Micah Carnes has always been quite the little ham! He started taking an interest in the arts around the age of 4. Along with various church productions and elementary school performances, he has enjoyed the experience of being cast in Winnie the Pooh with the Vandalia Youth Theatre  (Vandalia, Ohio), Hair Spray with the Muse Machine (Dayton, Ohio), a summer theatre program with Brave Young Voices (Westerville, Ohio), playing a lead character “Young Scrooge” in the outdoor holiday production of Uptown Scrooge with Good Medicine Theatre (Westerville, Ohio) and most recently received a scholarship to participate in the CATCO is Kids Virtual Camp – All The World’s A Stage (Columbus, Ohio)!! Micah is currently learning to play the Cello in his school orchestra, while he also enjoys utilizing his artistic gifts in the 7th grade School Choir and Art Club!! Micah loves to draw, but most of all sing around the house to the high heavens!!! He literally sings all the time and everywhere he goes. He desires to pursue a future in the performing arts and journalism.

I am excited to be a part of this production because it portrays an important time in our history. I can’t imagine what it feel like to get the news that they were free.”
Lynnix Price on her involvement in Short Plays Toward an Antiracist Tomorrow

Lynnix Price (Kid 2) is very excited to be a part of the collaboration between the Heart of Protest initiative and CATCO is Kids! She has previously been seen in CATCO is KIDS Babe and State of the Arts Productions The Hundred Dresses, and Annie. Lynnix sends a BIG THANK YOU to her family & friends for their support!

Carter Minor is proud join the CATCO series Plays Toward and Antiracist Tomorrow.  Since moving to New Albany, OH he has been the featured soloist for the New Albany Black History celebrations and several other musical performances.  He most recently played LeFou in the NAHS production of Beauty and the Beast and was featured in the NAMS production of Singing In the Rain, Jr. as Cosmo Brown. Carter, who moved here from NJ last fall, jumped into Eagles Talent as Papa Ge in Once on This Island, Jr. A 10th grader, Carter loves music, art, script writing and classic sitcoms- ask him, and he can quote The Office dialogue like Shakespeare. Carter remains a working actor- reprising his role as Jonas in the Reunion special of the Peabody Award-winning podcast drama, Mars Patel. Carter studied acting and dance in NY/NJ, and is delighted to find such a vibrant theater community in New Albany (though he’s still taking recommendations on ‘best pizza slice’). He would like to thank his parents, Miss Patty, Ms. Gould, Mr. Hooper, and Ms. Trybus, and his brother (sometimes) for supporting him.

“In times like this, these plays are incredibly important. What we all need now more than anything is a lesson and a reminder of empathy. We all need to be mindful of what others are going through, especially of those in the BIPOC community.

I am excited to be a part of this process because we get to drive those meanings home through a media that is similar, but different than what we as theatre artists are used to. During this global crisis, it’s incredibly important that we all find ways to be creative and share our important messages to the world. ”
Hannah Pohlman

Hannah holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Design/Technology from Otterbein University. She is excited to be back in the world of theatre in the Zoom format. Hannah is a stage manager, costumer, and small online business owner. Previously, Hannah has worked with Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, Columbus Children’s Theatre, Short North Stage, and Available Light Theatre, Weathervane Playhouse, and Saugatuck Center for the Arts in Michigan.

I always thought 20/20 meant that you had perfect vision, when it really only indicates visual clarity. It is my hope that these beautiful plays, in the year 2020, will help people see the world and the Black experience more clearly.
Patricia Wallace-Winbush

Patty is a highly respected actress and director on the Columbus theatre scene. She has performed with several local theatre companies most notably Players Theatre, Gallery Players, Red Herring Theatre Ensemble, Short North Stage and CATCO. Her directing credits include several productions with PAST Productions Columbus where she is also co-founder and co-producer. Patty has been twice nominated for Excellence in Directing by the Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable. She is currently a proud member of Good Medicine Productions as Doctor Funzi, a healthcare clown. A graduate of Wright State University with a BFA in Acting, Patty recently performed her one-woman show entitled THANK GOD I LOOK GOOD IN PINK, which chronicled her journey as a breast cancer survivor. She would like to thank her family for supporting her dreams, especially her husband Truman Winbush Jr.

