Lindsay Carroll (Stage Directions) Credits include: River/J, The Christmas Tree Farm (Actors Bridge Ensemble); Judy Bernly, 9 to 5: The Musical; Eurydice, Antigone; Henrietta Iscariot, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Vladimir Nabokov, To Stab a Butterfly Through the Heart...(Vanderbilt University); Ashleigh Whitford, Horse Girls (Elon University). Lindsey holds a BA in Sociology and a minor in Theatre from Vanderbilt University and has studied Meisner Technique with the Actors Bridge Ensemble Acting School. She has been performing in the Nashville area for over fifteen years."

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Ibby Cizmar (DOCTOR) is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Vanderbilt. She holds an MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School/New School for Drama and a PhD in Drama from Tufts University. She has previously taught at Franklin & Marshall College, Bucknell University, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her book Ernie McClintock and the Jazz Actors Family: Reviving the Legacy focuses on McClintock’s Afro-American Studio for Acting & Speech (est. 1966) and Jazz Actors Theatre (est. 1991). Her research excavates McClintock’s legacy and aims to include Afrocentric methods in actor training. Her published essays are featured in The Routledge Companion to African American Theatre & Performance, Text & Presentation, and Twentieth Century and Contemporary American Literature in Context.

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Matt DiCintio (Researcher) has served as dramaturg at The Guthrie Theater, PlayMakers Repertory, The Playwright's Center, Virginia Repertory, and TheatreVirginia, among others, and at universities including Vanderbilt, Frankliin & Marshall, Bucknell, and the University of Richmond. His adaptations are published by Broadway Play Publishing. He holds an MFA in Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University and a PhD in Drama from Tufts University. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild.

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​Mackenna Guadaganoli (Stage Manager) is a junior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Theatre and minoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences. She has stage managed VU Theatre productions like Love is the Greater Labyrinth and Eco-Grief. She serves as the Season Production Manager and Vice President of the VU Theatre Student Board. She will be appearing in the VUT Student Works Festival as part of the cast and the production team, as well as stage managing She Kills Monsters with VUT. She is very excited to be a part of this amazing team and hopes you enjoy the reading!

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Steven Hall (WENDAL) is a senior at Vanderbilt University. Majoring in Econ/History and Asian Studies with a minor in Film, he has balanced rigorous academics with a deep passion for the performing arts. Acting since middle school, he has honed their craft through years of dedication and has appeared in numerous productions with the Vanderbilt Theatre Department. Steven is grateful for the opportunity to bring "Junior" to life and to share this powerful story with the audience. He would like to thank his family and friends for their unwavering support. Enjoy the show!

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Mary Hodges (REBA) is an actor, director, teacher, and mom. She was one of four directors in the highly acclaimed Park Plays, a series of ten short plays written by ten playwrights, which premiered at the Studio Theatre in 2017. Some additional directing credits include: [Broadway] Slave Play (Assistant Director - Golden Theatre); [Off-Broadway] Fathers and Sons (Director -Davenport Theatre); [Off Off-Broadway] New Perspectives Theatre Short Play Festival (2019, 2018, 2017). For Queens Theatre she recently staged three short plays for the 60th Anniversary World’s Fair and the acclaimed Park Plays in 2017. Acting credits include: [Broadway] The Lehman Trilogy (Nederlander Theatre); [Off-Broadway] Patience (2nd Stage Uptown Series); The Hope Hypothesis (The Sheen Center); [Off Off-Broadway] Macbeth3 (HERE Arts Center); The Test (Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre). [Regional] Disgraced & Best of Enemies (Florida Repertory); Othello; King Lear; Hamlet (Harlem Shakespeare Theatre); Big Love (Long Wharf Theatre & Berkeley Repertory Theatre). TV: “Law & Order: SVU (recurring NBC); “The Enemy Within” (NBC); “Blue Bloods” (CBS); “It’s Bruno” (Netflix); “Wu-Tang Clan” (Hulu). Graduate of University of Connecticut (MFA) and VCU Drama (BFA). She is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and an SDC Associate. 

