar Quartet. Other work: LA Opera, A.R.T., Kennedy Center, City Center, Portland Opera, 5th Avenue, and others. Education: Yale University.

PALMER HEFFERAN (Co-Sound Design). The Public: shadow/land, Shipwreck, Wild Goose Dreams. Broadway: Grand Horizons (Second Stage), The Lifespan of a Fact (Studio 54). Off-Broadway: Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA); Marys Seacole (LCT3); BLKS, Collective Rage, Charm, School Girls… (MCC Theater); The New Englanders, Sugar in Our Wounds, Important Hats… (MTC); Something Clean, Bobbie Clearly (Roundabout); Fabulation..., Death of the Last Black Man… (Signature Theatre); Friend Art (Second Stage); Samara, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Soho Rep); Today Is My Birthday (P73). Awards: 2019 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Sound Design, 2018 and 2020 Henry Hewes Awards.

COOKIE JORDAN (Hair, Wigs and Makeup Design). Broadway: Once on This Island; Sunday in the Park with George; In Transit; Eclipsed; Side Show; After Midnight; Fela!; A View From the Bridge. Off-Broadway: In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre); Public Works’ Hercules, Ain’t No Mo’, Mlima’s Tale (The Public); A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Twelfth Night (The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park). Tours: Fela! (national and European tours); Dirty Dancing. Television: Emmy-nominated for makeup design, “The Wiz Live!” (NBC).

MICHAEL THURBER (Composer) is an NYC-based composer/bassist/performer. He has composed scores for The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Public, MTC, and Atlantic Theater. His new musical GODDESS will have its world premiere this winter at Berkley Rep in CA. Past Public Theater productions include Mobile Unit's Twelfth Night, for which he wrote the music and played the role of Antonio. Thurber co-founded CDZA, a YouTube music collective (40 million views) which headlined at the YouTube Music Awards alongside Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire. Thurber was the bassist on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and sits on the Board of NPR's From the Top. Education: Juilliard, Interlochen Arts Academy.

FARAI MALIANGA (Original Drum Compositions/Musician). Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Malianga began his career in African Dance in Colorado with Leticia Williams’ Harambee and Musical Director Judy “Fatu” Henderson. Upon arriving in New York, he began studying dance and drum with pioneers Yousouf Koumbasa, Mbemba Bangoura, and Ronald K. Brown. He has performed with Chuck Davis in BAM’s Dance Africa, Reginald Yates, Heritage O.P., Harambee, Umoja, The New Jersey Chamber Orchestra, Obediah Wrights Balance, BSRC, Def Dance Jam, Juxtapower, Opus, Camille A. Brown, Christal Brown, Joya Powell, and Beatrice Capote. He performed Darker Faces of the Earth Off-Broadway and on Broadway in Fela! Recently, he composed for dance films like Black Stains with Tiffany Rhynard.

ROCÍO MENDEZ (Fight Director) is an award-winning actor, fight and intimacy director, and a proud New Yorker committed to building confidence in brown and Black girls through storytelling. Mendez has done multiple independent films showcasing their talents in martial arts and comedy. Mendez has worked with a range of theaters nationally including Atlantic Theater Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and Classical Theater of Harlem, among the many. Mendez has been nominated for multiple awards for their work in fight choreography and movement. Mendez is a team member of UnkleDave's Fight-House – a collective of fight/intimacy/movement directors. www.rociomendez.com.

DARRELL GRAND MOULTRIE (Choreographer). A recipient of the Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award and a graduate of The Juilliard School, Moultrie’s credits include Invisible Thread (2nd Stage), Daddy (The New Group/Vineyard Theatre), Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC), Witness Uganda (A.R.T.), Redwood (Portland Center Stage), Evita (Kansas City Rep), El Publico (Teatro Real Madrid). Moultrie has choreographed premieres for dance companies across the world; select works include "Ounce of Faith” (The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre) “Vessels” (Dance Theatre of Harlem), “Ind,ctible Light” (American Ballet Theatre).

NARDA E. ALCORN (Production Stage Manager). Professor and Chair of the stage management department at Yale School of Drama, Alcorn has been head of stage management for NYU, DePaul, and SUNY Purchase. On Broadway, Alcorn premiered four August Wilson plays and stage-managed two Broadway revivals of his work. Alcorn was a stage manager on The Lion King on Broadway for several years and both revivals of A Raisin in the Sun. With co-author Lisa Porter, Alcorn has written the book, Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach, and the HowlRound essay, “We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education.”

BENJAMIN E. C. PFISTER (Stage Manager). The Public Theater: Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It at The Delacorte Theater. Yale Repertory Theater: Imogen Says Nothing. Broadway credits include Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (Imperial Theater); Choir Boy (Samuel J. Friedman Theater); The Rose Tattoo and A Soldier’s Play (American Airlines Theater). MFA Graduate and Lecturer in the Stage Management Department at The Yale School of Drama.