RedBird Theater Company presents 
THE GIRLFRIENDS' GUIDE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
by North Carolina Playwright Patricia Esperon

JJ Bauer (Stage Manager/Dramaturg)

JJ is delighted to work again with longtime friends at Redbird Theater Company. She has been a stage manager, props manager, costume designer, set designer, and utterly unwilling actor for various area theater companies, including Deep Dish Theater, Ghost and Spice Productions, NC State Theatrefest, The Open Door Theatre, Street Signs Center for Literature and Performance, and Wordshed Productions.

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Tracy Bersley (Director) specializes in directing devised and movement-based theatre. Tracy has choreographed at Lincoln Center, The Public Theatre, BAM, The Lucille Lortel Theatre, Primary Stages, McCarter, Williamstown, The Civilians, and Red Bull Theatre. She has also been guest artist/faculty at Yale, NYU Tisch, Purchase College, Columbia, Princeton and Juilliard. Most recently Tracy directed MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS for PlayMakers Rep, SILENT SKY for Center Theatre Company, and DO THIS ONE THING FOR ME at the Barrow Group in NYC and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Tracy runs an artist posse called DDT with two other performers/writers, whose work aims to transform the actor/audience relationship. Tracy received her MFA in Directing from Syracuse, currently serves as co-head of the MFA acting program at UNC/Playmakers Rep, and is a member of SDC and a Drama League Fellow.

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Patricia Esperon (Playwright)​ studied at Circle in the Square Theater School. She was one of the original members of Manbites Dog Theater and acted in numerous productions including SEVENTY SCENES OF HALLOWEEN, RECKLESS and INDECENT MATERIALS, which also played at the Public Theater.  Patricia took Improvisation classes with Mettlesome Theater and performed with the Improv team Out to Lunch. She recently appeared in Theater Book Club's Reading of THE CHILDREN.  She thanks Redbird Theater Company for believing in this play and making this production happen.

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Lenore Field (Hillary Rodham Clinton) has worked with many Triangle theater companies within the last three decades. She is happy to appear on stage again with RedBird Theater Company. She was last seen with the company in their inaugural production of A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2. Some of her memorable performance experiences include: INTO THE WOODS, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, PART 1&2, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (PlayMakers Repertory Company); MARJORIE PRIME, THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM, AGE OF AROUSAL (Manbites Dog Theater); GRAND HORIZONS, THE HERD (Honest Pint Theatre); SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, THE ROAD TO MECCA (Burning Coal Theatre Company); SOUVENIR: A FANTASIA ON THE LIFE OF FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS, SHIRLEY VALENTINE, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (Ghost and Spice Productions). Lenore is a board member with RedBird Theater Company.

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Derrick Ivey (Scenic Designer) previously designed ART, NUMBERS ARE DOWN, A DOLL'S HOUSE PART II, and THE WOOLGATHERER for Redbird.  Other recent designs include TROUBLE IN MIND and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE for Raleigh Little Theatre; SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS for Honest Pint; and the Jim Haverkamp film THE VOICE IN ISABEL FLEISS'S OFFICE. Derrick also designed sets and costumes for Playmakers' WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME, opening October 19.

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Rasool Jahan (Sally Hemings) received her B.A. in Theatre from Shaw University, North Carolina’s oldest HBCU. She has been a working professional actor on stage, film and TV for over 30 years on both the East and West Coasts. Some of her favorite stage credits include: Tedra in FAT HAM, PlayMakers Rep., Esther in INTIMATE APPAREL, PlayMakers Rep., Vivian Bearing, Ph.D in WIT, JTP. TV/Film: THE RESIDENT, HOUSE OF CARDS, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and COLD MOUNTAIN. She can also be seen on Hulu’s limited series, CLASS OF '09. She is a director and social justice activist, currently helping black farmers work their land. Rasool is a Board Member of Hidden Voices, a co-creative collective curated to lift the voices of marginalized communitIes. She lives in Durham, North Carolina. 

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Tamara Kissane (Betty Bloomer Warren Ford) is a theatre-maker based in Pittsboro, NC. As an actor, Tamara has performed locally with Justice Theater Project, Artist Soapbox, Manbites Dog Theater, Durham Academy, Actors Improv Theater, Summer Sisters, Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, Archipelago, and both hands theatre company. Her plays and monologues have been presented throughout the Triangle and Triad of NC. Most recently, her play SEA CHANGE was selected for development at the 2024 NC Playwrights Lab. Her play NICE WHITE PARENTS 2016 was the winner of the 2023 New Play Project and Mark Gilbert Award, and featured in the first annual NC Playwrights Lab 2021. Through her podcast and production studio, Artist Soapbox, Tamara has produced, written, and directed a variety of audio dramas from anthologies to full-length series. Tamara co-produces live audio and literary events including ASBX LIVE and Theater Book Club. She was the 2020 Piedmont Laureate.

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Page Purgar (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt)​ was most recently seen in The Justice Theater Project's 26 PEBBLES. Other shows include BLITHE SPIRIT (Raleigh Little Theater) CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION (Raleigh Ensemble Players) and FUDDY MEERS (Theater in the Park). Hugs and kisses to Marleigh and Steve.

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Jeri Lynn Schulke (Mary Todd Lincoln) is a Triangle-based actress, director, and producer. A proud graduate of the Professional Actors Training Program with an MFA in Theater Performance from UNC-CH, she also holds a BA in Theatre Performance from the University of Iowa. She was most recently seen in DOLL’S HOUSE PART 2 and THE WOOLGATHERER, both with RedBird. Acting credits include productions with ArtsCenter Stage, Burning Coal, Justice Theater Project, Kenan Theater, Deep Dish, Flying Machine, and Temple Theater.  Directing/producing credits include: ART (RedBird), SPRING AWAKENING (Kenan Theater Co), PRIDE & PREJUDICE (RLT); SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS (Honest Pint Theatre); THE TAMING (Justice Theater Project); BONNIE AND CLYDE (NRACT), PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE (ArtsCenter Stage) and many more. Jeri Lynn will be directing APPROPRIATE by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins this winter at NRACT. 

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Denise Schumaker (Costume Designer) has designed costumes, props and sets for theatre, dance, opera, and tours, plus film and television, for over 35 years. She was honored with an Emmy® nomination in 2010. Recent work includes SISTER WIVES TELL ALL on TLC, the film BLOODSPAWN (2024), THE LITTLE MERMAID JR for STAR (Special Theatre Arts of Raleigh), GRAND HORIZONS for Honest Pint Theatre Company, HENRY V for Theatre in the Park, and SOMETHING ROTTEN! for RLT. 

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Edith Snow (Frances Folsom Cleveland) is an actor/filmmaker/musician. She has toured with The National Theater of the Deaf, Cleveland Signstage Theater, Theater Delta, and Hidden Voices. She has studied with some amazing artists including Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, Terry Knickerbocker, and Bob Moyer, Felix Ivanhov and Tanya Belov at UNCSA. Favorite roles on NC stages include: Nora in Burning Coal’s A DOLL'S HOUSE, Mel in Manbites Dog’s GOD'S EAR, Vanda in American Theater Practice’s VENUS IN FUR, Amy in Theatre Raleigh’s JUNK. Television credits: HOMELAND, TURN: WASHINGTON'S SPIES, ONE TREE HILL, and Marvel’s ECHO. Edith was Associate Director of Carrboro Film Fest for three years. Two of her own short films, KEEPSAKE and CHEAT-PROOF have been screened around the U.S. and beyond in places like Palmer Alaska and Oaxaca City, MX. She is a singer-songwriter for the lounge-noir band, The Drowning Lovers. 

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Jane Allen Wilson (Martha Dandridge Custis Washington/

Thelma "Pat" Nixon/Nancy Davis Reagan/Special Guest) is an actress and improviser. She was a member of Transactors Improv Company for 13 years, starting in 1997, and has performed with a number of improv and theater assemblages, including Wild Mind Improv, Little Red Backpack/Third Date, & Totally Scenious Improv (which she produces), and past local plays.  She has taught and/or performed applied improv in medical, business, corporate and other settings for 20 years. She is so very happy to return to the RedBird Stage!​​​