How to Raise a Freeman

Aric Floyd is an actor and composer based in California. He was honored to originate the role of MARCUS in the 2017 premiere of “How To Raise A Freeman” in Los Angeles (Ammunition Theatre Company), and has since reprised the role in the 2018 workshop (Center Theatre Group), the 2021 live virtual reading (Play-PerView) and now this latest production from Bard at the Gate. He has appeared regularly in Rogue Machine Theatre productions, including “Insulted. Belarus(sia)” (2020), “Gunshot Medley” (2019), and the Los Angeles premiere of Lorraine Hansberry’s “Les Blancs”, part of RMT’s Ovation Award-winning 2017 season. Other stage credits include “On Sugarland” (Soho Rep), “The Life of Galileo” (Cleveland Play House), “A Raisin in the Sun” (CPH, Arizona Theatre Company), “Caroline, Or Change” (Karamu House), “The Wild Goose Chase” (American Shakespeare Center), and “Nine” (Cain Park). On television, Aric can be seen on Ballers (HBO); Days of our Lives (NBC); and as a series regular on Versus (Awesomeness). His most recent feature films include Doors; Empire Waist; and Playing with Beethoven, in which he starred in the lead role of Josh Irving, a young concert pianist, while performing the movie’s soundtrack live on set.

Aric was born and raised in Cleveland, OH alongside his sister, television actress and musician Alexis Floyd. He is currently pursuing a B.A. in Physics at Stanford University, and is highly involved in the Effective Altruism community.

Ben Horwitz is an actor, writer, and musician who graduated from Stella Adler Studio of Acting Conservatory in 2014.   He has appeared in several Los Angeles theatrical productions including ‘Picnic’ written by William Inge, directed by Cameron Watson at Antaeus Theatre Company & ‘Dry Land’ written by Ruby Rae Spiegel, directed by Alana Dietze at Echo Theatre Company and Center Theatre Group.  He is very grateful for the oppurtunity to be working on ‘How To Raise a Freeman’ again with this incredible cast.

Veanne Cox has performed on  Broadway in 'An American in Paris', 'Caroline or Change', 'A Free Man of Color', 'La Cage Aux Folles', 'The Dinner Party', 'Company' and 'Smile'. She has received Tony and Emmy nominations and has received Obie and Drama Desk Awards. She was recently seen in 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel', 'Bull', 'NCIS New Orleans', 'New Amsterdam' and the re-release of Cinderella on Disney+ and Seinfeld on Netflix, and she can be seen in two comedy web series 'Indoor Boys' and 'Cady Did'. She has worked extensively Off- Broadway and in Regional Theatres across the country. Especially at the Shakespeare Theatre Co. in DC where she has received Helen Hayes award Nominations.  Her other film and TV credits include: Louie, Smash, Pan Am, Erin Brockovich, Big Eden, You've Got Mail, Marci X, Beethoven's 4th, Odd Mom Out, and Two Broke Girls. She can be seen in the upcoming film 'Summoning Sylvia' by Alex Wyse and Wesley Taylor.

FRANCOIS BATTISTE is known for his roles on Broadway as Reggie Jackson in Bronx Bombers (Circle in the Square); Magic/Bird (Long Acre); and Prelude to a Kiss (Roundabout). He was also featured in the 2019/20 Broadway National Tour of August Wilson’s TONY Award-winning production of Jitney. His London credits include: One Night in Miami (Donmar Warehouse), which received the 2016 Olivier nomination for Best Play. Francois is an OBIE award-winner, and Lortel nominee for his performance in The Good Negro (Public Theatre), other select Off-Broadway credits include: Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre); Head of Passes starring Phylicia Rashad and Detroit ’67 (Public Theatre); The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and The Winter’s Tale (New York’s Shakespeare in the Park, Delacorte Theater); and Zakiyah Alexander’s 10 Things to Do Before I Die (Second Stage). Regionally, he has worked at Sundance, the Mark Taper Forum, The Old Globe, Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, Dallas Theatre Center, Arena Stage, NY Stage & Film; Williamstown; Chicago Shakespeare; Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, and The Goodman. His television include: series regular on ABC’s Ten Days in the Valley starring Kyra Sedgewick, Station 19, and The Family with Joan Allen; HBO’s The Normal Heart; CBS’s Person of Interest, The Good Wife, and Evil. Are We There Yet? on TBS. Training: The Julliard School, The British American Drama Academy. He also earned his B.S. at Illinois State University, where he was recently inducted into their Fine Arts Hall of Fame. This fall he will be performing at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 5-time TONY Award winning production of A Christmas Carol adapted by Jack Thorne, and directed by Matthew Warchus.

