Ecstatic to be making her debut with 1st stage! Previous highlights include: Spooky Action: Fronteires Sans Frontiéres (Noon/Noble Laureate) Chesapeake Shakespeare: As you like it (Celia) EStP: Twelfth Night (Viola), Merry Wives (Mistress Quickly), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Midsummer (Hermia), Olney Theatre (u/s, Arundhathi and Megha), Strand Theatre: Little Women (Jo March); Free Range Humans: Jekyll/Hyde (Nellie); Imagination Stage: Hungry Caterpillar (u/s all, performed) Princess Pauper (Zoya); BAPAC/The Tank NYC: TornKid (TornKid); Center Stage: Animal Farm; Single Carrot: Lear (Goneril); Constellation: Arabian Nights (Dunyazade); Toby's: South Pacific (Liat) Awards: BITrsister Best actor nomination (Jo March), Best Ensemble(Little Women), Best Devised(TornKid) instagram: drag0n_mistress tiktok: Drag0nmistress

JONATHAN DEL PALMER (Bernard) is so grateful to return for his 4th show at 1st Stage after previously appearing in The Rainmaker, columbinus, and The Member of the Wedding! NEW YORK: How To Quit Your Day Job (54 Below). LOCAL: Tempestuous Elements (Arena Stage), The Winter's Tale, Our Verse in Time to Come (Folger Theatre), Kill Move Paradise (Rep Stage), Day of Absence (Theater Alliance) Moon Man Walk (Constellation Theatre Company), Life Jacket (4615 Theatre), Suddenly Last Summer (Avant Bard Theatre). UPCOMING: Kim’s Convenience (Olney Theatre Center)

SHAAN SHARMA (Vijay) is thrilled to be doing his first full-length play in the DC theatre scene with 1st Stage and particularly with the play Lake Effect! Previous credits include: BARTER THEATRE: Pip - Great Expectations, Johnse Hatfield - Sally McCoy, Caliban/Gonzalo - The Tempest. THEATRE AT MONMOUTH: Lysander/Quince - A Midsummer Night’s Dream. NEBRASKA SHAKESPEARE: Lodovico/Duke - Othello, Guildenstern - Hamlet. VIRGINIA SHAKESPEARE: Demitrius - A Midsummer Night’s Dream. BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S THEATRE: Harold the Dog - Bunnicula: The Musical. Shaan would like to thank his family, past and present mentors, and particularly his extraordinary partner EA for their support.

Lolita Marie - Three-time Helen Hayes award recipient and 2025 Supporting Actor nominee is honored and excited to return to 1st Stage Theatre. Prior credits include Well and Doubt, and The Royale (in Rep with Olney Theatre). Other DMV area credits include Tempestuous Elements (Arena Stage); Brothers Paranormal and The Joy That Carries You (Olney Theatre);  Sweat, The Outsider, N - A Play, God of Carnage, and American Daughter (Keegan Theatre); Hurricane Diane (Avant Bard); This Girl Laughs…, Flood City, For Colored Girls…, and Brownsville Song (Theater Alliance); The Adventures of Pericles (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company); Native Son (Mosaic Theater): The Skin of Our Teeth and Blood Wedding (Constellation Theatre); The Secrets of the Universe and Leto Legend (Hub Theatre). Independent film and television credits include Too Saved and Nocturnal Agony (Nubia Filmworks), and Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry (Investigation Discovery).

Patrick Joy (he/him) is delighted to be back at 1st Stage, where he was last seen as Ned in The Nance (Helen Hayes Nomination – Outstanding Supporting Performer) and Dylan Klebold in columbinus (Helen Hayes Nomination – Outstanding Lead Performer). Previous stage credits include Clitandre in A Misanthrope (WSC Avant Bard); Hal in Proof (Peter’s Alley); John in In the Closet (Rainbow Theatre Project); Orestes in Electra (4615 Theatre Company); Trent Conway in Six Degrees of Separation, Jason in Rabbit Hole (Keegan Theatre); and more. PatrickJoyActor.com

Ellis Greer (One) NATIONAL TOURS: Seven, “Lucy Loves Desi” (L.A. Theatre Works); REGIONAL THEATRE: The Overview Effect (Contemporary American Theatre Festival); Native Son (Center Theatre Group); Three Days in the Country, Native Son, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Antaeus Theatre Company); Desdemona, A play about a Handkerchief (Opera House Arts); The Matchmaker (Actor’s Co-op); The Many Women of Troy (Pallas Theatre Collective); The Diary of Anne Frank (Oklahoma Children’s Theatre). AUDIO THEATRE: A Weekend with Picasso, The Thanksgiving Play, Die Mommie Die, The Goodbye Girl, Jefferson’s Garden (L.A. Theatre Works); “The Zip Code Plays” (Antaeus Theatre Company).  WORKSHOPS & STAGED READINGS: CATF, Pasadena Playhouse, New Jersey Repertory Company, Independent Shakespeare Co. and others; EDUCATION: BFA Acting, University of Southern California.  Ellis is a DC-based actor.  

