Anna Ziegler
Playwright
Anna Ziegler’s plays include the widely produced Photograph 51 (West End, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Nicole Kidman; named the number one play of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune; winner of the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play; it will soon be included in Bloomsbury's Modern Classics series), The Last Match (Roundabout; Old Globe; Writers Theatre), The Wanderers (Old Globe and upcoming at The Roundabout) and Actually (Geffen Playhouse; Williamstown Theatre Festival; Manhattan Theatre Club; Trafalgar Studios and many more; L.A. Ovation Award winner for Playwriting for an Original Play). Oberon Books has published a collection of her work entitled Anna Ziegler: Plays One. She is developing TV and film projects at HBOMax and Scott Free Productions.
Susan Stroman
Director
A five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer, her work has been honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and a record five Astaire Awards. She directed and choreographed the Tony Award-winning Best Musicals Contact, and The Producers, winner of a record-making 12 Tony Awards. Broadway credits include The Scottsboro Boys, Show Boat, Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein, Thou Shalt Not, The Music Man, The Frogs, Steel Pier, Prince of Broadway, and Crazy for You. Off-Broadway credits include The Beast in the Jungle, Dot, Flora the Red Menace, And the World Goes ’Round, Happiness, The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, and Marie. She directed and choreographed The Merry Widow for the Metropolitan Opera. She directed and choreographed The Producers: The Movie Musical, nominated for four Golden Globes, and received the American Choreography Award for her work in the film Center Stage. She is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater and a member of the Theater Hall of Fame.
Anna Chlumsky
Rosalind Franklin
Anna Chlumsky is an Emmy-nominated actress who has continued to make a name for herself in film, on television and on stage.
Chlumsky is currently in production on the highly anticipated Netflix limited series “Inventing Anna” produced by Shonda Rhimes. Chlumsky is a six-time Emmy nominee for her work on the award-winning “Veep” for her portrayal as Amy Brookheimer. She was also nominated for a Critics Choice Award and won a Gracie Award and a SAG Award for best Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Chlumsky became a household name when she starred alongside Macaulay Culkin as Vada Sultenfuss in the 1991 film, My Girl. Additional film credits include Hala, The End of Tour, Bert and Arnie’s Guide to Friendship, In The Loop, The Good Guy, Blood Car, My Girl 2, Gold Diggers, The Glamour Reel Short, and Wait. TV credits include “Halt and Catch Fire”, NBC’s “Hannibal”, “30 Rock”, and “Law & Order SVU”.
Chlumsky made her Broadway debut in 2015 in Scott Ellis’ revival of You Can’t Take It With You. She also reprised her role as Iris Peabody in Joe DiPietro’s Living on Love, which made its Williamstown Theatre Festival debut in 2014 and transferred to Broadway. Additional New York stage credits include: Cardinal, 3C, Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Westside Theatre); So Help Me God (Mint Theatre Company); Unconditional (LA Byrinth Theater Company); The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero (DR2); Darwin in Malibu (Bay Street Theatre); The Butcherhouse Chronicles (Summer Play Festival); Balm in Gilead (Barefoot Theater Company - Member); Half Life (Flea Theater/Fringe Festival); Iphigeneia at Aulis (TimeSpace Productions); Measure for Measure (Astoria Performing Arts Center); No Alarms: Headfullofradio (Veritas Productions); and The Trojan Women (Veritas Productions).
David Corenswet
James Watson
Actor/Producer David Corenswet grew up in Philadelphia and attended The Juilliard School in New York. He is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after actors of his generation.
Corenswet can currently be seen in Ryan Murphy’s first original series for Netflix, “The Politician”, created by Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, in which he appears opposite Ben Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Lucy Boynton as River Barkley. The series, which follows a group of affluent high school students in Santa Barbara, CA through a contentious election cycle in the precarious political landscape of Saint Sebastian High School, premiered in Fall 2019 and is currently in production for season two.
From the success of David’s working relationship with Murphy, he was quickly cast in a leading role alongside Jeremy Pope and Darren Criss for Ryan’s 8-part Netflix limited series “Hollywood".
Corenswet is also an executive producer on the show, which has been described by Murphy as “a love letter to the Golden Age of Tinseltown,” set in the 1940s. The series debuted in May 2020.
Corenswet’s other film and television credits include guest-starring roles on “House of Cards”, “Instinct”, “Elementary”, and a leading role in the film Affairs of State directed by Eric Bross.
Stephen Kunken
Don Caspar
Stephen Kunken currently recurs as Commander Warren Putnam on Hulu’s "The Handmaid's Tale" and as Ari Spyros on Showtime’s "Billions". His additional television credits include "The Good Wife" (CBS), "The Affair" (Showtime), "Unforgettable" (CBS), "Blue Bloods" (CBS), "The Sopranos" (HBO), and more.
Kunken can soon be seen in the upcoming Netflix feature film, Hillbilly Elegy, directed by Ron Howard. He recently appeared in the feature films Otherhood, directed by Cindy Chupack and Jason Bourne, directed by Paul Greengrass. Kunken also costarred in Woody Allen’s Cafe Society, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, and Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock.
