THE MASTER BUILDER

The Cast

 

PASCALE ARMANDPASCALE ARMAND (BESSIE)

is delighted to return to Yale Rep, where she appeared in the 2005 world premiere of dance of the holy ghosts. Since then, she has appeared in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (Arena Stage), Doubt (Vermont Stage Company), Gee’s Bend (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), and the McCarter Theatre workshop of Eclipsed. Her other theatre credits include As You Like It (Hangar Theatre); Blues for an Alabama Sky, Hamlet (Syracuse Stage); Four (Manhattan Theatre Club); Breath Boom (Playwrights Horizons); The Piano Lesson, Jitney (Actors Theatre of Louisville), as well as productions at La Jolla Playhouse and American Repertory Theatre. TV and film appearances include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Strangers with Candy, and Kinsey. Back to top.

 

ZAINAB JAHZAINAB JAH (MAIMA)

Born in London, Zainab spent her childhood in Sierra Leone, where she was a regular on children’s television shows, and studied at the London School of Contemporary Dance and Leeds University, Yorkshire, UK. Her recent theatre credits include Azmera in Tranced (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Mayme in Intimate Apparel (W.H.A.T.), Helen in Trojan Women (Classical Theatre of Harlem), In Darfur (The Public Theater), and Veronica Jonkers in the national tour of Athol Fugard’s Valley Song. Her film and television credits include 100 Center Street directed by Sidney Lumet, Dinner Rush with Danny Aiello, and Law & Order. She received the 2007 and 2009 Fresh Fruit Festival Best Actress Awards for Nick Mwaluko’s Waafrika and S/HE. Back to top.

 

ADEPERO ODUYEADEPERO ODUYE (THE GIRL)

hails from Brooklyn by way of Nigeria. Her theatre credits include The Bluest Eye (Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre) and Fela Kuti Project directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones. Film and television credits include the award-winning short Pariah (2008 Sundance Film Festival), On the Outs, Half Nelson, The Unusuals, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. A one-time Manhattan Monologue Slam Champion, she is a graduate of Cornell University, and she studied acting with Wynn Handman, Austin Pendelton, and Susan Batson. Back to top.

 

STACEY SARGEANTSTACEY SARGEANT (HELENA)

is thrilled to be making her Yale Rep debut in the role of Helena, which she performed in the McCarter Theatre workshop. Other theater credits include Legally Blonde: The Musical (1st National Tour); Passing Strange, Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Public Theater); The Exonerated (Off-Broadway); Damn Yankees, Purlie (City Center Encores!); George C. Wolfe’s Harlem Song (Harlem’s Apollo Theater); Little Ham (AUDELCO Award nomination); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (McCarter Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse); Kiss Me, Kate (Paper Mill Playhouse); The Color Purple (Alliance Theater); and Rent (Weston Playhouse). Her television appearances include Law & Order: SVU and Guiding Light. www.staceysargeant.com Back to top.

 

SHONA TUCKERSHONA TUCKER (RITA)

recently completed three years as a company member at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, acting in such plays as Fences, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gem of the Ocean, and Bus Stop. Her Off-Broadway theatre credits include productions at New York Theatre Workshop, The Actors Center, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, The Public Theater, Circle in the Square, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and La MaMa. She has worked at numerous regional theatres including Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Stageworks/Hudson, Arena Stage, The Acting Company, and American Conservatory Theater. Her film and television credits include the upcoming short, North Country; the short Walk the Fish featured in the film Cosmopolitan; Preaching to the Choir: On the One; Third Watch; New York Undercover; Law & Order; One Life to Live; and Trinity. Ms. Tucker is the Acting Professor at Vassar College. A Schomburg Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, she earned her BS from Northwestern University and MFA in Acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Back to top.