Help Mannie and Bryce Present Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu

OUR MISSION

Bryce and I are recent graduates of Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Instead of waiting for work in this industry or getting cast in great roles, we aim to create and cast our own work.

In 2023, Bryce and I started collaborating, to stage a production resonant with the modern Black American experience. Inspired by “Waiting for Godot,” Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu explores the struggle for freedom and the nearness of state-sanctioned violence with a touch of dark humor. The play reflects the ongoing challenges faced by Black men in our society.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Our goal is to raise the funds to for a full production of the play, to premiere at an Off-Off-Broadway theater in NYC in September 2024. Expenses include paying for the rights, the theatre, rehearsal space, and design costs. We aim to raise our first $5,000 by the end of June to cover the theatre deposit and secure the rights.

Indie theater in NYC is vanishing before our eyes---harder than ever before to produce. Your donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated as we take on this enormous, important task. If you are unable to donate at this time, sharing our campaign on social media platforms would be just as helpful to us. And we look forward to seeing you at the show this Fall!

THE PLAY

Pass Over has not been produced in New York since its Broadway premiere in Fall 2021, and we are blessed with the opportunity to bring it to audiences again.

Hit the hyperlink to read this incredible interview with playwright Antoinette Nwandu about the play, and the impact she hopes it can have on the world

OUR TEAM

Bryce Foley, playing Moses, is a Michigan born, New York based

actor recently graduating from Terry Knickerbocker Studio and  currently touring a one-man production of The Great

Gatsby. He recently performed an original work (On the Harmful

Effects of Tobacco and Other Substances) at TheatreLab, which

will see an Off-Broadway run this November. Along with

performing on stage, he is also a producer, director and actor of the web series Barely Friends.

Mannie Mendez, playing Kitch, is a Florida-born actor, who is now

based in New York. A recent graduate of Terry Knickerbocker

Studio while also having trained at The Playhouse West and

IDSA both in Los Angeles. Most recently he started alongside

Justin in Justins original piece “Remember you must die” at the

3am theatre and Amanda Esquilin’s “The loveless fridge” at The

chain theatre. Besides acting Mannie is also a producer, director and writer.

MacCallister Byrd(Mac), playing Ossifer/Mister, is an Illinois born actor with a degree in Theater Studies in Integrated Performance from Illinois State University. He can be seen reoccurring on Ridley Scott’s produced CBS series Strange Angel, NCIS: Los Angeles, Netflix’s upcoming ‘Running Point’ series as well as other recent independent films. Mac also owns his own film company ‘Dirty Dog Productions’ and continues creating art in his home base of Los Angeles, California.

Justin Cimino, (DIRECTOR) received his BFA in Drama from

NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has trained at the Royal

Academy of Dramatic Art in London. As an actor, he has

performed Off-Broadway and in many other productions in NYC.

Justin teaches acting and movement in the BFA Acting Program

and Commercial Dance Program at Pace University. He has

directed and taught clowning and devising at NYU Tisch,

Columbia University, The Studio/NY, The Public’s Shakespeare

Initiative, Terry Schreiber Studio, Smashworks Dance Company,

and Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Justin has workshopped his own

solo work with Austin Pendleton at the Director’s Company. Justin

is the former Artistic Director of Zara Aina, a nonprofit organization that brings devised theater and clowning to at-risk youth and adults in Madagascar and the United States. He was hired by UNICEF to use Zara Aina’s theater work to mobilize communities in Madagascar to fight polio. He has also brought Zara Aina’s work to rural Southern Alabama, building several original pageant-style shows with

community members ages 4-84. Justin has devised and directed several productions for his theater company Pigeonholed, of which he is the Founder and Artistic Director. Justin is a recipient of a SUCASA grant from the Queens Council on the Arts, for which he devised an original theater piece with senior citizens. Recently he devised/directed productions at TheaterLab and The Tank, as well as 3AM Theatre.