JESSICA BLANK(Co-Writer / Director)

Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen are a multi-hyphenate husband and wife writing team, who The New Yorker calls “among the foremost practitioners of documentary theater in the U.S.” Married for 20 years, Jessica and Erik also list acting and directing (both together and separately) among their many credits.

As a team, they are authors of The Exonerated, a genre-defining play based on interviews they conducted with over 40 wrongly convicted death row inmates across the United States. The Exonerated won Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Ovation, Fringe First and Herald Angel Awards, and was nominated for the Hull-Warriner Award and the John Gassner Playwriting Award; it has also received awards from Amnesty International, the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Death Penalty Focus, and Court TV, and named Best Play of the Year by The New York Times. The Exonerated has been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Farsi, Mandarin and Japanese and adapted by Jessica and Erik into an award-winning TV movie starring Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn and Delroy Lindo. Living Justice, Jessica and Erik's book on the making of The Exonerated, was published by Simon and Schuster. Their documentary play Aftermath, based on interviews they conducted with Iraqi civilian refugees in Jordan, ran Off Broadway at New York Theater Workshop, was a New York Times Critic's Pick, toured internationally for two years and was nominated for two Drama League Awards. Their play How to be a Rock Critic (based on the writings of Lester Bangs) played sold-out runs at the Kirk Douglas, South Coast Rep, ArtsEmerson, Steppenwolf, and the Public Theater, with Erik starring and Jessica directing.

In 2020, their documentary play Coal Country (a New York Times Critic's Pick), about the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, had a critically acclaimed World Premiere at The Public Theater, directed by Jessica, with original music written and performed by Grammy Award-winning musician Steve Earle. The play is a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director (Jessica Blank) and Outstanding Music in a Play (Steve Earle). When the run was cut short by COVID-19, the pair pivoted and wrote The Line, a new play created in their award-winning documentary style and crafted from firsthand interviews with NYC medical first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starring Santino Fontana, Arjun Gupta, John Ortiz, Alison Pill, Nicholas Pinnock, Jamey Sheridan, and Lorraine Toussaint, The Line streamed live on The Public Theater’s YouTube Channel and was extended twice. Also a New York Times Critic's Pick, The Line garnered rave reviews from coast to coast: The New York Times called it “harrowing,” and The Los Angeles Times proclaimed, “these words sting with truth, but it’s the human spectrum before us that turns sociological observation into gasping emotion.”

Jessica and Erik currently have television projects in development with David Simon/Blown Deadline, and a second project in development with Ed Burns (“The Plot Against America,” “Generation Kill,” “The Wire”). They wrote and produced the pilot “The Negotiator” for Gaumont TV (EP Tom Fontana) and have developed for television with Fox TV Studios, 20th Century TV, Avenue Pictures, Sunswept Entertainment, Virgin Produced, and Radical Media. Jessica and Erik’s first feature Almost Home, based on Jessica’s novel of the same name (Hyperion, 2007), was released by Vertical Entertainment in 2019 and their second feature, How to be a Rock Critic (based on their play), is in development with Likely Story.

Jessica co-wrote and directed the play Liberty City for New York Theatre Workshop (Lortel, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), and has published three novels, Almost Home (Hyperion, 2007), Karma for Beginners (Hyperion, 2009), and Legacy (Penguin, 2018). As an actor, she appeared regularly on CBS’ “Made in Jersey”; other TV includes “Prodigal Son,” “Ramy,” “For Life,” “High Maintenance,” “Blue Bloods,” “Elementary,” “The Following,” “The Mentalist,” “Bored to Death,” "Rescue Me,” “Law & Order: CI,” “The Bronx is Burning” and many more. Film credits include The Namesake; Slender Man and more than a dozen indies including Creative Control (SXSW Grand Jury Prize); On the Road with Judas (Sundance) and You’re Nobody Till Somebody Kills You (produced by Spike Lee).

