Meet the Organizers

Tyler is a director, performer, teaching artist, and communications specialist. He is attracted to art that broadens not only his sense of empathy but the empathetic potential of his audience as well. Tyler is a recent graduate of Eastern Michigan University having earned a Master of Arts degree in interpretation and performance studies. His academic research leads him to investigate and give voice to queerness and queer identities through applied theatre, autoethnography, the performance of oral histories, arts-based research and physical performance. He also is the creator and host of the podcast, Life in Theatre, a podcast dedicated to discussing theatre from the perspective of everyday artists working in it. Click here for more information on Tyler!

Marisa Dluge is a performance artist, director and community activist living in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She received degrees in Communication, Oral Interpretation and Performance Studies from Eastern Michigan University. After school, she spent the last decade working with theatres and performance collaboratives throughout Southeast Michigan. The body of her work is in experiential, immersive and devised theater. Her performance style is punctuated by her own honesty, insecurity, and passion to explore the complexity of emotion. She aims to turn the audience’s attention to the visceral, mundane, vulnerable and private aspects of the human experience. She has performed and created with Black Bird Theatre, Shakespeare West Festival, Creative Rights, BrendaLinda Performance Collaborative, The New Theatre Project, Sidewalk Festival, A Host of People. Her directing centers around creating intimate and honest moments, and she recently directed Neighborhood Theatre Group’s original shows Cryptic, Former Things and Thoughts and Prayers. In 2015 and 2016 she mounted DIY productions of The Nightman Cometh. She is the co-founder of Friends w/ Benefits, a monthly dance and performance showcase which raises funds for community development. Her work outside of performance centers on developing community confidence and identity-based pedagogy. Most recently Marisa worked as Riverside Art Center’s Outreach Manager and Interim Executive Director and is currently pursuing her Automotive Technician Certification at Washtenaw Community College.

Anahi Gonzalez is the development assistant to the chief operating officer at Clark Park Coalition. She is bilingual and handles all the translation for the Park’s communications efforts. Since graduating with honors from Western International High School in June of 2019, she has been working toward her bachelor’s degree at Henry Ford College full-time, and plans to transfer to Wayne State University in the Fall for her sophomore year. Gonzalez is an active member of Life Directions, a local mentoring non profit in the area, and is mentoring two young middle school students. Gonzalez is excited to be voting in her first presidential election in the Fall of 2020.

For Assata J. Haki, acting is the root of the tree and some of her the limbs are performing, storytelling, empowerment speaking, teaching artist, and writer. She is very excited to be working with the Open Book Theatre Company. As an actress, Assata’s recent work but is not limited with The Black and Brown Theatre, The Strolling Monologues as Nina Simone and Queen Amenirias. Assata's love for acting presents her with many opportunities to perform, on all a variety of sets and stages. While acting is her love, Assata concentration is as a Theatre Teaching Artist. Assata graduated from Wayne State University with a BA in Theatre and in 2018, she earned her M.A. in Teaching Artistry in Theatre and Dance.

Chris Jakob is a queer, interdisciplinary performance artist born, raised, and based in Detroit, MI. Holding a BA in Theatre from the University of Detroit Mercy, he is an actor, singer, dancer, poet, and playwright focused on the creation of fresh, thought-provoking, experimental work for theatre and film. Chris is a 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow, and proud to be an ensemble member of A Host of People (AHOP) and Shakespeare in Detroit. He has also performed at Detroit Repertory Theatre, The Ringwald Theatre, the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, Planet Ant and Matrix Theatre (where he is also a teaching artist). Recent work includes the world premiere of Cleopatra Boy with AHOP in Detroit, previews of his new solo-performance-choreopoem LOGOS at Sidewalk Festival 2019, previews of anagoge. at Sidewalk Festival 2018 and Cleopatra Boy with AHOP at FURY Factory Festival 2018 in San Francisco, the world premiere of Neither There, Nor Here with AHOP, the premiere and tour of his play I, Too, Sing America, produced by the Michigan Opera Theatre, as well as an artist residency at Cleveland Public Theatre and the North American Cultural Lab (New York). Art is long, life is short.

