Event Program
All Write!
ALL WRITE!
FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024 | 11AM
EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL
Hosted by Madeline Cohen
STORIES BY STUDENTS FROM COMMUNITY-BASED LITERACY PROGRAMS
READINGS BY
Crystal Dickinson, Philip Estrera, Nathan Hinton, and Dawn Akemi Saito
THE READINGS
I Remember by Priscila Sosa
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, Family Support Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Two Friends in Beautiful Varadero Beach by Nelson Frontela
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Philip Estrera
I Am From by Ningdan Xu
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, Family Support Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Friends by Anna Hong
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Smile by Lily Garcia
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Nathan Hinton
Mother by Lisethe Bedoya
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
A Worn Down Leather-Bound Journal by Fernanda Vaccaro
Lehman College Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
A Way Out by Saraelle Gilles
Brooklyn College Adult Literacy Program
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
It’s Never Too Late to Acquire Knowledge by Anabel Then
Queens Public Library Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
My Son by Natiangue Diaby
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
My Teenager by Seta Sylla
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
A Light That Brightened My Life by Jinyun Jiang
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone Family Support Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
I Saw a Persecuted Man Jump Down by Sizai (Simon) Weng
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Where I’m From by Mohammad Abdul
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
January 12th, 2010: An Unforgettable Day by Imelda Cadet
Queens Public Library Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Where I’m From by Prava Adhikari
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
The America I Know by Michelle Chen
Queens Public Library Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Home, Sweet Home by Yevhenii Matkovskyi
Shorefront YM-YWHA
Performed by Philip Estrera
To Ukraine by Zoriana Maiba
SUNY Syracuse EOC
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Silence is… by Nooreldeen Mettawa
Commonpoint Queens – The Hub
Performed by Nathan Hinton
Music by Felipa Fabian
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, Family Support Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
An Unforgettable Experience on the BX28 Paul Ave to Coop City by Rebecca Atakplatsi
Lehman College Adult Learning Center
Performed by The Company
My First Love by Dimitry Vilmenay
Queens Public Library Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
The Man of the Bicycle by Thierno Mamadou Samba Diallo
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
My Immigration by Yu Qin Chan
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Message from Underwater by Dawlat Elabasi
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Me, Myself and I by Marina Dovenko
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone Family Support Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
The Future by Karim Sare
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estera
I’m Here Now by Aissatou Soumah
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
What to Write? by Karma Lhaki
Commonpoint Queens – The Hub
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
IBM by Christopher Jerome
Brooklyn College Adult Literacy Program
Performed by Philip Estrera
While the Book Is Closed by Hanna Lipatova
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Fairy Tails by Irina Nifantova
Shorefront YM-YWHA
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
School by Adeline Desert
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Because of School by Fatoumata Doukoure
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
The Memory of a Leaf by Hongyuan Yang
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Snowflake by Stacie Gorbacheva
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Winter Night by Sandra Xique
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Philip Estrera
Spring by Rasmata Sinare
NYC Department of Education Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Dad’s Barford by Sophonia McKenzie
Lehman College Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
Family by Jerome Beasley
SUNY Syracuse EOC
Performed by Nathan Hinton
Few Memories of Childhood by Hari B. Pachabhaiya
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Hair by Mariangeliz Santiago
SUNY Syracuse EOC
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Where Is My Heart? by Lo Paochu
NYC Department of Education Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
I Should Have Hugged My Mexico More by Fabian Sebastian Jose Jimenez
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone Family Support Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
The Performers (in alphabetical order)
Madeline Cohen
Madeline Cohen is the Director of Symphony Space’s adult literacy program, All Write! She held the position of Education Director at Symphony Space from 1989 - 2022, and has been working in arts education for 47 years as a teaching artist, staff development leader, administrator, and consultant at Lincoln Center Institute, United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, among others. In addition, she is a costume designer.
Madeline Cohen is the Director of Symphony Space’s adult literacy program, All Write! She held the position of Education Director at Symphony Space from 1989 - 2022, and has been working in arts education for 47 years as a teaching artist, staff development leader, administrator, and consultant at Lincoln Center Institute, United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, among others. In addition, she is a costume designer.
Crystal Dickinson
Crystal Dickinson won the Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2012 production of Clybourne Park. She subsequently appeared in You Can’t Take It With You on Broadway in 2014, A Raisin in the Sun, Seven Guitars, and Wine in the Wilderness at Two River Theater, Lessons in Survival at the Vineyard Theatre, and The Low Road and Cullud Wattah at The Public Theater. Her film and television credits include The Accidental Wolf, I Origins, The Good Wife, Feed the Beast, New Amsterdam, and recurring roles on The CHI and For Life. Dickinson has taught at Stella Adler Studio, Spelman College, Pace University, Princeton University, the Juilliard School, NYU, University of Illinois, and Seton Hall. In June, Dickinson will star in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at Two River Theater.