Jaime Lincoln Smith has been seen on Broadway in HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME, Shakespeare in the Park: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Off Broadway: PIPELINE, PASS OVER, SEED, BIRTHRIGHT, etc. TV/FILM: BULL, NEW AMSTERDAM, NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, BLUE BLOODS, THE DEUCE, etc. Jaime is glad to have had the opportunity to work with this group of amazing artists!

Malcolm Barrett is a veteran stage and screen actor who most recently can be seen in the Emmy-nominated series GENIUS: ARETHA FRANKLIN. Known for shows like THE BOYS, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, THE SOPRANOS, BETTER OFF TED, PREACHER & TIMELESS, he’s also made numerous film appearances in movies like Tom Hanks’ LARRY CROWNE, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, PEEPLES, and the Academy-Award winning THE HURT LOCKER. More recent credits include Disney Plus' JUST BEYOND and Shudder’s HORROR NOIRE. A former Nuyorican Poetry Team member, he also wrote, produced, and lead in BRAIN PROBLEMS, which was nominated for an Ovation award for writing, produced by Ammo Theatre of which he is a founder and former Artistic Director. He is also an Ovation-Award-winning actor for the play, The Recommendation. The next play he wrote, with Ameenah Kaplan (The Lion King tour, dir.), Memphis Jookin’ - The Show, featuring international dance star Lil Buck, starts its national tour at the Orpheum in February.

Actor Michelle Wilson weaves unapologetic truth and often magic into her roles on screen and stage.  She's featured in the Emmy winning Apollo Theater documentary, and participated in the HBO Special of  Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me. She may be seen on the big screen as Sarita in Premature of Sundance Film Festival acclaim, as Pollok in The True Adventures of Wolfboy alongside Jaeden (Lieberher) Martell and John Turturro, and in The Rest of Us as Staci’s Mom.  In her most recent stage appearance at the New York Theatre Workshop in its’acclaimed production of The House That Will Not Stand, she called on spirits as the other-worldly Marie Josephine.  Michelle, however, is best known for her work in Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat.  Wilson originated the role of factory worker Cynthia at The Public Theatre where the show was extended several times before moving to Broadway and receiving three Tony Award nominations including Best Play and the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role for Michelle.   Waking from a 6-year coma, Wilson wields powers as Sara Jordan in Steven Speilberg’s Amazing Stories, Signs of Life episode.  Her other notable tv appearances include Bull, The Good Fight, Blue Bloods, Madame Secretary, and more.  More of the many theatre credits nuancing her career include the Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun,  Detroit ’67, Follow Me to Nellie’s, Fahrenheit 451, Two Trains Running, The People Before the Park and others.  Michelle looks forward to the release of the Adrien Brody led film, Clean, which debuted in the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.

Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose plays include Indecent (Tony Award nomination for Best Play), How I Learned to Drive (Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, OBIE Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play), The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot’n’Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession and A Civil War Christmas. Lifetime achievement awards include: American Theatre Hall of Fame Award, the Obie Award, and NY Drama Critics Circle Award. She is honored to have three awards dedicated to emerging playwrights in her name: The American College Theatre Festival's Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting, the Paula Vogel Award given annually by the Vineyard Theatre, and the Paula Vogel Mentor’s Award by Young Playwrights of Philadelphia. She was the 2019 inaugural UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Playwright-in-Residence. She is currently serving as judge for the Yale Drama Series 2021 and 2022 competitions. Her plays are published in six volumes by TCG Press and she teaches playwriting workshops throughout the United States and abroad. www.paulavogelplaywright.com 

Reginald L. Douglas (director) is a director, producer, and advocate dedicated to creating new work and supporting new voices, and the Associate Artistic Director of Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. He has directed work at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, TheaterWorks, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, Audible, Everyman Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Arizona Theatre Company, TheatreSquared, Ford's Theatre, Playwrights' Center, Profile Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, The Kennedy Center, Cape Cod Theater Project, National New Play Network Showcase at B Street Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Cygnet Theatre, Third Rail, Luna Stage, Harlem Stage, Negro Ensemble Company, wild project, The Pershing Square Signature Center, Drama League, The Lark (where he was the Van Lier Directing Fellow), New York Theatre Workshop (where he was an inaugural 2050 Directing Fellow), and City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, where he served as the Artistic Producer from 2015-2020.   
    
