The Talk
Written by France-Luce Benson
Directed by Jamie Robinson
Manu's little girl is all grown-up. Now it's her turn. But there's just one question: How does one ”rabbit”?

Four
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Nicole Watson
It's a typical Friday night at Mansion Night Club: Sweet Thing is late, Saffronia is full of attitude, Peaches is preparing to perform and Aunt Sarah is keeping folks in line... as usual. Inspired by a Nina Simone song (Four Women) Four imagines a world in which all of these women co-exist (and have plenty to say about it).

The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: Dream One
Written by Kevin R. Free
Directed by Christopher Burris
An artist struggles with his present as he dreams of his future. This dream is the first scene of Kevin R. Free’s full-length play, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual.

Little Louise
Written by Patricia Ione Lloyd
Directed by Donya K. Washington
The Madame of a whorehouse has tea with her inner child, while listening to the brand new Billie Holiday record. The games that little girls play are especially dangerous for grown black women. Little Louise, is the story of a biracial woman in the 1930’s, who understands the law of supply and demand in the business of love.

The Pitch
Written by Zoey Martinson
Directed by Brandon Gardner
The Pitch takes a comedic look at two young black writers trying to sell a modern Black movie to studio executives. See how far they are willing go and how much they are willing to sacrifice to get their movie made.

Vanna White Must Die
Written by Antoinette Nwandu
Directed by Dan Rogers
With a pie in the oven and her boyfriend’s disapproving Mother in the next room, wallflower Seena needs to make a hit. Problem is, her best friend turned arch nemesis Vanna White has other plans. With wit and humor, Vanna White Must Die answers the question, what's a girl gotta do to keep her love alive?

DIG
Written by Jerome Parker
Directed by LA Williams
Haunted by a case, a homicide detective blurs the lines between past, present, home and work in this gritty, street drama.

Antoinette Nwandu (Playwright) Antoinette Nwandu is a New York based writer via Los Angeles. Plays include Breach, Black Boy & The War, Flat Sam, and The Dying Days Of Viktor Castle, currently in development with Dreamscape Theatre. Awards include the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award and the NEC's Douglas Turner Ward Playwriting Award.

Brandon Gardner (Director) Brandon Gardner has been writing and performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York since 2007. In addition to improvising at UCB NY in Let's Have a Ball, The Curfew, and Improv Nerds, he performs at colleges and theaters across the country with the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company. He's currently an upper-level improv instructor at the UCB Training Center and was featured as an improv expert on America's Next Top Model. His directing credits include HOT TEA, Handjob at 20,000 Feet, and 12 Angry Improvisers: The Improvised One-Act Play.

Chantal Jean-Pierre (Performer) Chantal Jean-Pierre * (Manu) is thrilled to make her Fire this Time Festival debut and support such an exceptional playwright. A few of her credits include: Flat Rock Playhouse: Doubt; Hartford Stage: Sheila's Day; Crossroads Theatre: Raisin in the Sun; Orlando Shakespeare Theatre: the title role in Antony and Cleopatra & Mattie in Shotgun; La Mama Theater: The G-Word; NJ Shakespeare: Henry V and Blue Bird; Folger Shakespeare (DC); Goneril in King Lear; Peopleís Light and Theatre: Undine in Fabulations; Market Theater (South Africa) & Crossroads Theatre: Sheilaís Day; Weston Playhouse Theatre: Ruth in Raisin in the Sun; Luna Stage: The Other Side of Newark & Voice of Good Hope; American Globe Theatre: Gertrude in Hamlet; Ensemble Studio Theater: Vukani. TV credits: Brighton Beach, Are We There Yet, One Life to Live, All My Children. Training: (MFA) Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Christopher Borg (Performer) (Borg) Performance artist and member of three NY theatre companies including Emerging Artists & TOSOS with whom he received 2 OOBR Awards, and nominations for a GLAAD Media Award and an HX Award for directing the celebrated Bernadette & The Butcher of Broadway at the Duplex. Borg is a 5-year ensemble member of the NY Neo-Futurists who perform "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind" every Fri & Sat night. He was a co-creator of the autobiographical (NOT) Just A Day Like Any Other (with Kevin R. Free), which received the 2009 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Ensemble as well as the critically acclaimed experimental docutheatre piece Locker #4173b which received the 2011 IT Award for "Outstanding Performance Art Production." Off-Broadway he has originated roles in 2 critical and audience successes: Penny Pennyworth and The Play About the Naked Guy (both produced by EAT) which garnered praise in the NY Times, Variety, NY Post and NY Magazine. Regional Credits include Shakespeareís R&J (The Folger Shakespearean Theatre), Gross Indecency (Studio Theatre), Raised in Captivity (Woolly Mammoth Theatre), and 2 seasons at The Shakespeare Theatre

