Join us for our Lunch Hour Daily Read presenting our very own local screenwriters work read by local actors followed by a Q&A to talk about their work. Sponsored by the New Repertory Theatre and GrubStreet.
Hosted by Actor/Singer and SAG-AFTRA NE Local President, Andrea Lyman.
This is a recurring Zoom link and can be used for all daily read sessions.
The Daily Reads will not be recorded.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2020
SCREENWRITER: THATO MWOSA
THATO MWOSA
SHE/HER/HERS.
Thato Mwosa is an illustrator, screenwriter, playwright, and filmmaker. She has won several awards for her narrative films and documentaries. Her films have been broadcast nationally and internationally. She is currently in post-production for her feature film Memoirs of a Snitch (www.memoirsofasnitch.com) and her feature documentary, A Tribe of Women. Thato’s illustrations have been showcased in different galleries across Boston. She was selected as the 2019 Milton Public Library’s Artist of the Month. Thato was a finalist for the 2019 Mass Cultural Art Fellowship in the Dramatic Writing category. She and along with her husband Kioko Mwosa created an African pop-culture trivia game called SAWA Trivia. SAWA Trivia was launched in the summer of 2020. Thato has a dual degree in TV/Film Production and Marketing/Advertising Communications from Emerson College and an MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen from Lesley University. She serves on the boards of Boston Neighborhood Network and Roxbury Community College’s TV Broadcasting Program, Women and Film New England. Thato teaches TV, Film, and Documentary Filmmaking at Brookline High School in Brookline, MA.
ABOUT THE SCRIPT
A BLUE DAWN
An academically smart student’s life drastically changes after a terrible encounter with someone she trusted.
TW: Rape
ACTORS READING
CLOTEAL HORNE
NAHEEM GARCIA
LYDIA HARRELL
TAAVON GAMBLE
JANINE ROBINSON
ANDREA LYMAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020
SCREENWRITER: CROSBY TATUM
CROSBY TATUM
HE/HIM/HIS.
Boston, Massachusetts native, Crosby Tatum, secured distinction as a television and motion picture producer, director, writer, and editor with works featured on Netflix, BET, Amazon Prime, and global video on demand platforms. Tatum’s mantra is evident in his work: “Create opportunity where it seems as if there is no opportunity to be had at all.” The concept motivates Tatum’s loyalty to thorough work, the latest film and video technologies available, and to resilience in his profession. Tatum graduated from the New England Institute of Art with an associate degree in television broadcasting. His dedication and ability to excel during his time at the New England Institute of Art earned him the Most Outstanding Broadcaster Award in 2003. Two years following this achievement, Tatum founded Triceptus Studios, a motion picture production and post-production company. Triceptus Studios ensures excellence in every stage of the creative and technical processes, handling everything including the producing, directing, budgeting, screenwriting, post-production work and finishing services for clients. Triceptus Studios’ film, television, and new media projects are shown worldwide, presented at film festivals, and complimented with various awards.
ABOUT THE SCRIPT
CRAZY DAT8S
JANE OLIVIA, a successful, ambitious Marketing Executive has it all. Beauty, brains, and a loving newly-wed husband, who out of nowhere, cheats on her and ruins their marriage. Now single and not attracting any potential suitors, Jane willingly has a voodoo spell cast on her, to attract the perfect guy for her in eight (8) days. When the spell suddenly goes awry, men from all shapes and sizes wildly present themselves to Jane, who must learn to navigate their advances, while searching for the man of her dreams, before the spell, and time takes it all away from her.
ACTORS READING
KAEDON GRAY
KEITH MASCOLL
CHRISTINA JONES
MEAGAN DILWORTH
RACHEL COGNATA
RICHARDY FABRE
ANDREA LYMAN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
SCREENWRITER: JOHN ADEKOJE
JOHN ADEKOJE
HE/HIM/HIS.
John's awards include being a national award winner of The Kennedy Center's ACTF Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award for the play Street Hawker; as well as a recipient of The Roxbury International Film Festival's Emerging local Filmmaker award for the documentary "Street Soldiers", which also showed at the Pan African Film Festival in Cannes, France, and The World Film Festival-Montreal, as well as the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta. Most recently John was the winner of the National Tri Annual New Play Competition for Professional Writers, has received the Brother Thomas Fellowship Award and he is a Playwriting Fellow at the Huntington Theater Company. Most recently, he was awarded the Emerging Filmmaker Award for Knockaround Kids, his first narrative feature, at the Roxbury International Film Festival which all showed at the Urbanworld Film festival in NY. Knockaround kids can be found on Tubi, Amazon prime, Google Play, Apple and other film platforms. John Oluwole ADEkoje, teaches film production and theatre at Boston Arts Academy.