“Playing the role of Pete was a great opportunity. I feel honored and humbled to be a part of something that shines a light on a struggle we have been dealing with for generations.”
Preston on his involvement with Short Plays Toward an Antiracist Tomorrow

My name is Preston Hudson and I am honored to play “Pete” in the short play, Nothing Rhymes with Juneteenth. I have been involved with theatre for the past eight years. Most recently I have played “Spiky Turtle” in the musical, Press Start and “Michael” in the musical ELF Jr, both which were through CATCO Kids. I am in the 8th grade and attend Ridgeview Junior High. When I am not in a show, I enjoy baking, running Cross Country, playing tennis, singing and dancing.

“These stories by Idris Goodwin, Nothing Rhymes With Juneteenth in particular,are extremely significant especially in these times. An event that specifically surrounds the liberation of Black people has been systematically buried and silenced through the telling of American history. I know when I was Pete’s age I was never taught about Juneteenth in school. There were no history lessons about how it took two years after the signing of The Emancipation Proclamation to notify enslaved people that they were actually free! Can you imagine! To this day many people don’t know this fact. To see the portrayal of a young person’s passion and excitement about Juneteenth. To get this missed piece of history out of a forgotten place and into the hands and hearts of his peers, is extremely powerful and even hopeful!”
Vivica McCrary on her involvement in Short Plays Toward an Antiracist Tomorrow

Vivica is absolutely thrilled to be a part of CATCO’s very first virtual season! She has been an admirer of CATCO and CAPA is Kids ever since participating in their summer programs as a child. Vivica is a stage manager, director, marketing lead and talented voice over artist. Vivica has stage managed and directed several shows over the years such as State of The Arts Productions’ The Color Purple and The Hundred Dresses. It is truly her privilege to present to you these works which are on a subject that is very personal and dear to her heart. #BlackLivesMatter

During this time, it’s important for America to embrace “the new” and “the different”. We have to re-examine different ways to approach the subject of race in America, and even how we approach the new approaches themselves. One way that change can happen is through thought-provoking, intergenerational conversation—and art can help with that. That’s why I wanted to be involved with this play!
Sharon Udoh

Sharon Udoh is a first-generation Nigerian-American composer, pianist, educator, actor, and cultural critic. Her work focuses on how humans change over time, the necessity of personal revolution and connection, and emotional curiosity. Her performances are magnetic, dangerous, and kind; they embody the richness of complexity, absurdity, empathy, chaos, and the struggle and freedom of Black and brown individuals in America and worldwide.

“As the director of one of these incredible short plays, I feel a great responsibility to give a representative view of what an anti-racist future looks like. A future where having conversations about race, culture, and the complete history and present of our country are as natural as conversations about sports and homework.  These plays can act as an entryway point for a broad range of ages and cultures to broach these, traditionally, difficult subjects and normalize the conversations around them.  Any role I can have in that process is one I’m excited, honored, and humbled to play.”
Kenneth Brown on his involvement in Short Plays Toward an Antiracist Tomorrow

Kenneth Brown is a Columbus-based renaissance artist with acting, singing, dancing, writing, choreography, and directing credits.  He has recently had the opportunity to be involved locally in many aspects of performance art including as an actor, singer, dancer, assistant choreographer for “Renaissance Magic”, actor, singer, dancer and choreographer in several productions with Thiossance West African Dance Institute, a dancer for Onyx Productions’ “The Colored Section”, and a Theatre Roundtable “Excellence In Choreography” award-winning turn as choreographer for State of The Arts Productions’ “The Color Purple.” While he has always had a passion for art that speaks to the injustices in our political, ethnic, and socioeconomic climate, during the current pandemic and time of civil unrest he has become dedicated to anti-racist artistic endeavors including a collaboration with New Vision Dance Company, “Forward”, his own filmed spoken word piece “Round 1”, and three short plays with Theater For All People for the HeART of Protest.

