Queens Theatre's New American Voices and The Apothetae present
The Things We Carry
Written by Oya Mae Duchess-Davis
Directed by Evan T Cummings
part of the Forward Festival of the Arts
CAST
( * denotes member of Actors Equity Association)
ANDRE .................. Reynaldo Piniella *
BOOKER/MORRIS .................. Leland Fowler *
CARTER .................. Javon Q. Minter *
DESHAWN .................. Phillip Gregory Burke *
DARIUS .................. William Oliver Watkins *
ASHA .................. Cloteal L. Horne *
STAGE DIRECTIONS .................. Ebony Davis
American Sign Language Interpretation provided by Body Language Productions
Open Captioning provided by Sign Nexus
Who's Who
( * denotes member of Actors Equity Association)
PLAYWRIGHT Oya Mae Duchess-Davis
"I’ve been a weaver of tales since I could speak my apparitions into existence. My muse for storytelling comes from being black in America. I'm compelled to conjure my folklore so that I can cultivate black joy. Playwriting allows me to grab an audience and hold space for laughter,
rejoicing, and revolutionary love. My artistic mission is to bring life onto the stage that reflects the black youth in my community. In doing so I hope to provide a service of communal engagement that reminds us of the glory and heartache of our past but propels us toward a
revolutionary future.
My first professional playwriting experience came while I was earning my bachelors degree in Sociology from Augsburg University in 2015. I was awarded The Many Voices Mentorship from The Playwrights’ Center. The culmination of my mentorship was a reading of my play Waiting For Superman. From the mentorship, I had the opportunity to be a part of Pillsbury House Theatre’s 2016 Late Nite Series and their 2019 Great Divide Series. During The Late Nite Series I created a piece called The Brotherhood which was an examination of how reconnecting with siblings can heal sexual trauma. The Great Divide Series allowed me to create a piece called WADE IN THE WATER which was an investigation of black femme politics through the lens of science fiction. In 2017 I was a fellow for The Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship. Being a fellow gave me the gift of trying to The Lark Theatre and seeing myself clearly in an artistic space which made me proud to be a disabled playwright. I’m currently an I AM SOUL recipient through The National Black Theatre and The Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellow at The Lark Theatre."
DIRECTOR Evan T Cummings is a director and playwright based in NYC. He has directed readings and productions with Lincoln Center, The Private Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, The Culture Project, Luna Stage, Fault Line Theatre, The Lark, and Geva Theatre Center. He has assistant directed with The Public Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, and Dallas Theatre Center. Evan was recently brought on as the director and coordinator of a new division within The Stella Adler Studio, the Division of Artistic Access and Inclusion. Work with Queens Theatre includes directing for An Evening of Short Plays (Lincoln Center‘s Restart Stages) and Park Plays, multiple readings in the New American Voices Reading Series, as a teaching artist for the TFA Actor Training Program, and as dramaturg of Leaving Brooklyn. Evan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Upcoming directing: Trust by Steven Dietz (Stella Adler Studio).
Reynaldo Piniella * (Andre) was seen on Broadway in Trouble in Mind and Thoughts of a Colored Man. Off-Broadway credits include work at Signature, TFANA, Rattlestick, NYTW Next Door, Working Theater and the Public Theater. Regional work includes Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, O’Neill, Sundance Theatre Lab, Cleveland Play House. He will next be seen onstage in Ars Nova's ANT Fest in the premiere of his solo show Black and Blue, directed by Kevin R. Free. His next appearance on TV will be guest starring in Season 2 of FX's "Reservation Dogs." @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com
Leland Fowler * (Booker/Morris) Off-Broadway: one in two (The New Group); Novenas for a Lost Hospital (Rattlestick); If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons); Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public); Measure for Measure (TFANA). Regional: Queen of the Night (Dorset Theatre Festival); King Lear (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival); Skeleton Crew (Westport Country Playhouse, Dorset Theatre Festival); Protect the Beautiful Place (McCarter Theatre Center); Seven Guitars (Yale Rep); The Taming of the Shrew, Tiny Houses (Chautauqua Theatre Company); Songs to Grow On and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Alliance Theatre). TV: City On A Hill. BA: Morehouse College. MFA: Yale School of Drama.
Javon Q. Minter * (Carter) (they/she/he) They are a queer Black gender fluid & resistant actor/director & educator, born & raised in pre-gentrified Bedstuy. They insist attending, teaching, and revering theater that is not honestly representative & interrogative of our global community is not interesting and no longer acceptable. Javon has taught theatre across NY and regionally. They are currently on faculty at Circle in the Square Theater School as well as a teaching artist with New York Theatre Workshop, LEAP, and Treasure Trunk Theater. Select acting credits include What to Send Up When it Goes Down at Playwrights Horizons, boys don’t look at boys at New York Stage & Film, and what will happen to all that beauty at Playwrights Realm.
