OBERON K. A. ADJEPONG. New York: Uncommon Sense (Tectonic Theater Project); Measure For Measure (TFANA); Party People (The Public Theater); Pericles (TFANA); 12 Angry Men (Billie Holiday); Tamburlaine (TFANA); Like I Say, Cellophane (The Flea); Mother Courage and The Blacks(Classic Stage Company, CTH); Wabenzi (New Ohio Theatre); Hamlet Project (La MaMa E.T.C.); Sango (AUDELCO nomination/NBT). Regional: Civil War Christmas (Center Stage); Electric Baby (Two River Theater); Good Goods (Yale Rep); Ruined (La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company; Irne Award, Berkeley Rep); Timon of Athens, Coriolanus (Shakespeare Theatre); Rhyme Deferred (The Kennedy Center). Television/Film: “Blacklist,” “The Knick,” “Louie,” Crazy Famous and Crown Heights. Training: the British American Dramatic Academy and Howard University.

SEGUN AKANDE is making his Atlantic Theater Company debut. New York City: The Green Plays; Naked Angels; Anna Nicole, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Regional: Arena Stage, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Luna Stage and Arrow Rock Lyceum. Workshops and Labs: New York Theatre Workshop, Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, HBO/ABFF Showcase, New Harmony Project, Playwrights Horizons, Playwrights Realm, National Black Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem and Arena Stage. Film/TV: Mother Of George (Sundance); Aissa’s Story (Fespaco); “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno;” Dirt (World Premiere, Sundance); “Burning Sands” (Netflix, World Premiere, Sundance); “Quantico.” Other: 2014 LAByrinth Ensemble Member. Education: Duke University, Political Science. www.meetsegun.com

EBBE BASSEY studied at the William Esper Studio. She has worked on TV in “NYPD Blue,” “Law & Order: SVU” and many short and feature films featuring actors Lynn Whitfield, Isaiah Washington, Kimberly Elise and Vivica A. Fox, among others. Ebbe wrote, executive produced and was the lead actress in the short films Siri Oko Fo (Mending Fences), which explores the themes of same-sex love, parenting and female gender mutilation in Nigeria, and Saving Father, which is intended to provoke dialogue on the issue of HIV and senior citizens. Both films have been presented at national and international film festivals. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.

VINIE BURROWS, a child actress on radio, made her Broadway debut with Helen Hayes. Six more Broadway shows followed rapidly with David Wayne, Mary Martin, Ossie Davis and Eartha Kitt, among others. Dissatisfied with the roles offered black actors, she ventured out to create her first one-woman show, Walk Together Children, about the African American experience. The critical acclaim was instant and unanimous. The New York Times called her “a magnificent performer” and she earned a niche as a solo artist with thousands of college performances worldwide. Vinie’s role in the 2013 Foundry Theatre production of Good Person of Szechwan starring Taylor Mac brought her back to her revolutionary Off-Broadway beginnings with Jean Genet’s The Blacks. Among her many honors are AEA’s Paul Robeson Award, the Brecht Forum’s Bertolt Brecht Award and MIT’s McDermott Award.

PATRICE JOHNSON. Broadway credits: Racing Demon and The Crucible, starring Liam Neeson. Her Off-Broadway credits include: Othello, playing Desdemona opposite Sir Patrick Stewart; Pericles, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn; Tamburlaine, directed by Sir Michael Boyd. Patrice received an Audelco Nomination for Tamburlaine and won an Audelco Award for For Colored Girls…Her credits also include TV and Film. Patrice wrote and directed three award winning independent feature films about being Jamaican-American in NYC: Kings County, which debuted at the Urban World Film Festival; NY’s Dirty Laundry, at the Cannes Film Festival; and Hill and Gully, which recently won Best Feature Film at The Caribbean Lens Film Festival in Los Angeles.