Lori A Lindsey, a native of Columbus, developed a love for performing at an early age. She is known for her natural ability to engage audiences by defining emotions, characters and artistic visions through dance. As she broadens her talent and skills into acting, she has appeared in several productions as an actress including Judah Performing Arts ‘Africa To America’, Onyx Production ‘The Colored Section’, The Lincoln Theatre’s Harlem Renaissance Gala, and The Maroon Artist Group ‘Inside The Riot’. She is always grateful for the opportunity to use art to evoke change, inspire action, encourage faith and increase social awareness.

Philip J. Hickman is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a BA in English focusing on Early Modern English Literature. He was co-founder of Bison Players and has worked for Actors’ Theatre of Columbus since 2010. After serving as Associate Artistic Director beginning in 2013, he was named Artistic Director in 2015. Hickman has performed in works by Shakespeare and other classic authors for more than 20 years. His favorite roles in Shakespeare’s plays are Cassius in Julius Caesar and Caliban in The Tempest. He appeared last as Le Vicomte de Valmont in Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Doctor Bartolo in Pierre Beaumarchais’ The Barber of Seville, and as King Edward IV in Richard III. Philip Hickman is also a playwright, adapting the legend Robin Hood and Alexandre Dumas’ Le Comte de Monte-Cristo to the stage. Both plays were named to the Columbus Dispatch “Best Plays” lists for their respective years (2012, 2016). Most recently, Hickman directed the world premiere of Beowulf (and the Bard) and co-directed Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the 2019 Actors’ Theatre season. He also directed 2018’s Macbeth and Puss in Boots, and 2015’s world premiere of Vidas Barzdukas’ Captain Blood (an adaptation of the Raphael Sabatini novel), which was named “Best Play of 2015” by the Columbus Dispatch. Hickman also teaches playwriting; he taught with Bison Players, The Graham School, and with private students.

“In times like this, these plays are incredibly important. What we all need now more than anything is a lesson and a reminder of empathy. We all need to be mindful of what others are going through, especially of those in the BIPOC community.

I am excited to be a part of this process because we get to drive those meanings home through a media that is similar, but different than what we as theatre artists are used to. During this global crisis, it’s incredibly important that we all find ways to be creative and share our important messages to the world. ”
Hannah Pohlman

Hannah holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Design/Technology from Otterbein University. She is excited to be back in the world of theatre in the Zoom format. Hannah is a stage manager, costumer, and small online business owner. Previously, Hannah has worked with Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, Columbus Children’s Theatre, Short North Stage, and Available Light Theatre, Weathervane Playhouse, and Saugatuck Center for the Arts in Michigan.

“The plays in this series are important because we’ve been struggling as adults to talk in any meaningful ways about the issues that have lead us up to this point, and I view being a part of a series like this to be no less than the duty of the artist to the world we live in. While some take to the streets and others lobby their legislatures, others give money quietly, set up legal services for the wrongfully incarcerated to do their part, others tell stories to help move us forward.

These pieces all represent parts we need to play, and I hope they help.”
David. S. Harewood

DAVID S. HAREWOOD has spent the last twenty years exploring the intersection of art and social justice movements, sometimes  working as a community and political organizer or as dramaturge for CATCO’s EUBIE! In ‘18, director of The Colored Section (Onyx, ‘16), Abraham Lincoln. . .( Evolution, ‘16), The Tempest (Actors’, ‘17,) The Color Purple, (SoArtsPro, ‘18,) and Home CATCO, ‘19). His post-COVID works include re-imaginings of great speeches and letters from the Civil Rights era and before, one in collaboration with the Abbey Theater of Dublin and a series that can be found on the Theatre for All People Facebook page.