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PaJ Jackson Jr (JUNIOR) was born in Gary, IN, and raised in Alabama. He moved to Nashville in 2004 and since then has performed in plays such as Pure Confidence, Lightning Girl, Memphis, The Wiz, Nowhere Next to Normal, and The Last Season, to name a few. Some of his career highlights include a commercial appearance for the BET Hip Hop awards and a top 20 qualifier on "America's Got Talent." PaJ is the proud father of two children and hopes that you enjoy this performance, and as always he wishes you Peace and Joy.​

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Jasmine Jain (NURSE) is a senior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society and minoring in Neuroscience and Theatre. At Vanderbilt, she has been an assistant stage manager for the musical 9 to 5 and recently participated in her first Vanderbilt University Theatre show, Dores to the Past. Jasmine has loved taking classes with the Theatre department, especially with a focus on Acting. She has taken classes ranging from storytelling to Jazz Acting to learning about musicals. After taking her Jazz Acting class, her appreciation for this form of acting grew, and she is very excited to be participating in this reading as the Nurse! She is sad to be graduating this May but is grateful for her experiences with the Theatre Department at Vanderbilt. 

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TJ Jallo (DWAYNE) is originally from Guinea, Africa, and moved to the United States when he was seven. Adapting to a new language and culture wasn’t easy, but by 5th grade, he discovered a love for performance arts. From large to small roles, he relishes the process of being in productions. Growing up, he thought engineering was his path, but a course in Dr. Cizmar's Fundamentals of Acting reignited my passion for acting where he performed poetry and was cast in Annie Baker's The Flick (Avery).  Next up, TJ will be exploring the prolific work of August Wilson in Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Through hard work and determination, TJ plans on having a long and successful career as an actor.

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Mary McCallum (MAYBELLE) received her BS and MBA from Vanderbilt University. She is the founder of SistaStyle Productions in Nashville. Acting highlights: The Mountaintop, The Face of Emmett Till, A Raisin in the Sun, Never Been Home, Waitin’ 2 End Hell and TV One’s "Fatal Attraction.” Her play SingleVille won the D.C. Black Theatre Festival One Act Battle and was a mainstage selection for the prestigious National Black Theatre Festival. The film version (writer, co-director, actress) won several awards including Best Feature at the Twin Cities Black Film festival and the International Black Film Festival. Her play Six Triple Eight took top prize at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival and Tampa Bay Theatre Festival. The film version won Best Screenplay at the JNX Film Festival and British Urban Film Festival and was recently released as a novel. “Chasing Jeremy” was a screenplay winner at the British Urban Film Festival and a finalist at the Urban World Film Festival. In 2019, she was a winner of the “Women Who Rock Nashville” award for the arts. She was named Best Playwright at the 2023 Atlanta black Festival for her show Why Goodbye, and she received the Taurean Award for Best Actress. Librettist highlights: “One Vote One”(Nashville Opera; Telly Award/Regional Emmy Nomination); Beatrice (Portland Opera); Charlie and the Wolf (Cedar Rapids Opera).

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Levy Lee Simon (BAILEY) is an award-winning writer, actor, director and author from Harlem and is a graduate of the University of Iowa Playwright’s Workshop, MFA. He made his bones as an actor working with renown theatres in NY such as: The Negro Ensemble Company, Circle Repertory LAB and the 127th Street Repertory Ensemble. He performed in several plays with Ernie McClintock including the legendary production of A Raisin in the Sun at the Apollo Theatre with the late great Minnie Gentry and 12-year-old Tupac Shakur in the role of Travis. Since then, Levy Lee has cemented himself as a recognized artist on the American theatrical scene. As a playwright he has 52 productions to his credit, including: God the Crackhouse and the Devil, For the Love of Freedom, the trilogy, (Two Best Playwright nominations by the NAACP and an Ovation Nomination for Best Full Length Play), The Magnificent Dunbar Hotel, The Bow Wow Club, (Kennedy Center, Lorraine Hansberry Award for Best Full Length Play), Same Train, (OBBR Award for Best Play), The Stuttering Preacher (Best Plays -Theatre Year Book), The Guest at Central Park West (Audelco Award for Dramatic Production of the Year and Best Playwright). Recent plays include A Heated Discussion (2022) and A Heated Discussion Revisited (2023), Gentrified – Metaphor of the Drums (The Tent Theatre Collective), and Fractured (New Circle Theatre Company Workshop Production). In 2022 he was awarded Playwright of the Year by the San Diego Writers Festival. His memoir Odyssey Towards the
Light was released in and can be found on Amazon. As an actor, he was a cast member in the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony-nominated The Kentucky Cycle on Broadway, the UK production of Ms. Evers’ Boys at the Barbican and Bristol Old Vic, plus over 60 plays Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and regional theatres across the country and Caribbean. He returned to the stage in the world premiere of Beaufield Berry’s In the Upper Room at Denver Center for the Performing
Arts in 2022. His performance garnered him a Best Supporting Actor Nomination by the Colorado Theatre Guild. In 2023 Levy Lee performed in his first solo show, Odyssey Race and Racism, in the Hollywood Fringe Festival, where he received glowing reviews. Levy Lee, as he prefers to be called, prides himself on having his finger on the pulse. He is a proud artist and thespian always seeking to create work that entertains while inspiring and motivating change. And in many ways, that is what makes him an artist activist as well.

