Tower Theatre Company : Changing Rays

Changing Rays

by Mauricia Lewis

Directed by Landé Belo

Wednesday 10 - Saturday 20 July, 2024

At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

**One of five plays performed together as part of Ain't I A Woman? - a theatrical initiative examining the intersection of race and gender; written, directed and produced by black women.

Photography by Pau Ros

Cast List**

Ngozi : Anoä-Kanelle Calpas
Karen : Kailee O’Sullivan

Production Team

Director : Landé Belo
Assistant Director : Eileen Gbagbo

Anoä-Kanelle Calpas is a vibrant performer whose heart beats for theatre, music, and dance. She's thrilled to make her Tower Theatre debut in Ain’t I A Woman?. In the past year, she has left her mark in several productions, including a staged reading of Gatsby & Fay with SEDOS, a pantomime, Beauty & the Beast with City Academy, and more recently in the cabaret concert DIVAS with the Festoon Theatre Company. Balancing her love for the arts with her academic pursuits, Anoä-Kanelle is currently completing her master’s degree in computer science and AI.

Kailee O’Sullivan has been a working model for two decades and although she has enjoyed working in the fashion industry, acting has always been where her heart truly lies. Born and raised in New York City and having taken various acting courses including a 2-year Meisner Technique Conservatory, she appeared in TV show Tommy. She adores singing in community and has been singing in folk music choirs for 10 years. A proud member of the queer community, Kailee believes wholeheartedly that it is incredibly important and even life-changing to have adequate representation in art and media, for any and all underrepresented groups. Ain’t I A Woman? is Kailee’s first production since moving to London, and she is deeply honoured and excited to be a part of it!

Landé Belo’s directing credits with the Tower include Fix Up (2019),I can’t breathe: being black in a time of Covid (part of the Love [and Survival] Festival) (2021), Mules (2021), Leave Taking (2022) and The Gift (2023). Her acting credits with the Tower include Francine/Lena in Clybourne Park, multiple characters in Doctor Faustus, Prudence in The House of Bernarda Alba, Pope Joan/Louise in Top Girls, Jellaby in Arcadia, Cynthia in Sweat, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Escalus in Measure for Measure. She produced In Hiding, a critically acclaimed show which premièred at the Tower Theatre in June 2023 and sold out its entire run, making it one of the most successful productions in Tower history and the first production as part of Landé’s initiative to promote black, female voices in theatre. Ain’t I A Woman? is the next instalment in this initiative.

Mauricia Lewis is a London based contemporary writer hailing from pre-gentrified Hackney. Usually dystopian themed, her work focuses on humans coexisting within technologically advanced worlds. Her short play, Admiring Ebony, was long-listed with Pint-Sized plays in 2018 , whilst her monologue Take A Stand appears in Team Angelica's Lit Anthropology of dynamic new monologues for actors from under-represented ethnicities.

	Anoä-Kanelle Calpas is a vibrant performer whose heart beats for theatre, music, and dance. She's thrilled to make her Tower Theatre debut in Ain’t I A Woman?. In the past year, she has left her mark in several productions, including a staged reading of Gatsby & Fay with SEDOS, a pantomime, Beauty & the Beast with City Academy, and more recently in the cabaret concert DIVAS with the Festoon Theatre Company. Balancing her love for the arts with her academic pursuits, Anoä-Kanelle is currently completing her master’s degree in computer science and AI.			Kailee O’Sullivan has been a working model for two decades and although she has enjoyed working in the fashion industry, acting has always been where her heart truly lies. Born and raised in New York City and having taken various acting courses including a 2-year Meisner Technique Conservatory, she appeared in TV show Tommy. She adores singing in community and has been singing in folk music choirs for 10 years. A proud member of the queer community, Kailee believes wholeheartedly that it is incredibly important and even life-changing to have adequate representation in art and media, for any and all underrepresented groups. Ain’t I A Woman? is Kailee’s first production since moving to London, and she is deeply honoured and excited to be a part of it!
	Landé Belo’s directing credits with the Tower include Fix Up (2019),I can’t breathe: being black in a time of Covid (part of the Love [and Survival] Festival) (2021), Mules (2021), Leave Taking (2022) and The Gift (2023). Her acting credits with the Tower include Francine/Lena in Clybourne Park, multiple characters in Doctor Faustus, Prudence in The House of Bernarda Alba, Pope Joan/Louise in Top Girls, Jellaby in Arcadia, Cynthia in Sweat, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Escalus in Measure for Measure. She produced In Hiding, a critically acclaimed show which premièred at the Tower Theatre in June 2023 and sold out its entire run, making it one of the most successful productions in Tower history and the first production as part of Landé’s initiative to promote black, female voices in theatre. Ain’t I A Woman? is the next instalment in this initiative.			Mauricia Lewis is a London based contemporary writer hailing from pre-gentrified Hackney. Usually dystopian themed, her work focuses on humans coexisting within technologically advanced worlds. Her short play, Admiring Ebony, was long-listed with Pint-Sized plays in 2018 , whilst her monologue Take A Stand appears in Team Angelica's Lit Anthropology of dynamic new monologues for actors from under-represented ethnicities.

		Changing Rays by Mauricia Lewis Directed by Landé Belo
		Wednesday 10 - Saturday 20 July, 2024 At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington