Walter DeShields is an Artist and Educator born and raised in South Philly.  Walter is recognized for his performance career as well as his public health career in Philadelphia. It is the nearly two decades in service, mentorship and educational leadership which are at the core of his work and values.

Walter has been committed to moving our community forward and being responsible for bringing arts and activism to the Philadelphia community.  As a collaborator with Public Health Management Corporation, Communities In Schools of Philadelphia, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Education Fund, Walter has created sustainable programming and cultivated special relationships that have built the foundation of his arts activism.

As a theater and film actor, Walter is Co-founder and Co-Artistic Director for Theater in the X; a professional  theater company created in 2013 to provide residents of West Philadelphia and the Black community at large the opportunity to see professional quality theater in their own neighborhood for no cost. Recent onstage performances include Beast of Nubia, Egoli, Sweat and Swallowing Dark.  In addition, recent film performances include “The Line,” “Without You,” “3 Women,” and “If it Aint Got that Swing.” In addition, Walter works as a Lead Facilitator and sexual health educator for a theater-based sexual health intervention called BrotherSpeak with young black men in Philadelphia and as a Theater Professor at Drexel University.

Alyssandra Docherty is a Philadelphia-based lighting designer. After graduating with honors and a BA in Theatre from DeSales University, she continued her training as an apprentice at Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut. She spent five seasons as the Lighting Supervisor at Philadelphia Theatre Company, and has been touring internationally with Koresh Dance Company since 2013 and with BalletX since 2017. Aly’s designs have been seen in Theatre Exile’s On The Exhale, Delaware Theatre Company’s A Christmas Carol, Hattiloo Theatre’s The Parchman Hour, Theatre Horizon’s The Color Purple, and Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Sweat, among others.  Her work has been recognized with Barrymore and Ostrander Award nominations. www.alyssandradocherty.com

Kimberly S. Fairbanks: Recent credits include – Theatre: Internationally:  I Will Speak for Myself (Edinburgh Fringe Festival); Off Broadway: I Will Speak for Myself (59E59 Theater); The Mecca Tales (Sheen Center); Regional: Dance Nation (The Wilma Theater), Sweat (Philadelphia Theatre Company) Sanctions (World Premiere/Delaware Theatre Company), I Will Speak for Myself (Eugene O’Neill Foundation), Sing the Body Electric (Theatre Exile), Human Rites (InterAct Theatre), Passing Strange (The Wilma Theater); Film/Television: Glass, The Upside, Instinct, Madam Secretary, The Looming Tower, Delco Proper, House of Cards and The Family. Kimberly is a National Partners American Theatre Classical Acting Award Recipient and a Barrymore Award Nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical.

Sarah Gliko is an actor/musician and proud member of the Wilma HotHouse where past productions include: Describe the Night, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, Passage, Blood Wedding, Constellations (Barrymore Nomination-Lead Performance), When The Rain Stops Falling (Barrymore Award-Ensemble),  the U.S. premiere of Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem, Antigone, Hamlet, and the world premiere of Paula Vogel’s Don Juan Comes Home from Iraq. Sarah has recently appeared in Delaware Theatre Company’s all female A Christmas Carol, and alongside Bebe Neuwirth in Philadelphia Theatre Company’s A Small Fire. Other credits include: Bridges of Madison County (Barrymore Award-Lead Performance/Philadelphia Theatre Co.); Untitled Project 213 (Greenside @Infirmary St, Edinburgh); The Arsonists (Azuka Theatre); The Secret Garden, Parade (Barrymore Nomination-Supporting Performance), Charlotte’s Web (Arden Theatre Co.); My Dinner With Dito (Bearded Ladies Cabaret); The Screwtape Letters, The Liar (Lantern Theater Co.); The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Baskerville, Love Story (Walnut St. Theatre); Pumpgirl (Inis Nua Theatre); and John & Jen (Act II Playhouse). She is the grateful recipient of a 2019 Independence Foundation Fellowship Award.

J Hernandez has worked in the Philly area for the past 8 years. Companies he’s worked with in this region include Philadelphia Theatre Co, Arden Theatre, Lantern Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Quintessence Theatre Group, Delaware Shakespeare, Philadelphia Artists Collective, Philadelphia Shakespeare, Hedgerow Theatre, Commonwealth Classic, and Tiny Dynamite. As far as working during the pandemic, J worked with PTC in Days of Re-Creation, Macbeth/Midsummer with Lantern Theatre, and Rosmersholm/Danton’s Death with Quintessence, took part in Arizona Theatre Co’s RomeroFest, all virtually, and he’s hoping to be back on stage in 21/22 with Shakespeare in Clark Park and InterAct Theatre Company.