ABOUT THE SCRIPT
JAGUNFLY
A bullet in the back transports a wayward youth to a dystopian underworld, where he falls under the care of a mysterious warrior with a checkered past. A dangerous mission offers them one last chance at rebirth and redemption, if they can avoid the clutches of the evil overlord and confront something even more fearsome -- the demons of their own pasts.
ACTORS READING
RICHARDY FABRE
KAEDON GRAY
ASHTON MUÑIZ
JANINE ROBINSON
SHANELLE VILLEGAS
LAWRENCE EVANS
ANDREA LYMAN
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020
*SPECIAL READING* co-presented by comics in color
ABOUT THE SCRIPT
It’s a surprise, but we’ll be honoring a cherished monumental film!
The October 3rd Special Reading is also co-presented by Comics in Color. There will be a panel discussion in addition to the reading to talk about Comics, Graphic Novels, & Afro-Futurism as a form of storytelling.
ACTORS READING
MAURICE EMMANUEL PARENT
CHRISTINA JONES
SHARMARKE YUSUF
DONOVAN WOODS
CLOTEAL HORNE
ANDREA LYMAN
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2020
PLAYWRIGHT: MARY MCCULLOUGH
MARY MCCULLOUGH
SHE/HER/HERS.
MARY MILLNER MCCULLOUGH, co-founder of The Streetfeet Women, was born in Southwestern Virginia. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater from Goddard College, and a Master of Arts in Writing from Northeastern University. Her plays have been featured in Jacqui Parker’s African American Theater Festivals, Slam-Boston, ACT-Roxbury Dramatic Shoutouts, TC Squared New Works Festival, and the former Theater Co-op of Somerville, MA. She is an alumni of Company One’s Boston PlayLab Unit and is developing new work in the TC Squared Theater PlayLab. Smoked Oysters produced by TC Squared in 2020 is schedule for production by Hibernian Hall of Roxbury, MA in their 2021 season. Other work by McCullough is archived in TC Squared’s virtual readings on their Volume Up Web series and a podcast recording of an excerpt from McCullough’s play, Ballahoo in the Hair Kitchen, can be heard on the Boston Podcast Players’ website, Season I. McCullough’s A Fine and Dangerous Country was a semifinalist in the 2020 Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Theater Conference. Short stories by McCullough have been published in literary journals, the International Center for Women Playwrights’ publications and The Streetfeet Women’s publications. She is the 2021-2022 playwright-in-residence at Hibernian Hall, Roxbury, MA, a member of the Dramatist Guild and the International Center for Women Playwrights.
ABOUT THE SCRIPT
PRATTLE
Seeking a favor from each other, Tweet and Coker, two brothers, reveal the nature of their created realities. In a time of coved-19, the two brothers find themselves struggling to understand and to accept what matters to the other.
ACTORS READING
LAWRENCE EVANS
MAURICE EMMANUEL PARENT
ANDREA LYMAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020
SCREENWRITER: LEVY MONTEIRO
LEVY MONTEIRO
HE/HIM/HIS.
Levy Monteiro is a screenwriter with ambitions to produce and direct original content that reflect the neighborhoods he grew up in. Levy is originally from Cape Verde and has lived in Dorchester for most of his life. His writing experience started as a form of self-expression after undergrad. He later segued into screenwriting with intentions to bring his art to life on screens and television. Levy went to Bentley University for undergrad where he majored in Finance and minored in Entrepreneurship.
ABOUT THE SCRIPT
MOVIE NIGHT
A young couple are enjoying their movie-night when the film of choice triggers a playful back and forth commentary that puts their eight-month relationship in question.
A BRIEF ENCOUNTER
New to town and struggling to find his place, a scrawny and quirky teenager has an encounter that is sure to change his experience.
ACTORS READING
- MOVIE NIGHT -
RACHEL COGNATA
TAAVON GAMBLE
ANDREA LYMAN
- A BRIEF ENCOUNTER -
NAHEEM GARCIA
ASHTON MUÑIZ
ANDREA LYMAN
ABOUT THE ACTORS
ANDREA LYMAN
SHE/HER/HERS.