As an actor, Erik appears in both seasons of the ABC series “For Life.” Other TV credits include “The Walking Dead,” “Mindhunter,” “Mr. Robot,” “The Americans,” “House of Cards,” “Elementary,” "The Blacklist,” and over 70 other TV roles, including his critically acclaimed portrayal of legendary NY Yankee Thurman Munson in “The Bronx is Burning.” Film credits include Black Knight, The Love Letter and more than 25 indie films. His theater credits as an actor include the Pulitzer-Prize winning Disgraced at Lincoln Center, The Good Negro at The Public Theater, Arthur Kopit's Y2K and Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi at MTC. Erik's sci-fi graphic novel The Reconcilers was published in 2010 to wide acclaim.

Jessica and Erik live in Brooklyn with their daughter Sadie.

ERIK JENSEN(Co-Writer)

Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen are a multi-hyphenate husband and wife writing team, who The New Yorker calls “among the foremost practitioners of documentary theater in the U.S.” Married for 20 years, Jessica and Erik also list acting and directing (both together and separately) among their many credits.

As a team, they are authors of The Exonerated, a genre-defining play based on interviews they conducted with over 40 wrongly convicted death row inmates across the United States. The Exonerated won Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Ovation, Fringe First and Herald Angel Awards, and was nominated for the Hull-Warriner Award and the John Gassner Playwriting Award; it has also received awards from Amnesty International, the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Death Penalty Focus, and Court TV, and named Best Play of the Year by The New York Times. The Exonerated has been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Farsi, Mandarin and Japanese and adapted by Jessica and Erik into an award-winning TV movie starring Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn and Delroy Lindo. Living Justice, Jessica and Erik's book on the making of The Exonerated, was published by Simon and Schuster. Their documentary play Aftermath, based on interviews they conducted with Iraqi civilian refugees in Jordan, ran Off Broadway at New York Theater Workshop, was a New York Times Critic's Pick, toured internationally for two years and was nominated for two Drama League Awards. Their play How to be a Rock Critic (based on the writings of Lester Bangs) played sold-out runs at the Kirk Douglas, South Coast Rep, ArtsEmerson, Steppenwolf, and the Public Theater, with Erik starring and Jessica directing.

In 2020, their documentary play Coal Country (a New York Times Critic's Pick), about the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, had a critically acclaimed World Premiere at The Public Theater, directed by Jessica, with original music written and performed by Grammy Award-winning musician Steve Earle. The play is a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director (Jessica Blank) and Outstanding Music in a Play (Steve Earle). When the run was cut short by COVID-19, the pair pivoted and wrote The Line, a new play created in their award-winning documentary style and crafted from firsthand interviews with NYC medical first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starring Santino Fontana, Arjun Gupta, John Ortiz, Alison Pill, Nicholas Pinnock, Jamey Sheridan, and Lorraine Toussaint, The Line streamed live on The Public Theater’s YouTube Channel and was extended twice. Also a New York Times Critic's Pick, The Line garnered rave reviews from coast to coast: The New York Times called it “harrowing,” and The Los Angeles Times proclaimed, “these words sting with truth, but it’s the human spectrum before us that turns sociological observation into gasping emotion.”

Jessica and Erik currently have television projects in development with David Simon/Blown Deadline, and a second project in development with Ed Burns (“The Plot Against America,” “Generation Kill,” “The Wire”). They wrote and produced the pilot “The Negotiator” for Gaumont TV (EP Tom Fontana) and have developed for television with Fox TV Studios, 20th Century TV, Avenue Pictures, Sunswept Entertainment, Virgin Produced, and Radical Media. Jessica and Erik’s first feature Almost Home, based on Jessica’s novel of the same name (Hyperion, 2007), was released by Vertical Entertainment in 2019 and their second feature, How to be a Rock Critic (based on their play), is in development with Likely Story.