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Derome Scott Smith (Director) is a dynamic and accomplished professional with a passion for storytelling, education, and the arts. As a filmmaker, director, and educator, Derome brings a wealth of experience and creativity to every project he undertakes. He is the founder of Media Jazz, a film production company dedicated to highlighting African-American culture, exploring meaningful narratives, and advancing education in the arts. In addition to his work in the film industry, Derome is a dedicated instructor in television production and theatre. He empowers high school students to explore their creative potential, develop technical skills, and produce compelling content that reflects their unique perspectives. His innovative teaching methods have inspired countless students to pursue careers in media and the performing arts.

Derome has a distinguished record of accomplishments in theatre education. He has led his students to win Best Show at the Virginia Theatre Association on two occasions and achieved victory at the Southeastern Theatre Conference with their outstanding performances. Additionally, he has guided his students to international recognition, performing at the renowned Fringe Festival in Scotland, and showcasing their talents on a global stage. As a director, Derome has helmed powerful works demonstrating his commitment to amplifying diverse voices and addressing critical social issues through the medium of theatre. His dedication to health and wellness, both personally and professionally, further underscores his belief in the transformative power of art and self-improvement. With a focus on community engagement and artistic excellence, Derome Scott Smith continues to make a meaningful impact in the worlds of film, theatre, and education.

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Nkem Ukachi-Nwata (SIMONE/ANGEL) is a sophomore at Vanderbilt from Dallas. Her academic studies are aimed at a blend of humanities and the arts. She has had the privilege of completing a Fundamentals of Acting class under Dr. Cizmar and is currently enrolled in a Jazz Acting course. Through these classes, she has  had the opportunity to perform in a range of roles, including poetry performance, Fefu and Her Friends (Julia), and Back to the Real (Yolanda). She will next be featured in Lynn Nottage's POOF! Being a part of Before it Hits Home is especially meaningful to Nkem, as both an ally and a member of the Black community. She feels a responsibility to learn more about the history of the black queer experience, as well as uplift the work of those members of her community. She is very grateful for this project, as it provides an opportunity to engage with and share the story of a complex, black queer character.

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Shawn Whitsell (DOUGLASS) is a playwright, actor, director, producer, and founder of the Destiny Theatre Experience. Shawn believes in the transformative power of the arts and uses it to build community, raise awareness, and foster social and personal change. Shawn has worked as a writing mentor with Southern Word since 2008, teaching spoken word workshops and providing academic writing support to youth and adults in schools (middle, high school, college), community centers, libraries, detention centers, prisons, behavioral health hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers, and other spaces. Shawn also developed and facilitates Southern Word's diversity, equity, and inclusion workshop Remixing Community in corporate spaces. He has been a volunteer with SALT (School for Alternative Learning and Transformation) at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where he has taught poetry and playwriting since 2014. Shawn's one-man show "23/1" was called "The Best Blend of Theater and Activism" for its take on solitary confinement and mass incarnation. Shawn serves on the board for the nonprofit organization Rooftop and is a member of the Metro Nashville Community Review Board. He is also a founding member and practitioner with the Tennessee-based, transformative justice collective Transform. Shawn is a host, moderator, and poet.