Andrea Lyman is thrilled to be a member of the RoxFilm family for decades as an audience member, filmmaker, singer, sponsor, board member and now happily as a host and actor in the premiere Daily Reads series. RoxFilm has always been my favorite film festival. Andrea is a graduate of Boston Conservatory of Music and a member of #ActorsEquity and #SAG- AFTRA. Andrea has performed locally, nationally and internationally on stage and screen, such as Radio City Music Hall’s CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, Wellesley Repertory Theatre’s A PIECE OF MY HEART and HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, ION-TV’s A SNOW WHITE CHRISTMAS. She has a solo cabaret-style musical show BROADWAY LADY. Andrea can be seen playing the mother in Daniel Callahan’s film COME ON IN in RoxFilm Festival.
ASHTON MUÑIZ
ASHTON/THEY/HE.
Ashton Muñiz is a queer actor, artist, and activist based in New York City. Select recent credits include The Inheritance(Broadway), Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music(The Kimmel Center/St. Ann’s Warehouse/Pomegranate Arts), Esai’s Table Cherry Lane), False Stars(The Pack Theatre), And She Would Stand Like This(Movement Theatre Company), and Take Care(The Flea). Recently, Ashton has collaborated with various artists and featured in their works at The Guggenheim(Machine Dazzle), Art Institute Chicago/Swiss Institute/New Museum(Cally Spooner), Biennial Performa/Lehmann Maupin(Nicholas Hlobo), Friedman Gallery(Alexander Kargaltsev), and Pace Gallery(Lilleth Glimcher). Additionally, Ashton has danced for various musicians including Marc Jacobs FW 2020(Karole Armitage), A$AP Rocky(Lab Rat-Sotheby’s), Rihanna(MTV VMAs 2016), Julia Anrather, and Miles Francis. Muñiz is a co-founder of Legacy: A Back Queer Production Collecitve and received training at Ithaca College, Moscow Arts Theatre School, and Shakespeare & Company.
Legacy: A Black Queer Production Collective (Instagram, GoFundMe)
CHRISTINA JONES
SHE/HER/HERS.
Christina Jones is thrilled to be a part of the RoxFilm Daily Reads Series. She is an aspiring actress and musician studying musical theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, with a specialization in songwriting. She has participated and competed in both local and national competitions, such as the St Louis Teen Talent Competition (winner in 2017), American Idol (season 13), and Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY. Her theatrical work includes Cabaret (Ensemble), Shrek the Musical (Dragon), Big Fish (The Witch and Josephine respectively), and many more. Her theatrical work/playreadings on zoom include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peasblossom and the Fairy) and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (Lady in Yellow). She is expected to play one of the Hunnies girls in Jelly’s Last Jam at New Repertory Theater in Watertown, MA, and Charlaine Woodard in Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA in 2021.
CLOTEAL HORNE
SHE/HER/HERS.
CLOTEAL L. HORNE is a dynamic actress, educator, and theatre-maker. Born-and-bred in San Diego California. Her theatre credits include, Off-Broadway: The Steadfast (Slant Theatre Project); Dirty Blood (Billie Holiday Theatre). Regional: Twelfth Night; Merry Wives of Windsors; Two Gents.; Merchant of Venice; Comedy of Errors; Midsummer Night’s Dream; Christmas At Pemberley (Shakespeare & Co.). She A Gem, (NYTW). Black Odyssey (Trinity Rep.) Comedia De Equivocaciones; Venus (Brown/Trinity), Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, (LyricStage, Elliot Norton Nominee) To Kill a Mockingbird, (Weston Playhouse); Funny Thing Happened…, (BarnStormers); The Clothesline Muse, (Aion Productions); How We Got On, (CompanyOne, Elliot Norton Nominee); Gift Horse, Romeo & Juliet, (New Rep.); Othello, (ASP); BlueShift, (Huntington). FILM: The Promotion (C1 Media), What we Owe Each Other (RISDI), Driving While Black Magic. She holds a B.F.A in Acting from Boston University and a M.F.A in Acting from Brown University/Trinity. Gratefully standing on the shoulders of those that have come before her, Cloteal is a product of her grandmother’s prayers + her ancestors’ wildest dream.
DONOVAN WOODS
HE/HIM/HIS.
