The Cary Playwrights’ Forum

presents

Coming Back for Me

by

Amy da Luz

Mettlesome Theatre

Durham, NC

September 8-17, 2023

 

CAST
	Akili Holder-Cozart (SHASTA) (she/her) Akili is excited to join Cary Playwrights’ Forum as Shasta for the production of COMING BACK FOR ME! She is a [mostly] self-taught thespian/musician, performing arts educator, stage director and entrepreneur. Her passion lies in performing and helping others find themselves on the pathway to artistic alignment. She is currently a Full Sail Online student, getting a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, concentration in Game Development. Most recently, Akili starred as “Joanna” in Present Laughter; “Gina” in Beehive: The 60’s Musical and the “Charity Trio/Laundress” in A Christmas Carol with Temple Theater. She also originated the role of “Patience” in Finding Patience: The Musical, starring on the soundtrack and in the ‘Ain’t Nobody Sees Them’ music video, bringing home three film festival awards for Best Music Video. She also bears the sigil of Broadway World’s Raleigh Awards Winner for “Best Musical Performance”. As an entertainer, she makes bold statements and yearns to inspire others with her work. She sends a HUGE thank you to CPF and the CB4M cast for welcoming her. Thank you also to all her wonderful supporters and friends!
	Jason Christ (MATTHEW) (he/him) Jason is excited to return to The Cary Playwrights’ Forum to work with Michael, Melanie and this great cast. Recent work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theseus, STC), Ogradowa Street by Steffi Rubin (Rachmiel Frydland), Death by Design (Jack, Cary Players), Four Weddings and An Elvis (Fist, Cary Players).
	Joanna Herath (ARLENE) (she/her) Joanna is originally from Anderson, SC.  She’s performed across the Triangle with Cary Players, Theatre in the Park, The Cary Playwrights’ Forum, Bare Theatre, Pequod Productions, and Nickel Shakespeare Girls.  When she’s not on stage she is the Associate Chair for Administration for the Department of Radiation Oncology in the UNC School of Medicine. She sends her love and appreciation to friends, family and colleagues as she plays!
	Melanie Simmons (DOROTHY) (she/her) Melanie has enjoyed such roles as Martine in The Father at Theatre in the Park, M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias at Temple Theatre, Estelle in No Exit with Pequod Productions, Claire in Proof with Forest Moon Theatre, Kitty Sunderson in Perfect Arrangement at Raleigh Little Theatre, and many others. She went to London for the UK staging of Burning Coal’s Talley’s Folley at The Cockpit Theatre in 2022. She can also be seen on film (Split Ends), Netflix (Outer Banks), and numerous local and national commercials. She won the 2019 Cantey Award for her performance of Marie Antoinette in The Revolutionists at Raleigh Little Theatre, and was nominated by Broadway World-Raleigh for her performance of Sara Whitmore in Church & State at NRACT. She is thrilled to be joining the cast of the 50th Anniversary of A Christmas Carol with Theatre in the Park. She is currently bicoastal and is based in Raleigh and Los Angeles. Find out more at www.melaniesimmons.us.
	William Kalland (OLDER LEO) (he/him) William is excited to join The Cary Playwright’s Forum for this powerful production. William was recently seen as John Proctor in The Crucible at NC State’s University Theater. He is an Applause! Cary Youth Theater alumnus having appeared in numerous shows including The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood. Regional highlights include The Wolf at Theater Raleigh, To Kill a Mockingbird at Judson Theater Company, and Our Town with NC Theater Conservatory. William graduates from NC State University in December with a degree in Business Administration/Finance.
	Xenon Winslow (LEO) (he/she) Xenon is a Durham-based welder, construction worker, and actor specializing in Shakespeare. Recent credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck, Sweet Tea Shakespeare) and Corpus Christi (Thomas) at St. John’s MCC. He spends his spare time in caves and abandoned buildings.
CREATIVE TEAM
