Nicia Carla

Teaching Artist

Nicia is the founding Artistic Director of PaperHouse Theatre in Charlotte, NC. She has worked extensively with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, where she was a Core Artist for several years, with the combined duties of acting, directing and teaching for the company. She has taught a wide variety of ages from creative drama for 3 yr. old’s to pre-professional training for teens as an instructor of the Ensemble Company. She has also been a teaching artist for the Neighborhood Bridges program for over 7 years, partnering with CMS classroom teachers for a 12-week residency with 4th graders that focuses on writing, storytelling, and performance. Nicia has acted and directed for Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, Theatre Charlotte, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, and PaperHouse Theatre, among many others. She is currently working on her fifth season as Artistic Director for PaperHouse Theatre, acting, directing, and developing new works. She is a graduate of Winthrop University’s Theatre Department where she earned a B.A. in Theatre with an emphasis on Performance.

Valentina Moore

Teaching Artist

Valentina Moore is a spoken word artist that has toured the country all the way from D.C. to Dallas and has graced many stages with her light. She has several poetry videos available on YouTube. She writes from the soul and spirit of the Lord and has been called a great storyteller who shares transparent testimonies in all she writes. Valentina is the co-founder of Hymnz & Metaphorz, a traveling Christian arts showcase alongside her husband Chose!, a known Christian rapper. She also owns and operates an embroidery company, Head Knot Tail Embroidery, that creates personalized apparel and company logo branding. (www.headknottail.com)

Bridget O’Brien

Drama teacher, Education Officer, Director and Tandemist

A degree in theatre, teacher training and a year at clown college has taken Bridget (via Norwich Cathedral and the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds) to become the Director of Drama at Gresham’s School – – on the North-East Coast of England. Bridget has directed a plethora of shows ranging from small devised pieces to a most ambitious and recent production of Phantom of the Opera. Not only has Bridget directed around England, but she has studied with international Physical Theatre Companies, Puppet companies, devising companies and world class directors all in the pursuit of storytelling! Bridget believes in Drama as a way to share stories. Everyone has a story to tell and Drama is an endlessly creative and visually exciting way to tell that story.

Guleraana Mir

Playwright/Writer, Theatre Maker, Educator, Activator

An award-winning writer, theatremaker & Executive Director of The Thelmas, Guleraana tells emotionally authentic stories that celebrate not stereotype, and speak to complex social realities in a fresh and disruptive way. Born and raised in East London/Essex, she is now based in London. Guleraana has previously worked in New York and delivered projects in South America. Her work involves professional writing for stage & screen, and developing new work through devising and writing with young people and community groups. https://www.guleraanamir.com/

Stacy Schiller

Education Specialist, Teaching Artist

Stacy has been an educator for 24 years.  She has a Master’s in Teaching from the University of Virginia and a Master’s in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Always passionate about teaching the Holocaust and social justice, she has attended multiple nationally recognized programs on those subjects. She has designed and implemented workshops for middle, high school, and college students as well as professional development workshops for educators on topics like racism, heterosexism, the Holocaust, and other genocides.  She has served as the Director of the Holocaust Resource Center and Diversity Council at Kean University in New Jersey and currently teaches United States History, Sociology, and Holocaust at the high school level, incorporating her social justice education background into her teaching. She was her school’s 2018-2019 Educator of the Year.

Rahsheem Shabazz

Teaching Artist

Rahsheem is a performance-based educator who’s passionate about working with today’s younger generation.  Rahsheem is back from touring around the country with the Experiential Theatre Company. He has been involved with different aspects of theatre for over 15 years – including dance and commedia. He’s also been involved with the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte since 2014 and directed shows such as Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, Wizard of Oz and many more at Matthews Playhouse of the Performing Arts. In addition to teaching and directing, Rahsheem is a talented actor and has hit the stage in a variety of roles here in Charlotte and the greater community. He co-wrote and starred in the hip-hop fable story GRIMMZ Fairy Tales and there is more to come!

Andy Bentley

Andy is a YEP Alum and has come back as part of our teacher-training program. He is a theatre-artist from Charlotte NC who is passionate about any type of writing and devised theatre. Throughout high school, Andy worked on several devised pieces in the Charlotte community and in 2021, he produced an independent project that examined the climate crisis through performance and discussion. He trained at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and Northwest School of the Arts. He now studies Theatre and Applied Theatre at Drew University in Madison NJ.