Jessica co-wrote and directed the play Liberty City for New York Theatre Workshop (Lortel, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), and has published three novels, Almost Home (Hyperion, 2007), Karma for Beginners (Hyperion, 2009), and Legacy (Penguin, 2018). As an actor, she appeared regularly on CBS’ “Made in Jersey”; other TV includes “Prodigal Son,” “Ramy,” “For Life,” “High Maintenance,” “Blue Bloods,” “Elementary,” “The Following,” “The Mentalist,” “Bored to Death,” "Rescue Me,” “Law & Order: CI,” “The Bronx is Burning” and many more. Film credits include The Namesake; Slender Man and more than a dozen indies including Creative Control (SXSW Grand Jury Prize); On the Road with Judas (Sundance) and You’re Nobody Till Somebody Kills You (produced by Spike Lee).

As an actor, Erik appears in both seasons of the ABC series “For Life.” Other TV credits include “The Walking Dead,” “Mindhunter,” “Mr. Robot,” “The Americans,” “House of Cards,” “Elementary,” "The Blacklist,” and over 70 other TV roles, including his critically acclaimed portrayal of legendary NY Yankee Thurman Munson in “The Bronx is Burning.” Film credits include Black Knight, The Love Letter and more than 25 indie films. His theater credits as an actor include the Pulitzer-Prize winning Disgraced at Lincoln Center, The Good Negro at The Public Theater, Arthur Kopit's Y2K and Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi at MTC. Erik's sci-fi graphic novel The Reconcilers was published in 2010 to wide acclaim.

Jessica and Erik live in Brooklyn with their daughter Sadie.

STEVE EARLE(Performer / Original Music By)

Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, he quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders, and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre. Subsequent releases like The Revolution Starts...Now (2004), Washington Square Serenade (2007), and TOWNES (2009) received consecutive Grammy® Awards. Restlessly creative across artistic disciplines, Earle has published both a novel and collection of short stories; produced albums for other artists such as Joan Baez and Lucinda Williams and acted in films, television (including David Simon’s acclaimed "The Wire"), and on the stage. He currently hosts a radio show for Sirius XM. In 2009, Earle appeared in the off-Broadway play Samara, for which he also wrote a score that The New York Times described as “exquisitely subliminal.” Earle wrote music for and appeared in Coal Country, a riveting Public Theater play that dives into the most deadly mining disaster in U.S. history, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. His 2020 album Ghosts of West Virginia was named one of “The 50 Best Albums of 2020 So Far” by Rolling Stone. Mr. Earle was recently (Nov 2020) inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and released his 21st studio album J.T. on January 6th (2021) as a tribute to his late son Justin Townes Earle.

MARY BACON(Patti)

2020 Drama Desk Award for Patti in The Public’s Coal Country, and Susan in Nothing Gold Can Stay with Partial Comfort, and for her NYC theatre career. Broadway: Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll and Arcadia. Select Off Broadway: Harrison, TX with Hallie Foote and Jayne Houdyshell, The Roads to Home with Hallie Foote and Harriet Harris, Charles Busch’s The Tribute Artist, Kate Hamill’s Little Women, and Happy Now? (Primary Stages); Drama Desk and Lortel-nominated Women Without Men (The Mint); Alma in Eccentricities of a Nightingale (TACT); Becky Shaw (Second Stage); Giant (The Public). Regional: Hartford Stage, Dorset Theatre Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown, Westport Playhouse, The McCarter, Yale Rep, Seattle Rep, The Long Wharf, Old Globe, and others. TV: "Blue Bloods," "The Blacklist," "FBI Most Wanted," "The Mist," "Boardwalk Empire," "Mildred Pierce," "Elementary," "Madame Secretary," "The Good Wife," "Law and Order"; Film: Heirloom, Lost Girls, Three Pregnant Men. Carnegie Mellon BFA, Actors Center member, co-founder of dtfwaw.