MIRIRAI SITHOLE is making her Atlantic Theater Company debut. Select New York Credits: Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (MCC); Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man… (Signature Theatre Company), which garnered an OBIE award for best direction by Lileana Blain-Cruz; Mother Courage and Her Children, where Mirirai received the Rosemarie Tichler Award for her portrayal of Kattrin; Frontieres Sans Frontieres and Autumn’s Harvest (Lincoln Center Education). Regional: Our Town and A Christmas Carol (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and Remix 38 (Humana Festival). Television: “Bull,” “The Affair,” “Master of None,” “Broad City.” She received her BFA in Theatre from Adelphi University and was an Acting Apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

MFONISO UDOFIA is a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator. She’s the recipient of the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award and the 2017-2018 McKnight National Residency and Commission at The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Her Ufot Cycle play, Her Portmanteau, will be produced in Spring 2018 by Pasadena’s Boston Court Performing Arts Center. Mfoniso’s currently translating Othello for Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s PlayOn! Program. She’s also the Founding Artistic Director of the NOW AFRICA: Playwrights Festival and a proud member of New Dramatists’ Class of 2023. Mfoniso’s plays have recently been produced by New York Theatre Workshop, Magic Theater and The Playwrights Realm. She is truly excited to make a return to acting with this play. Please follow Mfoniso at www.mfonisoudofia.com for more information!

ZENZI WILLIAMS is making her Atlantic Theater Company debut. Her theater credits include The Crucible (Broadway); Imogen Says Nothing (Yale Repertory Theater); Mother Courage and Her Children (Classic Stage Company); A Lover’s Tale (Berkshire Theatre Group); Altogether Reckless, The Seagull, The Master and Margarita, Measure for Measure, Platonov and Wintertime (Yale School of Drama); all of what you love and none of what you hate (Yale Cabaret) and Shiny Objects, written and devised by Zenzi and fellow classmate Maura Hooper (Yale Cabaret). Television: “The Good Fight.” Film: The Mess He Made. Zenzi studied at the British American Dramatic Academy and holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

NGOZI ANYANWU. Education: University of California San Diego’s (MFA Acting), Point Park University (BA). Acting: The Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Rattlestick Theatre, “The Deuce,” “DeadBeat,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Women Who Kill.” Playwrighting: Good Grief, Nike and The Homecoming Queen. Good Grief (Kilroy’s List 2016, semi-finalist, Princess Grace) was presented as part of the Rising Circle Collective’s 6th annual Ink Tank. Most recently, Good Grief won the Inaugural CTG/Humanitas Playwrighting Award and had a world premiere at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in the 2016-2017 season. Nike (Kilroy’s list 2017) was recently presented as part of the National Black Theatre’s Keep Soul Alive Monday Reading Series and The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark Playwrighting Development Center. The Homecoming Queen (2017 Kilroy’s List, Leah Ryan Finalist) was developed at Space on Ryder Farm, The Fire This Time’s Inaugural’s Writers group, Page 73’s summer residency, The New Harmony Project, Rattlestick’s actors/writers Lab and New York Stage and Film. Anyanwu is also a recipient of the Djerassi Artist Residency, as well as Space on Ryder Farm, LCT Playwrights Residency and The Founders Award with New York Stage and Film. Anyanwu is currently commissioned by The Old Globe and Atlantic Theater Company.

AWOYE TIMPO. Credits include: Skeleton Crew (Chester Theater); Sister Son/ji (Billie Holiday Theater); Carnaval (National Black Theatre); Ndebele Funeral (59E59, South African tour and Edinburgh Festival); The Libation Bearers (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ); Araby (La MaMa); In the Continuum (Juilliard); Tears of Anatolia and The Wishing Tree (Columbia); Clybourne Park (Farmers Alley); The Vanished (Novisi). Producer: CLASSIX, a reading series exploring classic plays by Black playwrights. Broadway: Associate Director, Jitney; Assistant Director, Shuffle Along. Other: ABC/Disney, Cherry Lane Mentor Project, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Ma-Yi, New Dramatists, NOW Africa, Page 73, PEN World Voices, Rising Circle, Royal Shakespeare Company, Soho Rep. Writer/Director Lab and WNYC.

