Teniia Micazia Brown

Teniia Micazia Brown is a multifaceted artist/cultural researcher from Round’ O, South Carolina. She earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre with a minor certificate in Film/Production studies from Coastal Carolina University. There, she deepened my commitment to storytelling, societal exploration, and artistic expression. As a production artist and actress, she brings bold vision and emotional depth to every project I touch, onstage and behind the scenes. Teniia’s research centers around global cultures, their rituals, and their resilience, shaping a perspective rooted in empathy and respect. Offstage, she stands as an activist for peace, advocating for community healing, equity, and meaningful dialogue that lives beyond her being. Through her “artivism”, she creates spaces where stories and memories are honored, souls and voices are uplifted, and there’s a purposeful pursuit of peace.

Preston Crowder

Originally from Nashville, TN, Preston Crowder is a playwright-actor-director-songwriter with a passion for telling stories that examine the intersectional complexities of Black, Queer Southerners in the United States. Production history as a playwright includes “My Dead Boyfriend Is A Robot” (Oberlin College, 2024), and “Don’t Look Black” (Tennessee Playwrights Studio, 2022). Preston was named Playwright-In-Residence with The New Group through the TOW Foundation for their 2024-2025 season. Preston was also named a semi-finalist playwright for the 2023 Del Shore Writers Search and the 2022 Obsidian Theater Festival for their play “Bocking”. Preston holds an MFA degree from The New School of Drama and a BFA degree from Oberlin College, where they served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater and Africana Studies from 2022-2024.

Mo HOlmes

Mo Holmes is a black queer Southern playwright, librettist and dramaturg, born in San Antonio and raised on the long stretch of road from Texas to Alabama. She is a Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Award winner, a Sewanee Writers' Conference Tennessee Williams Scholar, a Jane Chambers finalist and a two-time O'Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist. Her writing has been presented and/or developed at the Sam French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the Playwrights’ Center, Vertigo Theatre, Minnesota Opera, and Atlanta Opera. As a dramaturg and teaching artist, she has supported new play development at Good Apples Collective, the Playwrights’ Center, Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, Horizon Theatre Company and Columbia University School of the Arts. She is an MFA Candidate in Playwriting and Undergraduate Writing Program Teaching Fellow at Columbia.

Naomi lorrain

Naomi Lorrain is an actor/playwright. 2023 Page 73 Writers Group. 2022 Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase Staff Writer. 2021 O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference Finalist. Her short play, THE QUEEN OF MACON COUNTY, was produced by HomeBase Theater Collective at The National Black Theater. Her one-act comedy, THERESA, was selected for the 2022 Black Motherhood & Parenting Festival. A TROJAN WOMAN’S TALE  and THE BIG O, both Greek adaptations, were commissioned by NYU and produced at The Villa la Pietra in Florence, Italy, where Naomi was the 2017 and 2018 Playwright-in-Residence. Selected theater credits: BROADWAY: EUREKA DAY (MTC); JORDANS (The Public Theater), DAPHNE (Lincoln Center Theater), BEHIND THE SHEET (Ensemble Studio Theatre). TV: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix), ELEMENTARY (CBS), THE GOOD FIGHT (CBS), MADAM SECRETARY (CBS). Naomi also moonlights as a Research Assistant at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. NYU: MFA; Yale: B.A. 

Delane McDuffie

DeLane McDuffie is a Southern-bred, LA-based playwright, screenwriter, and poet. His play The Inaugural was part of Lower Depth Theatre's 2020 BIPOC Voting Plays, and he was a 2022 LDT “Cycle of Poverty” Play Commission Fellow. His play Follow the Lady was a finalist in The Crossroads Project's 2024 Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative. Other plays include Amy & Neil, Cop & Fiske, For the Love of God, Monomachia, Use as Directed, The Clouds His Chariot, You and What Army?, and CatDaddy Mulekick and the Long Sleep. His work has been produced by Towne Street Theatre, and showcased at Houston’s Fade to Black Play Festival; Seoul Players Play Festival in South Korea; and LA’s The Road Theatre Company's Summer Playwrights Festival. He’s a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA’s Ignite Project. A graduate of Morehouse College and the University of Miami grad film program, he also attended Royal Holloway, University of London.

Director of the 17th annual Ten-Minute Play Program

Ken-Matt Martin

Ken-Matt Martin has established himself as a preeminent theater director, cultural worker, and collaborator who has worked with some of the industry’s most formidable artists. Notable directing credits include productions of August Wilson’s “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson” (Pyramid Theatre Company), Chicago Premiere of “How I Learned What I Learned” (Congo Square Theatre Company, Starring Harry Lennix), “A Son, Come Home” and Brotherhood at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Nia Vardalos’ adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s “Tiny Beautiful Things” (Baltimore Center Stage), the world premiere of “NANCY” (Mosaic Theatre Company), “Hello, Dolly!” (Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Starring Amber Iman), and the World Premiere musical adaptation of Jason Reynolds’ “Long Way Down” at Olney Theatre Center and New York’s Apollo Theatre. Martin’s directorial work has been honored with three Cloris Leachman Excellence in Theatre Awards, Michigan’s Oscar Wilde Award for Best Director, and Chicago’s Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Director. In addition, Ken-Matt has been praised as an innovator in the modern American theater; he created the 20/50 New Play Festival, the Ignite Chicago Festival, Goodman Theatre’s Live @Five Show, and was the co-founder of the Pyramid Theatre Company. A highly sought after producer and administrator, he has served in executive/senior leadership positions at Baltimore Center Stage, Victory Gardens Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Martin holds a M.F.A. in directing from Brown University and two undergraduate degrees from Drake University.

donathan Walters

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Donathan Walters holds a BFA in Screen Acting from Chapman University and received his MFA in Acting from NYU's Graduate Acting Program, class of 2022. As a writer, Donathan brings a passion for gauging provocative conversation amongst the community to bridge generational gaps, processing hidden traumas amongst black men. In 2023, Donathan was chosen to participate in The Gatekeeper's Collective's Learning to Love fellowship, where he wrote a one-act play that highlights the relationship between technology, love, and cultural expectation between two same-gender-loving strangers, strengthening his voice as a writer.