Donovan was recently appeared as Daz in the virtual production of Kill Move Paradise. Previously he made his New York debut as Esu in Feast: A Yoruba Project with Vineyard Entertainment! His past roles include Between the Lines (Ryan) A Raisin in the Sun (George Murchison), A Christmas Carol (Topper) at Kansas City Repertory Theater. The Brothers Size (Oshoosi Size) at Unicorn Theater and Hairspray at Starlight Theatre.
JANINE ROBINSON
SHE/HER/HERS.
Janine Robinson is an actor/writer and producer. As a writer of short stories, she produced her first film CHEERS, A Barstool Story, under her logo "Anai Sa Film", and is currently working on her first television series "The Access Road".
She is known for her role as the Administrative Nurse in the film Patriots Day, and Prosecutor in the film Assassin Behind The Glass, which she also produced.
Janine is also a poet and self-published her first book of poetry "Walk With Me", (Poetic expressions of Life's journey) in 2012.
KAEDON GRAY
HE/HIM/HIS.
Kaedon Gray is a Boston-based actor and singer. Recent credits include Benjamin in the YouTube web series Unconditional Love (Joseph Goncalves), Phantom in The Rocky Horror Show (Moonbox Productions) and Samuel in the new musical premiere of Beloved King (Jade Sylvan).
KEITH MASCOLL
HE/HIM/HIS.
An Actor, Producer, Mental Health advocate, Sneaker-head, and Founder of the Triggered Project. Keith is a co-host of the Living a Triggered Life Podcast with his wife Roxann, and a Luminary for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.Keith strives to use his art for social change in the black and brown community. As a survivor of sexual abuse Keith hopes to help end the stigma that surrounds mental health, and black and brown men talking about being abused. He is committed to using his unique and innovative style of storytelling to provoke love, laughter, and empathy in every story told. Keith has a New York Critics Choice Award for his work on the stage. Look for Keith in the lead role in the movie Confused by Love on Amazon Prime, and as Applesauce in The Polka King on Netflix.
The Triggered Project: www.triggered1.com, @triggered_one_
The Triggered Podcast: @livingatriggeredlifepodcast
LAWRENCE EVANS
Regional theatre: Florida Studio Theatre, Triad Stage, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Caldwell Theatre Company, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, freeFall Theatre, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, North Carolina Black Repertory Company, Short North Stage. National tours: And Still I Rise, Camp Logan, The Sweet Spot. Television: “New Amsterdam,” “All My Children,” “Another World,” “Ryan’s Hope,” “As the World Turns,” “One Life to Live,” “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order.” Film: “State Property II,” “The Devil Wears Prada.” He studied theatre at Jackson State University and the University of Michigan.
LYDIA HARRELL
SHE/HER/HERS.
Lydia "LovelySinger” Harrell is an award winning Jazz/Soul vocalist. While this genre is where her heart is, Lydia has shown an unbreakable ability to mold herself into any musical situation. Be it performing with the Boston Pops, serenading NBA fans with America’s National Anthem, or lending her vocal talents to a chart-topping Deep House singles by British record label, Reel People Music, Lydia’s dedication to extracting the pure essence of song goes virtually unmatched. Her most recent musical accolades include singing lead on a Bob Marley Tribute Album distributed by Sony Music Latin, winning the 2015 Duke Ellington Jazz Vocal Competition, performing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NYC (2016) and winning the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Voice Competition. In addition to her musical talents, Lydia is an actress that has been seen in several regional and national commercials, billboards, short films and theatre productions. She starred in her first Boston 48 Hour Film Project and won Best Original song for her song titled "I Am Beautiful". She is currently cast as Billie Holiday in the New Repertory Theatre postponed-until-further-notice production of "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill".
MAURICE EMMANUEL PARENT
HE/HIM/HIS.
Maurice Parent is an actor, singer, dancer, educator, and mentor originally from the Washington, D.C., area. Since making Boston his theatrical home, he has been nominated for four Elliot Norton Awards by The Boston Theater Critics Association, winning two, 8 Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) awards winning three, and won a 2017 an ArtsImpulse Award. As an educator Maurice has taught courses at Northeastern University, Boston University, Reed Academy, and the Boston Public Schools. He was named the 2018 Monan Professor for Theatre Arts at Boston College and a 2019 Neubauer Fellow Faculty Fellow for Tufts University where he currently is a Professor of the Practice. He is a resident company member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project and co-founder / Executive Director of the Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theatre.
