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RiffRaff NYC presents its third immigrant theater festival: Immigrant Stories - Life in America, running May 22-24 at The Rat NYC. This bold new event features four original short plays that offer compelling, often surprising perspectives on what it means to navigate identity, belonging, and resilience as an immigrant in the United States.

After launching two immigrant-focused play festivals in 2024, RiffRaff NYC returns with another powerful installment that deepens its mission of elevating underrepresented voices. The collective was founded by Joe Staton and Dorothea Gloria as a platform specifically for immigrant artists to share their stories through live performance.

The Lineup:

Public Comment
By Brad White
At a small-town forum, neighbors air familiar complaints-noise, traffic, potholes-until an immigrant steps to the microphone. What follows is a gripping, unpredictable confrontation with fear, prejudice, and the uncomfortable truths communities often try to ignore.

Nightmares Spring From American Dreams
By Kathryn Ryan
Jessica has always considered herself American-until she learns she may be deported because of an adoption paperwork error. As her life unravels, she's forced to depend on a faceless system for compassion. A haunting look at the fragile ground beneath even the most "American" identities.

Once In A Lifetime
By Andrew Rusli
In this surreal and poetic dream-play, a man revisits his Indonesian grandparents who immigrated to Texas in the 1950s. Over golf, burgers, and a strange, symbolic meal, he grapples with heritage, assimilation, and the ghostly pull of family and culture.

Mo Smaointe (My Thoughts)
By Francesca Garry & Jodie Sweeney 

This lyrical piece examines how national identity shapes personal confidence and cultural expression. Where Americans are raised to believe in limitless possibility, Irish identity is rooted in subtlety and skepticism. A meditation on landscape, psyche, and presence.

Cast

Creative Team

Meet the Company

Public Comment:

Hayley Pace

Citizen

Hayley Pace is an actor, writer and award-winning designer from Toronto. Known for appearances in Schitt’s Creek (CBC), In The Dark (CW), and The Expanse (Amazon Prime). Graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting 3-Year Professional Day Conservatory, and of the Devised Theatre & Design programs at York University, Magna Cum Laude. Hayley has over a decade of professional design experience for film, TV and theatre. Notable projects include lore drop content for PUBG, and for multi-award winning horror short, Make Me A Sandwich, garnering over 25M views on YouTube. Hayley is the founder of the immersive guerilla marching band theatre company, The Teeny Tiny Music Show, having self-produced their own shows in various theatre festivals throughout Ontario. Hayley plays Super Smash Bros Ultimate competitively and mains King Dedede. Five years ago, they founded a close-knit gaming server on Discord that has grown to over 70 contributing members, and is still going strong to this day. Love you, Royalecheese

Liz Cooper

Organizer

Liz is an Australian performer based in New York City having studied at the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory. In Sydney, Liz performed in numerous musicals including Wendla in Spring Awakening, Little Red in Into the Woods, Amy in Company, and Natalie in Next to Normal. In New York, Liz has expanded further into the theatre world playing Becca in Rabbit Hole, Helena in Midsummer Nights Dream, Gwen in Fifth of July, and Rosencrantz/Marcellus in Hamlet. Liz recently wrote and performed her one woman cabaret titled Enough that is set to shake the New York theatre scene. Additionally, Liz has formed Cooper Brown music duo with guitarist Simeon W. Brown after collaborating on Enough. @coopscups @cooperbrownduo

Chloe Champken

Plant 1

Born in England, Chloe was inspired by her love of reading and storytelling quickly became her passion. After graduating from her BA at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London, Chloe made the leap to New York. She attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and has recently graduated from their 2 year conservatory. Chloe continues to explore and witness the wonderful fusion of Actor, Director, Playwright, and Producer Acting Credits include: Julius Caesar (Metellus/Cicero, Ensemble Shakespeare Company) England (by Tim Crouch, Crowded Space) Stick Fly (Kimber, Stella Adler Conservatory), Little Women (Jo March, Trinity Laban Conservatory), The Hypochondriac (Edinburgh Fringe), Kes, and Lord of The Flies (Edinburgh Fringe) Directing Credits include: Drunk Romeo and Juliet (Kulturkanonen - The Vina Theatre)The Rainmaker (The Court Square Theatre), Dreams on 81 written by Gabriel Drax (DeviousMindsNYC - The Secret Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RiffRaff - The Court Square Theatre), Shakespeare Showcase ‘Flattery in Friendship’ (with RiffRaff - The John DeSotelle Theatre)

