Stacy Osei-Kuffour
Playwright
Stacy Osei-Kuffour is an accomplished playwright and television writer. She was most recently a Supervising Producer on "The Morning Show" and previously wrote on Pheobe Waller Bridge’s series "Run" (HBO) and "The Power" (Amazon), "Watchmen" (HBO), as well as on the upcoming series "The Hunt" (Amazon) produced by Jordan Peele. Stacy also wrote for the comedy series "PEN15" (Hulu) and received an Emmy nomination for her work on the episode “Anna Ishii-Peters.” Stacy grew up in Chicago and received her BFA from NYU and MFA in playwriting from Hunter College.
Whitney White
Director
Whitney White is an Obie Award and Lily Award-winning director, writer, and musician originally from Chicago. She is a believer of alternative forms of performance, multi-disciplinary work, and collaborative processes. She is the current recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing Award, is part of the Rolex Protegé and Mentorship Arts Initiative, is an Associate Director at Shakespeare Theater Company and an Associate Artist at The Roundabout.
Recent directing: The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theatre and Second Stage, NYT Critic’s Pick), Aleshea Harris’ What to Send Up When it Goes Down (The Movement Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, American Repertory Theatre, The Public Theater, NYT Critic’s Pick), An Iliad (Long Wharf), Canyon by Jonathan Caren (LA Times Critic’s Choice and recipient of the CTG Block Party Grant, IAMA), Jump by Charly Evon Simpson (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, PlayMakers Rep).
Digital projects include: What is Left Burns by James Ijames (Steppenwolf), Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer (The New York Times, 30K+ viewers), Animals by Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Williamstown Theatre and Audible), and Soft Light by Aleshea Harris (The Movement Theatre Company).
Her original musical Definition will debut at the Bushwick Starr in 2021 and her five-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare’s women and female ambition is currently in development with American Repertory Theater (Boston, MA).
Past residencies and fellowships: Sundance Theatre Lab, Colt Coeur, The Drama League, Roundabout Theatre Company, and the 2050 Fellowship at the New York Theatre Workshop.
MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA: Northwestern University.
Madeline Brewer
Coleen
Madeline Brewer is one to watch on both the big and small screen. Currently, she stars in Hulu’s Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning series “The Handmaid’s Tale” based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood. The series, which will premiere its fourth season this Fall, tells the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the United States.
Madeline recently completed production on Hulu’s The Ultimate Playlist of Noise alongside Keean Johnson. This film follows Marcus, a high school senior about to undergo a surgery which will render him deaf, as he decides to seize control of his fate. She also stars in the forthcoming Separation with Mamie Gummar and Rupert Friend and Now is Everything with Anthony Hopkins and Mickey Sumner.
Last year, Madeline starred in STX Entertainment’s Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer and Julia Stiles, which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Also in 2019, Madeline was seen alongside Ashton Sanders and Vera Farmiga in Focus Features’ Captive State, directed by Rupert Wyatt.
In 2018, Madeline starred in the Blumhouse and Netflix thriller Cam, which is available on the streaming service and premiered at the 2018 AFI Festival. Additionally, Madeline starred alongside Imogen Waterhouse in Mitzi Peirone’s Braid, which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
Madeline made her television debut as fan favorite Tricia Miller in the Netflix original comedy-drama series “Orange is the New Black” created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Lionsgate Television. Madeline also starred in Netflix’s critically acclaimed series “Black Mirror” in an episode titled “Men Against Fire” with Malachi Kirby (“Roots”) and Michael Kelly (“House of Cards”).
She went on to star in Flesh and Blood alongside Mark Webber, who also wrote and directed the film. It premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival. Additionally, she starred in Hedgehog with Ann Dowd, which premiered at the 2017 Cinequest Film and VR festival. Madeline’s other roles include Miranda Cates in Eli Roth’s “Hemlock Grove” for Netflix, Julie Kelly in Bret Easton Ellis’ series “The Deleted” for Fullscreen and guest stars on “Grimm,” and “Stalker.”
