Straddling the Edge

wrriten by Sandra A. Daley-Sharif

directed by Kira Simring

Almeria Campbell*

Jacqueline Gregg

Nathan Hinton*

Justin Jorrell

Robert McKay*

Travis Raeburn*

Assistant Director and Stage Directions: Perri Gaffney

*Denotes members of Actors' Equity Association

Too many losses and not enough "hellos" launch Sophia on a kaleidoscopic dreamscape quest for identity. Can she maintain her balancing act to find firm ground? Or will the search itself send her over the edge?

Sandra A. Daley-Sharif (Dramatist) is an Afro-Caribbean artist, living in Harlem. She has earned her merits over twenty years as an OBIE Award winning producer, award winning playwright, director, actress, and dramaturg. She is a 2015 recipient of the Josephine Abady Award. She is pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Hunter College under the mentorship of Master-Artists-in-Residence ANNIE BAKER, BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS, ADAM BOCK, and KRISTINA SATTER. Not one, but two of her plays made it to the Kilroys List 2017.

Most recently, her short play Anonymous was produced at both The Fire This Time Festival 2018 and the EstroGenius Festival 2018. Straddling the Edge is a Barbour Award finalist. Les Fréres is a 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival finalist and a 2017 Eugene O’Neill semi-finalist. She received a SPACE on Ryder Farm Creative Residency, where she began her new play The Island Bull’s Wife. It is now complete, under the mentorship of Adam Bock. She was named a NYFA Fellowship Finalist for Playwriting. Her short play Man in the Moon was developed and presented by The Exquisite Corpse Company; Shirley and Iris was presented at the Going to the River Festival 2016 at EST, and Jake was produced at New Perspectives Theater, and most recently at Silver Spring Stage. Her choreo-poem "Genesis" was presented May 2017 at 50in50:Writing Women Into Existence, curated by Dominique Morisseau. And, her play Los Samaritanos about life at the Mexican border is being considered for development at the Arizona Theatre and being reviewed in the semi final round, for a week-long development at Women in Arizona Theatre.

Sandra’s short film "Take Flight" is being featured at this year’s Everybody Digital Film Festival and Dreams Deferred, which she wrote/directed/produced, was featured in the 2017 African American Women in Cinema Film Festival.

Kira Simring (Director) is a New York based director and theatre developer. Working primarily in new plays, Kira collaborates directly with playwrights and theatre-makers to create original works that preserve the artists’ intention and voice. Co-founding the cell with Nancy Manocherian in 2006, Kira has dedicated her years as Artistic Director towards fostering new voices in the theatre. Directing credits include the premieres of Crackskull Row by Honor Molloy (New York Times Critics’ Pick), Hard Times: An American Musical by Larry Kirwan (New York Times Critics’ Pick), and The McGowan Trilogy by Seamus Scanlon (New York and UK Premieres). Kira's work has been seen at The New Theatre Row Theatres, The Skirball Center, The Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space, The Connecticut Grand Opera, CenterStage in Baltimore and The Kino-Theatre outside of London. Kira has been granted a Shubert Fellowship and is a three-time Origin Theatre 1st Irish Festival award Winner for Best Director. She received a BA in Anthropology from Smith College and an MFA in Directing at The New School for Drama.