Christopher Burris (Director) Christopher Burris New York directing credits include Kevin R. Free's A RAISIN IN THE SALAD: BLACK PLAYS FOR WHITE PEOPLE, which was a FringeNYC 2010 hit. He also directed Dennis A. Allen IIIís THE MUD IS THICKER IN MISSISSIPPI, a winner in the 2010 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. He has directed several short plays for Sticky at the Bowery Poetry Club, including FALLING OUT WITH GREGARIAN TUNKS, A SHADOW WITH NO FORM, LIFEíS TERMS, ...IN WHICH BISHOP EDDIE LONG LOSES HIS BATTLE WITH THE DEMONS, and GAGA OF THE DEAD. In addition to a series of staged readings for Freedom Train Productions, (including Derek McPhatter's BRING THE BEAT BACK) he has directed numerous projects for Phare Play, Unconscious Collective, and The Fire This Time Festival (EXODUS, BY THE BANKS OF THE NILE). He holds a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an MFA from UC San Diego. Twitter: @christopherbnyc

Dan Rogers (Director) Dan Rogers is new to Fire This Time Festival and happy to be here. He is a co-founding member of AntiMatter Collective, where he recently directed sixsixsix by Gregory S. Moss in Prague. He also directed AntiMatter's debut production, DEATH VALLEY, which was developed with Vampire Cowboys and presented at the Bushwick Starr. Dan has a BA from Brown University, where he received the Weston Fine Arts Award for Directing. Other NY credits include Luxembourg (Lunar Energy), Those Granny Smiths (Dreamscape) and The Sound (13th St. Rep); as an actor, Butterfly, Butterfly, Kill Kill Kill! (FringeNYC) and Three Sisters (Columbia); and as a tech director, The Confidence Man (Woodshed Collective). Thanks for coming out! www.danielyrogers.com

Danielle Davenport (Performer) Danielle Davenport (Saffronia) Public Theater: Neighbors, Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays, Shakespeare Lab 2010. Off-Broadway: A Broken Christmas Carol (BrokenWatch Theater Company). Other New York theater credits include: Aristophanes' The Birds (Target Margin) and The Marriage of Figaro and A Dream Play, both directed by Diane Paulus. Danielle has appeared in readings at theaters including the Public, Playwrights Horizons, INTAR, and the Ensemble Studio Theater and has appeared on Boardwalk Empire (HBO), as well as in a number of short films. She is currently developing a full-length play entitled Claudia. She graduated summa cum laude with a BA in theatre and comparative literature & society from Barnard College, Columbia University

Darius De Haas (Performer) (Darius) Broadway credits include Kiss Of The Spiderwoman, Carousel, Rent, The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, Marie Christine, and the Actors' Fund concert stagings of Hair and Dreamgirls. Other notable theater credits are the premiere productions of Children of Eden (Papermill Playhouse), the title role in Running Man (Obie Award), The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Playwrights Horizons), Saturn Returns (Public Theater), Jesus Christ Superstar Gospel (Alliance Theater), and Twelfth Night (Westport Country Playhouse). He is featured on numerous recordings including his most recent release, "Quiet Please" with pianist Steven Blier. Recent concert performances include the Lincoln Center American Songbook, "Too Hot To Handel" at Carnegie Hall with Marin Alsop, Duke Ellington's Concert of Sacred Music at Disney Concert Hall with The Los Angeles Master Chorale, plus numerous symphonies, music festivals and clubs around the world. www.dariusdehaas.com

Donya K Washington (Director) Donya K Washington a reading of Sound by Don Nguyen (The Civilians), Abby in the Summer by AP Andrews (Playwrights Horizons Theatre School), a reading of Bleedin' Trees by Scott McCarrey (Tisch/NYU),Brooklyn Skank by Fernanda Coppel (Subject Theatre Company), Come Back to Me by Jesse Cameron Alick and Manikato adapted by Jesse CameronAlick (Shakespeare in Paradise, Bahamas), a reading of Pete the Girl(Rising Circle Collective), Now the Cats with Jeweled Claws (Target Margin Theatre), Spunk (Penobscot Theatre, Bangor, ME), Jump Jim Crowby Jesse Cameron Alick, music and lyrics by Justin Levine (Subjective Theater Company), Bear Market by Kara Manning (Womenís Project Lab),Cold Keener (Target Margin). Work with 52nd Street Project, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, the Public Theatreís Emerging Writers Group, MCC Theatre Youth Company, The Civilians and Williamstown. Training: MFA, Directing - Brown University/Trinity Rep; BFA, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Member of the 2008/2010 Women's Project Lab. Van Lier Directing Fellow 2009, Second Stage Theatre. Member 2010-2011 Civilians' R&D Group.

Erin Cherry (Performer) Erin Cherry * (Partner/Wife/Mother) received her B.A. in theatre from The University of Nevada Las Vegas. After that she went on to get her M.F.A. in acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where she studied under Bill Esper and Maggie Flanigan. She has been nominated for a 2011 Audelco Award in the lead actress category for The New Federal Theatre's production of Knock Me a Kiss, and she is the Executive Director of The Nigerian Project (Nigerianproject.com), and one of the founding producers of Harlem9 (Harlem9.org). She is currently starting her own production company With a Cherry on Top Productions, and she has been at the Maggie Flanigan Studio for the past 6 years where she works as a private acting coach. http://about.me/cherryontop

Erwin E A Thomas (Performer) Erwin E A Thomas * (Danny) NYC stage appearances have included Patrice Chereau's From the house of the Dead (Met Opera), Il Trovatore (Met Opera), Candido Tirado's MC Orange Juice (HHTF '10), Thomas Bradshaw's Southern Promises (PS122), and Steven Dietzís Jackie and Me (Seattle Children's Theater). He is thankful to be a part of such a powerful festival. In love and light

Felicia J Hudson (Performer) Felicia J Hudson (Seena) - AEA - is thrilled (seriously - ecstatic) to be a firsttimer in The Fire This Time Festival. Most recently, she was seen as Fee in the staged readings of Mac Rogers' Blast Radius and Sovereign, parts 2 and 3 of the upcoming Honeycomb Trilogy. Favorite roles include Velma Kelly in Chicago (which she played) and any Ginger Rogers character ever (which she hasn't played). Thanks for coming out, and to all my straight friends, thanks for coming to the show.

France-Luce Benson (Playwright) France-Luce Benson is a two-time recipient of the Shubert Foundation Fellowship. Her play Fati's Last Dance was awarded the Lorraine Hansberry Award by the Kennedy Center and was selected for the Ignition Festival at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. Healing Roots was awarded the $10,000 prize from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation. She is a member of the Women's Work Lab at New Perspectives Theatre, where her play Bright Lights, Tent City premiered in September. She is also a Lifetime Member at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. Silence of the Mambo, Destiny's Edge, Ascension, and Floating Under Water were all developed at EST. Risen from the Dough and Learning to Swim were both produced at EST's GTTR: River Crosses River Festival (2009, 2011). She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing.

Jamie Richards (Director) Jamie Richards has directed Stonewall Jacksonís House (American Place Theater), Light Years (Playwrightís Horizons), Klonsky and Schwartz, The Secret Order, District of Columbia, Flight, Heaven Knows, and Hell's Kitchen Sink (EST). Plays for EST's Marathon include Little Duck, Brown, Night Rules, Cats and Dogs, Reunions, Real Real Gone, and The 100 Most Beautiful Names of Todd. She has directed and developed plays at Williamstown Theatre Festival, New York Stage and Film, Primary Stages, and Youngblood. She is Artistic Director of 9th Ave Theater Project, which produces the new play development program 9th & Madison. She served as Executive Producer of EST, where she produced premieres of plays by David Mamet, Arthur Miller, David Ives, Paul Rudnick, Lynn Nottage, and many others, as well as the Going to The River Festival. She is a member of EST, and is grateful to have had long-time collaboration with Romulus Linney.

Jeanette Dilone (Performer) Jeanette Dilone * (Little Louise) holds a BA in theater and psychology from Columbia University. She is now a NYC-based actor and stand-up comedian. She has worked for Collegehumor & appeared in a McDonald's commercial. On stage, she's worked with the New York City Opera and The Layon Gray Experience.

Jerome A. Parker (Playwright) Jerome A. Parker's plays were performed at the Old Vic, the Company of Angels, Celebration Theatre, the Cherry Lane, and the Public Theater, amongst others. Lorraine Hansberry Award (2008), Tim Robbins Award (2009), Public Theater's EWG (2010-2011). MFA (UCLA). Upcoming: Stag, Bliss, Strange Fellowe, Rising Son, and Miracle On Monroe.

Jesmille Darbouze (Performer) Jesmille Darbouze * (Claire) New York: Arianna in And Vice Versa, Adella in Lesser Mercies, Dejanira in These Seven Sicknesses and Dedes in Arok of Java dir. Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (EPBB); Our Lady of the Spa in Nine (Westchester Broadway Theatre) staring Robert Cuccioli. Regional: Aida in Aida, Shout the Mod Musical, And the World Goes Round, Smokey Joeís CafÈ, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Showdown, A Funny ThingÖForum, Ophelia in Hamletís Women, Slide Glide the Slipper Slope, Urinetown dir John Carrafa. BFA: Carnegie Mellon. Jesmilled@gmail.com

Jocelyn Bioh (Playwright) Jocelyn is beyond thrilled to be a part of this year's Fire This Time Festival! A proud native New Yorker, Jocelyn holds degrees in English and Theatre from The Ohio State University and MFA in Theatre - Playwriting from Columbia University. Previous acting credits include: Seed (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (City Theatre - PA), American Schemes (SummerStage NYC), Neighbors (The Public Theater), and Lightskin/Darkskin which she co-wrote and starred in with Fire This Time founding playwright Kelley Girod. As a playwright, Jocelyn has been produced at Columbia University, and she was a finalist in Southern Rep Ruby Prize Award for her play AFRICAN AMERICANS.

Kevin R. Free (Playwright) Kevin R. Free Face Value (FringeNYC, Henry Street Settlement Playwrights' Project, 2000); (Not) Just a Day Like Any Other (2009 NY It Award, Outstanding Ensemble); Over 20 short plays for Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (New York Neo-Futurists, 2007-2009); A Raisin in the Salad: Black Plays for White People (2010, FringeNYC).

LA Williams (Director) LA Williams is a 2010 member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York City. His work has been seen in cities across the nation such as: New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C, Atlanta, and San Francisco- Bay Area. Recent credits: Dominique Morriseau's The Masterpiece (Harlem 9's 2011 48 Hours in Harlem Festival); August Wilson's The Piano Lesson (Summer Repertory Theatre), nominated for San Francisco area-BroadwayWorld Award; Jesse Cameron Alick's Scorpion and the Fox (The Fire This Time Festival); Garlia Cornelia Jones' Shoppin' for N.I.G.G.A.S (The Cell Theatre); staged reading of Tough Titty by Oni Faida Lampley (The Black Directors Studio); Jerome A. Parkers' House of Dinah: or The Black Queens (The Black Directors Studio); William Shakespeare's Cymbeline (Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab); Do It, Miss Celie (Woodruff Arts Center/14th Street Playhouse); and a workshop production of A. Peter Bailey's Malcolm, Martin, Medgar (Malcolm X Leadership Workshop/Warehouse Theater) in Washington, D.C. He was the 2009 Directing Fellow to Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA. There he assistant directed on several productions such as: production assistant on David Feldshuh's Miss Evers Boys (dir: Kenny Leon), assistant director on Pearl Cleage's Blues For an Alabama Sky (dir: Andrea Frye), and assistant director on the acclaimed Atlanta production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf (dir: Jasmine Guy).

Lakisha May (Performer) Lakisha May (Indigo) is thrilled to be a part of the Fire This Time Festival. Lakisha is a classically trained stage and film actress, model, teacher, and team building facilitator/public speaker. She has worked for various regional theaters including the Alliance Theater, Arena Stage, California Shakespeare Theater, Marin Theater Company, and The American Conservatory Theater. Her favorite role to date was playing Oya in the west coast premiere of Tarell McCraneyís In the Red and Brown Water. She is also excited to have worked on various independent films since her arrival to New York City, many of which will premiere this year. In May 2010 she graduated from the Master of Fine Arts program at The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, CA. While at ACT, she was selected to go to Bath, England to workshop the play Riot, in which she originated the role Kelly. Lakisha is also a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. In addition to acting, Lakisha enjoys being a teaching artist and in the summer travels around the country to various universities as a Playfair facilitator promoting unity among first year students using icebreaker activities and theater games.

Latonia Phipps (Performer) Latonia Phipps * (Maggie) Actress, Spoken Word Poet, and Playwright. Phipps is an alum of The Eugene O'Neil National Theater Institute and has also received an MFA in acting from Brooklyn College. She was last seen in All American Girls at The National Black Theater Festival and With Aarons Arms Around Me at The Cherry Lane Theater. Other projects include The Colored Museum, by George C. Wolfe at The Crossroads Theater and Wait Until Dark by Fredrick Knott at The Ivoryton Playhouse. Fishing in Brooklyn, Phippsís first full-length play to be written and performed, premiered at The Rotunda Theater (West Philadelphia) and went on to be presented at The Woodstock Fringe Festival and the highly acclaimed Theater Row. Phipps is a multi-disciplinary artist who has been compared to the likes of Anna Deveare Smith and Ntozake Shange.

Margaret Odette (Performer) Margaret Odette (Vanna White) is thrilled to be making her debut with the Fire This Time Festival. NY Credits: She Kills Monsters (Flea Theater); Bright Lights, Tent City (New Perspectives Theater); Sign Me (Looking Glass NY); A Midsummer Nightís Dream (Columbia MFA productions); Butterfly, Butterfly, Kill Kill Kill! (NY Fringe); CoMotion (Blessed Unrest). Regional Credits: Hair (Brown University); and The Bluest Eye (Providence Black Rep), for which she won a Motif Award for best leading actress. Margaret has performed as a backup dancer for recording artist M.I.A. and studied with William Esper and Roz Coleman in NYC. She is a Weston Award recipient, and member of The Bats resident acting company of The Flea Theater. www.margaretodette.com

McKenzie Frye (Performer) McKenzie Frye * (Sweet Thing) is a Detroit, MI native and Howard University graduate with a B.F.A. in musical theatre. Ms. Fryeís Off Broadway/ Regional Credits include: WIG OUT!, RIVER DEEP, DAMN YANKEES, DREAMGIRLS, CROWNS, and The Kennedy Centerís production of HARRIETíS RETURN starring Debbie Allen. Film and TV credits include THE STRONGER, MY BROTHER, LIFE LINES, and multiple works within the LAW & ORDER franchise.