Crystal Dickinson won the Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2012 production of Clybourne Park. She subsequently appeared in You Can’t Take It With You on Broadway in 2014, A Raisin in the Sun, Seven Guitars, and Wine in the Wilderness at Two River Theater, Lessons in Survival at the Vineyard Theatre, and The Low Road and Cullud Wattah at The Public Theater. Her film and television credits include The Accidental Wolf, I Origins, The Good Wife, Feed the Beast, New Amsterdam, and recurring roles on The CHI and For Life. Dickinson has taught at Stella Adler Studio, Spelman College, Pace University, Princeton University, the Juilliard School, NYU, University of Illinois, and Seton Hall. In June, Dickinson will star in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at Two River Theater.
Philip Estrera
Philip Estrera is a NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse, and Monstress at the American Conservatory Theater. He appeared in the Sesame Street Thanksgiving special as Anton the bus driver, which introduced the first Asian American puppet to the series. He can be seen in episodes of Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Philip Estrera is a NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse, and Monstress at the American Conservatory Theater. He appeared in the Sesame Street Thanksgiving special as Anton the bus driver, which introduced the first Asian American puppet to the series. He can be seen in episodes of Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Nathan Hinton
Nathan Hinton began his professional career at the Joseph Papp Public Theater and has played major and supporting roles with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC; Pittsburgh Public Theater; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Triad Stage; Berkeley Rep; Dallas Theatre Center; the Huntington; Rattlestick Playwrights Theater; and The Working Theater. He was a member of the first national touring company of Angels in America and won the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre as part of the ensemble of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out with the Philadelphia Theatre Company. His film and television credits include Madam Secretary, Manifest, The Code, FBI: Most Wanted, Walking Home: A Survival Guide, The Equalizer, and Evil. Hinton is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
Nathan Hinton began his professional career at the Joseph Papp Public Theater and has played major and supporting roles with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC; Pittsburgh Public Theater; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Triad Stage; Berkeley Rep; Dallas Theatre Center; the Huntington; Rattlestick Playwrights Theater; and The Working Theater. He was a member of the first national touring company of Angels in America and won the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre as part of the ensemble of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out with the Philadelphia Theatre Company. His film and television credits include Madam Secretary, Manifest, The Code, FBI: Most Wanted, Walking Home: A Survival Guide, The Equalizer, and Evil. Hinton is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
Dawn Akemi Saito
Dawn Akemi Saito is an actor, writer, director, and teacher whose credits include Insects in Heat, Suns Are Suns, Blood Cherries, HA, Knock on the Sky, Suicide Forest, Hiroshima Maiden, Arden/Ardennes, My House Is Collapsing Toward One Side, and Deshima. Her multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Walker Art Center, Orpheum Theatre in Austria, the Whitney Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theater Workshop, LaMaMa, New World Theater, the Public Theater, and Aaron Davis Hall. Saito is an Associate Clinical Professor at Fordham University/Lincoln Center, is on the movement faculty at Juilliard, and serves as co-director of the Summer Theatre Devising Intensive at Bard College in Berlin, Germany.
Dawn Akemi Saito is an actor, writer, director, and teacher whose credits include Insects in Heat, Suns Are Suns, Blood Cherries, HA, Knock on the Sky, Suicide Forest, Hiroshima Maiden, Arden/Ardennes, My House Is Collapsing Toward One Side, and Deshima. Her multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Walker Art Center, Orpheum Theatre in Austria, the Whitney Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theater Workshop, LaMaMa, New World Theater, the Public Theater, and Aaron Davis Hall. Saito is an Associate Clinical Professor at Fordham University/Lincoln Center, is on the movement faculty at Juilliard, and serves as co-director of the Summer Theatre Devising Intensive at Bard College in Berlin, Germany.
MORE INFORMATION
The All Write! adult literacy program is generously supported by Susan Bay Nimoy, the Estate of Douglas M. Matheson, Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, The New York Community Trust Judith and Stanley Zabar Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, Henry Nias Foundation, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Mustang Foundation, Michael Tuch Foundation, Vidda Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America, and Sy Syms Foundation.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
All Write! also receives support from an endowment established by the Steven Aresty Foundation.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Floral design by PlantShed
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Artistic Director (1988-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Lulu Fogarty Director of Education
Regina Larkin Manager of Education Programs
Madeline Cohen Director of All Write!
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
Sophia Raimondi Literary Intern
Lulu Chatterjee Literary Intern
LITERACY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Teresa Bell NYC Department of Education–Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Madeline Cohen Symphony Space
Solange Farina City University of New York–Borough of Manhattan Community College
Mary Esther Malloy Consultant
*in memoriam
