Tonya Pinkins, Sky Lakota-Lynch and More to Join TRUSPEAK … Hear Our Voices! 2025

Theater Resources Unlimited has revealed the cast for TRUSPEAK... Hear Our Voices! 2025, an evening of virtual short plays, followed by a virtual after-party, set for Sunday, November 16, 2025 from 5-7PM. TRUSpeak is a fundraiser for Theater Resources Unlimited. Admission price is a donation and may be fully tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. 

TRUSpeak, last presented in 2023, now returns with a star-studded cast that includes Tony winner Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam), Tony nominees Veanne Cox (Company) and Sky Lakota-Lynch (The Outsiders), as well as Tony winner Cady Huffman (The Producers) now behind the scenes as producer of one of the evenings four films. Notably, this marks an onscreen reunion of Pinkins and Cox who appeared memorably together in the award-winning musical Caroline, or Change in 2003. Rounding out the lineup is Elizabeth Teeter, currently appearing off-Broadway in Heathers: The Musical, and other familiar faces from stage, film and TV.

"For this year's TRUSpeak we are exploring the spirit of collaboration, drawing focus to the intersecting lens of making cinematic theater and theatrical film. Our writers have provided a rich canvas for our talented community of artists to draw upon; we look forward to audiences having the opportunity to gather and reflect on the social relevance of each of these thought-provoking films," said producer Janel C. Scarborough.

The event is executive produced by Bob Ost, Carley Santori, and Janel C. Scarborough. Tamra Pica is the technical coordinator, and Gary Hughes is the event designer. TRU gives thanks to SAG-AFTRA for enabling them to produce TRUSpeak using the micro-budget agreement which makes it possible to use the talented union actors who perform in these films

TRUSpeak Lineup

PYOTR & DMITRI by Clinton Festa

Soviet suppression nearly silenced the music. The ghost of Tchaikovsky appears to a desperate Shostakovich in an artistic dance of survival, directed by Kingsley Lims Nyarko and produced by Amy Drake. With Douglas Fries and Stephen Woosley.

Pyotr & Dmitri stars Douglas Fries (Showdown in Amherst; The Wizard of Oz at Emery Theatre; The Rows at HorrorHound Festival), and Stephen Woosley (Safety State at Cannes Film Festival, as well as hundreds of stage plays all over Columbus, Ohio; president of O.G.P. Theatre; co-host of It's All Been Trekked Before podcast).

SAFE HARBOR by James McLindon

Life, death and the Texas legislature. A doctor and a hospital attorney clash over the fate of a young, endangered mother. Directed by Megan Hess and produced by Tony winner Cady Huffman.

Safe Harbor stars Veanne Cox (Tony nominee for Company; TV appearances in Only Murders in the Building; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; and The First Anti-Vaxxers in 2022 TRUSpeak), Tonya Pinkins (Tony winner forJelly's Last Jam; Tony nominee for Caroline, or Change; filmmaker/producer of Red Pill; host of the podcast You Can't Say That!), and Kiana Kabeary (Empire Off-Broadway).

RECKONER by Scott C. Sickles

When words fail the consequences can be explosive. A violent day of reckoning for a young trans girl and her family, directed by Janet Bentley and produced by Carolyn M. Brown.

Reckoner stars Wesley Han (TV: Russian Doll, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, Awkwafine is Nora from Queens; Moon Bear at The Public Theater), Jon Okabayashi (FBI: Most Wanted, Poker Face; SUMO at La Jolla Playhouse; Twelfth Night, and TRUSpeak playwright Scott Sickles' Marianas Trench), Mike Roche (Doubt, The Father at Actors Studio; The Hook (Brave New World Rep); Drama Desk Award winner and Lori Vega (Downstateat Playwrights Horizons, The Scream Inside; TV: Pretty Little Liars, And Just Like That, FBI).

Director of Photography: Andy Evan Cohen

Editor: Joshua Santora

RIDING LESSONS by Brett Hursey

Boy meets girl meets clown. A three-part duet of self-acceptance directed by Misti B. Wills and produced by Mike Katona.