News: Meet the Creative Team of "They'll Neglect to Tell You" by TS Hawkins

THE PLAY

Grace is a burgeoning therapist. Merci dangles for freedom at the bottom of a bourbon glass. College sweethearts and newlyweds, they elope to Philadelphia for a fresh beginning. Stumbling into polarizing landscapes, they struggle in the margins of heart and home. Learn more about the journey of They'll Neglect to Tell You here!

They'll Neglect to Tell You will virtually showcase in the 5th Annual Bridge PHL Theatre Festival on October 22nd - October 25th. Admission is Free w/ RSVP. Donations are gratefully accepted!!!

THE CREATIVES

TS HAWKINS (Playwright) is an international author, performance poet, art activist, and playwright. Plays, short works, and books include Seeking Silence, Cartons of Ultrasounds, Too Late to Apologize, They’ll Neglect to Tell You, #RM2B, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G, AGAIN, #SuiteReality, “don’t wanna dance with ghosts...”, Sugar Lumps & Black Eye Blues, Confectionately Yours, Mahogany Nectar, Lil Blaek Book: all the long stories short, and The Hotel Haikus.

Hawkins’ one-act choreopoem, AGAIN, was acknowledged for having the Best Theater Moment of 2017. #SuiteReality received the 2017 Theatrical Reality Check Surya Bonaly Award, a publication in WORDPEACE; an international literary journal, and debuted in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre for the Black Lives, Black Words International Theatre Festival. Cartons of Ultrasounds had the pleasure of returning to New York for a limited off-Broadway run to rave reviews. Hawkins' residency credits include National Black Theatre SOUL Producing Resident, Swim Pony Performing Arts TrailOff Writer-in-Residence, 1812 Productions’ Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Residency, Out of Exile Artist-in-Residence, Irondale Ensemble’s To Protect, Serve, and Understand, Painted Bride Art Center’s Souls of Black Folk, and Alphabet Arts Puppets & Poets. Recent writing contributions include the Fragrance of Love (Poet Tree), WORDPEACE Literary Magazine/vol. 2 Spring Edition, Closet Cases/Queers on What We Wear (Et Alia Press), Family Legacies (SONKU Collective Magazine), and the Long Wharf Theatre Blog Series.

LOIS MOSES (Director) is a Philadelphia native holding a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, a law degree from Temple University and is a graduate of LaSalle University’s Master’s program in Clinical Psychology. Her publications include Not Just Another…Black/Woman, Missing Pages… (Women Behind the Glass Door), A Timely Trinity, Freedom Not Them Give, and a self-titled spoken word CD. Using her theater, music, and dance background, Moses creatively combines art forms to produce powerful performance art.

Moses conducts motivational workshops for women and men, geared toward addressing the necessity of healing and self-evaluation. Her award-winning short film And They Jumped Into the Water…Some has been touring at colleges and conferences with her Woman to Woman Conversation: Beyond Sound and Fury…Sacrifice as the True Poetic Voice; a poetry and multimedia presentation exploring the evolution of the sacrifice, courage, and voice of African American women in America. The world premiere of her acclaimed play, Say That He Had More Than a Dream…; a piece chronicling the last years of Martin Luther King’s life after his controversial “Beyond Vietnam” Speech at Riverside Church in 1967, debuted at First World Theatre in 2016, and in 2017 toured at the Match Theatre directed by Zuhairah McGill.

BETSY VIVAR-CORTES (Grace) is delighted to be joining the cast of They'll Neglect to Tell You by TS Hawkins. She is known for her roles as "Ophelia" in Hamlet and "Fabienne" in Twelfth Night. Vivar-Cortes started acting her first year of college at St. Bonaventure University and trained at The American Academy for the Dramatic Arts during their summer program. She is an accomplished musician who plays several instruments; guitar being her main instrument. Hailing from Camden, New Jersey, this is Vivar-Cortes's second time working on a piece by TS Hawkins. The first being #SuiteReality where she played the role of "Woman 1". Vivar-Cortes looks forward to once again have the pleasure to work with TS Hawkins on another wonderful piece.

CYNDA PURNELL (Merci) is elated to be starring in her third production from TS Hawkins (AGAIN 2017 & #SuiteReality 2019); her favorite credit is "Freedom" in #SuiteReality. She was last seen as "Air Woman" in Kaleidoscope Cultural Arts Collective’s production of Khepera. Though she received her BA in Theater at Temple University, she has done film work and appeared in a number of goPuff commercials. While performing is her passion, she has also worked in front of house as well as dabbled in behind-the-scenes work on run crew and stage management. Outside of performing, she often does brand ambassador gigs and modeling.