Playwright | SIXTUS CHETACHI IGBOKWE**

Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe is a final-year MFA Playwriting candidate from Nigeria. His play, Homecoming, won the 2021 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Drama and was longlisted for the 2023 Nigeria Prize for Literature. His other works include Brother-Brother, Dimkpa, Awele, No Gun Salute for Ofeke, A Rooster for Madame Broadway, and Once Upon a Fool in April, all of which were written and developed at the University of Iowa. Igbokwe expresses profound gratitude to the cast and crew of Adaku for their excellence. He thanks Professors Art Borreca, Lisa Schlesinger, Dare Clubb, Caroline Clay, Mary Mayo, Mary Beth Easley, Scott Bradley, and Eric Holmes for their tremendous support. He sends special thanks to his director, Josh Turner; dramaturg Bo-Hua Lin; and stage managers Olivia Jursik and Aasrith Veerapaneni for their support and hard work in the rehearsal rooms on this project. He is very grateful to Kelly Walsh and Katie McClellen for their assistance and responses to all his questions over the past three years. 

Director | JOSH TURNER**

Dramaturg | BO-HUA LIN**

Stage Manager | OLIVIA JURSIK*

Olivia Jursik is a fourth-year undergraduate here at the University of Iowa. She is so excited to be stage managing for the first time on this production of Adaku! She would like to thank her family and friends for all of their support.

Scenic Designer | NAZANIN VAKILI**

Nazanin Vakili (She/Her) is a Scenic Designer from Isfahan, Iran. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Scenic Design at the University of Iowa. Nazanin is honored to be part of this year’s New Play Festival and is especially grateful for the opportunity to work on Adaku, a powerful and culturally rich new work. She would like to thank the entire team for their creativity, collaboration, and support throughout the process.

Costume Designer | ABBY GARRATY**

Sound Designer ​| CHARLIE SCHMELZER*

Charlie Schmelzer is a fourth-year Math and Theatre Arts double major. This year, he designed the lights for The (T-)Re(X) formation, sound designed for the Big Ball Extravaganza, wrote and directed When You Read This, and worked on a multitude of other projects. 

Lighting Designer ​| JEFFREY OAKLEY**

Assistant Stage Manager ​| AASRITH VEERAPANENI*

Aasrith is a first-year student at the University of Iowa. He has been a part of a few productions with the University of Iowa Theatre Department, including as the SM on The Indoctrination of Bananas and as the ASM on GOWANUS/DEGENERATES. He wants to thank Sixtus, Josh, Olivia, Sav, and Sam for the opportunity to work with them, the cast and creatives for working on a great show, and the folks back in CT for giving him his start.