Will Power’s percussive look at one urban community and its seven storytellers, who gossip and riff, declare and reveal, showing off their neighborhood through its stories, from trivial to tragic. Backed by a live DJ and unfolding in rhythm and rhyme, Flow is a call and response through history, from the griot tradition to the next artists who will make the tradition for their times. Will Power toured the piece to Studio in 2004 and Doris Duke Artist in Residence Psalmayene 24 directs a new production for a new generation.
Video Production by Studiio Box DC, studiioboxdc.com.
Studio Theatre's 2020-2021 season is made possible through the generosity of Season Sponsors Susan and Dixon Butler; Dr. Mark Epstein and Amoretta Hoeber; David and Jean Heilman Grier; Arlene and Robert Kogod; Judge Albert Lauber and Prof. Craig Hoffman; Joan and David Maxwell; Teresa and Dan Schwartz; Steven and Linda Skalet; Bobbi and Ralph Terkowitz; and Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein.
Will Power is an internationally renowned playwright, performer, lyricist, and educator. Called “the best verse playwright in America” by New York Magazine, Will is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip-hop theatre, a late 20th century artform that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, as well as dozens of education programs being established throughout the country.
He is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals, including Fetch Clay, Make Man, which has been produced by McCarter Theatre Center, New York Theatre Workshop, Round House Theatre, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, The Ensemble Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company, among others. Will’s other plays include Stagger Lee, The Seven, Seize the King, Detroit Red, and children’s theatre pieces Five Fingers of Funk and Honey Bo and the Goldmine. Will’s collaboration with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and composer Julia Wolfe resulted in the performance piece Steel Hammer, which was performed at the Humana Festival, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, before its world tour.
Will’s numerous awards include The Doris Duke Artist Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, a NYFA Award, a Joyce Foundation Award, and a 2020 Elliot Norton Award.
Currently, Will is a Professor of Theater at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA.
(As of October 2020)
Psalmayene 24 is an award-winning director, playwright, and actor. Directing credits include Native Son by Nambi E. Kelley at Mosaic Theater Company, Word Becomes Flesh (recipient of five 2017 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Direction of a Play) by Marc Bamuthi Joseph at Theater Alliance, and The Shipment by Young Jean Lee at Forum Theatre. He has received commissions from the African Continuum Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Imagination Stage, The Kennedy Center, Theater Alliance, Solas Nua, Mosaic Theater Company, and Theatrical Outfit. His one-man play, Free Jujube Brown!, is published in the anthology, Plays from the Boom Box Galaxy: Theater from the Hip-Hop Generation (TCG).
(As of June 2020)
Justin Weaks returns to Studio after appearing in last season’s production of Pipeline and Curve of Departure during the 2017-2018 season. Selected local credits include BLKS, Gloria, and Describe the Night at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Fences at Ford’s Theatre; Long Way Down at The Kennedy Center; Gem of the Ocean at Round House Theatre; The Christians at Theater J; Word Becomes Flesh and Still Life with Rocket at Theater Alliance; and Charm at Mosaic Theater Company. Additional regional and New York credits include work with Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shakespeare & Company, and Barter Theatre. Justin received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor and Ensemble (Word Becomes Flesh at Theater Alliance) and holds an additional three nominations for his work. He is a teaching artist in the DMV area and a company member at Woolly Mammoth. He holds a BA in Theatre from Greensboro College.
(As of February 2021)
Wes Culwell is an award-winning producer and director. He founded Studiio Box Creative in 2012 and has been committed to creating visibility around social justice issues as well as establishing Studiio Box as a premier creative agency in the greater Washington, DC area. Wes has spent more than 20 years in production, including nine years producing for networks such as NBC, Bravo, Oxygen, VH1, TLC, and National Geographic. During this challenging year for the arts, Wes has focused his energies on assisting theatrical companies to bring their visions to the digital screen. He received a BA in Drama from the University of California, Irvine and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. studiioboxdc.com.
(As of January 2021)
Sherrice Mojgani recently designed for DC-area productions of 2.5 Minute Ride at Studio; The Heiress and Two Trains Running at Arena Stage; and Spunk, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and The Scottsboro Boys at Signature Theatre. Regionally, she has designed for A Few Good Men and Sweat at Pittsburgh Public Theater; What You Are and Skeleton Crew at The Old Globe; Roz and Ray, Black Pearl Sings, and Outside Mullingar at San Diego Repertory Theatre; and Blue Door, Trouble in Mind, and Mud Blue Sky at MOXIE Theatre. Sherrice is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University. She holds a BA in Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz and an MFA in Lighting Design from UC San Diego. smojgani.com.
