An original visual and verbal performance about the experience of girlhood in America.
Feb 25, 2024 at 2:00pm
HB Playwrights Theatre
124 Bank Street, New York
Created in Collaboration with
Maria Isabel Castillo, LaTrisa Harper, Amanda McDowall, Jacqueline Raymond Wegman
Featuring Cynthia Allen , Fatimata Bah, N’Nanfadima Barry, Paige Chambers, Arabella McGinn Cruz, Aminatah Diallo, Audrey Farng, Ivy Johnson-Tejada, Nala Lopez, Vera Portlock-Letiecq, Kataleya St Fleur, and Grace Valera
Voice Over Cyprozz Otieno
Stage Manager Maria Isabel Castillo
Lighting Design Katie Hong
Set Design Blair Wear
Sound Design Ash
Videographer Olander Wilson
Maria Isabel Castillo (Stage Manager), she/her, is a Dominican-American artist who earned her BA from Muhlenberg College, where she double majored in Theatre and English-Passionate about the arts, she focuses on acting, modeling, teaching, activism, and creative writing, while using fashion as a form of self-expression. More recently, Maria Isabel was a part of Spotify’s 2023 Wrapped Ad Campaign and has gone on to work as a Teaching Artist/Internship Coordinator for Apollo Theater and Assistant Teaching Artist for Ping Chong & Company. Maria Isabel graduated from Harlem School of the Arts Conservatory Theater Prep in 2020 and has trained with The Barrow Group. In addition to her extensive performance work, Maria Isabel feels content to be working with IGE and looks forward to collaborating with young minds to create work that builds confidence through the power of storytelling in the arts! IG @themariaisabel
LaTrisa Harper (Choreographer/ Movement) Broadway: Color Purple (u/s Nettie, Squeak), Lion King(Cheetah). 1st National Tours: Motown (Mary Wells, Gwen Gordy), Color Purple (u/s Nettie, Squeak) Regional: Matilda The Musical (Miss. Honey), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Brenda), The Wiz, Center Stage; A.R.T. Witness Uganda, Off Broadway: Invisible Thread, 2nd Stage, Plays: On Strivers Row (Cobina). Workshops: Beehive on Broadway with Debbie Allen. Short Films: Staying Power, What Happened to Girls Night. Was a member of Ailey II. B.F.A. Towson State University.
Amanda McDowall (IGE Co-Founder and Co Executive Director) is a Queens, NY native, has been involved in the arts scene all of her life. From attending Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria Queens to attending the University at Buffalo where she received her BFA in Theatre Performance. Since returning to NYC some of her most notable credits are New York Theatre Workshop, 54 Below and NJPAC. In addition to being a performer Amanda has worked as a Costume Supervisor at venues such as the Juilliard School, The New York Philharmonic and The Met Museum’s Live Arts Series to name a few. Amanda has been a teaching artist for many years working at Harlem School of the Arts and Red Bull Theatre, and in 2016 she co founded International Girls Ensemble (IGE), which encourages leadership and community building through theatre making. IGE has allowed Amanda to teach internationally and helped to create global and sustainable arts programming. To help strengthen and grow IGE, Amanda returned to school and received her MA in Arts Administration from Baruch College.
Jacqueline Raymond Wegman (IGE Co-Founder and Co Executive Director) is a professional actor, theatre practitioner, and teaching artist who has taught, performed, and created educational theatre programs in New York City, Romania, Italy, Thailand, and Cambodia. As an actor, Jacqueline is a member of both Actor’s Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA; she has studied at The Neighborhood Playhouse, Barrow Group, and with Broadway veteran Deborah Hedwall. Jacqueline has appeared in commercials, television, and film, with credits in regional theatre and Off Broadway. As a theatre educator and practitioner Jacqueline has taught and created theatre in a multitude of settings including: conservatory and college, non profit cultural organizations, international migrant communities and in public schools throughout New York City. She is Co- founder and Co-Executive Director of the non profit International Girls Ensemble (501c3) where she has created and facilitated theatre empowerment curriculum and programs for identifying girls in Southeast Asia since 2016 and in the U.S. In August 2022 Jacqueline was invited with IGE, to present in Oslo, Norway at the International Teaching Artist Conference (ITAC) on “Joyful Theatre Making Through a Trauma Informed Lens”. Her work and area of interest is using theatre as a tool for social justice, anti-racism, and gender equity. Jacqueline holds an MSEd in Educational Theatre from The City College of New York and a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University at Buffalo. To learn more visit www.JacquelineWegman.com.
International Girls Ensemble (IGE), champions the voices of girls and women both onstage and in the community through educational theatre. Founded in 2018 by Amanda McDowall and Jacqueline Raymond Wegman, after a volunteer trip to Thailand. Since the inaugural trip; IGE has been providing theatre workshops for in and after school programs, community based organisations, and public projects throughout NYC and internationally (Thailand, Cambodia, and Kenya). Our participant driven theatre making encourages leadership, confidence, public speaking, collaboration, creative thinking and so much more. IGE continues to grow its International programming through our Female Ambassador staff members who are selected women from the International communities we serve; mentored and compensated to facilitate IGE workshops in their home communities.