Kunken received a 2010 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play honoring his performance as Andy Fastow in Enron (Broadhurst Theater). He has also appeared on Broadway in The Columnist (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre), High (The Booth Theater), Rock N' Roll (Bernard Jacobs Theater), Frost/Nixon (Bernard Jacobs Theater), Festen (Music Box Theater) and Proof (Walter Kerr Theatre). His recent off-broadway credits include: An American Daughter (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Apple Family Plays (The Public Theater), Nikolai and the Others (Lincoln Center Theater), and Our Town (Barrow St. Theatre).
Aasif Mandvi
Francis Crick
Aasif Mandvi is a Peabody award-winning actor, writer, creator, comedian, author, and producer. Widely known for his work as a correspondent on the multi Emmy-winning, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", Mandvi is currently starring in two television series and is hosting a new podcast. He currently stars in the new CBS series "Evil" created by Robert and Michelle King, which premiered in September. He has a recurring role on the UK series "This Way Up" with Aisling Bea which is available on Hulu.
This past September, he launched the podcast, "Lost at the Smithsonian", where he gets up close and personal with ten of the most culturally significant artifacts of Americana at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History – Carrie Bradshaw’s laptop, Muhammed Ali’s robe, and The Original Muppets just to name a few. Interviews can also be expected by author Candace Bushnell, actor Henry Winkler, producer Norman Lear, and more celebrity guests. Then, with each episode telling a different tale, listeners get to experience a new journey and explore another icon of American Culture that has helped define who we are today. It is available on Apple and Stitcher.
Other television credits include CBS’s "Blue Bloods", TVLAND’s "Younger" opposite Sutton Foster, Netflix’s "A Series of Unfortunate Events" from Barry Sonnenfeld costarring alongside Neil Patrick Harris, and Hulu’s second season of "Shut Eye". He was recently a host on National Geographic’s "Years of Living Dangerously" which addressed climate change and he wrote, produced and starred in the HBO series "The Brink" opposite Jack Black and Tim Robbins.
Mandvi made his roots in New York theater under the tutelage of the pre-eminent acting teacher Wynn Handman with whom he was able to develop and create his critically acclaimed one-man show Sakina's Restaurant which made its premiere at the American Place Theater and earned him an Obie Award. He recently revived this production at the Minetta Lane Theatre, directed by Kimberly Senior and produced by Audible. Mandvi received the 2019 United Solo Special Award, which honors outstanding solo performers. Mandvi also received rave reviews and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for originating the role of Amir Kapoor in the world premiere of Ayad Aktahr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Disgraced at Lincoln Center. Other stage credits include the Broadway revival of Oklahoma, Suburbia, and City Center’s most recent production of Brigadoon.
In feature film, Mandvi starred opposite Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, and Julia Roberts in the Garry Marshall feature, Mother's Day. He also co-starred opposite Jon Hamm in Million Dollar Arm and had supporting roles in The Internship with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, Movie 43, The Dictator with Sacha Baron Cohen, Dark Horse for Todd Solondz, Ruby Sparks (from the creators of Little Miss Sunshine), Gods Behaving Badly, Premium Rush, and the independent feature film A Kid Like Jake. He co-wrote and starred in Today's Special which premiered at the London Film Festival and won the audience award at The Palm Springs Film Festival. Additional film credits include a leading role in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender and the lead and title character in Merchant Ivory’s The Mystic Masseur, and supporting roles in Drunk Parents, It's Kind of a Funny Story, The Proposal, Ghost Town, Music and Lyrics, Spider-man 2, Freedomland, Analyze This, Margin Call, and The Seige.
Mandvi also co-created and starred in the Peabody Award-winning web series, "Halal in the Family", produced by Sweet 180 Productions, which garnered over 500 Million Media Impressions within days upon launch and addressed, through parody and satire, Islamophobia. Additionally, he is the author of a collection of personal stories, entitled No Land's Man for Chronicle Books.
This October Mandvi will be presented with the “Inspiration Award” at the North Fork TV Festival. This award recognizes an actor or TV professional with a letter of commendation for their promotion of the arts and their work to encourage young people to excel in the arts. Aside from his art, Mandvi works closely with the ACLU defending individual rights and liberties including the Deportation Jamboree that he hosted and produced.
