Gail A. Burton began her creative writing journey as a spoken word artist during the era of the Poetry Slam in MA established at the Cantab Lounge by Patricia Smith and Michael Brown who brought it from Chicago. Burton was influenced by this style of writing and expression and became a spoken word artist in cafes, bars, museums and bookstores. She was a featured poet of the Dark Room Collective a black poetry collective founded by black Harvard College undergraduates as a means of continuing the legacy of the Black Arts movement. The  structure of the choreopoem led into forays with dramatic poetry and devised theater anthology work which eventually culminated in her first traditional play entitled Muses.  Muses received a review in a special edition of the African American Review edited by theater scholar Paul Carter Harrison. Additionally, Burton received a Cambridge Peace Award for the play. She is currently a playwright in residence in the Theater and Performing Arts department at Brown University offering script development and dramaturgy for a revival production of Muses at the Leeds Theater in May 2026. Her work has been written about and reviewed in the African American Review, ArtsMedia, Proscenium, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Phoenix, Bay Windows, Bay State Banner. She is also an applied theater practitioner and Joker of theater of the oppressed at the Center for Theater and Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Kym Moore (Director/Educator/Playwright/Producer) is co-founder/co-artistic director of Antigravity Performance Project and Professor of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University. Moore’s directing style is grounded, yet imaginative. An interest in String Theory, Intersectionality, and Quantum Physics shape her approach to crafting performance. Her works are designed to reveal the multi-sensory, multi-dimensional, and mythic dimensions of reality. Moore is a highly skilled artisan and wily magician of theatrical expression. Her well-honed sense of craft and keen understanding of the materials of theater (actor, text, space, light, sound, etc.) grounds and elevates her work beyond the ordinary. Moore’s aesthetic is designed to feed all of the senses as she creates a multisensory experience for the audience that is hard to forget.

In addition to being the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Jean Appolon Expressions (JAE), Jean Appolon is a successful choreographer and master teacher based in Boston and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Appolon received his earliest training and performance opportunities in Port-au-Prince with the Viviane Gauthier Dance Company and the Folkloric Ballet of Haiti. Appolon continued his dance education in the U.S. at the Harvard and Radcliffe Dance Program (1995-1996, Boston, MA), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1996-1998, New York, NY) and the Joffrey American Ballet School (1998-2003, New York, NY), where he graduated with a B.A. from a joint degree program offered by The New School. Appolon has also performed with Elma Lewis Productions (Black Nativity), Marlene Silva, North Star Ballet Company (Fairbanks, AK), Black Door Dance Company (Miami, FL), and the Atlantic City Ballet Company. Since 2012, Jean Appolon and JAE have received funding support from The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Barr Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The National Performance Network, FOKAL, The Boston Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Cambridge Cultural Council, Eastern Bank, Haiti’s Ministry of Culture and many individual donors. Appolon has been the subject of feature articles and interviews in The Boston Globe, Dance Studio Life Magazine, World Vision Report, The Boston Haitian Reporter, Le Nouvelliste and NPR, and has received significant coverage by Haiti’s television and radio stations. Appolon is an Inductee of the Haitian Roundtable’s 1804 List of Haitian American Changemakers (2014) for his groundbreaking accomplishments in dance. Jean Appolon has been endorsed by E. Denise Simmons, Mayor of the City of Cambridge, for his positive contributions to the Cambridge community. Jean Appolon is a member of The International Association of Blacks in Dance and The Boston Dance Alliance. Jean Appolon teaches regularly at Boston Ballet, The Winsor School, and The Dance Complex (Cambridge, MA), among other locations. Beginning in 2006, Appolon conceived and has since directed a free annual summer dance course in Port-au-Prince that serves young, aspiring Haitian dancers who do not have regular access to dance training. JAE’s 2022 Summer Dance Institute will be held in two countries for the first time, in both Santo Domingo, DR and Lawrence, MA, making it possible to reach more of the company’s global students in both Hispaniola and the US.

Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, an actor, director, and theatre teacher originally from Bogotá, Colombia, is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre at Northeastern University in Boston. He is the current President of the Voice & Speech Trainers Association. Antonio trained as an actor with Teatro Libre and with Shakespeare & Company and received an MFA in Directing, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Voice, from York University, Toronto. He is a Designated Linklater Master Voice Teacher and is the author of La Liberación de la Voz Natural: El Método Linklater (UNAM, 2010).

Josie Bray brings over two decades of work as a theatre and dance artist, producer, teacher, and facilitator. She is a lead Producer on Trevor the Musical (now on Disney+) and is a former faculty member of Emerson College where she taught Movement for Actors, Improvisation, and Dance. Josie has trained Broadway actors from the casts of The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys, Beautiful, Les Miserables, Chicago and professional dancers from Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Pina Bausch, Los Angeles Ballet, The Bang Group, City Ballet of Boston, The Cleveland Ballet, Urbanity Dance Company, among others. Josie has directed and choreographed Off-Broadway and Regionally in Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, and New York, as well as at concert dance halls and universities. She worked as Assistant Director on the 2009 Broadway Revival of Ragtime. Josie’s primary focus is on New Work. She has nearly two decades of experience in devised theatre and dance production, has directed several readings and equity showcases in New York, and in 2019 was awarded the LAB grant from the Boston Foundation to create a new piece in movement theatre. Josie has nurtured the new musical, Trevor, since 2013 and shepherded it through readings in multiple cities, a premier at the Writer’s Theatre outside of Chicago, and a run in New York City in 2021. Together with Gail Burton, Josie is the recipient of NEFA's New Works New England Grant for Truth: A Biofictional Choreopoem.

TyNia René Brandon is a Charlotte, NC native now living in NYC. After completing her BFA degree in Musical Theater, she began her career performing all over the world until landing her dream job, Broadway, in 2018. The following year, she co- founded a community outreach program called The Black is Beautiful Project. That platform allowed her the opportunity to partner with Sing for Your Seniors, a non-profit organization enriching the lives of seniors through entertainment, where she held a seat on the Board of Directors for the next 5 years.  Today, Brandon continues a career on Broadway and beyond. Being seen in shows including Disney's:The Lion King and Some Like It Hot. She is excited to continue reaching and teaching communities through joining the producing team of Truth. She lives by her family motto of “Reaching Back, Moving Forward”, a lesson that the Sankofa bird symbol offers as a reminder that we can use learnings from the past to carry us to a more beautiful future.

Lindsay Garner Hostetler is thrilled to be a part of the producing team of Truth. She has spent over 15 years as a theatre and marketing professional, director, and teaching artist for various institutions including Mountain Theatre Company, Camp Merrie-Woode, Flat Rock Playhouse, Summit Charter School, and Asheville Community Theatre. She is currently on the producing and creative team of Fresh Air, a new musical set in her home of Southern Appalachia. Lindsay is passionate about bringing powerful women's stories throughout history to life, and she is delighted to be on board for this new work.

Victoria Masteller is the Associate Producer at coLAB Arts in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is a multifaceted theatremaker, educator, and administrator with a rich background spanning over twenty years in the dynamic world of theatre. Recognized as the "Swiss army knife of theatre" by a producer, Victoria’s expertise encompasses diverse roles, from crafting engaging theatre curricula to spearheading complex production projects. For the past five years, Victoria was a theatre teacher in NYC and developed a curriculum focused on developing holistic artists. Passionate about the transformative power of theatre, Victoria is dedicated to fostering inclusive and impactful programs at the intersection of community engagement, arts, education, and social justice. Victoria is committed to leveraging theatre as a catalyst for empathy, understanding, and positive change in diverse communities.