About the Plays

A.G. Norton is a storyteller, archivist, and queer activist with over 20 years experience working in service to others as a Social Worker & End of Life Doula. Norton’s winding career path has seen her work as a Children’s Rights Specialist in London, an outreach worker at the Brooklyn Public Library for patrons experiencing homelessness, and an outdoor educator & emotional exposure coach with young adults.

Returning to New York in 2018, Norton discovered her family’s personal connection to Berenice Abbott and a number of candid shots of the famous photographer. The impact of the photographic legacies she inherited have fueled 3 years of archival research and interviews with people in Berenice’s orbit, which in turn propelled Norton to write, perform, and tour storytelling slideshows based on her journey.

Describing her work as intersectional and subversive, Norton views performance through the lens of service with an opportunity for activism and meaningful catharsis.

Norton thanks her biggest teachers in life which have been middle school children, people at the end of their life, and those friends and fellow peformers she has made in the sex work industry. They have each shown grace, resilience, and the kind of authenticity one locates at the jugular of life.

Alex Rodriguez is a lifelong New Yorker, Alex has always been deeply impacted by the wealth gap that exists within the five boroughs. He is committed to empowering and educating marginalized communities across the city. Following his completion of the PathwaysToApprenticeship Program, Alex joined the IBEW Local 3, advocated at City Hall for adequate funding of similar programs, and has been published several times in the Red Hook Star Revue. He proudly serves his community through his involvement with the Brooklyn Networks Program, and has also channeled his experiences into writing, producing two plays with WorkingTheater, “Sparks of Uncertainty” and “Smoke & Mirrors”. Alex also loves his mom very, very much. 

Kristina Wong (AG’s Mentor) is a performance artist, comedian and writer who has been presented internationally across North America, UK, Hong Kong and Africa.  Her most notable solo works include “Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Wong Street Journal,” and “Kristina Wong for Public Office.”  “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” premiered at New York Theater Workshop and won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance and is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama. She’s a Doris Duke Award Award Winner and Guggenheim Fellow who has been supported by among others, Creative Capital, The MAP Fund, ASU Gammage Artist Residency, Joan D. Firestone Commissioning Fund from En Garde Arts, Art Matters and the Kennedy Center Social Practice Residency. www.kristinawong.com

John J. Caswell, Jr. (Alex’s Mentor) is a playwright from Arizona, a recent fellow at Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program, and the recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award at the Vineyard Theatre. His play Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons + MCC) won the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award as well as the OBIE Award for Best Direction and Creative Team. It was the most nominated play of the 2024 Lucille Lortel Awards and took home the prize for Best Scenic and Projection designs. Wet Brain also received nods from the Outer Critics Circle, The Drama League, and The Relentless Award. Other recently produced plays include Man Cave (Page 73) and Scene Partners (Vineyard Theatre) starring Dianne Wiest. Honors include the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, the Rita and Burton Goldberg Playwriting Prize, a MacDowell Fellowship, a SPACE on Ryder Farm Creative Residency, and the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship.

Liz Peterson is a maker of live performance. Her work has been shown at the Fisher Center at Bard, OFFTA, Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival, Rhubarb, Incubator Arts Project, Dancemakers, La Poderosa, and the SummerWorks Festival. Her current research explores how live performance events may activate embodied forms of attention in the spectator through the collective Divided Attention. Born in Manchester, UK, to a Mancunian mother and Anglo-Indian/Burmese father, Liz has lived most of her life in St. John’s (Newfoundland), Melipilla (Chile) and Toronto (Ontario). Recent collaborations include Urinetown, The Musical (Fisher Center), A la facon du pays (Theatre Centre, Toronto) and new work in development, Drift. Studies: MFA in theatre directing, Columbia University. lizpeterson.org.

Kelly O’Donnell (she, her) is a co-founder of the NYC-based, Flux Theatre Ensemble. Regional credits include WOLF PLAY at Portland Theatre Festival, INDECENT (winner, Best Director Connecticut Critics Circle Awards), THE AGITATORS, and MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B all at Playhouse on Park. Favorite projects with Flux include HEARTS LIKE FISTS (NY Times Critics Pick) and MARIAN, OR THE TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD by Adam Szymkowicz, DOG ACT by Liz Duffy Adams, WORLD BUILDERS by Johnna Adams, and JANE THE PLAIN by Corinna Schulenburg. She has developed new work with writers at New Dramatists, Portland Center Stage JAW, The Flea, NJ Rep, and JRJ Productions. She has also directed at schools such as NYU, Temple University, Lafayette College, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, and with high school students as part of Shakespeare & Company’s Fall Festival of Shakespeare. MFA in Directing from Columbia University. kellyod.com

Stripping & Tripping on Mother’s Milk Team

Lebene Ayivor is a Brooklyn-based actor, writer, and producer Lebene Ayivor hails from Accra, Ghana. She has captivated audiences on stages including Lincoln Center, New World Stages, and The New Ohio Theatre, as well as on-screen in films like Queen of Glory. As the creative director of Tritone Paradox Productions (@tritone_paradox), Lebene is dedicated to amplifying untold stories through innovative audio experiences. When she’s not performing, she enjoys cooking sumptuous meals, lounging on the beach, and soaking up live music. A graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School, Lebene invites you to follow her journey on Instagram @pinklebenade.

