Translate:
ART THAT AWAKENS
we are...Conch Shell Productions
OUR MISSION
At Conch Shell Productions (CSP), our mission is to enlighten American audiences about the diverse new Caribbean diaspora and the Caribbean voices film and theatre.To do so, we create a space for our community of artists to own their narrative by developing, producing, and presenting new plays and films.
Our productions effect social change by redefining the social landscape that the Caribbean diaspora operates on by telling magical/complex human stories that awaken diverse audience.
Our previous seasons included Conch Shell International Film Fest, Hear Her Call Caribbean-American Women's Theater Festival, Conch Shell New Works Series, Reset Series and #Bluelightseries.
This season, our primary focus is the development and work-in-progress readings of new works written by the members of CSP ARTIST COLLECTIVE in our online #Bluelightseries readings, and our in person CSP New Works Series.
Conch Shell Productions is a Queens, New York-based, fiscally sponsored organization, and a member of the Alliance of Residence Theatres/NY.
Founder/Producing Artistic Director
Magaly Colimon-Christopher is a first-generation Haitian-American actress/playwright/director/producer. She writes new works from a viewpoint heavily influenced by research and the stories her family members shared about the complexities and wonders of Haitian culture and history. She founded Conch Shell Productions to support new works by Caribbean Diaspora & Caribbean artists who have an expanded view of reality and a passion for innovative story telling.
A native New Yorker, she received a B.A. from Columbia University, an MBA from Binghamton University, and an MFA in Acting from Yale School of Drama. Magaly is a member of SAG/AFTRA, AEA, The Actors Center, The Dramatist Guild, The Actors Studio Playwrights & Directors' Unit, Theatre Resources Unlimited, & Black Theatre Network. She is a two-time O'Neill National Playwright Conference Semi-Finalist.
To learn more about Magaly, visit www.magalycolimon.com
Dramaturg
Jasmeene Francois is a Haitian-American theatre artist, storyteller, Applied Theatre Practitioner, and dramaturg from Riverside, California. She specializes in facilitating workshops centered around oral storytelling, devising, and creative writing that address home and belonging. Jasmeene is currently an instructor with The Moth Community and Education program and an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College.
our members
Cris Eli Blak is an emerging playwright who's currently the artist-in-residence at SUNY Oswego, winner of the 2023 Black Broadway Men Playwriting Initiative, and recipient of the Emerging Playwrights Fellowship from The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre. He was a resident playwright with La Lengua Teatro en Español/AlterTheater Ensemble, Fosters Theatrical Artists Residency, Paterson Performing Arts Development Council; the recipient of the Michael Bradford Residency from Quick Silver Theatre Company; was in the inaugural class of fellows for the Black Theatre Coalition. He is fortunate for the opportunity to continue writing for the ancestors, from Jamaica and across the West Indies.
Petron Brown is a playwright, performer, arts leader, and an intimacy director. He was born in The Bahamas and immigrated to the US to pursue educational and artistic endeavors. He has won several national collegiate theatre awards, including the KCACTF Meritorious Achievement in Directing, the KCACTF Special Achievement in Performance Award, and the KCACTF ASPIRE John Cauble Award. He is also a two-time KCACTF Irene Ryan Region IV Finalist. Petron’s work as a playwright explores international conversations on humanity. His most recent play, The Colour Woman, is a raw investigation into the psyche of an island child.
AnJu Hyppolite is a Haitian-American, award-winning actor, writer, and educator who works at the intersection of theater arts, technology, and social equity. She has graced stages and sets on the East and West coasts. AnJu was a 2020-2021 Haiti Cultural Exchange artist-in-residence, and explored the Haitian-American identity through short stories and poetry. She is a freelance copy editor, former HuffPost contributor, and co-author of the best-selling series, 20 Beautiful Women: Volume 3. Written in 2020, her short play, Joumou, marks AnJu's playwriting debut.
Tanya Perez is an NYC Latinx performer, writer & clown specializing in short-form comedy. Perez has excelled as a creator on both stage and screen and her stand-out work has received many awards and mentions. Notable TV credits include Evil, Orange Is the New Black & Jessica Jones. Stage credits include performances at Laguna Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and touring throughout Italy. Her film, Peep Show, was a finalist at the Women in Comedy HBO Insider Competition. With over 22 screenings globally, her film, Veronica, won ‘Best Actress’ at SISFA, ‘Best Screenplay’ at OutlantaCon, and ‘Best Latinx Short’ at IndieFest. Perez also received an Audioverse Award recognition for her audio play, Rincon. Winner of New Circle Theatre Company's L.B. Williams Playwriting Festival. She is a featured writer for The Light Ahead podcast, a Greenhouse Lab artist with The Orchard Project, a spotlight artist with Conch Shell Productions, and a proud member of the Latinx Playwrights Circle. www.tanyaperez.nyc
Rivka Rivera is a Jew-Yo-Rican actor, playwright, and filmmaker creating work that explores the intersection of grief, capitalism, and human behavior. She is an alum of Carnegie Mellon University and LaGuardia HS. To learn more visit: www.RivkaRivera.com
JR Roache is Jamaican and considers himself an Observational Storyteller. Curiosity and imagination led him to studying Engineering Sciences in Ontario, Canada and an underlying love of politics and economics steered him towards his MBA from Edinburgh, Scotland. While his first love is storytelling, writing was the furthest thing from his mind after graduating. However, through his employment, he visited many diverse places, which inspired “human” stories that he feels he has to tell. “Sweet Rind” is JR’s first published literary work. Coming up are a book of poetry, “Ok... Now Where To?”, another short, "Silver Silhouettes", and other movies.
Frank E. Robinson began his journey in the arts growing up in a household filled with music, which opened his mind to the world of creativity where writing became the means to explore and evaluate his experiences, as well as a platform for social commentary. As a teaching artist he facilitated drama and creative writing workshops at Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, in addition to The Queens Community House and in the New York City public school system. He also wrote, produced, and directed several plays and vignettes, as well as an adaptation of “The Wiz” for the workshops he facilitated. Frank is currently the producer of "Around the Fire" - a talk and performing arts show on QPTV in NY.
Gretchen Suárez-Peña is a Puerto Rican playwright who is an MFA candidate in the Dramatic Writing program at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama (Class of 2024). Her musical, Melina: A Steampunk Musical Tragedy was an official selection of the 2020 Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival. Other successes include winning the writer's grant and best play at the 2019 Be Original Festival for her play, Trafficked. Also, winning best full-length play at the 2018 Tampa Bay Theatre Festival for her show Conversations in the Car, and first prize for her short play, Dry Spell, at the 30 by Ninety Theatre’s 2018 Night of One Acts Competition Her short play, The Arithmetic of Memory, was produced by Conch Shell Productions as part of Blue Light Series Fall 2020; and her play Moonwalker was featured in Reset Series 2021. www.gretchensuarezpena.com FB @playsbygretchen
Member Emeritus:
Evan Parke is an actor, writer, producer, minister and media entrepreneur with over 24 years of experience in the entertainment industry. He has been a principal performer in over a dozen feature films, hundreds of episodes of television as well as Broadway, Off-broadway and regional theaters productions. Evan is the founder of Arimathea Media Capital Inc., a media content company that highlights the voices and perspectives of people on the margins, people of color and people of faith in content that appeals to the global marketplace. www.arimatheamedia.com IG @evantheconqueror FB @evan.parke