AMELIA CAMPBELL(Mindi)

Broadway: Our Country’s Good (Tony nomination); A Small Family Business; Translations; The Herbal Bed; Waiting in the Wings; A Streetcar Named Desire. Off Broadway: Coal Country (Public Theater); Taking Care of Baby (MTC); The Exonerated (Culture Project); The Misanthrope (NYTW); Tryst (The Promenade); Love, Janis (Village Theater). Regional: A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Night of the Iguana; Desire Under the Elms. Film: Sender; What Maisie Knew; Leaves of Grass. TV: “Mindhunter”; “Bull.” For Mark Schlegel.

ETHELYN FRIEND(Understudy)

Off-Broadway: Troilus & Cressida (Baryshnikov Arts), Our Brother’s Son (upcoming) (Signature). Other NYC: Spill, Casa Cushman (Tectonic Theatre workshops). Regional: Wit (Theatreworks), House of Blue Leaves, Les Mis (Arvada Center), Romeo & Juliet, Merry Wives, Much Ado (Colorado Shakes), Jar The Floor, The Circle (New Rep), Fuddy Meers (Curious Theatre). ethelynfriend.com

KYM GOMES(Judge Berger)

Theater: Trinity Rep, The Gamm Theater, George Street Playhouse, Ensemble Studio Theater, New Georges. TV: “Blue Bloods,” “Succession,” “Pose,” “Harlem,” “When They See Us,” “For Life,” “The Deuce,” “Mindhunter,” “Gotham.” Kym is a graduate of The Acting Studio and a member of Chelsea Repertory Company where she has performed in numerous plays including Twelfth Night, Hot L Baltimore, and Top Girls.

JOE JUNG(Sub Musician)

Joe Jung is an actor-musician living in Queens. Credits include: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway/The Public), Coal Country (The Public), Cyrano de Bergerac (Theatre at St. Clements), Bright Star (The Old Globe). He also builds cigar box guitars and plays around town with his jug band, the Salt Cracker Crazies. For his family in MI and WV.

EZRA KNIGHT(Roosevelt)

Seen most recently recurring as James Lamson in season one of "Ordinary Joe" on NBC. Ezra is thrilled to return to the stage in his original cast role as Roosevelt in Coal Country. Broadway: Mean Girls, Pretty Woman (Original Broadway Cast), Cymbeline, The Lion King (Hamburg). Other theatre: Toni Stone (Original Cast), Ivo van Hove's A View From The Bridge, The Merchant of Venice, Oroonoko, Julius Caesar, Othello. TV: "Power Book III: Raising Kanan," "Murphy Brown," "Billions," "Daredevil" (s3), "Quantico," "The Blacklist," "Blue Bloods," "The Following," ALL the "Law & Order"s. Film: The Tender Bar; Boogie; The Abandoned; ADDicted; Blood, Sand and Gold; Symposium (short film). AEA member since 1986, Legacy SAG member since 1987, Legacy AFTRA member since 1996 and current SAG-AFTRA NY Local President and National Officer. Union Proud. Union Strong. Union Solidarity.

THOMAS KOPACHE(Gary)

Thomas Kopache began his acting career after returning home from Vietnam in a production of South Pacific at the Naval Base in Coronado, CA. He went on to receive his MFA at CalArts, tour Europe with his theatre company Camera Obscura and settle in New York City at La MaMa where he worked with such notable directors as Tom O’Horgan. In New York, Thomas worked on Broadway appearing in productions of Our Town and Orpheus Descending and Off-Broadway at the NYSF Public Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club.

In 1991 Thomas moved to Los Angeles where his feature credits included No Country For Old Men (SAG Award Best Ensemble), Zodiac, Catch Me If You Can, Leaving Las Vegas, Ghosts of Mississippi, Stigmata, and Star Trek: Generations.

Thomas has the distinction of being one of only a handful of actors to appear in a Star Trek feature and all the new Star Trek TV series. His other television credits in Los Angeles included "The West Wing," "Boston Legal," "Six Feet Under," "Big Love," "Brothers and Sisters," and "Desperate Housewives."

In 2012 Thomas returned to New York City. Since his return he has appeared on "Messiah," "House Of Cards," "Blue Bloods," "The Last O.G.," "Madame Secretary," "MacGyver," "Code Black," "The Good Wife," "The Blacklist," "Person Of Interest," "Zero Hour," "666 Park Avenue," "White Collar," and the Gregory Brothers’ pilot. He has had recurring roles on "Sneaky Pete," "Odd Mom Out," "Eye Candy," "Turn," "The Knick," and "Jessica Jones."

Thomas also had the pleasure of returning as Assistant Secretary of State Bob Slatterly on a "West Wing" special to benefit When We All Vote, and appearing on "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" as the Catheter Cowboy.

Thomas is happy to be returning to Coal Country and working with the Public Theater again after appearing in Coriolanus at the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park.

MICHAEL LAURENCE(Tommy)

Theater credits include Coal Country (The Public); Talk Radio, Desire Under The Elms (Broadway); Appropriate (Signature); The Few (Rattlestick); Opus, The Morini Strad, Discord (Primary Stages); Poison (Origin); Havel: Passion of Thought (PTP/Atlantic II); John Proctor in The Crucible (Hartford); Starbuck in The Rainmaker (Arena); Good People (Huntington); Genet’s Splendid’s (La Colline, Paris). TV: "Shades of Blue," "The Blacklist," "FBI International," "Dexter: New Blood," "Evil," "Prodigal Son," "Damages," "The Heart, She Holler," "The Good Wife," "L&O: SVU," "Elementary," "Person of Interest." He is also the playwright/performer of Hamlet in Bed (Rattlestick) and Krapp, 39 (Drama Desk nomination, Soho Playhouse NYC, also London/ Dublin/Edinburgh). michaellaurence.net

DEIRDRE MADIGAN(Judy)

Broadway: Hillary and Clinton, Sweat, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Off Broadway: Coal Country, Exit Strategy, Major Crimes. Regional: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Other Desert Cities (Bucks County); Exit Strategy (Philadelphia Theatre Company); And A Nightingale Sang (Westport Country Playhouse); Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Two River Theater); The Little Foxes, God of Carnage (Pittsburgh Public Theater). TV: "Kevin Can F**k Himself," "Chicago Med," "New Amsterdam," "F.B.I.," "The O.A.," "Daredevil," all "L&O"s.

CARL PALMER(Stanley "Goose")

Off-Broadway: The Skin Game (Mint), Our Town (Transport Group). Regional: Alabama Story and The Cake (St. Louis Rep), To Kill A Mockingbird (Alabama Shakespeare Fest), Richard III (Shakespeare Theatre), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Milwaukee Rep). Film: Killers of the Flower Moon, Just Mercy, 99 Homes, Dallas Buyers Club. TV: “Bloodline,” “Fear The Walking Dead,” “Women of the Movement,” “The Staircase,” “Rectify,” “Roots,” “The Sopranos.”

ADESOLA OSAKALUMI(Movement Director)

Broadway: Skeleton Crew, Fela!, Equus. Off Broadway: Cullud Wattah, Coal Country, Othello (Public Theater), runboyrun, Eyewitness Blues (NYTW), Syncing Ink (Flea Theater), Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater), Jam on the Groove (Minetta Lane), Fela! Regional: In Your Arms. Film and TV Credits: Red Pill, Ibrahim, Sex and the City 2, Enchanted, Across the Universe, School of Rock, “Ice.” Osakalumi is a Bessie Award recipient and Drama Desk nominee. adesola.com

RICHARD HOOVER(Set Design)