Phillip Gregory Burke * (Deshawn) American born and classically trained in The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Phillip Gregory Burke’s writing chronicles the sociology of the African Diaspora’s diversity of experiences and as an actor, he has worked in theater, tv, film and commercials nationally and internationally. Education/Training: MA Classical and Contemporary Text-The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; BFA Drama & BS Sociology-Syracuse University, Shakespeare’s Globe Education (London), The Alexander Gibson School of Opera (Glasgow). Memberships: Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, The New York SAG-AFTRA Film Society, Latinx Playwright’s Circle, The Civilians R&D Group 2021-2022 member. He dedicates his work in the memory of the legendary Sally Ann Jones. @PhillipGBurke
William Oliver Watkins * (Darius) Stage: Perseverance (Portland Stage world premiere), Jordan (Northern Stage world premiere), Thirst (CATF world premiere); Sweat, Ruined, Jackie & Me, One Night in Miami, As You Like It (Denver Center); Snakeskin Suit, Nodding Off (EST world premieres); Othello, Twelfth Night (Cincinnati Shakes); Antigone, Camp Logan (Nat’l Black Theatre); The Christians, Merchant of Venice (Gulfshore Playhouse); Great Expectations (Syracuse Stage); Lombardi (Cleveland Playhouse); Moss Hart Story (Good Theater); Nursery Rhymes at the 99, Duck Sauce (AND); I Knew King When He Was Nobody (Abingdon); A Raisin in the Sun (Studio Arena). Screen (TV in quotes): “The Endgame;” “New Amsterdam;” 40-Year Old Version (Sundance Best Direction Award Winner) ; “Bull”; “Wu-Tang’s American Saga”; “L&O”; “SVU”; “Blindspot”; “The Blacklist: Redemption”; “Madam Secretary”; “Forever”; Nasty Baby; “Nurse Jackie”; “Rescue Me”; “NY 22”; “Canterbury's Law”. Training: BFA-Webster Conservatory. Will is originally from Cincinnati, OH.
Cloteal L. Horne * (Asha) (Her/She) Off-Broadway: The Convent of Pleasure (Red Bull Theatre), The Steadfast (Slant Theatre Project), Dirty Blood (Billie Holiday Theatre). Regional: Fires in The Mirror (LongWharf/Baltimore Center Stage), She A Gem (NYTW), The Bluest Eye, Blueshift (The Huntington), Black Odyssey (Trinity Rep.), Marie Antoinette, Comedia De Equivocaciones, and Venus (Brown/Trinity), Saturday Night/Sunday Morning (LyricStage), To Kill a Mockingbird (Weston Playhouse), Hang, Twelfth Night, Merry Wives of Windsor; Two Gents, Merchant of Venice, Comedy of Errors, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Christmas at Pemberley (Shakespeare & Co.), Funny Thing Happened…(BarnStormers), The Clothesline Muse (Aion Productions), How We Got On (CompanyOne), Gift Horse, R&J (New Rep.), Othello (ASP). FILM: The Light (B.K.Lui.Horne), The Promotion (C1 Media), Driving While Black Magic, Breaking Dawn: American Myth Project (The NET). As an educator, Cloteal has taught at Yale School of Drama, Brown University, NYU- Playwrights Horizons, and La Jolla Playhouse Student Conservatory. B.F.A in Acting, Boston University. M.F.A Acting, Brown University/Trinity. www.cloteallhorne.com
Ebony Davis (Stage Directions)
Queens Theatre
Staff
Taryn Sacramone, Executive Director
Connie Baker, Rentals and Events Manager
Charles Bennett, Building Attendant
Victor Catano, Production Manager
Jeanmarie Conley, Technical Director
Dominic D'Andrea, Director of Community Engagement
Richard Hinojosa, Director of Education
Tony Lackram, Operations Assistant
Vasilios Leon, Box Office Assistant
Willy Mosquera, Front of House Manager
Bernadette Ott, Development Manager
Angelica Rodriguez, Finance Manager
Gabriel Rodriguez, Box Office Supervisor
Jerry Rodriguez, Sound Associate
Jay Rogers, Director of Operations/GM
Jordi Toro, Box Office Assistant
Jorge Toro, Building Attendant
William A. Smith, Building Attendant
Rob Urbinati, Director of New Play Development
Steve Wolf, Assistant Production Manager/Lighting Supervisor
Marketing and PR: Anat Gerstein, Inc.
Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Gary Kesner, President
Tracy Capune, Vice President
Bruce Levine, Treasurer
Mark Misk, Secretary
Alfonso Quiroz
Members
Jennifer Bai
Georgiana Benatti
Salvatore DiMartino
Cameron R. Hernandez
Susan B. Lipsky
Irene Zoupaniotis
Ex-Officio
Eric Adams, New York City Mayor
Donovan Richards, Queens Borough President
Laurie Cumbo, Commissioner, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
Jacqueline Langsam, Queens Borough Commissioner, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
Board President Emeritus: Frances A. Resheske