"Finally Quiet" Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew

Muslima Musawwir (Morgan) is a native of Richmond,VA expecting to graduate May 2016 with a BFA in Acting from Shenandoah Conservatory. As a young artist, she takes a holistic approach to her work and seeks inspiration from Nina Simone, Stockely Carmichael, and John Lennon. She is excited to debut her first professional lead role and would like to thank her family and friends for their endless support and love. As well as director Cristina Bejan for trusting and guiding her to tell this lovely story, she hopes this production will encourage everyone to view society with their "eyes wide open".

Christopher Akinbuwa (Gerard) is a native Washingtonian who has been actively performing and classically trained in the arts since 1995. He is a graduate of Duke Ellington School Of the Arts and has attended Central State University in Wilberforce, OH, and Frostburg State University studying Vocal Performance.

Tuesday Barnes (Tosha) is a native of Baltimore City who has a passion for bridging the worlds of sociology with theater. Having recently graduated from the University of Maryland with a Master's in Sociology, Tuesday is interested in using her sociological background to inform how both she and her audiences digest the complexities of human interaction.

Gwen Lewis (Deborah) is a native Washingtonian with a huge passion for the arts. She started acting in 2012 after checking it off her bucket list of things to do. Her first stage play was His Chosen Diamond. Since then, she’s starred in Conversations In Faith & held supporting roles in Battle of Wills, Finally Quiet in my Head, & Conversations with the Man Who Killed My Son. She had a small speaking role in the film, Roll Train & was an extra in All the Man I Need & Rose to Edenton. Assistant Director for Dan Didier Productions and Director Assistant for Southern Gal Productions. Casting Director/Assistant Director for a “YouTube” video for “AllShadesofPurple.org. Wrote and starred in HerStory for a Women’s Symposium. Her hobbies are coordinating weddings & themed events and hanging out with family. Her Motto: 'With GOD, all things are possible”.

Steve Langley (Anthony) is an actor-playwright and singer-songwriter. His acting credits include: The Heroes' Tale, Sage of Blackwell, and A Year of Giving. His plays include Harlem 9/11 and Cut/Uncut. The DC native is the founder of Reverb, an award-winning a cappella vocal group. Steve's song In This Land is the title tune of a CD by the Grammy Award-winning vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Janani Ramachandran (Doctor) is a vocalist, actor, and ardent advocate of the arts for social justice. She hails from the SF Bay Area and Southern India, and graduated from Stanford University in 2014 with a BA in International Relations. Since moving to DC, Janani has performed in BiB-promoted shows including How to Quit Your Day Job at the Capital Fringe Festival, and Finally Quiet in My Head at the DC Black Theater Festival. As Advocacy Director for various BiB shows, Janani helps liaise the art world with policy activism on crucial social issues. Janani has been trained in classical South Indian music since the age of 4, and frequently performs and jams with artists from different genres at open mic events in DC. Janani is grateful to also enjoy her day job in social services at Mary’s Center, where she works with at-risk mothers and children.

Brittney Sankofa (Director) is a writer, photographer, and aspiring filmmaker from Southeast DC. She studied under New York University's film and television program and is a DCTV member. This is Brittney's directorial debut in theatre and she is looking forward to bringing more production to the stage in the near future. www.brittneysankofa.weebly.com

Cristina Bejan (Playwright and Director) is from North Carolina where she grew up in a Romanian and American family. She has written fifteen plays and is a theatre artist of every dimension from actress, director to sound designer. Her work has appeared locally and internationally, from the USA, UK, Romania, Vanuatu and in September 2015, also Papua New Guinea. She wrote Finally Quiet In My Head in an effort to heal herself and also the educate the broader public about the reality of mental illness. She is humbled to be selected as one of the eight featured playwrights in the 2015 DC Black Theatre Festival and she is beyond honored to work with the fearless artists who have brought Finally Quiet In My Head to Life, in all the play's pain, humor and truth.

Play Synopsis: Igbo class is a safe space for Black students at Texas Light University. When that class becomes the backdrop of a viral video of an intense argument between Faith, a Black American Senior and Uchenna, a Nigerian American graduate student, the divide between the African community and the Black American community on campus is pushed to the forefront. In order to alleviate her campus' issues, Dean Thompson assigns Faith and Uchenna a mandatory project that will seek to connect the members of the Black community... if only they can put aside their differences long enough to create it. In this funny, ensemble-driven love story, We Both Suck Our Teeth explores the division and unity within the African diaspora.