YU-HSUAN CHEN is a New York City-based set and production designer working in theater, film, dance and exhibition. Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, she received her MFA in Design for Stage and Film at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Selected theater credits include: Inanimate (The Flea Theater, NY), M Butterfly, Great Expectations (Everyman Theatre, MD), The Hummm (A.R.T. Oberon Theater, MA & Dixon Place, NY), How to Field Dress an Android (University Settlement, NY), Sister Son/Ji (Center for Arts and Culture- Bed Stuy, NY), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (NYU 5th Floor Theater, NYC). Check out her website for more work: www.yuhsuanchendesign.com

NTOKOZO FUZUNINA KUNENE. The Public: The Winter’s Tale (Leigh Sunday Evans, dir), On the Grounds of Belonging (David Mendizábal, dir), Wild Goose Dreams (Leigh Silverman, dir). Regional: Autumn (Walter Dallas, dir), Scenes from Court Life (Mark Wing-Davey, dir). Film: Brave music video (Spike Lee, dir), Forever Tree (Alrick Brown, dir), Two Birds (Prashanth Kamalakanthan, dir). Visiting Assistant Professor in Theatre at Colgate University. Education: MFA in Design for Stage and Film from NYU. www.fuzunina.com

OONA CURLEY is a lighting and scenic designer. Recent: The Workshop (124 Bank Street), in a word (Lesser America), Far Away (Sharon Playhouse), Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova + International Tour), The Body Artist (Abrons), Ski End (Piehole), The Light Princess (Arden Theatre), Krazytown (Playwrights Downtown), Sweat & Tears (M34 Productions), An Intimate Evening with Typhoid Mary (The New Ohio), peer@me (NYU/Tisch), Café le Monde (Columbia University), Loveplay/Play Money (La MaMa), The Importance of Being Ernest Hemingway (M34 Productions). Nominee: Princess Grace Award. Recipient: J.S. Seidman Award for Design Excellence, Weston Award for Design, Zonta Award for Theatre Arts. MFA: NYU/Tisch. www.oonacurley.com

AMATUS KARIM-ALI is pleased to be making her Atlantic Theater Company debut with Ngozi Anyanwu’s world premiere, The Homecoming Queen, featuring Lakecia Benjamin on Saxophone. As an audio artist and actress, Amatus has worked and collaborated with Meshell Ndegeocello, Roy Hargrove, Labyrinth Theater, PBS, AT&T Hello Lab, POV, Ford Foundation, Rooftop Films, 651 Arts, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, People’s Light PlayHouse and Cincinnati Playhouse, among others. You can find her on social media @amatus23 or www.amatusart.com

NOLUFEFE MTSHABE is a high school teacher who obtained Peformer’s Diploma in Music and Bachelor of Music at UCT. She has won many choir championships in South Africa, worked with NYU creating music and translations of scripts into South African languages on The Mysteries, Children of the Road, Mabatha, The Odyssey and Hamlet. She has also worked on International NYU Firenze productions. In South Africa: Inxeba lomphilisi, Biko’s Quest, Ukutshona keep Mendi (the sinking of Mendi). Translated Winnie: The Opera, composed by Bongani Ndodana.

HOPE BOYKIN was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. She was a three-time recipient of the American Dance Festival’s Young Tuition Scholarship and while attending Howard University in Washington, DC, she continued to pursue her desires to dance working with choreographer Lloyd Whitmore and his New World Dance Company. In New York City, Hope studied at The Ailey School and worked as assistant to choreographers Milton Myers and the late Talley Beatty. Hope was an original member of Complexions, and joined PHILADANCO, where she received the acclaimed “Bessie,” a New York dance and performance award. She has choreographed for numerous dance companies including Philadanco, Minnesota Dance Theater and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Currently an 18 year member of The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, she most recently presented her third work of choreography for the Ailey company called r-Evolution, Dream. Through the efforts of HopeBoykinDance, her mission includes leading young and aspiring artists to a secure foundation and a concrete understanding, developing a confidence and an assurance that will be unmatched. There are no limits.

GWENDOLYN M. GILLIAM’s Broadway and tour stage management credits include Eclipsed, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Bring In Da Noise/Bring In Da Funk, Aida, Topdog/Underdog, Chicago, Marley and Fela! She has managed events for numerous charities and corporations including Jackie Robinson Foundation, Jazzmobile, Howl!, Merrill Lynch, New Line Cinema and Film Society of Lincoln Center.

JOANNA MUHLFELDER. Broadway: The Band’s Visit. Off-Broadway: Samara (Soho Rep.); Dot (Vineyard Theatre); Tick, Tick… Boom!; Travels With My Aunt (Keen Company); The Two Gentlemen of Verona; An Octoroon (Theatre for a New Audience); While I Yet Live (Primary Stages). Regional: Bucks County Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse, George Street Playhouse. Disney Cruise Line: Frozen: A Musical Spectacular, Beauty and the Beast.