MEAGAN DILWORTH
SHE/HER/HERS.
Meagan Dilworth is an Actor/Choreographer/Educator. Acting credits- Chicago: Mary/Announcer: A Day of Absence (Congo Square) Damian Burks: The Ridiculous Darkness (Sideshow Theatre) Shameena/Juno: 31st Playwrights Festival (Pegasus Theatre) Gift of the Magi (Fleetwood Jourdain). Atlanta credits: Third/Runaway: Father Comes Home from the Wars (Actors Express). Boston credits: Taffy: Saturday Night/Sunday Morning (Lyric Stage). Choreography credits: Atlanta- The Projects Project (Alliance Theater) Marcus; Or the Secret of the Sweet & In the Red & Brown Water (Kennesaw State University). Teaching credits: Court Theatre, Kenny Leon’s True Colors, Emerson College, and Trinity Repertory Theatre all to name a few. B.A. in Theatre & Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University and M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College.
NAHEEM GARCIA
HE/HIM/HIS.
Naheem Garcia, has been an actor and theatre educator for more than twenty years. He grew up in Boston, arriving here from Cuba in 1968. He is proudly bilingual (English and Spanish) and known for his deep, mellifluous voice. Naheem has worked extensively in the Northeast with many of the reginal theatre companies. He is currently a teaching artist with The Huntington Theatre Company. In recognition of his excellence as a theatre educator and actor. A member of AFTRA and SAG, Naheem has appeared in several prominent Hollywood-and independently produced feature films such as The Sleepover; Emma; Free Guy; Equalizer2; Daddy’s Home2; Joy; Black Mass; The Heat; Lift; Maiden Heist; Purge3 Election Year
Naheem’s work has been lauded by his peers and he received the El Planeta Powermeter 100 (2014) and Sojourner Truth Award (2007). He completed the Aesthetic Education Immersion program with the Lincoln Center Summer Forum at Julliard in 2017.
RACHEL COGNATA
SHE/HER/HERS.
RACHEL COGNATA is thrilled to be a part of 2020's RoxFilm Festival readings. Recent credits include Gloria: A Life (American Repertory Theatre), Hype Man (2018 Elliot Norton Award winner) Greater Good, and Really (Company One Theatre); Cardboard Piano (New Repertory Theatre); The Book Club Play (Boston Playwrights Theatre). A graduate of both the Boston Arts Academy and Tufts University, Rachel is from and resides in the Boston area.
RICARDY FABRE
HE/HIM/HIS.
Ricardy Fabre is a Native New Yorker and a recent graduate from Brown University/ Trinity Rep MFA Acting program. Ricardy is grateful to be apart of the Rox Film Fest.
SHANELLE VILLEGAS
SHE/HER/HERS.
Shanelle Chloe Villegas is a Boston-based actor, poet, deviser and teaching artist. Shanelle has been seen in numerous plays in Boston including, most recently, touring with New Repertory Theatre’s Classic Repertory Company for both their fall and spring tours. Other works include Fresh Inks’ Last Catastrophist, Yo Soy LOLAs’ Las Que Sueñan, and Speakeasy Stage Companys’ School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. Currently, Shanelle is writing an autobiographical one-woman show about intergenerational trauma. Shanelle is a first-year graduate of Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Contemporary Theatre program.
SHARMARKE YUSUF
HE/HIM/HIS.
SHARMARKE YUSUF is an actor and writer currently based and born & raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Sharmarke graduated from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a BFA in Contemporary Theater. He has appeared in several Boston-area theater productions and on television, most recently as Axmed in season two of Castle Rock on Hulu. He can be found on instagram @sharmarke_y
TAAVON GAMBLE
HE/HIM/HIS.
Taavon is a New England based actor, director, choreographer, and teaching artist. Regional appearances include: Trinity Repertory Theatre Company, North Shore Music Theatre, Lyric Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Theatre By The Sea, Ivoryton Playhouse, Reagle Music Theatre, New Bedford Festival Theatre, The Hanover Theatre, West Virginia Public Theatre, Quantum Theatre, Village Theatre, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival and others. He’s a graduate of Point Park University and a proud Actors’ Equity member serving as an Eastern Chorus Delegate in the inaugural AEA National Conventions in 2021 & 2022 and as a member of the Boston Liaison Committee.