Andrea Ambam (she/her, Moderator) is a performance artist and writer whose roots sprout from Cameroon. As a politically engaged artist who believes in the art’s potential for movement-building and transformative justice, Andrea pulsates at the intersection of storytelling and truth-telling. Currently, Andrea is a Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow, a Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) Artist-In-Residence, and the Programming Manager and Host at Level Forward. She has developed her multi-hyphenated practice in collaboration with Signature Theatre, PEN America, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Anna Deavere Smith, EmergeNYC, Classical Theatre of Harlem, NYU Prison Education Program, and others. Andrea lives in Brooklyn and holds a Master’s degree in Art & Public Policy from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Shinese Harlins-Kilgore is the Co- Producer of the Latasha Harlins Film, and Co-Auther of the Latasha Harlins book ‘ Through the Lens of a LA Girl; the true story of Latasha Harlins. Shinese is the Chief Operating Officer of the Latasha Harlins Foundation where she has spoken at colleges, panels, and various speaking engagements. The Latasha Harlins Foundation will provide yearly scholarships for inner city youth to further their education and create a safe place for teens. It is in her prayer that the Latasha Harlins Foundation can provide a wealth of educational classes and resources. Shinese also hopes to bring cultural communities together. “My mission is to educate the youth on the importance of Mental Health. I would also like to mentor our young people to help them grow into outstanding citizens. I would love to create programs that will empower self-help, embrace self awareness, encourage self esteem and educate self-care.”
Hyepin Im served under President Obama as a U.S. Presidential Appointee on the Board of Americorps. She is the President and Founder of Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE), a national nonprofit dedicated to empowering churches and nonprofits and a voice for the Asian American community. Since its inception in 2001, FACE has had over 800 partners ranging from the White House to Fortune 500 companies to various community organizations. In 2022, Ms. was appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to serve on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Faith-based Advisory Council. Ms. Im is a frequent speaker who has been on CNN and NPR and whose opinions have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. She has presented at numerous conferences including those at the White House, U.S. Department of Labor, Christian Community Development Association, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. She has served in numerous organizations including Greenlining Institute Board, Union Bank Community Advisory Board, Torry Banks Community Advisory Board, CRC Member, National Housing Committee Advisory Board and HUD Race and Ethnicity Homeless Data Work Group ,She has a B.S. from U.C. Berkeley, M.B.A. from University of Southern California and M.Div., summa cum laude, from Wesley Theological Seminary.
Aurea Montes-Rodriguez is the Executive Vice President at Community Coalition and has worked at the organization for 25 years. Born in Mexico and raised in South LA she developed a passion for creating change at the local level. Aurea has been a key leader
responsible for building the organization’s youth programs to fight for educational equity, leading efforts to keep children in family care and out of the foster care system, helping to build organizing capacity in South LA, and leading a capital campaign to transform the organization’s headquarters into a state-of-the-art community hub for community organizing. She is currently leading an effort to build a Center for Community Organizing to harness the power of communities and support activists across the nation
in multi-racial organizing towards our collective freedom.
Irene Sofia Lucio (Patricia, she/her). Broadway: Slave Play, Wit. Off-Broadway: Romeo y Julieta (The Public Theater), Slave Play, Love and Information (NYTW), OrangeJulius (Rattlestick), Undertaking (BAM), King Liz (Second Stage), We Play for the Gods (WP). Regional credits: Yale Rep, Studio Theater DC, Cal Shakes among others. TV: “The Americans,” “Bartlett,” “Madam Secretary,” “Gossip Girl,” “Casi Casi.” Co-creator of “Buts” web series (NBCU Short Film Festival winner, Imagen Award nom). Education: Princeton and Yale School of Drama. Native of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Jakeem Dante Powell(Gary, he/him) Is thrilled to be returning to the Broadway cast of Slave Play! Select credits: This American Wife (Fake Friends), Twelfth Night (Yale Rep), One Room (Weston Playhouse), If Pretty Hurts… (Yale School of Drama), Slave Play (Yale School of Drama). Upcoming film: Rustin. MFA Yale School of Drama. IG: jakeemdpowell
Devin Kawaoka(Dustin, he/him). Broadway debut. Off-Broadway: City Of (Playwrights Realm), Unnatural Acts (Classic Stage Company) for which his performance was awarded the Rosemarie Tichler grant. Select film/TV: “Lucifer,” “Goliath,” “American Housewife,” Marvel’s “The Runaways,” “Criminal Minds,” “The Path,” “Good Trouble,” The Manor, Under the Silver Lake, Under the Lantern Lit Sky, Submission. Training: MFA, NYU Graduate Acting.
Rashaad Hall (Phillip u/s, he/him)is a multi hyphenate actor and artist from Chicago based in Los Angeles. His theatre credits include Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney (OWN’s David Makes Man, Moonlight) and he has performed regionally at The Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Haven Theatre, and The Black Ensemble Theatre among others. Film credits include his recurring guest star role on the Emmy nominated web-series "Brown Girls", and a lead role in the queer indie feature Rendezvous in Chicago. He has been nominated for a Chicago Joseph Jefferson award with the cast of The Hairy Ape directed by Monty Cole. As a writer, and director he has devised work with The SlamFam Ensemble creating theatre based in spoken-word performance poetry. He is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency and MRK Management. Thanks to God and all his family immediate, and chosen.
Elizabeth Stahlmann(Alana, she/her). Broadway: Slave Play. Theatre credits include Grounded (Westport Country Playhouse-CT Critics Circle Award), The Humans, The Cake (The Alley Theatre), The Acting Company (three seasons), The Guthrie Theater. TV: “City on a Hill,” “The Equalizer,” “Law & Order: SVU.” Graduate of University of MN/Guthrie Theater (BFA), Yale School of Drama (MFA).
Robert O'Hara (Director, he/him) has received the NAACP Best Play and Best Director Award, the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, two Obies and the Herb Alpert Award. Broadway: Slave Play (Tony nomination). Off-Broadway: he directed the world premieres of Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play, Nikkole Salter and Dania Guiria’s In the Continuum, Tarell McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2), Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy, Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale, Ross Baum and Angelica Cheri’s Gun and Powder and his own plays, Bootycandy, Mankind, and Insurrection: Holding History. His upcoming projects include directing O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, directing Anthony Davis’ opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and writing and directing several film and television projects.
Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. In this conversation—featuring guests Lora King, Patrisse Cullors, and Robert Lee Johnson, with host Andrea Ambam—we unpack how Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 shines in a new light in the year 2023, following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent racial reckoning that rang around the world. We'll also uplift the names of Tyre Nichols, Keenan Anderson, and the countless other unjust acts of state sanctioned violence that have taken place since then. Through storytelling and open dialogue we seek to find answers to the prompt from Rodney King himself—can we all get along?