Kathy Newman (Director), earned her MFA in performance at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is a certified specialist in the Meisner Technique of acting. She has directed over 30 shows most notable, Agnes of God, Guys and Dolls, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Wedding Singer, No Exit, Curtains, Rebecca, Picture of Dorian Gray, Much Ado About Nothing, Two Rooms and Big Love. She is a professional actress with memberships in SAG/AFTRA. Kathy worked in NYC for over two decades where her credits include stage, television, film and national commercial work. While in NYC she studied at the prestigious Actor’s Studio. Currently she serves as Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing here at Mississippi University for Women, and continues her professional acting coaching. Favorite acting projects include, “The Devil Tree: (dual roles of Sumpter and Lucille), The Exonerated (Sonja Jacobs) and the short film “Unseen Abilities (Aunt Sue).

DAVID CARTER (Scene Designer) is a Professor and Chair of the MUW Department of Theatre, as well as the Director of the Theatre Education MFA Program. In addition to designing sets and lights at MUW, he has also designed professionally for New Stage Theatre in Jackson MS, Lees-McCrae Summer Theatre in Banner Elk NC and Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke VA. He originally hails from North Carolina where he obtained an MFA in Scene Design from North Carolina School of the Arts. Professor Carter draws inspiration from the memory of his beloved wife, Madelon.

BRONWYN TEAGUE (Visiting Assistant Professor, Lighting Designer) earned a B.A. in theatre from Mississippi University for Women. Credits from the W include lighting design for Stuart Little, When Night Falls, and special effects design for Blythe Spirit. After the W, she earned an MFA in lighting design at the University of Southern Mississippi. While at Southern, she designed lights for several productions including Peer Gynt, The Seagull, The Matchmaker, and Machinal. Teague has worked on numerous productions with Tupelo Community Theatre as lighting designer, scenic artist or technical advisor. Most recently, she was Production Manager at New Stage Theatre in Jackson, MS. Credits from New Stage include Lighting Design for Beauty and the Beast, Silent Sky, Sweet Potato Queens, Sister Act, and Murder on the Orient Express. She also was Props Designer and Paint Charge for several shows. Immediately prior to New Stage, she was technical director for Carey Dinner Theatre in Hattiesburg. Teague also spent several years working for different theaters in the Salt Lake City area including Desert Star Playhouse, Hale Center Theatre, and Utah Contemporary Theatre.

Payton Bellew is a theatre major at MUW. He’s from the Gulf Coast and has been doing theatre since High School with community theatre's and college’s. Recent productions he’s appeared in at The W as well as sound designed have been Two Rooms, I Hate Shakespeare, She Kills Monsters and No Exit.

Kay lives with her husband, Larry, on a farm in Ethelsville, Alabama. Sewing is a hobby she learned early. She says designing costumes for “Still Life with Iris” has been fun and rewarding.

Aysha Celestin is currently a junior at the W. She is majoring in marketing with a minor in theatre. Ms. Celestin is returning in her stage management role for the second show with the MUW Theatre department's, Still Life with Iris. She previously stage managed for the department's production of I Hate Shakespeare in Spring 2022. She has also acted for the department in the roles of Caroline in I and You in Spring 2021 and Lillith/Lily in She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms in Fall of 2020.

Paige Bivens is an EMCC graduate transfer, majoring in Theatre at MUW. This is Paige’s second production at MUW, her first being last semester, where she was the assistant stage manager and sound board operator for the production of Two Rooms by Lee Blessing.

Sarah is a Senior Theatre Education major from Columbus, MS. She has been singing Opera and Musical Theatre and acting for more than 15 years. She is a single mother who, after graduating from The W, plans to teach Theatre and/or act in a professional theatre company.