Reginald has developed and directed plays and musicals by Dominique Morisseau, Cori Thomas, Angelica Chéri, Lynn Nottage, Nikkole Salter, Dael Orlandersmith, Kemp Powers, Jen Silverman, Ngozi Anyanwu, Brian Quijada, Matt Schatz, Amy Evans, Zakiyyah Alexander & Imani Uzuri, Dave Harris, Francisca Da Silveira, Khalil Kain, Chisa Hutchinson, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, Josh Wilder, Larry Powell, Kareem Fahmy, Harrison David Rivers, Donja R. Love, Herb Newsome, Craig “muMs” Grant, Korde Arrington Tuttle, a.k. payne, Jessica Dickey, Laura Brienza, Kevin R. Free, Brent Askari, Micah Ariel Watson, and several others. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the National New Play Network and is a guest lecturer at the New School and the O’Neill’s National Theater Institute. Reginald is a proud graduate of Georgetown University, a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and the recipient of the National Theatre Conference's 2020 Emerging Professional Award. www.reginalddouglas.com. 


Rosey Strub is Program Director of the Thornton Wilder Estate, and Manager for playwrights Paula Vogel and Ken Ludwig. She has worked in stage production, marketing, development and project management for a range of organizations including the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Ars Nova, National Theatre Workshop for the Handicapped, Summer Play Festival (SPF), Soho Rep, and Yale University. She has produced the Kurdish Film Festival at NYU's Kevorkian Center and an international human rights and arts festival with Peru’s Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani and Yale Repertory Theatre. Rosey holds a BFA in Single Honours Drama and Theatre Studies from University of Kent at Canterbury, UK and an MFA in Theatre Management from Yale School of Drama. 

Grant A. Rice joined DR Theatrical Management in 2013 after ten years as a General and Company Manager at Richard Frankel Productions and as a consultant for Broadway Asia.  While working with Richard Frankel he supervised the design, construction and opening of the nightclub and restaurant, 54 Below in Times Square, which has become a beloved Broadway institution. Broadway credits include Paula Vogel’s Indecent, Rock of Ages, A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, The Crucible with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Gary Sinise, Chicago with Bebe Neuwirth, Little Shop of Horrors with Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler, and Joey Fatone, The Lion King, Urban Cowboy, among others.  Mr. Rice graduated from McDaniel College with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and holds an M.F.A. in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. He is a board certified member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers, and a former board member of The League of Off Broadway Theatres and Producers.

Milan Eldridge is a stage manager, theater designer. and filmmaker who is fascinated by the ways these different disciplines can interact, inform, and influence each other. She is passionate about exploring peculiar interpretations of the world and reexamining underlying assumptions through paradigm shifts. Her recent virtual stage management work includes Cerise Jacobs’s A Survivor’s Odyssey: The Journey of Penelope and Circe (White Snake Projects), Catherine Filloux’s Under the Skin (Intar), The Manic Monologues (McCarter Theatre Center), SUGAR SKULL! A Virtual Día de Muertos Adventure (Mexico Beyond Mariachi), and Virginia Grise’s a farm for meme. Her recent theatrical editing work includes Black Picture Show (Artists Space), Seeing Rape (John Jay College), A Past Becomes a Heritage: The Negro Units of the Federal Theatre Project (Princeton University; CLASSIX), The Chinese Lady (Princeton University), and All Her Power (Princeton University). She has served as a Teaching Fellow for Trenton Youth Theater where she worked with Trenton Central High School students on developing specific skills related to theater. Milan is currently an Associate Digital Producer for MELA Arts Connect and Assistant Stage Manager for the Program in Theater at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. She is overjoyed to be a part of this season of Bard at the Gate.

ViDCo is a collection of designers innovating new ways to tell stories and create communities online. Using virtual platforms, ViDCo generates entirely live performances with heightened design elements that bridges Theatre, TV, and cinema tricks into a new online hybrid form. We strategize to use the strongest elements of every discipline to inspire the artistic community to use their tools while we provide them the platforms to tell their stories. ViDCo is formed by Jared Mezzocchi, Tori Schuchmann, Deja Collins and Shoshanah Tarkow.