CHRIS MANSA (Performer) is an Actor/Poet/Filmmaker. I thank God for every opportunity to align purpose with passion and tell stories for a living. Member of Universes; from Detroit, MI. Graduate of WMU (BFA:Acting) and UC Irvine (MFA: Acting). Previous acting credits include: Guest Star role in Chicago Fire; Fortinbras/ Bernardo in Hamlet and Ensemble in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Utah Shakespeare Festival; Macbeth in Macbeth and Lord Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher at Lyric Rep Theatre; UNIVERSES’ Live from the Edge at Kingsbury Hall; UNIVERSES’ Ameriville at Western Michigan University; Emile Daniel’s Cane River King by Jeremy Llorence at Victory Gardens Theatre; Orion Fourth and Long by Jeremy Llorence (Kalamazoo Piano Company).

ASIA MARK (Performer) is an Artist and Youth Development Professional from Detroit, MI. A member of Universes Theatre Company. Former Actress at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival: (UniSon, Shakespeare in Love) Playwright: AmericUS (Cincinnati playhouse) Mamma. Wife. Lover of all things creative.

NATE MARK (Performer) is originally from Grand Rapids, MI. He attended Western Michigan University where he graduated with a University Studies degree with a focus on Communication, Business, and English. He has always had a passion for performance and poetry which he satiated by hosting events on campus to create platforms for artists like myself to be heard and seen. After undergrad, he began an audience development assistantship at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he was later introduced to performing Shakespeare with the OSF school tour. He has since joined Universes theatre ensemble, performed in Shakespeare tours around the country and is now living as an actor and playwright in Detroit, MI. He plans to attending Grad School to pursue an MFA in Acting. Follow him on Instagram and the Twitters! @natejohnmark

NSANGOU NJIKAM (Performer) is an actor, playwright and Hip Hop Theatre artist originally from Baltimore, MD. His writing credits include Syncing Ink, Re:Definition, When We Left parts 1 & 2, Freaky Dee, Baby, I.D. and he is one of seven writers of Hands Up: Seven Plays; Seven Testimonials. Acting credits include Syncing Ink (Alley Theatre/Flea Theater), Re:Definition (LaMama), Henry V (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Deep Azure (Congo Square Theatre) NSangou’s first play Re:Definition (Hip Hop Theatre Festival) was developed and directed by Chadwick Boseman. His work in Hands Up has been performed around the country, and will return in 2021 as a production at The Alliance Theater. NSangou has also written for and collaborated with Grammy Award winner Common, specifically on his Audible.com project “BlueBird Memories”, the 2020 NBA All Star Game and the Audible interview series Mindpower Mixtape. NSangou’s latest piece, Freaky Dee, Baby, was recently performed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. His Hip Hop Theatre play, I.D. (commission by Penn State University) pre- miered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa. NSangou is a member of the 2015 Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater as well as a member of UNIVERSES. He received his BFA in Acting from Howard University. After tracing his African ancestry, he received his name from the Bamum King in Cameroon. He is represented by A3 Agency. He currently resides in New York City.

SOPHIA RAMOS (Performer) Born in the Bronx, New York, Sophia cut her teeth as a member of the NYC hard rock band Sophia’s Toy who were signed to Sony/Epic Record. With a commanding, snarling stage presence, Sophia was soon named “Best Undiscovered Artist” by VH1, and was awarded the Abe Olman Excellence in Songwriting scholarship from The National Academy of Popular Music. She has col- laborated with the likes of Metallica’s Jason Newstead, Psychotica, and Joey Ramone, and performed as a vocalist with an incredible variety of artists, including Rod Stewart, Government Mule, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and Jefferson Starship. Sophia is a veteran live and studio vocalist and voiceover artist. Her talents in both English and Spanish have been employed in countless commercials and jingles. Sophia has released two CDs, Her Majesty and Revelator, with New Yorker magazine hailing; “Sophia Ramos' music defies stereotypes - Pure Rock n Roll enthusiasm.” Sophia performed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2014 and The Public Theater in New York City 2016, in the ensemble cast of Party People created/produced by UNIVERSES and directed by Liesl Tommy. She went on to work with Liesl Tommy in STC production of Macbeth (2017) and Huntington Theater production of Top Girls (2018). She has performed “concert happenings” with UNIVERSES since 2018 and finds joy in the freedom and honesty UNIVERSES brings to theater and storytelling.