(As of February 2021)
Nick "tha 1da" Hernandez is a sample-based producer, DJ, and artist. He has produced original compositions for Long Way Down at The Kennedy Center, The Hip-Hop Children's Trilogy with playwright Psalmayene 24 at Imagination Stage, Fences at Ford's Theatre, Native Son and Les Deux Noir at Mosaic Theater Company, Word Becomes Flesh (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Production) at Theater Alliance, and Havana Hop and All The Way Live! with sibling Paige Hernandez at Discovery Theater. Additionally, Nick has produced compositions and projects for Hot 97 FM, Red Bull Music, Netflix, DC Public Library, Arena Stage, Smithsonian Associates, and Words Beats & Life Inc. On social media at @nicktha1da.
(As of February 2021)
Tony Thomas is an independent artist working a wide range of arts and entertainment mediums. His credits include Pass Over and P.Y.G. or the Misedumacation of Dorian Belle at Studio, Native Son at Mosaic Theater Company, Caucasian Chalk Circle and Aida at Constellation Theatre Company, and The Freshest Snow Whyte and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown at Imagination Stage. He was nominated for Outstanding Choreography by the Helen Hayes Awards in 2019 for P.Y.G. at Studio and in 2016 for Word Becomes Flesh at Theatre Alliance. Performance credits include West Side Story (Tio) National Tour, Guys & Dolls, and A Chorus Line (2014 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Musical Production) at Olney Theatre Center. He currently serves as Head of Dance and Artistic Supervisor (Pre-Professional Program) at Adventure Theatre MTC, sits on the board and dance faculty with Ngoma Center for Dance, and actively leads numerous workshops and coaching circuits. Tony Thomas Designs was developed in 2004, featuring Tio Diaz Studio as a premiere design house in Interior Architecture and Creative Direction.
(As of February 2021)
Leigh Wilson Smiley has been on the artistic teams as a voice/dialect/text director for numerous shows produced at Studio Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Everyman Theatre, Round House Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, NBC on-camera talent, and Cirque du Soleil. Smiley created the Visual Accent and Dialect Archive, a web-based resource for dialect and accent samples. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association. leighsmileyvoice.com and VisualAccentDialectArchive.com.
(As of April 2021)
Adrien-Alice Hansel is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of I Hate it Here, Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of 2.5 Minute Ride, Until the Flood, Cry It Out, Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of 10 editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2021)
Allie Roy returns after stage managing Studio’s first audio play, Kings, and two streaming plays, Cock and 2.5 Minute Ride, this season. Her other Studio credits include Admissions, If I Forget, Translations, Curve of Departure, Straight White Men, Murder Ballad, Silence! The Musical, and the world premiere of Animal for the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. Regional credits include West Side Story in concert with the National Symphony Orchestra and Love, Factually at The Kennedy Center; the world premieres of Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing and Diner, as well as A Chorus Line, Grand Hotel, The Scottsboro Boys, West Side Story, and Elmer Gantry at Signature Theatre; the world premiere of After the War, as well as When January Feels Like Summer and Ulysses on Bottles at Mosaic Theater Company; and The Originalist at Arena Stage.
(As of April 2021)
Lücién Reubens is a queer actor, technician, activist, art maker, and creator. They served as the production assistant on Studio’s 2021 productions of Cock, Until the Flood, and 2.5 Minute Ride. They have worked on lights for Doubt and Pipeline at Studio and The Bodyguard at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, and worked in sound for A Sign of Rain at Studio, Disney’s Newsies at Arena Stage, and Arbat’s Bremenskie Muzikanty at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. They began working in professional theatre at Olney Theatre Center, assisting with lighting for the regional premieres of Elf the Musical, Once, Matilda, and Tiger Style!, as well as the North American premieres of Labour of Love, Oil, and Mary Stuart. Lücién graduated with a BFA in Theater from Colgate University. On Instagram and Twitter at @livinpoetry.
(As of April 2021)
Jada Boggs is a multimedia artist, producer, and director. She is a recent graduate from Ithaca College and joined Studio Theatre as an Artistic Apprentice for the 2021-2022 season. Her most recent directing credit is Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. at Ithaca College. Her recent Assistant Director credits include August: Osage County and You Can’t Take It with You at Hangar Theatre, as well as Antigone Project at Ithaca College. jadaboggs.com.
(As of April 2021)