Black Women Dating White Men Program

March 29-April 11

Somebody Jones & Khadifa Wong presents

BLACK WOMEN DATING WHITE MEN Written by Somebody Jones Directed by Khadifa Wong Cast

Merryl Ansah (she/her) Clara Emanuel (she/her) Risha Silvera (she/her) Arianne Carless (she/her) Christelle Belinga (she/her) About the Company We celebrate and champion Black culture by exploring stories that don’t often get told using humor and sometimes, a bit of magic.

Presented as part of 59E59 Theaters’ EAST TO EDINBURGH GOES VIRTUAL

MERRYL ANSAH

CHRISTINE BELINGA

Merryl Ansah (she/her) (Actor) has appeared in The Lion King (The Lyceum Theatre), Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket), A Christmas Carol (The Lyceum Theatre), in The Next Jessye Norman at the Tristan Bates Theatre, and in the UK and Ireland tour of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. Merryl trained at the Royal Academy of Music and graduated from the University of Bristol with a degree in Accounting and Management.

Christelle Belinga (she/ her) (Actor) trained at Company3, formally known as Islington Community Theatre before obtaining her Associates Degree at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts New York. Credits include: What Will Survive of Us at the National Theatre, Where’s My House at the Young Vic, and 12 Angry Women Off Broadway at the Roebuck Theatre.

ARIANNE CARLESS

CLARA EMANUEL

Arianne Carless (she/her) (Actor) completed her training in 2018 at Rose Bruford College in the UK, where she trained in contemporary performance, both in London and Barcelona. Since then, she has worked with physical theatre company Complicité, performing in the dance theatre piece, Everything That Rises Must Dance. In 2019, she was also involved in several new writing projects, which culminated in performances at the Southwark Playhouse and the Kings Head Theatre.

Clara Emanuel (she/her) (Actor) is a CameroonianAmerican actress, voice artist, writer, and producer.

She has appeared in several international films, TV shows, and theatre productions, including a role in Homeland Series 5 opposite Clare Danes and in the web series Nutritiously Nicola opposite Matthew Lewis. Most recently, she's provided the voice and motion capture for the lead female in the interactive video game DUSK by studio Interior Night, releasing via Microsoft in early 2021.

RISHA SILVERA Risha Silvera (she/her) (Actor) graduated from Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company in 2019, after gaining an American Studies degree from UEA. Since graduation, Risha has been busy performing in a variety of spaces across the country, including in physical theatre show (don’t) touch me with State of Flux at the Leicester CURVE, and in the new writing event PLAYSTART hosted by MonoBox at the Hampstead Theatre.

SOMEBODY JONES PLAYWRIGHT Somebody Jones (she/her) has written pieces for Company of Angeles (Short Sighted), The Hope Theatre in London (Where the Socks Go), and Jermyn Street Theatre (How I Learned To Swim).

Jones received a master’s in Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University in London and bachelor’s in Theatre from the University of Southern California. Jones’s material celebrates the charms and complexities of Black culture.

KHADIFA WONG DIRECTOR Khadifa Wong (she/ her) (Director) trained professionally in Dance at London Studio Centre. After a ten-year career in dance, she moved into producing and directing. Credits include: The Woman Who Knocked On My Door, Mondays, Luna Park (Short Film) Black Women Dating White Men and Uprooted - The Journey of Jazz Dance (Feature film).

BLACK WOMEN DATING WHITE MEN is part of 59E59 Theaters PLAYS IN PLACE season of virtual events. 59E59 Theaters was established by the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation in 2004 to grant professional space and expertise to nonprofit theater companies premiering their work in New York City. Under the leadership of Val Day, Artistic Director, and Brian Beirne, Managing Director, 59E59 Theaters presents a year-round curated program of Off Broadway plays and musicals that are nurtured and supported through highly-subsidized rental rates, as well as production, ticketing, FOH, marketing, and press support.