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Rasheeda Speaking show poster

Rasheeda Speaking at Studio Grand Central and The Off-Central Players

Dates: 8/27/2021 - 9/19/2021


2260 1st Ave S
Saint Petersburg, FL 33701

Tickets: 30-35


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This tense workplace thriller examines the realities of so-called post-racial when two co-workersone black, the other whiteare driven apart by the machinations of their boss. A chilling power struggle ensues that spins wildly out of control. RASHEEDA SPEAKING is an incisive and shocking dark comedy that keeps you in its claustrophobic grip until the final moment.

Cast and Creative Team for Rasheeda Speaking at Studio Grand Central and The Off-Central Players

Debbie Yones as 'Ileen'

 Debbie Yones is honored to be part of Off Central Player’s inaugural show! She will also be appearing in an interactive monologue for the Lee Miller exhibit at the Dalì Museum alongside Roxanne Fay who is also the writer and director of the work. Other performances at the Dalì include FABRICATION! an original work by Roxanne Fay and NO EXIT.  She has been honored to lend her voice to American Stage’s 21st Century Voices: New Play Festival.  She recently appeared in LOVE, LOSS, and WHAT I WORE with her RASHEEDA SPEAKING cast-mate Kym Welch.  Other favorites include GOD OF CARNAGE and SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR both directed by Alan Mohney Jr and GREY UMBRELLA written and directed by Patrick Brafford. 

 Cinda Goeken as 'Rose'

 Cinda was born and raised in Central Illinois and has lived in the local Tampa Metro area for many years—after having been magnetized to the richness and diversity of the local arts scene. She affectionately calls herself “a theatre nerd” and is experienced in all phases of theatre, including teaching, coaching, directing, performing, stage managing, producing, etc.

Kym Welch as 'Jaclyn'

Kym is thrilled to be performing with Off-Central for the first time. She has been performing in local theatre for a decade. Her favorite roles have been in DOUBT and LOOKING at Carrollwood Players, CONVERSATIONS IN BED at Powerstories Theatre, and a starring role in DEATH TAX at West Coast Players. She also recently appeared in a production of LOVE, LOSS, and WHAT I WORE at Early Bird Dinner Theatre.

She would like to thank Julio, Dan, and Alec for helping her run lines (especially for the awful attempts at women's voices). A big thanks to Ward for casting her, and to the wonderful audience for supporting the return to live theatre.  

Ward Smith as 'Dr. Williams'

Starting with USO shows and live theater while in the US ARMY, Ward G. Smith is an actor, standup comedian and voice-over artist, who has been working steadily for the past 35 years. He's appeared in over 50 stage productions, and as a member SAGAFTRA, he can now be seen in streaming episodes of Zoo, Nashville, Let's Stay Together, Burn Notice, Army Wives, MacGyver, and The Right Stuff. As a Nationally touring stand-up comedian past club dates include: Punchlines, Improvs, Funny Bones, Laff Stops, Comedy Zones, Improvs and Coconuts. Active in the local theater scene, some favorite roles include Rothko in RED, Scott in AMERICAN SON, and Stephano in TEMPEST. As Former Artistic Director at The Heather, he guided productions of RACE, THE MOUNTAIN TOP and DISGRACED to massive critical and commercial success .  

Ward is the Founding Artistic Director for The Off-Central Players and is thrilled to be producing, acting and directing in this first inaugural production.

News About Rasheeda Speaking at Studio Grand Central and The Off-Central Players

Review: SELINA FILLINGER'S SOMETHING CLEAN at Studio Grand Central

August 12, 2022

These questions and more are the thoughts that fill my mind upon exiting the theatre following the opening night of Studio Grand Central’s Second Season opener Something Clean by Selina Fillinger. Fillinger whose more recent work Potus is a smashing success on Broadway; penned this three-hander piece about a grieving mother who also is struggling with love and culpability. Her own struggle with intimacy is backlogged by trauma and has come to a crippling head not just on her inner self but on her marriage as well.

BWW Review: BREADCRUMBS at Straz Center

March 15, 2022

Jennifer Haley’s haunting and sensitively-driven script dive deep into the middle of the human experience as it examines it from one of the hardest perspectives, dealing with a crippling disease. Some diseases render a person defenseless in body and in mind, but then there are diseases such as Dementia, a disease that is not only crippling on the mind but just as crippling on the human soul. What happens when the victim, if that word can even be used, is faced with an extraordinary experience? The ability to trust, feel, and even need, the person is faced with the idea that it could all be gone in a blink of an eye, or for Alida the turn of a page. Jennifer Haley creates an emotionally driven and complex world that is as sobering as it is heartbreaking, and far too familiar with a number of us as audience members. I think that is what makes Jennifer Haley’s script so intriguing and yet so relevant, especially in today’s climate.

St. Pete's Newest Theater Company Announces Second Show of Inaugural Season 

September 21, 2021

After the successful run of its inaugural production, Rasheeda Speaking, The Off–Central Players first- ever season continues with Miranda Rose Hall's Plot Points In Our Sexual Development, directed by Staci Sabarsky. This love story between Cecily, a lesbian and a male-identified trans person Theo, want to be honest about their sexual histories, but what happens when telling the truth jeopardizes everything? 

BWW Review: RASHEEDA SPEAKING IS A POWERFUL, ANXIETY DRIVEN RESTROSPECTIVE at OFF-CENTRAL PLAYERS

August 30, 2021

Our central characters Ileen and Jaclyn work togther a meer desk apart in a small and conservative Medical Office in Chicago. As the story opens we find out that Ileen has recently been made office manager by Dr. Williams, and over coffee and sweet rolls they discuss the days upcomings. By a watch unlike any-other Jacklyn arrives to work, finding her desk askew and walking into the room as if someone was just talking about her. After a five day leave Jacklyn returns to an office that may or may not have been turned on its head so to speak. What happens in the progressingly swift 95 minutes is nothing short of magical. The twist and turns, the wonder about what could possibly happen next, keeps you on the edge of your seat and filled with anxiety at its best. Somehow a story so real, so human, and so down-right current even in an unfortunate way makes this a piece you absolutely can’t steal your eyes away from. With baited breath we hang on every word.

About the Theatre

Studio Grand Central and The Off-Central Players Facebook

2260 1st Ave S
Saint Petersburg, FL 33701

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Studio Grand Central and The Off-Central Players
2260 1st Ave S, Saint Petersburg, FL

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