Recent theatrical works include Coal Country (Public Theater); Cleo (for Bob Balaban and the Houston Alley Theater); Body of an American (Hartford Stage and the Cherry Lane); Babylon Line (Lincoln Center); The 39 Steps (Guthrie Theater); Bombshells (Milwaukee Rep); Accidental Blonde (Iama Theater); The Seven (for Jo Bonney at La Jolla); The Glass Menagerie (Guthrie Theater); Seven Guitars directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Signature Theater); Eve Ensler’s The Treatment directed by Leigh Silverman (Culture Project); Suburbia (Second Stage); The Seven for Jo Bonney at the New York Theatre Workshop; 1984 for Tim Robbins (The Actors' Gang); Hamlet and Death of a Salesman for Joe Dowling and the Guthrie Theater; After the Fall for Michael Mayer at the Roundabout Theatre; A Beautiful Child for Terry Kinney at the Vineyard Theater; After the Fall at the Roundabout Theatre; Embedded for Tim Robbins at the Public Theater; The Thing About Men for Mark Clements at the Promenade Theater; Not About Nightingales directed by Trevor Nunn at Circle in the Square (1999 Drama Desk, Outer Critics’ Circle, and Tony Awards) and the Royal National Theatre (1998 London Evening Standard, London Critics’ Circle Award and Olivier Award nomination); Bat Boy directed by Scott Schwartz at the Union Square Theater (2001 Drama Desk Award nomination); The Tempest at McCarter Theatre; The Fifth of July at Signature Theatre; Speaking in Tongues at Roundabout Theatre; The Idiot at Manhattan Ensemble Theatre; Twelfth Night directed by Joe Dowling at the Guthrie Theatre; Trojan Women directed by Liz Diamond at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and House Arrest directed by Jo Bonney at The Public Theater.

Production design works Include Safety (Reginald Hudlin/Disney); "The Plot Against America" (David Simon, HBO); Brad’s Status (Mike White, Paramount); The Last Word (Mark Pellington); Marshall (Reginald Hudlin); McFarland, USA (Niki Caro, Disney); Top Five (Chris Rock); 42, The Jackie Robinson Story (Brian Helgeland, Warner Brothers); "Newsroom" (Aaron Sorkin, HBO); "Enlightened" (Mike White, HBO); Temple Grandin (Mick Jackson, HBO); Soul Men (Malcolm Lee, Paramount); Henry Poole Is Here (Mark Pellington, Lakeshore Ent); Loss of the Tear Drop Diamond (Jodie Markell, Fox Searchlight); North Country (Niki Caro, Warner Brothers); Girl Interrupted (Jim Mangold, Columbia Pictures); Live From Baghdad (Mick Jackson, HBO); The Cradle Will Rock, Dead Man Walking and Bob Roberts for Tim Robbins; Payback (Brian Helgeland, Paramount); Apt Pupil (Bryan Singer, Paramount); Ed Wood (Tim Burton, Touchstone, Disney); Torch Song Trilogy (Paul Bogart, United Artists); Mothman Prophesies (Mark Pellington, Paramount); "Twin Peaks" (David Lynch, Mark Frost, ABC); Fail Safe (George Clooney, CBS Live); "Heat Wave" (ABC); Family of Spies (Stephen Gyllenhaal); as well as several music videos Including Bruce Springsteen’s "Lonesome Day," George Harrison’s "The Traveling Wilburys," and pilots Including "Numbers," and "Entourage."

JESSICA JAHN(Costume Design)

A graduate of Rutgers University, with degrees in both Dance and Psychology, Jessica Jahn danced professionally in NYC before beginning a career in design. She has had the opportunity to work with directors such as Tina Landau, Tommy Kail, Francesca Zambello, Charles Randolph Wright, Tazewell Thompson, Liesl Tommy, Diane Paulus and Jessica Blank, as well as writers/composers Charles Fuller, Nora Ephron, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Kevin Puts, Jake Heggie, Steve Earle, Tracy K. Smith, Mark Campbell and Charles Busch. Known for her work in the traditional repertoire, she is also dedicated to innovative work within her field. Jessica collaborated on one of the earliest performances of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In The Red and Brown Water, directed by Tina Landau. She designed Blue, written by Tazewell Thompson and composed by Jeanine Tesori, winner of the MCANA Award for Best New Opera, and worked with Jessica Blank, Eric Jensen and Steve Earle on The Public’s world premiere of Coal Country. She was awarded both the Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk for her design of Charles Busch’s The Confession of Lily Dare. Jessica’s dedication to racial and social justice is based on her lived experience as a black woman, and she takes a holistic approach to her work through the lens of equity. Currently, she is a member of the steering committees of Opera America’s Women’s Opera Network (WON) and Racial Justice Opera Network (RJON), as well as the Opera America Board's Membership Committee. She served as the inaugural chair to the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee at the Glimmerglass Festival and was the coordinator for their equity initiatives. She finds particular enthusiasm for her work with The Open Stage Project and Children of Promise NYC, organizations that provide mentorships and empower young people. Jessica is also an Adjunct Costume Design Professor with Brandeis University’s Theatre Arts Department, as well as Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

DAVID LANDER(Lighting Design)

Broadway: The Lightning Thief…, Torch Song, The Heiress with Jessica Chastain, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams, 33 Variations with Jane Fonda, I Am My Own Wife, among others. Off Broadway: Aftermath and Liberty City directed by Jessica Blank (NYTW); Love, Love, Love with Amy Ryan and Richard Armitage (Roundabout); The Library directed by Steven Soderbergh (Public); King Lear with Kevin Kline (Public), Macbeth with Liev Schreiber (NYSF), Fran’s Bed with Mia Farrow (Playwrights), The Tempest with Sam Waterston (NYSF), among many others. Awards: 2 Tony Award nominations, 5 Drama Desk Award nominations - 1 win, among many others.

DARRON WEST(Sound Design)

He is a Tony and Obie Award-winning sound designer whose 32-year career spans theater and dance, Broadway and Off Broadway. His work has been heard in over 650 productions all over the United States and internationally in 15 countries. Additional honors include the Drama Desk, Lortel, Audelco and Princess Grace Foundation Statue Awards, among many others.

AUDIBLE THEATER (Producer)

Audible Theater makes outstanding performances and powerful storytelling available to millions of people all over the world. As part of this initiative, Audible has produced Girls & Boys with Carey Mulligan, The Half-Life of Marie Curie with Kate Mulgrew, Harry Clarke starring Billy Crudup, Billy Crystal’s Have A Nice Day with Annette Bening and Kevin Kline, the revival of Aasif Mandvi’s Sakina’s Restaurant, and many others at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. In May 2018, Audible announced that the Minetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village will serve as its creative home for live performances in New York. Audible hosts and produces a wide variety of live performances at the Minetta Lane including dramatic plays, comedic shows, engaging panel discussions, and more, with Audible members receiving exclusive access to discounted tickets and related audio content.

Audible was co-producer for the Broadway transfer of the Tony Award-nominated Latin History for Morons written by and starring John Leguizamo and for the Tony Award-nominated Sea Wall /A Life starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge. The initiative also saw the release of John Lithgow’s Stories By Heart, Judith Light’s All The Ways To Say I Love You, Sharon Washington’s Feeding The Dragon, and more. Since June 2017, Audible has commissioned 40 theater playwrights to receive support from its $5 million Emerging Playwrights Fund dedicated to developing innovative English-language works from around the globe. The $5 million fund enables the creation of original plays driven by language and voice, keeping with Audible’s core commitment to elevating listening experiences through powerful performances and extraordinary vocal storytelling.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible content includes more than 600,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers.

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Producer)

The Public continues the work of its visionary founder Joe Papp as a civic institution engaging, both on-stage and off, with some of the most important ideas and social issues of today. Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation’s first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public’s wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City’s five boroughs, Public Forum, Under the Radar, Public Lab, Public Works, Public Shakespeare Initiative, and Joe’s Pub. Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda andGirl From the North Country. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 184 Obie Awards, 55 Drama Desk Awards, 58 Lortel Awards, 34 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, 58 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes. publictheater.org