Omar Metwally
Maurice Wilkins
Omar Metwally is happy to continue his relationship with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, having first worked there in 2013 (American Hero). Other theater credits include Sixteen Wounded on Broadway (Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination), as well as numerous Off-Broadway appearances with the Atlantic Theater Company (Guards at the Taj, Obie Award), The Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and many more. Omar has appeared in numerous films including Munich, Non-Stop, Miral, Breakable You, Complete Unknown, and Rendition (Chopard Trophy, Cannes Film Festival). On television, he appeared for four seasons as Vik Ullah in the Showtime series "The Affair". Omar has also been seen on television in "Ramy" (Hulu), "Mr. Robot" (USA), "Treadstone" (USA), and many others. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
Ben Rosenfield
Ray Gosling
Ben Rosenfield can currently be seen on FX’s limited series "Mrs. America" opposite Cate Blanchett, playing her son. He can next be seen in the lead role of Hannah Marks' feature Mark, Mary & Some Other People. Previously he starred in Annabelle Attanasio’s feature Mickey and the Bear, which premiered at SXSW to great reviews, and Bryan Wizemann's feature film You Mean Everything to Me. He can also be seen among the starry cast of David Lynch’s "Twin Peaks" revival for Showtime. He starred in Atlantic Theater Company’s production of On the Shore of the Wide World that opened to rave reviews. And in the previous theatrical season, Ben starred opposite Amy Ryan in Roundabout Theater’s Love Love Love, for director Michael Mayer.
On screen, Ben co-starred in James Schamus’s directorial debut Indignation, which premiered at Sundance, and returned to the festival circuit with the feature Person to Person, opposite Michael Cera and Abbi Jacobson. Ben starred opposite Taissa Farmiga in Hannah Fidell’s SXSW breakout 6 Years, released by Netflix, and has appeared in Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, opposite Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, and JC Chandor’s A Most Violent Year, with Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, and Dan Algrant’s film Greetings from Tim Buckley, in which he played the renowned musician.
On television, Ben starred in the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire". His additional stage appearances include Jennifer Haley’s controversial play The Nether for MCC Theater and the leading role opposite Carey Mulligan in the Off-Broadway play, Through a Glass Darkly, directed by David Leveaux.
Darron L West
Sound Designer
10th WTF Season: Before The Meeting, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Paradise Blue, True West, Johnny On A Spot, 2, The Visit, Booth is Back, Inherit The Wind, Speed-the-Plow, Picnic, The Moonstone, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Death Takes A Holiday, Marat Sade, Clothes for a Summer Hotel, Closer Than Ever, The Sum of Us, Passion, Mother Courage, Rose Tattoo, Henry IV, John Browns Body.
Broadway: Lobby Hero, Six Degrees of Separation, Jitney, Fully Committed, Misery, Velocity of Autumn, Grace, Peter and The Starcatcher, Chinglish, Time Stands Still, The Royal Family, The American Plan, To Be Or Not To Be, Top Girls, Wait Until Dark.
New York: The Public/New York Shakespeare Festival, BAM, Lincoln Center, Theatre for a New Audience, Circle Repertory, Classic Stage Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Women’s Project, New York Theatre Workshop, The Vineyard, The Atlantic, The Signature, Soho Rep, PS122, 2nd Stage, Playwrights Horizons.
Awards: 2012 Tony Award, 2012 Princess Grace Statue, 2006 Lortel and AUDELCO Award, 2004 and 2005 Henry Hewes Design Award, OBIE Award, and the Entertainment Design Magazine EDDY Award. Former Resident Sound Designer Williamstown Theater Festival 1989-1991 and Actors Theater of Louisville 1990-1993.
Barbara Rubin
Dialect Coach
3rd WTF Season: Photograph 51, Chonburi International Hotel & Butterly Club, A Raisin in The Sun, A Human Being, of a Sort, Dangerous House.
Broadway: Girl From The North Country [Associate Director], The Road to Mecca.
Off-Broadway: The Rolling Stone (LCT), Boesman and Lena (Signature), Mies Julie (CSC), Master Harold...and the Boys, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, The Train Driver, My Children! My Africa!, The Blood Knot (Signature Theatre), My Name is Asher Lev (Westside Theatre).
Regional: Beautiful (National Tour), My Name is Asher Lev (Long Wharf Theatre), Going To St Ives (Barrington Stage Co.), Born Yesterday (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Judgement Day (Bard SummerScape).
Film: Daniel Radcliffe in Escape From Pretoria, Adam Bakri in Official Secrets, Jennifer Hudson and Terence Howard in Winnie.
TV: Julia Garner in “Inventing Anna” for Netflix, “Chicago Med”, “The Americans”, “Blindspot.”
Faculty: American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Maya Davis
Assistant Director
Maya Davis, the 2020 Boris Sagal Directing Fellow for WTF, is a mixed-race NYC-based director and producer originally from the DC area. She is focused on creating works that are inclusive and accessible, with a specific interest in community-engaged theater. She recently directed MJ Kaufman’s Walrus in the Body of a Crocodile, Chris Herbie Holland’s Saturday Morning Cartoons with Cereal, and Mona Pirnot’s Private as the inaugural J. Michael Friedman Fellow at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Maya has directed, assisted, and produced in NYC at institutions including The Flea, The Public Theater, National Black Theater, The Tank, The Drawing Center, and Fordham Theatre Program, and regionally at Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Big Sky Theatre Company. Maya is the Artistic Associate of Two Headed Rep, a NYC company that produces new plays in repertory with the classic plays that inspire them. She is currently the interim Associate Producer with The TEAM, and a Community Engagement Artist at Williamstown Theater Festival. Playwrights Horizons ’18-’19 Directing Fellow. Alumna of Fordham University.