Michelle Wilson (Performer) Michelle Wilson * (Aunt Sarah) is a Harlem-based actress with deep roots in the Chicago theater community. Michelle’s Chicago theater credits include: The Steppenwolf, Goodman Theater, Onyx Theater Co., The European Repertory, Bailiwick Theater, and Strawdog Theater Company. Regional credits include Indiana Repertory and Stella Adler Theater (Los Angeles). New York theater credits include: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, NYC Fringe Festival, as well as developmental work at The Lark, Center Stage, and with The Classical Theater of Harlem’s New Play Festival. Television credits include ER, as well numerous independent films including Reverse Cowgirl, Sink, and The Bicycle. Michelle participated in the O’Neill Playwright Festival development of Follow Me to Nellie’s, as well as the Premiere Stages production.

Minna Taylor (Dialect Coach) Minna Taylor is an independent Speech and Voice coach. She has been working in NYC for the last five years. She has coached productions for The Public Theater (Neighbors), Young Jean Lee's Theater Company (The Shipment), NYU Tisch (Atlantic Theater), Brooklyn College MFA acting program, as well as various individual artist and corporate clients. More information can be found at www.energizeyourvoice.net. Thank you to Patricia Ione Lloyd for her beautiful words.

Nicole Skursky (Stage Manager) Hailing from a small town along the Delaware River, Nicole K. Skursky became a New York City transplant after taking two gap years to do volunteer work in Guatemala and backpack solo in Mexico and Europe. She is currently a double major in creative writing and sociology at Hunter College, and plans to channel all her passions and become an epidemiologist by day and a playwright by night.

Nicole Watson (Director) Nicole Watson is a director, playwright, and teacher. She was recently a guest director at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she directed a production of Derek Walcott’s Ti-Jean and His Brothers. Other credits include Foreclosure and Just Exactly Like. She assisted on Signature Theatre’s production of The First Breeze of Summer directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. A member of the 2008 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, Nicole has worked with the 52nd Street Project, the Women’s Project, the Tribeca Film Institute, Airmid Theatre, the Lincoln Institute for Arts and Education, the Working Theatre, and the McCarter First Stage Company, where she directed an adaptation of Hamlet. As a teaching artist she has directed The Fantastics, an adaptation of The Odyssey, and a traveling production of The Snow Queen for Urban Stage’s outreach program. She was a guest artist at Stratham Elementary School in New Hampshire where she designed a playwriting workshop based on the third grade English and history curriculum. She has a BA in history from Yale and an MA in interdisciplinary studies from NYU’s Gallatin School.

Patricia Cancio (Performer) Patricia Cancio * (Lian) New York: Alice Tully Hall: Suites by Sondheim; Diverse City Theatre: The Encounter; Leviathan Lab: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fishing in the Coy Pond. Regional: St. Louis Shakespeare Co: Mary Zimmermann's The Odyssey; Actors Theatre of Louisville: Christmas Carol, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Important People; Humana Festival: Heist!. Film: The Oracle on Madison Avenue.

Patricia Ione Lloyd (Playwright) Patricia Ione Lloyd is part of the Smithsonian Griot Project and Folk Life Archive for the Library of Congress. 2012 finalist New York Theatre Workshop fellowship. 2010 resident playwright Brown University. 2009 resident playwright University of Mumbai, India. New Professional Theatre's Emerging Playwright Award, Black Tale, and Downtown Urban Theatre Festival's Best Play Award, This Train is Bound for Glory.