	Amy da Luz, Playwright (she/her/hers) – The LeftEarlies (one-act play) (May 2022 Workshop Production Milton Rhodes Center North Carolina, audio drama and graphic novel adaptations in production); Coming Back For Me (full-length play) (Winner 2020 Chrysalis Project The Cary Playwrights’ Forum, 2020 Guilford College Season, 2019 UNCG New Theatre Lab, Official Selection She-L.A. Festival, Shortlist 2019 Play Penn Conference); Themba (full length play) (Official Selection Actors Theatre of Charlotte 2019 nuVoices Play Festival, 2018 WSFC Arts Council Regional Artist Project Grant recipient); Boxes and Baggage (full-length play) (Winner 2018 North Carolina New Play Project Award GSO Drama Center); Skeletons (full-length play) (Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist 2017); The Bridge Initiative (Semi-Finalist 2017, Women’s Work Festival NYC Semi-Finalist 2017, Broadway Bound Theatre Festival 2017 NYC Official Selection). Member of: Dramatists Guild, Playwriting Center, Delurk Gallery (literary artist), Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Actors Equity Association (AEA). Adjunct professor NCA&T, UNCG, Guilford College. Managing Director Bending Tree Creative Collective, Board Member Arts District of Winston Salem. Amy experiences sporadic inspiration to create visual art that feeds her writing and vice versa. www.daluzional.com Thank you Tony, Tyler, Austin, Katie, Jonah, Max & Frankie. You inspire my make-believe worlds and keep me grounded in this one. www.amydaluz.com
	Michael Parker, Director and Set Designer (he/him) – Michael is absolutely privileged to have the opportunity to work with such a wonderful cast and production team. Directing this production has been an absolute pleasure! He hopes that in seeing this story play out, you also are inspired to listen, to have the courage to express yourself, and to create something personal and profound in your life. Recent roles include The Tempest (Sebastian, STC), All the Way (Walter Jenkins, Justice Theatre Project), and Ogrodowa Street by Steffi Rubin (Stasiek Eisenberg). He also recently directed The Verge (Brave New Classics), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (STC).
	Erin Bell, Lighting Designer (she/her) is a theatrical lighting designer and photographer based in Durham, NC. She has taught lighting design at the National Women’s Theatre Festival and at summer camps for Walltown Children’s Theatre and DAC. Previous lighting design credits include Lady Misrule (Tiny Engine), Indigo Blue and Nutcracker (Walltown Children’s Theatre), What If I’m the Becky? (The Rebecca Show), Peerless, Garbologists, and Single Black Female (Bulldog Ensemble), Motherworld (Monét Marshall), Infinite Infant (Miki Zhu), and Choreolab 2023 (Duke Dance Department). Follow Erin on IG @bullcityphotography.
	Juan Isler, Sound Designer (he/him) Juan is a native of Kinston, NC, grew up singing and earned a music-business degree at Winston-Salem State University in 1993. He worked as a deejay before coming to Raleigh, where he got a job as technical director at what is now Spectrum News in 2004. He has worked on more than 50 plays in venues across the Triangle on both sides of the stage, as actor, technician and director. He is the resident sound designer at Justice Theater Project. He is the board chair at Beltline to Broadway. He is the host of the show “TORN,” where he is one of the public faces of the online hub Beltline to Broadway (beltlinetobroadway.org, formerly RDU On Stage). All of this, while working as an Event Manager at NC State University.
	Mikki Marvel, Props and Projections Designer (they, them) Mikki uses art to celebrate the frivolity and divinity of daily life. Fave credits: Touring Comedian with Pineapple-Shaped Lamps 2012-2020, Second City Comedy Conservatory Graduate, Producer at Triangle Sketch Comedy Group, Creative Producer of Stream Raleigh, Livestream Technical Director of the National Women’s Theatre Festival, Marketing Director of Theatre Raleigh (2019-2020), and Virtual Studio Producer of Impro Theatre, a narrative and genre-focused improv theatre in Los Angeles (2020-2023). Love to my family, Brian, Miles, and Billie.
	Yamila Monge, Stage Manager (she, they) Yamila has worked as a Stage Manager here in the Raleigh area for several years. Some of their favorite shows include Of Good Stock, Dracula, A Christmas Carol, Urinetown, and The Father. Yamila recently made her directorial debut with JTP for Best of Enemies. When Yamila is not calling cues, you can find them spinning tunes in downtown Raleigh as she is also a local DJ known as Yamillionaire!  Yamila would like to give a special thanks to their friends & community for their never-ending support!

 

SPECIAL THANK YOU

The Cary Playwrights’ Forum is supported by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, as well as the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.