Amy is a teacher, creator, and builder. She serves as Educational Director at Matrix Theatre where she coordinates School of Theater Classes, residencies, after school programs, teaching artists, build partnerships with local organizations, presents at conferences and facilitates workshops. Amy has been teaching Communication, Performance, and Education courses at Eastern Michigan University since she graduated with her Master’s Degree in Performance Studies in 2007. Previously, she was a high school speech and English teacher for eight years in Illinois. Amy is a creative play and drama teaching artist and presenter, most prominently with Michigan Arts Access or MiAA (formerly the VSA: the State Organization on Arts and Disabilities). Additionally, she was part of a program that brought theatre to inmates at Woodland Correctional Center in Whitmore Lake, Michigan. Amy has over 20 years’ experience coaching and directing forensic programs and is currently an Executive Communications Coach for Keany Communications, specializing in presentation creation, coaching, and executive presence. At EMU she has produced two shows: A Head Full of Snakes, a project and show centering around myth and the impact of Medusa and [Something Between], a performance experience exploring the word, idea, and feelings regarding walls. She has also developed and directed several award-winning Reader’s Theaters for competition at ARTa (American Reader’s Theater Association). Her brainchild, It(s) About Time, produced in Ypsilanti, and designed in its found space, the experience required the audience to solve puzzles in order to be rewarded with performances. Amy also writes and performs as a founding member and now an Associate Producer of the UnTheatre Company in Detroit that produces the show "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” using the form Neofuturism. When she is not working, she is most likely dancing. Amy is the instruction coordinator for her local Swing dance organization, Friday Night Swing, for which she regularly teaches and DJs.

Kennikki Jones-Jones is a multi-award winning theatre and film director from Detroit. She obtained her BFA in Performance Art from Wayne State University and her MFA in Film from Florida State University. In 2014, she co-founded Dramatically Richer Productions, producing children’s theatre, an off-Broadway play and published a book. Inspired by the many obstacles she has overcome, her experience and perseverance inform her art. Her recent short horror film, “Knock Knock” has been accepted into twenty film festivals, garnered 14 awards, and recently went viral on YouTube with 3.5 million views. She uses urban horror as a means to examine the psychic energy and generational curses that plague many inner-city communities. Currently, she is producing for Boxfest, working as a DP within the theatre community, and teaching at Wayne State University.

Alistair manages theR.A.C.E’s social media and communications and helps tell theR.A.C.E’s story through video and photography. Alistair has experience in managing social media, websites, email marketing, and crowdfunding campaigns. Originally from Uganda, he is an alum of Freedom House Detroit, which serves asylum seekers from around the world. Alistair also volunteers with Freedom House, speaking to community groups about the organization’s mission. He enjoys fashion, working out and spoiling his Golden Retriever, Baby.

Andrew Morton is an award-winning playwright and theatre maker who creates socially engaged theatre with and for vulnerable populations. His work has been produced across Michigan, the United States, and internationally. Originally from England, Morton holds a Master of Arts in community arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is currently based in Detroit, where he is a project manager at TimeSlips Creative Storytelling and was recently named a 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow. Morton’s next project, Sofa Stories, created with young people who have experienced homelessness will premiere in multiple spaces in Detroit in 2021.

Justino Solis is a Mexican-American actor and playwright. He began acting at the age of 17 in high school, and went on to pursue acting as a career after he graduated in 2010, working with theatre companies such as The Matrix Theatre, Little Door Theatre, and currently holds a council seat with Black and Brown Theatre. His passion for the performing arts led him to meet Emilio Rodriguez, founder of Black and Brown Theatre, and from him, learned the art of writing. Since then, Justino has written performance pieces for Black and Brown Theatre, as well as UnTheatre Co. As much as he enjoys the art of writing, however, he plans to further his skill as an actor.

Natalie Stringer (she/her) is a theatre maker, writer, and arts administrator. She is the Founding Artistic Director of C&G Collective, an interdisciplinary arts practice based in Detroit that partners with educational and cultural institutions, health care centers, local businesses, and civic centers to produce and evaluate social justice programs hinged on the assets and needs of diverse populations. Stringer also serves as the Director for Artistic and Intellectual Planning at All Seasons, providing high-quality arts and educational programming for luxury, independent senior living communities across Michigan, Florida, and Arizona. Recent engagements include facilitation of leadership workshops at Hostos Community College in the Bronx; devising workshops with the Center for Performance and Civic Practice; presentations at the national Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference; and training with the Teaching Artist Training Institute, using arts education to connect with students on the autism spectrum in Staten Island. She is also the playwright, director, and producer of the original play "Gunpowder," which sold out the FailSafe Festival in NYC. Internationally, she led teachers-in-training at the College of Education in Kigali, Rwanda in using drama to stimulate active learning, collaboration, and dialogue around domestic workers' rights. She is a CUNY Ernesto Malave Scholar and a proud Actors Equity Membership Candidate.

Danielle Wright is a powerhouse: vibrant performer, in-demand director/producer, advocate for the collaborative arts in Detroit. Onstage, Ms. Wright is known for her warmhearted storytelling, powerful tone, fearless acting, and unusually wide vocal range. She moves seamlessly from Handel to Wagner to portrayals of Paula Deen and has worked with top companies such as Madison Opera, Opera Carolina, and Des Moines Metro Opera. Behind the scenes, Ms. Wright takes her vast performance experience and uses it to educate through Opera MODO, now in its sixth season of advocating local singers in Detroit.