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Pitman, NJ. She is a graduate of AMDA, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, in New York City where she studied musical theater. Immediately after graduating from AMDA, Madeline landed the lead role in the world premiere of Liberty: The Musical. Madeline is also a classically trained singer.
William Jackson Harper
Yaw/Jason
William Jackson Harper starred as Chidi in NBC’s hit comedy series “The Good Place”, opposite Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. The critically acclaimed Peabody Award-winning show received the AFI Award for TV Program of the Year in 2018, as well as Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice award nominations for Best Comedy Series. For two consecutive years, Harper has received a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance.
Harper is currently in production on Barry Jenkins’ Amazon limited series “The Underground Railroad”, set to premiere in late 2020. He can currently be seen in Focus Features’ legal drama Dark Waters, which centers on the scandal revolving around the DuPont chemical company. Directed by Todd Haynes (Carol), Harper stars alongside Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins. Last summer, Harper starred in A24’s thriller Midsommar alongside Florence Pugh and directed by Ari Aster. Earlier in the year, he starred in the buddy comedy turned crime thriller Lost Holiday, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. His additional feature film credits include Paterson, True Story, All Good Things and How to Tell You’re a Douchebag.
On television, Harper appeared as the character Xander opposite John Krasinski in the second season of Amazon’s “Jack Ryan”. Additionally, he has made guest appearances on numerous acclaimed television series including “30 Rock”, “The Blacklist”, “Law & Order”, “Law & Order: CI”, Hulu’s “Deadbeat”, “High Maintenance”, “Unforgettable” and the PBS children’s series “The Electric Company”. His credits also include the telefilms The Breaks and The Share.
Born in Dallas, Harper has an extensive background in theater, co-starring alongside Cristin Milioti in After The Blast at Lincoln Center, as well as on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning play All The Way, with Bryan Cranston. In 2018, Harper made his playwriting debut with the drama Travisville, which centers on a Texas church community untouched by the tumult of the civil rights movement. The play opened at New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre to critical praise, with The New York Times noting Harper’s “serious writing chops.”
Additional stage performances include A Family for All Occasions at the Labyrinth, Modern Terrorism at Second Stage, The Total Bent, Titus Andronicus and Measure for Measure at the Public, Placebo and A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick at Playwrights Horizons and Queens Boulevard and Paradise Park at the Signature. Harper also has numerous regional theater credits, including Ruined, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. Harper currently resides in Brooklyn with his dog Chico.
Jason Butler Harner
Henry
Jason Butler Harner is thrilled to be a part of this innovative collaboration bringing playwriting for the theatre to contemporary ears. Previous roles at Williamstown Theatre Festival include Hildy in the newspaper classic The Front Page and Craig in Frank McGuinness’s elegiac Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. On Audible, he can be heard narrating The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliott and Dark Prophecy by Anthony E. Zuiker.
Harner currently stars as Ted LeBlanc on the Fox series “NEXT”. He garnered critical attention for his work as Agent Roy Petty on the Emmy and SAG Award-winning “Ozark” on Netflix. Previous television work includes memorable arcs on “Ray Donovan”, “Scandal”, “Homeland”, and “The Blacklist”, as well as E. B. Tiller in the single season of “Alcatraz” for Bad Robot.
Jason debuted on screen in Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award-nominated Changeling. Other films of note include The Family Fang, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Non-Stop, Blackhat and independent films Letters from the Big Man, The Green, (for which he garnered a number of festival awards), as well as the forthcoming films The Big Bend and M I A.