Pernell Walker (Performer) Pernell Walker * (Peaches) hails from the South Bronx. Pernell is grateful and thanks God for allowing her to work with such passionate, profound filmmakers and theater artists. She holds a M.F.A in acting from Actor's Studio Drama School and a B.A in theater from City College. In movie theaters this fall, Pernell portrays Laura in the award winning focus feature's film Pariah www.pariahthemovie.com directed by Dee Rees (Sundance Official Selection 2011). Pernell made her Off-Broadway debut reprising the role of Rashawn in the world premiere of SEED by Radha Blank (Public Theater Emerging Writer), directed by Niegel Smith (Associate Director of the Broadway musical FELA!), presented by Classical Theater of Harlem in conjunction with Hip-Hop Theater Festival. Other favorite roles include Speaker Three in Sistas On Fire (Act-Now Foundation), Lene/Dorey in the educational tour of Singin Wid a Sword in Ma Hand (Green Gurl productions), film roles- Eve in Kiandra Park's Riot, Mia in So Over You, Vanessa in Rod Gailes' Earl's Post Prison Playdate, and Koroma in A Time in South Africa (2009 semifinalist in Strawberry One Act Play Festival). Please feel to join her fan page: facebook.com/PernellWalker.Artist

Powell Lawrence (Performer) Powell Lawrence * (Kenny) was most recently seen in The Car Plays at the Radar LA Festival. Other Credits: Lincoln Center Theatre's Broke-ology, Kansas City Rep's Broke-ology, Robey Theatre Company's Bronzeville, Quantum Theatre's The Task, and City Theatre's Marcus; Or The Secret Of Sweet. Training: Carnegie Mellon University '08.

Roberta Little (Performer) Roberta Little (Ivory) was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa and has been living and working in New York City as a fashion model since 1993. In 2002, Roberta decided to pursue her love and passion for acting and began studying at the Total Theatre Lab with Caroline Thomas. In 2003, she enrolled in the two and a half-year intensive program at the William Esper studios. She has also studied with Maggie Flannigan and Michael Howard studios. Roberta has performed at the Abingdon Theatre in several showcases with Bobby Holder's Theatre Company, The Actors Project. She has appeared in television commercials for Old Navy, Macy's, The Limited Stores, Hellman's salad dressing, and Rocawear. Roberta recently played a model on HBO's How to Make it in America. Roberta also runs competitively with the New Balance - Central Park Track Club, she has raced in 8 marathons around the country and is a member of USA track and field. She competes in local track meets, and she is preparing for the Master National Championships in Indiana and World Champs in Finland this year. The 800m is her favorite event. Roberta's vision as an actress is to do work that inspires, touches human beings, and evokes change.

Stephen Heskett (Performer) Stephen Heskett (Charlie) is a first-timer with Fire This Time Festival. Recent NY credits include: BrainExplode! (The Brick) The Birthday Party (T. Schreiber Studios), Ecstasy (Black Door Theatre Co.), The Ninja Cherry Orchard (The Brick), The Blood Brothers Present... (Nosedive Productions), The Magnificent Ambersons (The Brick), I Hate Hamlet (Heights Players), and Guy Stuff (The Lark). He graduated from AMDA and has studied with Terry Schreiber. www.stephenheskett.com

Zoey Martinson (Playwright) Zoey Martinson, Co-Artistic Director of Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative. Directed Breakfast by Yusef Miller for The Fire This Time Festival in 2011. Was last seen in Shakespeare in the Park's Alls Well That Ends Well. She founded Bright Future Arts International at National Theatre of Ghana West Africa, and her play Ndebele Funeral has toured South Africa. Her last production with Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative, Skype Duet (cocreator/ director), won the 100 Grand award at the HAU2 Theater in Berlin. As an actress, she has performed at the Guthrie, Shakespeare On The Sound, 365 PLAYS/DAYS at The Public, Purchase Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, The Flea Theatre, Broom Street Theatre, Theatre in the Muz, South Africa, the National Theatre of Ghana, and the Diorama theatre in London. Film/TV: "Are We There Yet", "Restless City", "Law & Order." Training: SUNY Purchase College, NYU Grad Acting.