Director | LISA STRUM

Lisa Strum is a director, actor, playwright, and singer.  Most recently, she directed Intimate Apparel at Oklahoma State University, and the virtual film production of BALTIMORE that she directed for Ramapo College won FIVE Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Awards. She was also one of the directors for “All Hands On Deck”, a Virtual Series with Project Y Theatre Company and will premiere her short new play, An Actor Prepares, for the festival this year. As Resident Theatre Director at Five Towns College, she directed Flyin’ West, For Colored Girls... and SWEAT (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Award Winning Productions). Lisa also directed FALL by France-Luce Benson for the 2019 One Act Play Festival with Ensemble Studio Theatre. She starred as Rose in FENCES with the REP and Virginia REP. She also starred in the Michigan Premiere of PIPELINE at Detroit Public Theatre and SWEAT at People’s Light. Her solo play, She Gon' Learn, had sold out performances at the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row and received one of the festival's Best Solo Show Awards. The show was also featured with The New Black Fest at the Lark. As an actor, Lisa worked at Lincoln Center Theatre with Tony Award-winning director Thomas Kail, appeared at Summer Stage, Signature Theatre, New Federal Theatre and The Obie Award-winning 48 Hours in... Harlem. Lisa also had a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU, co-starred on New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, and the television pilot Citizen Baines with James Cromwell. As an arts in education theatre instructor, Lisa is a staff facilitator at Columbia University for The Literacy Unbound Summer Institute and was the Theatre Specialist for the Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement for nine seasons. Lisa was a Finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and the recipient of the Playwrights Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Outstanding Actress and received a Broadway World Award for Best Actress for the regional production of FENCES. This Spring, Lisa will premiere her new play, By the Way… with the Obie Award-winning Fire This Time Festival and Dream, Girl! with The New Black Fest in collaboration with the Apollo Theatre.

Scenic Designer | BETHANY KASPEREK 

Bethany Kasperek is a third-year MFA Scenic and Costume Design student at the University of Iowa with a BFA from the University at Buffalo. At Iowa, Bethany's credits include costume design for Smile Medicine and scenic designs for Three Sisters and Generation Candyland: A Fable. She hopes you enjoy the show! 

Costume Designer | LOYCE ARTHUR

Loyce L. Arthur, associate professor at the University of Iowa, has designed costumes for numerous productions including Once OnThis Island at the Skylight Music Theater, Minnesota; Brokenville and Nocturnal Wanderer, Athens, Greece. Her work at the University of Iowa includes People Before the Park, Iphigenia Point Blank, and Welcome to Thebes. She is the director of the department’s new Social Justice and the Performing Arts Certificate. She has a passion for World Caribbean and Brazilian Diasporic Carnival design. From 2006-2015, she spent time as a guest artist at Mahogany Mas Camp in the UK working with award winning Carnival designer Clary Salandy. She has presented her work on Carnival as a community engagement art form in Santiago de Cuba, Toronto Canada, Cartagena Columbia, and Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago. She has researched the art form in Leeds UK, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, the Netherlands, Grenada West Indies, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, and around the US.  

Sound Designer | MICHAEL KECK

Composer: Cyrano (Inndiana Rep), SWEAT (Dallas Theatre Center) A Christmas Carol (Indiana Rep) The Children (Seattle Rep)  Fences (Pacific Conservatory for the Arts)  MLIMA’S TALE (Westport Country Playhouse), CASSIUS (Seattle Children's Theatre), Skeleton Crew (Bristol Riverside Theatre), The Christians (Syracuse Stage/Wilma Theatre), The Glass Menagerie (Milwaukee Rep), The Bacchae (Portland Center Stage), Death Of A Salesman, A View From The Bridge, The Great White Hope, Derek Walcott’s: The Odyssey, Community Carol, I AM A MAN  (Arena Stage), Jitney, Escape From Happiness, Criminal Genius, The Norman Conquest, Copenhagen, Intimate Apparel, The Glass Menagerie (Milwaukee Rep), Othello (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theatre Festival), It Ain’t Nothing But The Blues (Prince Music Theater – Barrymore Nomination), Doubt (Peoples Light And Theatre Co – Barrymore Nomination), Young Lady From Rwanda (Peoples Light And Theatre Co- Barrymore Nomination), An Ideal Husband (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theatre Festival), The Piano Lesson, Top Dog Under Dog, Gem Of The Ocean, Fences, Death And The Kings Horseman, Measure For Measure, Henry IV pt. 1, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Intimate Apparel (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Intimate Apparel (Guthrie Theatre), As You Like It, Looking Over The President's Shoulder, Gem Of The Ocean, Searching For Eden, Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, Rabbit Hole (Indiana Repertory Theater), A Village Fable - AATE Distinguished Play Award (Mark Taper Forum), Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Brothers Size, Gem Of The Ocean (Syracuse Stage), Miss Evers Boys (Cincinnati Playhouse),  A Dolls House, Wit, Dinner With Friends (Alliance Theater), Holidays For Children Video Series Writer/Host/Composer (Fabian-Baber Productions) 

International:  The Brothers Size (Market Theatre – Johannesburg S. Africa and Baxter Theatre Center  - Cape Town S. Africa), A Streetcar Named Desire, Death Of A Salesman (The National Theater of Croatia), Miss Evers Boys  (Barbican Theatre Center and Bristol Old Vic)

AEA, SAG-AFTRA, ASCAP, PEN and The Dramatists Guild.

Stage Manager | BRILLIAN QI-BELL

Brillian Qi-Bell is a recently graduated stage manager from the University of Iowa. Previous UI theatre SM/ASM work includes Global Express, Twilight Bowl, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Cat Found God, Pastoral Play, The Wolves, Laterality, Polaris, Monument, Perils of the Flowerbed, Hit the Wall, A Plant, The People Before the Park, and Doctor Vysarius. Thank you Virginia, Lisa, and the cast and design team for making this experience so wonderful. Special thanks to Melissa and Bryon for missing her and letting her stage manage another mainstage. 

Assistant Stage Manager | VIRGINIA MUTURI*

Virginia Wangechi Muturi is a third-year student double-majoring in theatre arts and enterprise leadership. At the University of Iowa, Virginia has previously acted in Gwenevere, Smile Medicine, Ascend, 6x6: Collected Perspectives on Social Justice (The Honey War & #Masks), and Taurus Sun/Aries Moon. This is Virginia’s first time assistant stage managing and she thanks Melissa Turner, Brillian Qi-Bell, the production team, and the cast for a great experience! Instagram: @virginiawmuturi  

Fight and Intimacy Captain | DEZHANÉ ANTIONETTE

DeZhané Antionette (they/she) is a first-year MFA actor at the University of Iowa. They are a proud native of Chicago, Illinois, where they received a BFA from Columbia College. Their favorite past productions so far include Once on this Island. DeZhané Antionette was introduced to the world of theater at a young age and has been fascinated with the art ever since. They are a proud advocate for mental health awareness and enjoy bringing theater to the community through outreach and engagement. DeZhané Antionette is excited to join the cast of BLKS and looks forward to what the future holds. Asé. Instagram: @DezhaneAntionette