Playwright Phaedra Tillery-Boughton is a passionate creative artist dedicated to theatre, production, and community advocacy. She serves as associate producer and casting manager at San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) and co-hosts “Creatively Shaded,” a podcast amplifying Black theater voices in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A teaching artist with SFArtsEd, Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theater (ACT), and Pacific Singers & Actors, she recently played Rabby in Fat Ham at San Francisco (SF) Playhouse and was named the 2025–26 Lorraine Hansberry Theatre “New Black Voices” Mentee. A 2024–25 Black Futures Awardee, her credits include The Color Purple, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and directing Legally Blonde.

LHTSF Artistic Director and SistahFriend Director Margo Hall is an award-winning actor, director, playwright, and educator, who has been a leading presence in national and local theater communities for more than 30 years. Hall’s direction credits include productions at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, SF Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Campo Santo, Word for Word, Chabot College, and the University of California (UC)–Berkeley. As an actor, Hall has appeared at nearly every one of the SF Bay Area’s leading theaters, including Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Main Theatre Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Aurora Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, and Shotgun Players. She is a founding member of Campo Santo. Hall’s TV and film credits include performing as the mother for Daveed Diggs’s character in Lionsgate’s Blindspotting and Netflix’s All Day and a Night.

Hall collaborated with Tectonic Theatre Project’s Leigh Fondakowski (The Laramie Project and Laramie Ten Years Later), Greg Pierotti, and Stephen Wangh to write the World Premiere play The People’s Temple for Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which won the 2005 Will Glickman Award. Hall’s semi-autobiographical piece, Be Bop Baby: A Musical Memoir, premiered at Z Space in 2013. Hall is a dedicated theater educator, mentoring and training the next generation of theatre artists in courses for ACT’s MFA Program, UC–Berkeley, University of San Francisco’s Performing Arts and Social Justice degree program, and Chabot Community College. In 2018 Hall was honored with San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC)’s Jerry Friedman Award, and in 2015 Hall received TBA’s Charles Dean Award. Hall holds a BFA in Drama from Adelphi University and an MFA in Drama from Catholic University of America.

Asia Nicole Jackson is honored to work with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHTSF) again. Jackson previously portrayed the characters Kendra and Portia in varied, wonderfully workshopped renditions of SistahFriend in association with LHTSF, 3GT, and Zaccho Dance Theatre. She also understudied in The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body at LHTSF. 

Asia Nicole Jackson (continued)

A few of Jackson’s previous theater credits include Lily Ann Green in Crumbs From The Table Of Joy at Aurora Theatre, Amara in Onwu de Play – A WhatsApp Drama at Berkeley Repertory Ground Floor Summer Lab 2025, and Maggie/Mary in Sally and Tom at Marin Theatre.​

Phoenyx Rose is an SF Bay Area native whose artistry lives at the intersection of music, movement, and storytelling. An international artist and Broadway performer (Hairspray), she has traveled the world captivating audiences with a presence that is both powerful and deeply expressive. Her work as a choreographer reflects her ability to shape rhythm into visual language, creating performances that are as intentional as they are unforgettable.

Known for her signature “Phoenyx blend” of soul, hip-hop, and jazz, she is also an international recording artist whose sound carries both emotional depth and cultural resonance. As the First Lady of Hip-Hop TV, Rose stands as a voice for elevation, using her platform to inspire, connect, and amplify creative expression across communities.

Rose makes her debut with LHTSF in SistahFriend, a moment she embraces with gratitude and pride. To join a legacy rooted in bold storytelling and Black artistic excellence is both an honor and a meaningful step in her journey as an artist.

Beyond the stage, Rose is committed to empowering others through her art, creating work that uplifts, heals, and reflects the fullness of the human experience. Her presence is not only felt in performance, but in the intention she brings to every space she enters. She is honored to be part of this production and looks forward to sharing this experience with audiences across the globe.​

RyanNicole Austin is a Grammy-nominated MC, actress, and impact producer, whose work blends hip-hop, storytelling, advocacy to explore racial justice, identity, and liberation. A TEDx and Rainin Fellow, her work has been featured internationally and performed for President Barack Obama. She is the preferred host of many of the SF Bay Area’s most auspicious events, including the Black Joy Parade Main Stage, Living Jazz’s In The Name Of Love, and the Black Future’s Ball. Austin co-wrote and co-produced Co-Founders: The Musical at ACT, which sold out a 40-show run in 2025.

Expanding that universe, Austin produces All People Powered, a live concert and pitch contest that funds underrepresented startup founders. She is also the founder of Worth AI, an AI-powered artist rate calculator designed to help creatives price their work fairly. A third-generation Oakland, CA citizen, she uses art and technology to build platforms for equity and cultural transformation.