Kristiana Rae Colón is a poet, playwright, actor, educator, producer, curator, creator of #BlackSexMatters, co-founder of the #LetUsBreathe Collective, and Writer/Producer on Showtime’s hit series The Chi. Her plays have been produced in London, New York, Chicago, and across the US. Kristiana's collection of poems promised instruments was the winner of the inaugural Drinking Gourd Poetry Prize and published by Northwestern University Press and her play Tilikum is the winner of a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Play. Kristiana's published plays include Octagon and but i cd only whisper. She appeared on the fifth season of HBO's Def Poetry Jam. Kristiana writes, produces, and organizes to cast spells for embodiment of our liberated futures.
Margot Carmody
Margot Carmody is a Latinx playwright that aims to “make the mundane spectacular” Through magical realism, poetry, and dance, their plays explore memories and grief in a way that celebrates life itself and brings the audience closer to the humanity we share.
Her full-length play, Olvidame (Forget Me) is the recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Theatre Creator Award and is recognized for Distinguished Achievement for the Kennedy Center’s Latinx Playwriting Award. Her play, Hi Bi, debuted virtually at Dixon Place Theater with an impressive cast of veteran television actors: Davi Santos (CW's Tell Me a Story), Adrian Gonzalez (STARZ Vida), and Hanako Greensmith (NBC's Chicago Fire) and received a mention in PLAYBILL as an LGBTQIA+ artist to watch.
She will graduate from Carnegie Mellon's Dramatic Writing MFA in 2025 and continue her social experiment.
Matthew Chong
Matthew Chong is a first generation Korean-American playwright. His work explores how oppressive systems can make its victims complicit in their own oppression. His plays include The Aughts (Yale Cabaret), Lessons (The Kennedy Center's Michael Kanin Playwriting Award), Jung (Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival), and Plague Year (Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival). He assisted Scott Rudin during the Broadway productions of Three Tall Women and To Kill A Mockingbird; he has also worked in television production at MTV and Netflix. He is an MFA playwriting candidate at the Yale School of Drama.
Deborah Asante
Deborah Asante is a Dream Farmer, Child Charmer, World Traveler, Jazz Gatherer, Blues Chaser, Hope Placer, History Keeper, Justice Seeker, KEEPER of the CULTURE.
Accepting a job offer from playwright Crystal V Rhodes, she migrated to Indianapolis, Indiana from San Francisco, in the late 80s. In 1990 Deborah founded The Asante Children's Theatre which has expanded its work in the community as the Asante Art Institute.
For over 30 years, Deborah Asante has been a creative force on a mission to expand the Indianapolis professional theater space, one artist at a time. With relentless passion and commitment, Deborah Asante & Artists (DA&A) was founded on the principle of ART by any means necessary. In her evolution, she aims to provide opportunities for home-grown artists while intentionally influencing future generations of creatives in this community.
Brittany K. Allen
Brittany K. Allen is a Brooklyn-based writer/actor. Her plays have been produced and developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Clubbed Thumb, Ensemble Studio Theatre, WPLab, Portland Center Stage, Studio Theatre, and KC Rep, among other places, and her radio plays and podcasts have been produced by Fresh Produce, United Artists, Woolly Mammoth, and Playing On Air. She holds commissions from Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, and The Civilians, and is an alumna of EST/Youngblood, EWG/The Public, and DSNAWG/Primary Stages. Awards include the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, the Dramatists Guild Foundation Comedic Playwriting Prize, two Kilroys List citations, and a Van Lier Fellowship via the late Lark. She's a MacDowell and Ucross fellow, and teaches on the playwriting faculty at the Sewanee Writers Conference. As an actor, she's recently appeared off-Broadway in world premieres by Talene Monahon, Abe Koogler, Julia May Jonas, Emily Mann, and Michael Walek. Company member, Colt Coeur.