MILDRED RUIZ-SAPP (Performer) has been Co-Founder/Core Member of UNIVERSES since 1995. Playwriting/Acting credits include: AmericUS (Directed/ Developed by Joan Herrington); Unison (Directed/Developed by Robert O’Hara); Party People (Directed/Developed by Liesl Tommy); Ameriville (Directed/Developed by Chay Yew); The Denver Project (Director Dee Covington); One Shot in Lotus Position (Director Bonnie Metzger); Blue Suite (Directed/Developed by Chay Yew); Rhythmicity (Directed by Steven Sapp); Slanguage (Directed/Developed by Jo Bonney); The Ride (Directed by Steven Sapp). Acting only credits include: DJ Latinidad (Directed by Mark Valdez); The Comedy of Errors (Directed by Kent Gash); The Unfortunates (Directed by Shana Cooper); Alfred Jarry’s UBU: Enchained (Director Steven Sapp). Awards/Affiliations: 2020 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation National Playwright Residency Program recipient; 2015 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (Theatre); Oregon Shakespeare Festival Acting Company Member ( 2012- 2017) and Ensemble in Residence; 2008 U.S. Cultural Ambassador w/ the U.S. State Dept./Jazz at Lincoln Center - Rhythm Road Tour; 2008 TCG Peter Zeisler Award; 2006 Career Advancement Fellowship from the Ford foundation through Pregones Theater; 2002-2004 and 1999-2001 TCG National Theater Artist Residency Program Award; BRIO Awards (Bronx Recognizes its own-Singing); Co-Founder of The Point CDC; Former Board Member (National Performance Network - NPN) and (Network of Ensemble Theaters-NET); New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect; BARD College, BA ’92 (Literature/Language). Publications: UNIVERSES’ The Revolution will be Live! (2021 release- TCG Books); Slanguage in The Fire This Time (TCG Books); Blue Suite in The Goodman Theatre’s Festival Latino - Six Plays (Northwestern University Press); Party People in The Manifesto Anthology (Rain City Projects- Fall 2014); Featured on the covers of American Theater Magazine 2004 and The Source Magazine 2000. Member: Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)

STEVEN SAPP (Performer) has been the Co-Founder/Core Member of UNIVERSES since 1995. Playwriting/Acting credits include: AmericUS (Directed/Developed by Joan Herrington); Unison (Directed/Developed by Robert O'Hara); Party People (Directed/ Developed by Liesl Tommy); Ameriville (Directed/Developed by Chay Yew); The Denver Project (Director Dee Covington); One Shot in Lotus Position (Director Bonnie Metzger); Blue Suite (Directed/Developed by Chay Yew); Slanguage (Directed/Developed by Jo Bonney); Rhythmicity (Playwright/Actor/Director); The Ride (Playwright/Actor/Director). Acting only credits include: The Comedy of Errors (Directed by Kent Gash). Directing only credits include: Passover by Antoinette Nwandu (Director); Swopera by Carpetbag Theatre (Director); Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman (Director); The Architecture of Loss (Assistant Director to Chay Yew); Will Powers’ The Seven (Director-The Univ. of Iowa); Alfred Jarry’s UBU: Enchained (Director-Teatre Polski, Poland). Awards/Affiliations: 2020 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation National Playwright Residency Program recipient; 2015 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (Theatre); Oregon Shakespeare Festival Acting Company Member (3 Seasons:’12-‘14); 2008 U.S. Cultural Ambassador w/ the U.S. State Dept./Jazz at Lincoln Center - Rhythm Road Tour; 2008 TCG Peter Zeisler Award; 2002 TCG National Directors Award; 2002-2004 and 1999-2001 TCG National Theater Artist Residency Program Award; 1998 and 2002 BRIO Awards (Bronx Recognizes its own-Performance); Van Lier Fellowship w/ New Dramatists; Co-Founder of The Point CDC; New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect; BARD College, BA ’89 - Theater. Publications: UNIVERSES’ The Revolution will be Live! (2021 release- TCG Books); Slanguage in The Fire This Time (TCG Books); Blue Suite in The Goodman Theatre’s Festival Latino - Six Plays (Northwestern University Press); Party People in The Manifesto Anthology (Rain City Projects- Fall 2014); Featured on the covers of American Theater Magazine 2004 and The Source Magazine 2000. Member: Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)