Harner has appeared on Broadway as Ivan Turgenev in Tom Stoppard’s multi-Tony Award-winning trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, in the recent galvanizing revival of The Crucible with Saoirse Ronan, Ben Whishaw, and Sophie Okenedo, and most recently, starring opposite Janet McTeer in the world premiere of Bernhardt / Hamlet by Theresa Rebeck. In the West End, he starred in Lanford Wilson’s Serenading Louie at the Donmar Warehouse. A frequent presence in American premieres of English plays, some Off-Broadway appearances include Cock, The Village Bike, Through a Glass Darkly, The Paris Letter, Orange Flower Water, Hedda Gabler and many others. Other productions of personal note include The Glass Menagerie opposite Sally Field at The Kennedy Center, The Cherry Orchard opposite Annette Bening, Alfred Molina and Sarah Paulson at the Mark Taper Forum, the American premieres of Stoppard's The Invention of Love and Pinter’s Celebration at ACT in San Francisco, and Hamlet at Dallas Theater Center. He has an OBIE Award and two Drama Desk nominations.
Harner holds an MFA from the esteemed Graduate Acting Program of New York University as well as a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Aja Naomi King
Lydia
Aja Naomi King starred as Michaela Pratt for six seasons on the hit ABC drama "How to Get Away with Murder". Recent work includes the feature film Sylvie's Love opposite Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha that premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and will be released by Amazon Studios, a leading role in the feature film The 24th written by Kevin Willmott (Academy Award for “Best Adapted Screenplay” for BlacKkKlansman), and Shriver opposite Michael Shannon and Kate Hudson. Other work includes, The Upside opposite Kevin Hart, Nicole Kidman, and Bryan Cranston, a lead role in Fox Searchlight's The Birth of a Nation, which won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, and the lead role in A Girl From Mogadishu which is based on the testimony of Ifrah Ahmed, who - having made the extraordinary journey to escape war-torn Somalia - emerged as one of the world's foremost international activists against Gender Based Violence and Female Genital Mutilation. King has also appeared as the leading role in the feature film Reversion, Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress, The Rewrite for Castle Rock with Hugh Grant, a lead role in Christopher Shinn's Four opposite Wendell Pierce.
Aja received the "Shining Star" at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards, a NAACP Image Award Nomination for "Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film", the Elle Women in Hollywood Award, and a "Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" NAACP Image Award nomination. Aja is a global spokeswoman for L'Oreal Paris and has graced the covers of Vanity Fair, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour, Shape, and Nylon Magazines.
Aja is on the Artistic Advisory Board of Opening Act, an organization that provides students in New York City’s most under-served public high schools opportunities to develop leadership, community, and commitment through its innovative, high quality, free, After-School Theater Program.
King is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
Fan Zhang
Sound Designer
Off-Broadway design credits: A Wedding Toast by the Prophet Cassandra (Lincoln Center Theater), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Second Stage & WP Theatre), Paris (Atlantic Theatre), Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi & ART Theatre), Molly Sweeney (Theatre Row), Round Table (59E59), Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio Theatre), The Trail of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group), Three Girls Never Learnt the Way Home (Cherry Lane), Tania In the Gateway Van (New Georges).
Regional: Pipeline (Studio Theatre, D.C.), Eclipsed (Milwaukee Rep), Yasmina’s Necklace (Premiere Stages), Seven Guitars (Yale Rep), Redeem (Cincinnati Ballet), Revolutionist (Pittsburgh City Theatre), Red Maple (Capital Rep).
Training: MFA, Yale School of Drama.
fanzhangsound.com
Tyler Thomas
Assistant Director
Tyler Thomas is a director and choreographer, currently based in NYC. Her work has most recently been presented by The Vineyard Theatre, Rattlestick Theater, New Ohio Theatre, The Flea, and HERE Arts Center. As an associate and assistant, she has worked with directors such as Whitney White, Taibi Magar, Young Jean Lee, Lear deBessonet, Lee Sunday Evans, Niegel Smith, Jo Bonney, and the Builders Association. Tyler is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab, current 2050 Fellow with New York Theater Workshop and Foeller Fellow at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Visiting Artist at the Athens Conservatoire in Greece, and Resident Director of The Commissary, a theater collective currently in residence with The Vineyard Theatre. She holds a BFA in Drama and MA in Arts Politics from the Tisch School of the Arts.
