Carlo Campbell (Chris, he/him) is a Philadelphia native. He is a founding member and Artistic Director of Theatre In The X as well as a member of SAG-AFTRA, he has been in a number films and commercials. He has also worked with theatre companies all throughout the Delaware Valley including Go Kash On Stage, Ego Po, Simpatico, Pennsylvania Shakespeare, Delaware Shakespeare and First World. Theatre, Curio Theatre: Death of A Salesman, Piano Lesson, Othello, Richard 2, While the Getting’s Good, Topdog Underdog, The Nigga Files, 12 Angry Men, Delaware Young Playwrights, Moon Man Walk, V to X, The Meeting, King John, Richard 2, All My Sons. He has worked with children and young adults of all ages, from kindergarten to the university level as a teaching artist and director. Also a Poet and an MC (AFLOE), Carlo has published a book of poetry entitled Afloematic.

Melanye Finister* (Luella, she/her) is an artist and resident company member at People’s Light, a member of Wilma Hothouse, and an artistic advisory board member at PlayPenn. People’s Light: The Diary of Anne Frank, The Matchmaker, All My Sons, Fences, The Winter’s Tale, Seven Guitars, The Return of Don Quixote, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Something You Did, Fabulation, and The Member of the Wedding. Theatre Includes: Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Flashpoint Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Venture Theatre, Temple Theaters and Walnut Street Theatre. Training: BFA, Carnegie Mellon University.

Jared Chichester (Joshua, he/him) is a 22 year old artist from Beaumont, Texas. Fresh out of high school, Jared moved to Philadelphia and spent one year as an Acting major at The University of the Arts. He began his acting career with credits such as Passing Strange (City Theater Company) and Pass Over (Theatre Exile). Beyond acting, Jared is also a rapper and producer under the name “chiche” (pronounced “cheech”). You can find his 2021 EP “Hi, My Name is Jared” on all streaming platforms, and look out for his newest release, “Where The Sky Meets Heaven” coming to all platforms on May 12th. When Jared isn’t creating something, he enjoys long walks, listening to Italian film scores, and scrolling on Instagram (@chichemusic).

Brenson Thomas* (Gabriel, he/him) is a Black and queer writer, actor, and theatre-maker. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA Theatre program, his plays include how i got over, or…red Kool-Aid stains on bubblegum lips; What We Lost & Never Knew; and How We Return, an upcoming commission for Constellation Stage & Screen in Bloomington, IN. Brenson also writes for TV/Film, most recently on Emmy Award winner Lena Waithe’s Twenties on BET. As a performer, Brenson has collaborated with Tony Award Winner Stew, Raja Feather Kelly, Lightning Rod Special in The Appointment (FringeArts/Next Door at NYTW; Barrymore Nominee for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical), Arden Theatre Company in the world premiere of R. Eric Thomas’ Backing Track, and Into the Woods, and with 1812 Productions for This is the Week That Is: 2020, and the Wilma Theater. When he’s not hunched over his laptop crying about blank Google docs, Brenson enjoys long walks around his beloved Philly, doing bad accents, smashing patriarchal white supremacist structures, and Beyoncé.

Brett Ashley Robinson (Director, she/her) is a 2021 Pew Fellow as well as a Barrymore Award-winning devisor, director, theatre maker and educator based in Philadelphia. She is the 2021 winner of the PEN America/ Jean Stein Oral History Grant for her original work Re-Enactment. She was a collaborator and performer in Lightning Rod Specials The Appointment at New York Theatre Workshop, which was a 2019 and 2023 New York Times Critics Pick and voted best play of 2019 in The New York Times, Vulture Magazine, Time Out New York, and New York Magazine. As an actor and devisor she has worked at, The Public, Ars Nova Ant Fest, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Wilma, Lightning Rod Special, Pig Iron Theater Company, The Arden Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, The Flea Theatre, Theatre Horizon, and Geva Theatre. She has taught acting at the University of the Arts, Desales University, Drexel University, and is a company member of Applied Mechanics and a member of the HotHouse–the Wilma Theater’s resident acting company. She loves buck a shuck oysters and Vino Verde

James Ijames (Playwright) is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, a director and educator.

James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.

James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ….Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize and the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient.

James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective.

He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. He resides in South Philadelphia.