Catt Filippov is a Russian-Canadian theatre/film maker based in Brooklyn, NY. She has studied acting and clown across North America for over a decade, and obtained her MFA in playwriting from Columbia University in 2023. Catch her directorial debut, MONSTER MATCH, at 938collective’s Underscore Short Film Festival October 15th at Cobble Hill Cinemas. Follow @capoof on Instagram for more info. 

Doireann Mac Mahon: Theatre includes Corruption (LCT) Ellis Island (Global Forums at Rattlestick), Peter and the Wolf (Irish National Concert Hall), Angela’s Ashes the Musical (Irish National Tour), Wrong Turn at Lungfish (Viking Theatre/Civic Theatre, Dublin) Film: Shallow Water. Education: MFA Yale School of Drama. 

Owen Laheen (they/them) is a non-binary actor from Wicklow, Ireland. Their most recent credits include Translations (Irish Repertory Theatre, Lucille Lortel Award Winner for Outstanding Revival), and Mutt (Sundance 2023, Berlinale 2023); Other credits include: TV: City On A Hill (Showtime); Off-Broadway: Belfast Girls (Irish Repertory Theatre); Regional: The Wolves (McCarter Theater). They have devised new work in collaboration with LaMaMa Etc, Clubbed Thumb, Mercury Store, Pig Iron Theatre Co.and others. They trained at BADA, UNCSA, and received a BFA from SUNY Purchase.

Stormy Weather Lambert (Stage Manager) is a Philadelphia native. Broadway: Aladdin 2nd National Tour, New York, New York, MJ The Musical, Harry Potter & Cursed Child. Regional: Quintessence Theatre Group. International credits: Choir of Man, MALEVO, Attraction Shadows & Blacklight. Finding peace & creating Light for Amari!”

Trying to Get My Act Together Team

Cynthia Bastidas (she/her/ella) is a NYC-based bilingual Chicana actor and filmmaker from the California/Mexico border in the Imperial Valley. Her TV credits include Ramy S2 E6, Homeland S6 E6 and theater credits include Don’t Look Back (Voyage Theater Company) PlayOn! Shakespeare Festival (Classic Stage Company), Original Sound (Cherry Lane Theatre) and  Just Like Us (Denver Center Theatre). She founded Semillita Productions, a media arts company that centers the stories of the Femme Latinx experience in the United States. Her short film missguidance was recently awarded Outstanding Short at the XicanIndie Film Festival and Audience Award at the Topaz Film Festival. To learn more about Cynthia as an actor or Semillita Productions visit www.cynthiabastidas.com or www.semillitaproductions.com 

Michael RJ Campbell is grateful to be a part of this reading here at Working Theatre. They just recently returned to NYC after playing Miss Tracy Mills in Theatre Silco’s production of The Legend of Georgia McBride. Their career has been mostly on the west coast in regional productions such as: A Funny Thing Happened…..Forum as Pseudolus at Sacramento Theatre Company, Fiddler on the Roof as Tevya at Berkeley Playhouse,  Addams Family Musical as Gomez Addams at 6th Street Playhouse,  La Cage Aux Folles as Albin/Zaza at Bay Area Musicals, ThreePenny Opera as Mack The Knife at California Stage, Noises Off as Freddie at STC, The Tempest as Stephano at STC and Treasure Island as Billy Bones/George Merry at STC. RJ would like to thank Cat (their newly wedded wife) for their love and support.

Jesse Castellanos is a NYC based actor originally from Miami, Florida. Jesse has collaborated with Working Theater in the past for a developmental reading of Manhunt by Carlos Cotto. He was most recently seen in the world premiere of Lost Sock Laundry (Up Theatre Co.) His Off-Broadway credits include Truckers (INTAR), Tammany Hall (Soho Playhouse), and Congrats to Me (The Tank). Regional: Torera (Alley Theatre, world premiere), The Giant Void In My Soul (Luna Stage ). Film/TV: Law and Order: Organized Crime (NBC), Jesus Would Have Loved Punk Rock (Zeus Pictures), Pen Clicks (Indie Short). Jesse holds a BFA in Acting from Montclair State University @thejessecastellanos

Owen Laheen (they/them) is a non-binary actor from Wicklow, Ireland. Their most recent credits include Translations (Irish Repertory Theatre, Lucille Lortel Award Winner for Outstanding Revival), and Mutt (Sundance 2023, Berlinale 2023); Other credits include: TV: City On A Hill (Showtime); Off-Broadway: Belfast Girls (Irish Repertory Theatre); Regional: The Wolves (McCarter Theater). They have devised new work in collaboration with LaMaMa Etc, Clubbed Thumb, Mercury Store, Pig Iron Theatre Co.and others. They trained at BADA, UNCSA, and received a BFA from SUNY Purchase.

Campbell Anidjar (they/he) (Stage Manager) is a queer stage manager & theater artist pursuing pretty paperwork, juicy prose, and liberation for all. He has previously worked with The Working Theater on the 2023 Mark Plesent Commission Fund Readings, TheaterWorks! 2024, and La Dureza. Other credits include Merrily We Roll Along (NYTW); The Song of Rome (Spoleto Festival USA); Howard Ashman Cabaret 2024, AIDS Walk New York 2023 (GMHC); The Screwtape Letters National Tour; Well Well Well, Bogdonoff, how it ends (NYSAF); PRIDE PLAYS 2019 & 2020. Campbell holds a BA in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Producing & Management from Marymount Manhattan College.