Deidra LaWan Starnes (Berniece, Associate Artistic Director), is happy to be back on her home stage.  She was last seen in Postcards from Ihatov.  Other 1st Stage credits include Shutter Sisters, Mlima’s Tale, Wanda’s Way, The Mamalogues, The Member of the Wedding, and The Good Counselor. She has appeared on regional stages for more than 35 years, including Adventure Theatre, African Continuum, Constellation Theatre, Cumberland Theatre, Everyman Theatre, The Folger Theatre, Huntington Theater, Imagination Stage, Olney Theatre Center, New Federal Theatre, Rep Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, Washington Stage Guild and Woolly Mammoth. Some of her performances include Romeo and Juliet, Dorothy’s Dictionary, The Hula Hoopin’ Queen, The Amen Corner, Much Ado about Nothing, Amadeus, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Milk Like Sugar, Invisible Man (Helen Hayes Award-Ensemble), Passing Strange, In the Red and Brown Water, Radio Golf, The Old Settler, Seven Guitars, Intimate Apparel (Helen Hayes Award-Lead Performer), A Raisin in the Sun (Helen Hayes Nomination), Gingham Dog, I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document (Helen Hayes Nomination),Two Trains Running, Spunk (Helen Hayes Nomination), Doubt (Helen Hayes Nomination), and Stuff Happens. Her directing credits include hang, Sofonisba, Sunset Baby (Helen Hayes Nomination - Most Outstanding Director/Production), Quilters, The Rainmaker (Helen Hayes Nomination-Most Outstanding Production), A Civil War Christmas, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Helen Hayes Nomination-Most Outstanding Production), ‘Night Mother, For Colored Girls, and Soul Collector.  She has a BA in Theatre from the UMD, an MA in Producing Film, TV, and Video from AU, and an MFA in Drama from UCONN. 

Ronald Eli is making his debut with 1st Stage. Theater performances include Testosterone and Migraaaaants (ExPats Theatre), AJAX (Scena Theatre), Radio Golf (Roundhouse Theatre), FAT HAM (Studio Theatre), A Thirst for Freedom (Live Garra) and many more. He has completed and is currently involved with several independent film projects (Once Upon a Time in The District, Unarmed Man, Harriet, The Meek, Last Night, THICK, etc. Eli has directed (The Healing Floor) award winner DCBTF. He also directed a feature film and two shorts (The Cracked Mask and Lay Me Down). His motto is “you can learn from anyone, if only you allow yourself to.”

James J. Johnson (Doaker) is happy to return home for his first Wilson play. He was able to create his first solo show thanks to 1st Stage’s Solo Commissions back in 2020. Previous 1st stage credits: The Royale and Hero’s Welcome.  He was last seen in Bob Bartlett’s site-specific play Love and Vinyl at Byrdland Records. Other theatre credits include Everyman Theatre: And Then There Were None, A Doll’s House; Constellation Theatre Co.: Is God Is; Santa Fe Playhouse: Sweat; Solas Nua: Playboy of the Western World; Olney Theatre Center: The Joy That Carries You (Helen Hayes Award nomination, Outstanding Ensemble); Theater J: Nathan the Wise, Our Suburb; Mosaic Theater Co.: Les Deux Noirs; Arena Stage: Ruined; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: The Unmentionables; Ford’s Theatre: A Member of the Wedding. As a screenwriter his first feature film, Silent Partner, should premiere this year and stars Roderick Lawrence, Susan Heyward, and Jeff Perry.

Addison Switzer is an award winning actor from the DMV area. Having been in the profession for over 20 years, he's appeared in theaters throughout the region. He's also been a recurring presence in HBO's The Wire (season 2 and 3) as Country. He's also appeared in various indie films (Bachlerottes Degree, Alex and others), and industrial and training films, and the latest film, House Blend in 2018.

Addison won a Helen Hayes award for his turn in Black Nativity at the Theatre Alliance in 2015, he's also won a best actor award at The D.C. One Act Play Festival in 1997.

Addison trained for theatre at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory for stage, and has trained in film with the likes of Brenna McDonough, Katie Killacky (Capital Coaching), Kimberly Skyrme (Kimberly Skyrme Casting) as well as with the SAGAFTRA Conservatory training program.

Shawn Sebastian Naar (Lymon) is excited to be making his debut with 1st Stage Theatre! Recent/favorite credits include: Sunset Baby at the Anacostia Playhouse, (2025 Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play), The Arsonist at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in Berkeley, CA, and the New York City premiere of The Fall of the Kings at NYU and The Andrew Freedman in The Bronx, NY. Shawn graduated from the Tom Todoroff Studio Acting Conservatory, NYC.

Hannah Taylor is a DMV- based actress who has recently graduated from Catholic University with a Major in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Dance. Her recent credits include Nour/Youtuber- (The Last Martyr) Imagination Stage, Jessica- Hand to God (Keegan Theater) Dancer- Paper Dreams (Imagination Stage), Rosie- Faithless (Washington Stage Guild) Zoe- The Niceties (Perisphere Theater), Gretchen- Freaky Friday (The Little Theater of Alexandria), Juror 8- 12 Angry Jurors (Catholic University) and Hildegard von Bingen (Catholic University). Many thanks to her family, friends, and copious amounts of water to keep her skin clear enough to do this convincingly :)

Jamie Swann is thrilled to debut at 1st Stage Theater as Grace in The Piano Lesson. Jamie hails from Prince George's County and is an alumna of Florida A&M University. She has been showcasing her talents for 15 years and has been featured in multiple theatrical productions, including Fat Ham (u/s) at Studio Theater, Sunset Baby (u/s) at Anacostia Playhouse, Waldy Street at New World Stages and Silver Spring Black Box, and Rotten Apple at Bowie Center for Performing Arts. Some of her on-screen features include No Safe Haven, 8th Street (Tubi), and Differences Web Series (YouTube). Her upcoming on-screen projects scheduled to premiere in 2025 include Grinding, Together, No Peace No Quiet, and Vapors.  You can follow Jamie’s journey and stay up to date on future appearances by visiting her website at www.JDSwann.com, and on social media @Msjaymedee (TikTok and Instagram).

Johnnie is a Non-Union Actor in the DC area and has been acting professionally since 2005.He has also cultivated a passion for screenwriting and well as directing. As well as being an actor, he is also a videographer and a video editor. Johnnie can be contacted at johnniehill@hotmail.com.