If We Were Birds by Erin Shields (Staged Reading at Varner Lab Theatre at Oakland University

Laura Nguyen

Laura Nguyen (she/her) is super excited to be back at Renaissance City Repertory! She was last seen on the RCRT stage in “Imposter!” She recently graduated from Western Michigan University with her BFA in Acting and holds an AFA in Theatre from Lansing Community College. Some of her previous credits include POTUS (WMU), In Common (Purple Rose), Death of a Salesman (Flint Repertory), Everybody and Romeo and Juliet (LCC). She has also appeared in a commercial for NCG Cinemas. Thank you to her cast, crew, family and friends for their support! Instagram: @lauratnguyen Website: lauratnguyen.com

Katherine Lengyel

Katherine Lengyel (Philomela) is excited and proud to be making her RC Rep debut! Since graduating from Oakland University with a BFA in Acting in 2024, she has been seen all across SE Michigan, and her favorite credits include Jorge Luis Borges… On Anatomy at Theatre Nova (ensemble), Bright Star with Oxford Wildcat Pro Theatre Company (Margo), and The Tempest with Wishing Well Theatre (Boatswain/Adrian/Iris). Many thanks to David Gram for including me in this wonderful cast, and to Princess Beyoncé Jones for being the supportive bestie you are! @katherinelengyel

Foster Johns

Foster Johns (He/Him) is so grateful to be a part of this experience! Recent performances include Hair with the Ringwald Theatre as well as Ripcord and Bernhardt/Hamlet at Open Book Theatre Company. He is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Performance at Wayne State University in the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance where he teaches voice, speech, and acting.

Lee Wilson

Lee has had an international career as an actor, artistic director, director, dramaturg, professor of acting and directing, and is a Patsy Rodenburg Associate (PRA). Lee played Prospero in Wishing Well Theatre Company's production of The Tempest last summer in Fenton, Michigan, directed by Karen Sheridan. Other credits: Gate Theatre, Project Arts Centre (Ireland); The Old Vic (England); Resurgence Theatre, Shaw Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre (Canada).

Marley Boone

Marley Boone (The Bleeding One) RCR debut! Marley is an actor and costume designer based out of metro Detroit and received her BFA in Theatre from Michigan State University (Go Green!). Favorite roles include Caroline (Detroit ’67), Mephistopheles (Faustus), Rosanna (Calvin Berger), and Marie (Come Back, Little Sheba). Endless love to Lennon. IG: @marleymboone

Billicia Hines

Billicia Charnelle Hines is the CFPCA Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives , Co-Artistic Director of the Black Theatre and Dance Collective, and Associate Professor of Theatre at Wayne State University. Hines attended NC Agricultural & Technical State University (BFA, Professional Theatre) and University of Missouri at Kansas City (MFA, Acting) and a Certified Teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique from the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium.While in Michigan, her directing credits include Mr. Joy (Theatre Nova), Resisting (Theatre Nova), Colorblind (Obsidian Theatre Festival), Predictor (Williamston Theatre) Marcus or the Secret of Sweet, Colored Museum, Venus, and many others. She has directed numerous productions and performs various one-woman shows that deal with social issues that encompasses domestic violence, healthcare, and empowerment. In addition, she is an Intimacy Director and Cultural Consultant for educational and professional shows. She is the Executive Director of Unify Productions. A Theatre and Media Company that engages the community through social justice.”Engage.Create. Empower”.

Julie Kline

Julie is an artist with a love and passion for storytelling. She has worked in film and explored both stage combat and martial arts to deepen her craft and love for expression. Julie is grateful and excited to be a part of such an important story shared with you all today.

Princess Beyoncé Jones

Princess makes her return to the RC Rep stage in If We Were Birds! Her last show with us was Cris Eli Blak’s Challenging Brown as Dolores Brown. Princess is a multifaceted artist and an Oakland University alumna with a BFA in Acting. Past acting credits include Macbeth (Witch 2/Lady Macduff), Eclipsed (Gladys Atkinson Sweet), Moon Man Walk (Petrushka), The Golden Loc (Ayanna/Little Golden Fairy), and Love’s Labours Lost (Katherine/Sir Nathaniel)! She thanks her loved ones and everyone involved in the Chronos and Kairos festival for giving voices to this compelling story and many others!

Avery Thomas

Avery McMillan Thomas is a Canadian Actor from Windsor, Ontario. She has a strong passion and love for the art of storytelling and has just completed her BFA in Acting at the University of Windsor. She has had the pleasure of portraying the roles of Celia in As You Like It, Margaret, Alice, and Vlad in The Wedding Party, and Hecuba in The Trojan Women. She is also honoured to have been given the opportunity to share her own writing, directing, and acting with her piece "Step by Step." "Thank you to all my friends and family for their everlasting love and support."

Laura Quigley

Laura Quigley is an award-winning educator, performer, playwright, and director. She holds a Master's in Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph, a BFA in Acting from Simon Fraser University, and is an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®. Laura’s theatre work has been produced across Canada, off-Broadway in New York, in Wellington, New Zealand, and Lleida, Spain. Her play The Waves was produced at the 2019 SummerWorks Theatre Festival in Toronto, The Festival of Original Theatre in Toronto (FOOT, 2018), and the Revolution They Wrote festival in Montréal in 2019. The Waves is published in The Canadian Theatre Review (Issue 196, Spring 2024). From 2017-2018 Laura directed three mainstage productions at Concordia University, and produced and directed two festivals of original solo performances. She recently co-directed Into the Woods alongside Michael J. Barnes at Wayne State University in 2024, and will direct Erin Shields’ Paradise Lost at Wayne State in Spring 2026. This summer Laura directed a new solo performance in collaboration with Marta Rosell Prim, which premiered in Lleida, Spain, as part of the award-winning HorsLits international festival of performance. Laura’s research explores the human voice: as an instrument, a tool for creation, and as activism. Her areas of focus include solo performance for the actor, devised theatre, public speaking for non-actors, and breathwork and voice training for pregnant women. Laura has taught voice, acting, devising, and solo performance at Concordia University, Toronto Metropolitan University, St. Clair College, the University of Windsor, and Wayne State University, and has assisted Catherine Fitzmaurice and other master teachers at the Fitzmaurice Voicework® Certification in Los Angeles. Website: www.lauraquigley.ca