Gee’s Bend by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Tamieka Chavis (she/her) is a graduate of the British American Drama Academy and the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. She is a company member of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and the Black Classical Acting Ensemble. Her recent theatre credits include: Mosaic Theatre: Confederates, Charm, Inherit the Windbag; 1st Stage: The Rainmaker (Helen Hayes Nominated Outstanding Lead Performer), The Mamalogues; Imagination Stage: The Hula Hoopin’ Queen; Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: A Raisin in the Sun, Macbeth (BroadwayWorld Best Actress in Play), Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, The Tempest, A Christmas Carol; NextStop Theatre: Middletown; Constellation Theatre Company: Caucasian Chalk Circle; BADA: Measure for Measure, Hedda Gabler; The Second City: The Revolution Will Be Improvised (u/s); Kennedy Center TYA: She A Gem (u/s). TELEVISION: Anacostia (Daytime Emmy nominated and recipient of the Indie Series Award for Best Lead Actress), The Wire, Psychic Detectives. FILM: Raven, Liam White, A Family Matters Christmas, Torn. Tamieka is a proud equity member. She can be seen next on stage as  the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. tamiekachavis.com

FELICIA CURRY is a DC-based actor, singer, and Emmy-nominated host of WETA Arts on WETA/PBS. She was last seen on DC stages in the Helen Hayes nominated ensemble of POTUS at Arena Stage. Curry received a Helen Hayes Award for ‘Lela & Co’ at Factory 449 where she is a company member. She is also a Resident Company Member at Everyman Theatre and an Artistic Associate at Ford’s Theatre. Felicia made her Broadway debut in the Tony-nominated revival of ‘Into the Woods’, and then toured with the show around the country, including the Kennedy Center. She has a Berkshire Theatre Critics Award, a RTCC Award, an Anderson Hopkins Award for Excellence in the Theatre Arts and is an AUDELCO nominee for Queens Girl in the World at Abingdon Theatre off-Broadway. Felicia has been named one of “12 DC Stage Dynamos” by The Washington Post, and one of “DC’s Biggest Theatre Stars” by Washingtonian Magazine. 

Erika Rose is a local Washington D.C. actor and was most recently seen in HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES at STC, TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS at Baltimore Center Stage and CONFEDERATES at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is a mother of two and is enjoying the ride.

Justin is happy to join the museum for this reading. He is a member of the company of artists at Woolly Mammoth Theater Company in Washington, D.C. New York: The New Group NYC. Regional credits include work with Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Round House Theatre, Theater J, Shakespeare & Company, and Theater Alliance. Mr. Weaks is a three-time Helen Hayes Award recipient and holds an additional six nominations for his work. Education: BA in theatre from Greensboro College (NC). jweaks.com.

Shanara Gabrielle is a theatre artist working in a wide variety of mediums with a focus on gutsy and inventive theatre for all audiences. Driven by tales of imagination and stories of justice, Shanara fosters new work and reimagines classics with artists of courage and depth. Shanara has worked professionally at theaters across the country, including: Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Guthrie, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Great Lakes Theatre, Northern Stage, Idaho Shakespeare, Imagination Stage, Coterie Theater, Chesapeake Shakespeare, the cell nyc, Goethe Institut, Metropolitan Playhouse, St. Louis Rep, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Stages, Theatre for the New City, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Hollywood Playhouse, The Black Rep,  Upstream Theater, and many more. Shanara has worked as an Artistic Producer at The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, and Shakespeare Theatre Company and spearheaded Working In DC. is a proud member of SDC, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA and she loves to connect, so find her at www.shanaragabrielle.com or IG: @shanaragabrielle 

Ashleigh King, she/her, is a DC-area performer, choreographer, and teaching artist. She received a Helen Hayes Award for her choreography in Legally Blonde (Keegan Theatre). Most recently her work has been seen in Working the Musical (Labor Heritage Foundation at Black Lives Matter Plaza), Emma: the pop musical  (Nextstop Theatre Company), Fairview (Woolly Mammoth), Second City’s ‘Love Factually’ (The Kennedy Center), and at Artscentric, Adventure Theatre MTC, and Toby’s Dinner Theater. Her performance credits include multiple productions at The Kennedy Center, Olney Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Studio Theatre, and Signature Theatre.

Bryanda Minix (she/her) is a multidisciplinary theater artist and educator, connector, cultivator of hope, and fierce advocate towards removing barriers to opportunity. Originally from Houston, Texas, she has been working as an actor, director, playwright, and teaching artist in the DMV since 2016 after graduating from The Theatre Lab's Honors Acting Conservatory. Most recent directing credits include: The Spitfire Grill (Nazareth University); Rock, Paper, Scissors (The Welders); Medea (Bowie State University); Nat Turner in Jerusalem (NextStop Theatre); Having Our Say (Creative Cauldron); collaborations with The Theatre Lab's Life Stories Program and Making a Difference and the Strong Azz Moms; Theater Resources Unlimited (New York), and for Honor Roll! in association with the African American Policy Forum’s #SayHerName campaign; and assistant directing Once on This Island (Constellation Theatre Company).

Ann Greer is founding producer of theater programming at The Phillips Collection, beginning in 2010 when she also directed communications and marketing at the Phillips. Ann has produced staged readings, scenes from plays, and panel discussions, all with the goals of enriching the museum's presentation of artists and their work and of exploring museum practice. Past programs include staged readings of Art, Six Degrees of Separation, and Vincent in Brixton; and panels on new play development in DC and August Wilson's ten-play cycle of 20th-century Black America. Ann has written about theater for The Washington Post, American Theatre, and Capitol File, among others. She was an arts reporter for WAMU and was the region's first online theater critic, for AOL Digital City Washington. She studied acting at Studio and Shakespeare Theatres, and was on the staff of Arena Stage and the Folger.