Â鶹´«Ã½

Dontrell: Kemar Williams

Erika: Kiara Durbin

Dad: Delanti Hall

Mom: Aniya Thompson

Danielle: Arise Rock

Shea: Aniya Zeigler

Robby: Donovan B. Wade

Kiara Durbin (Erika): is a junior from Twinsburg, OH. Previous Credits: Lady Helena/Lord Howard/Eve, Emilia; Margy Frake, State Fair; Dr. Apgar/Sally Ride, She Persisted.

Hannah Flones (Lighting Designer): is a junior from South Elgin, IL. Previous Credits: Master Electrician, Head Over Heels; Lighting Designer, Timoramino; Scenic Change Artist, The Tempest; Electrician, Sunday in the Park with George; Master Electrician, New Beginnings; Assistant Lighting Designer, Into the Woods.

Delanti Hall (Dad): is a senior from Detroit, MI. Previous Credits: Blood at the Root; Pipeline; The Piano Lesson. 

Mary Narusis (Sound Designer): is a junior from Woodstock, IL. Previous Credits: Properties Master, Pippin; Sound Engineer, Winter Dance Gala 2022; Lighting Designer, The Old Man and the Old Moon; Sound Designer, LYS.

Arise Rock (Danielle): is a freshman from Detroit, MI. Previous Credits: Juliet, Romeo and Juliet; Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Mickey, The Odd Couple. WMU Debut!

Jared Schuhardt (Costume Designer): is a senior from Kalamazoo, MI. Previous Credits: Scenic Designer, The Tempest.

Aniya Thompson (Mom): is a sophomore from Chicago, IL. Previous Credits: Mr.D/Hades, The Lightning Thief; Nehebka, Aida; Puiser Boudreaux, Steel Magnolias.

Donovan B. Wade (Robby): is a sophomore from Evanston, IL. WMU Debut!

Kemar Williams (Dontrell): is a sophomore from Lansing, MI. Previous Credits: Lewis (Understudy)/Ensemble, Pippin.

Aniya Zeigler (Shea): is a freshman from Westland, MI. WMU Debut!

Guest Artists

Marissa Harrington (Director): Marissa is a founding member of Face Off Theatre Company and a graduate of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Theatre Program. She has directed numerous productions in Kalamazoo including: The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, Grease at Hackett Catholic Prep High School, In the Heights at Kalamazoo Central High School, The Learned Ladies at Kalamazoo College, Dancing Granny at WMU, as well as several FOTC productions (Been Loving You, Chain, The Mountaintop, The Colored Museum, and Dreamgirls). Marissa has also performed in several productions including Ruined, Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding, Detroit 67, and By the Way Meet Vera Stark. She resides in Kalamazoo with her husband Harold, beautiful children Lyla, Hunter, Estelle, and dog Enzo.

Ynika Pocopio Yuag (Assistant Director/Intimacy Director): Ynika Pocopio Yuag is a Queer director, production manager, and intimacy choreographer based in Kalamazoo. Their focus includes consent-based practices and empowering those in the margins–she is most inspired by Queer and Indigenous storytelling and is honored to uphold a lineage of storytellers from her native lands of Banaue and Siquijor in the Philippines. She is a proud member of Face Off Theatre Company in Kalamazoo, MI where she serves as the production manager. Favorite directing credits include Kokoro (True Heart) (Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College), Dance Again (Queer Theatre Kalamazoo), and Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Face Off Theatre Company). Select intimacy choreography credits include Indecent and The Creation of the World and Other Business (Jewish Theatre Grand Rapids), and Yellowman (FOTC). In 2021, she received her B.A. magna cum laude in Psychology and Theatre Arts from Kalamazoo College. They currently reside in Kalamazoo. More information on their work is available at ynikayuag.com. 

Mission

To create meaningful work that inspires and sparks change in our community through providing a space that empowers, develops, and supports artists of color.

FaceOffTheatre.com

Vision

Face Off Theatre Company aims to present audiences with fresh and innovative work that is inspirational, entertaining, and thought-provoking.  We aim to create transcendent theatre art that explores the complexity and richness of the Black experience, as well as, encourages cross-cultural dialogue that illuminates and expands our understanding of the universal human experience. We will accomplish this by:

• Fostering an appreciation for the arts across racial, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic lines.
• Inspiring and helping communities to make theatre an active part of their lives.
• Providing Â鶹´«Ã½ for under-served populations to create theatrical experiences expressing their heart through devised work, staged readings, and workshops.
• Fortifying relationships through collaborations within the community that are innovative, effective, and mutually beneficial.