Event Program
All Write!
ALL WRITE!
FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023 | 7PM
Brooklyn Public Library
Flatbush Learning Center
City University of New York
Borough of Manhattan Community College
New York City College of Technology—CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP)
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
New York City Department of Education
Queens Adult Learning Center
New York Public Library
Bronx Library Center
Tompkins Square Adult Learning Center
Washington Heights Adult Learning Center
Queens Public Library
Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
THE READINGS
The City That Never Sleeps by Conrado Restrepo
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
New York, New York by Hugo Aigner
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Madeline Cohen, Philip Estrera, Nathan Hinton, Najah Imani Muhammad, and Dawn Akemi Saito
Traffic by Kristina Braslavskaia
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Noise by Victor Contreras
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
The Immigrant by Andres Chica
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Philip Estrera
Cricket Melodies by Gabriel Espinoza
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
La Bruyére by Marie Ziegler
The New York Public Library Washington Heights Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
A Day in Bangladesh by MST Sultana
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
I Don’t Know Why by Mohammad Eshani
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
The Rain Bath by Yesire Villarraga
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
My Grandma by Farangiz Bakhromova
New York City College of Technology CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP)
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Christmas Baking by Fortunata Donelly
Brooklyn Public Library Flatbush Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Yes I Do Like The Snow by Rawle Small
Brooklyn Public Library Flatbush Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Haikus by Kristina Braslavskaia
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton and Najah Imani Muhammad
Long Journey to the City by Mykola Zakapko
New York Public Library Tompkins Square Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
From Faraway I Call by Fabiana Medina
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
What If? by Revanna Beckford
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Loss by Julio Sanchez
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Nathan Hinton
Long-Eared Love by Jenny Lopez
New York Public Library Tompkins Square Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Unexpected Robbery by Kristina Braslavskaia
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Beer More than Me by Mercedes Carvajal and Margarita Rios
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Perspective by Ramil Nurkaev
New York City College of Technology CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP)
Performed by Nathan Hinton
Another Hectic Day by Yasmin Rojas
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
I Just Want My Coffee by Luis Rivera
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Two Old Men on the Bench by Mervon Griffith
New York Public Library Bronx Library Center
Performed by Madeline Cohen, Philip Estrera, Nathan Hinton, and Dawn Akemi Saito
My Curtains by Christian Vera
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera, Najah Imani Muhammad, and Dawn Akemi Saito
Reconciliation by Nanying Zhang
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Nathan Hinton
No Patience by Solais Benitez, Rufina Delossantos, and Peter Leon
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Haikus by Kristina Braslavskaia
NYC DOE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera and Nathan Hinton
Struggling to Teach Spanish by Marlene Cosme
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
The Job Interview by Elena Klimenkova
New York Public Library Tompkins Square Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
What I Wanted to Be by Aksana Ramaniuk
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Speaking English by Binta Bah
New York City College of Technology CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP)
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
The Performers (in alphabetical order)
Philip Estrera
Philip Estrera is an NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Discus with Hunger & Thirst Theatre, Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse, and Lysley Tenorio’s 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. He recently appeared in and helped develop the original new musical Monstress by Emily Kitchens, which featured all original bluegrass music and showcased his acting and fiddling. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Philip Estrera is an NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Discus with Hunger & Thirst Theatre, Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse, and Lysley Tenorio’s 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. He recently appeared in and helped develop the original new musical Monstress by Emily Kitchens, which featured all original bluegrass music and showcased his acting and fiddling. 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.
Najah Imani Muhammad
Najah Imani Muhammad is a multi-hyphenate artist and educator, with main disciplines in acting, hosting, and directing. With a degree in Theatre Education and Acting from Emerson College, Najah works as a freelance teaching artist, director, performer, and writer. Regardless of the project, Najah’s goal is to use the arts as a communicative tool to bring people together and start a conversation. She currently works for various groups such as Disney on Broadway and Beacon Performing Arts Center, taking great pride in helping to co-lead her mother’s nonprofit organization: Leaders by Choice. Najah also works to amplify unheard voices and give them a throne, as the co-host of a podcast called “UnderRepresented Representatives,” available on all listening platforms. Follow along her journey @najahknows www.najahknows.com
Najah Imani Muhammad is a multi-hyphenate artist and educator, with main disciplines in acting, hosting, and directing. With a degree in Theatre Education and Acting from Emerson College, Najah works as a freelance teaching artist, director, performer, and writer. Regardless of the project, Najah’s goal is to use the arts as a communicative tool to bring people together and start a conversation. She currently works for various groups such as Disney on Broadway and Beacon Performing Arts Center, taking great pride in helping to co-lead her mother’s nonprofit organization: Leaders by Choice. Najah also works to amplify unheard voices and give them a throne, as the co-host of a podcast called “UnderRepresented Representatives,” available on all listening platforms. Follow along her journey @najahknows www.najahknows.com
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.
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 43 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 43 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.
MORE INFORMATION
The All Write! adult literacy program is generously supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the MacMillan Family Foundation, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Henry Nias Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the Michael Tuch Foundation, the Vidda Foundation, and The Grodzins Fund.
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 arrangements are provided 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
Mollie Gordon Program Assistant
Madeleine Hearn Literary Intern
Gabriela Parra Lambis 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
