37th Young Playwrights Festival

ILESA DUNCAN, (DIRECTOR, Listen; You’re Like, Dead) – ILesa is the executive/producing director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago and the artistic director at Lifeline Theatre. She recently directed From The Mississippi Delta (a co-production with Lifeline and Pegasus), and co-adapted Lifeline’s spring 2022 production of Middle Passage from the National Book Award-winning novel at Lifeline Theatre. At Pegasus, she directed Jeff-Nominated productions of Eclipsed, including its remount at Theatre on the Lake in the summer 2019, Shakin the Mess Outta Misery (BTAA-award, Ensemble) and the world premiere of Rutherford’s Travels.  Other favorite credits include Neverwhere, and The Nativity with Congo Square. Duncan has worked with The Goodman, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio). The Alliance Theatre  (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). Duncan’s creative nonfiction short stories have been published (Columbia College Chicago) and she’s written poems and short stories.  For the stage, in addition to Middle Passage, Duncan co-wrote and directed Blakk Love: Storeez of A Darker Hue.

RESHMI HAZRA RUSTEBAKKE (DIRECTOR, Splashes of Paint)  Reshmi is a multi-faceted film and theater maker who develops work as a creator, director, producer, storyteller and curator. She works creatively developing new work and also directing, producing and production managing many varieties of shoots and plays. She has worked at The Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Free Street and many more. She is the co-director of critically acclaimed “BRUJOS” and director for “8,000,” “FOBia,” “The Haven,” “Ethel and Agnes,” “Geeta’s Guide to Moving On” and several more projects in development. She has her BFA from New York University, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. During her time in New York, she received the Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, as well as the Artist of Color Fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop.

ENRICO SPADA (DIRECTOR, Can’t Sleep) Enrico is a freelance director and teaching artist who returns to the Young Playwrights Festival where he directed Dead Boy Walking in 2024. Other credits include: Much Ado About Nothing at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; The Light in the Piazza, The Illusion, All’s Well That Ends Well and Kimberly Akimbo at Illinois State University and Sleeping Beauty at Illinois Shakespeare Festival. As founder and artistic director of Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park, Spada directed Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet. He received his MFA candidate from the professional directing program at Illinois State University/Illinois Shakespeare Festival and holds a B.A. in acting and theatre Education from Emerson College in Boston.

Seth Hubbard recent credits include Homegrown: An Insurrection Play and By The Way Meet Vera Stark (Station Theatre Urbana); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Centennial High School), and Newsies, She Kills Monsters and Urinetown  (Urbana High School). Seth is a Congolese-American actor and forward-focused new entertainer raised in Champaign IL.

Evan Morales is a Chicago-based actor, singer, and musician whose credits include Assassins (Theo Ubique), Into the Woods (BSU), and Skin and Bones (BSU). From Bolingbrook, IL, he received a BFA in Musical Theatre from Ball State University. Evan is thrilled to be a part of the 37th Young Playwrights Festival and is represented by Big Mouth Talent.

Ben Murphy is a Chicago-based actor whose Chicago credits include Julius Caesar (Invictus) Romeo And Juliet, Number The Stars (GreatWorks),  Give No Quarter (Stage Left), and Witch (The Understudy).  Regional credits include Guthrie Theater, Bazaar Productions, and The BAND Group.  A Minneapolis native, Ben received a BFA in Acting from Boston University and holds a Certificate in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Musical and Dramatic Art. 

William Anthony Sebastien Rose, II is a Chicago-based actor whose most recent credits include Tambo and Bones, Fences, A Mile in the Dark, The Tragedy of King Christophe, and the 35th Young Playwrights Festival.  Represented by Big Mouth Talent, William is excited to return to this year’s Festival!

Aundria TraNay is a Chicago based actor, acting coach, singer and songwriter. Recent credits include Scorpio (Perceptions Theatre), cullud wattah (US, Victory Gardens) and Lorraine (Prairie Center for the Arts). Andria holds a BFA in Acting from AMDA College of the Performing Arts NY/LA, and is represented by Lori Lins LTD. She is passionate about spreading the importance of mental health in the arts and is excited to be making her Pegasus Theatre debut! 

Hadar Zusman recently graduated from Chicago’s Second City Conservatory program. She will next star as Nadia in the upcoming feature ‘Where Sweet Dreams Die.’ Hadar received a Bachelor of Theatre and Dance Education from Seminar Hakibutsim College in Tel Aviv, Israel. Credits there include The Man Who Knew How to Fly, and the Israeli Comedy Central Film Seret Efes. She is delighted to be a part of the 37th Young Playwrights Festival! 

Josh Braden is an actor and storyteller whose recent credits include The Aliens at The Den Theater and regionally The Play That Goes Wrong (Cincinnati). Josh is thrilled to join the 37th Young playwrights Festival. Josh is originally from Cincinnati and graduated from Wheaton College.

Gabrielle Johnsen – credits include the Chicago premiere of Being Seen (Den Theater/Jeff Award), The Tempest & The Three Musketeers: An Adventure with Music (Door Shakespeare), and world premiere Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, or Off With Their Heads and On Again (Three Brothers Theatre). Upcoming is Williams Street Repertory’s Othello in the spring. She received a 2023 Best International Actor award from Prodigy Film Festival for “Capital Games” (False Take Films).

Kyle Johnson  – a New York state native and recent Chicago implant, Kyle is beyond honored to be joining Pegasus Theatre for the Young Playwrights Festival! Chicago credits include: GayCard at PrideArts and Merrily We Roll Along at Blank Theatre Company! “If the future depends on stories, then our future looks bright indeed.”-Pawan Mishra

Diego Rivera-Rodriguez – recent credits include Cabaret, Everybody, and Musings of Fire. He graduated from the University of Kansas with bachelors in theatre performance, as well as film production. Diego is excited to be a part of the 37th Young Playwrights Festival, his first show in Chicago. He is represented by Big Mouth Talent.