Madeline Doré

Plant 2

Madeleine Doré is a British actor based in New York, originally from Guildford, England. Madeleine attended the University of Birmingham studying English Literature, specializing in Script Writing and Dramatic Literature. Madeleine is a member of the National Youth Theatre, and worked with the Director of the company, Paul Roseby, at the age of 15, devising and acting in the play F-Off that was performed in the Criterion Theatre on the West End in London. She also studied at RADA in the summer of 2019. Madeleine has been trained in ballet, musical theatre, modern dance, and singing. Madeleine was also a national swimmer in England, as well as a national gymnast in her younger years. To support herself, she has worked in her family’s wine shop and bar, Corkage, for 6 years. She also has her WSET 2 certification, and is working in her spare time to become a sommelier.

Megan Osyen

Plant 3

I'm Megan Osyen, an English/Welsh actress from London. I'm a fluent Russian speaker from my time growing up in Moscow. I've been living in New York City for three years now, training in contemporary and classical theatre at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. You can find me off-Broadway next December as “Jalah” in Solon Phillips play “We Three Kings”. Since graduating, I've also starred in a music video and three short films to be premiered at US film festivals, and I've been cast in the feature film “The Eagle” shooting in the coming year.

Jack Johnstone

Ice 1

Actor from Manchester, England. Trained at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Few films are set to premiere this year.

Colin Trevor

Ice 2

Colin Trevor is an emerging actor and deviser returning to his hometown of Brooklyn. Colin earned his B.A. in Theatre at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Inspired by his semester at the Moscow Art Theatre, he wrote his thesis on applying Stanislavski's acting technique to Absurdism.

Gui Pimentell

Juan

Mystic, sensitive, resilient, immigrant, set of things that endow me with life, with fire towards your material, towards the service that acting is.

Mo Smaointe (My Thoughts):

Francesca Garry

Performer

Francesca Garry is an Irish based actor, writer and musician. She is one of the founders of Suaimhneas theatre company. She graduated from the Gaiety school of acting in 2022. Her performing credits include A Doll’s House(2021) directed by Eric Weitz, Othello(2022) directed by Liam Halligan and Bailegangaire(2022) directed by Paul Brennan. For her manifesto showcase she performed an original song “Mam”(2022) at Smock Alley Theatre Dublin. Francesca also performed in Lee Coffey’s Strange Days (2022) at Smock Alley Theatre directed by Tracey Ryan. She has been a client of Lisa Richards agency since 2022. Recently Francesca has worked alongside Tisch film students based in New York city, she is also working on a play with In Between productions. Francesca is excited to work with RiffRaff theatre company to debut Suaimhneas' first short play at The Rat Brooklyn.

Jodie Sweeney

Performer

Jodie Sweeney is a Dublin based actor, writer and director, she is also one of the founders of Suaimhneas Theatre Company. Jodie recently graduated from UCD with a Masters in Theatre Practice, where she produced and directed her own short play Hello, can you hear me? I’m cawing… (2023) performed in Smock Alley’s Boys School, Ireland. Most recently, Jodie had the opportunity to work with The Irish Repertory Theatre on their production of The Dead 1904 directed by Ciaran O’Reilly. Jodie has previously worked as Director on the production of Was I Not A Girl by Montgomery Quinlan as part of the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2024. Jodie also worked as assistant director on a production of William Shakespeares As You Like It directed by Paul Meade. Jodie is currently assistant director on The Black Wolfe Tone written and performed by Kwaku Fortune, directed by Nicola Dubey Murphy at The Irish Repertory Theatre. Jodie is excited to work with Riff Raff Theatre Company to debut Suaimhneas’ first short play at The Rat Brooklyn.

Once in a Lifetime:

Pascal Phao

Andrew

Pascal Phoa is a New York based actor from Indonesia who is experienced in performing contemporary and classical plays. He is super grateful for the opportunity to work with the RiffRaff team on an Indonesian immigrant story - something he has never seen in America before. His recent credits include Older Brother in Scenes from Interior Chinatown (Museum of Chinese in America), Fred Korematsu in Last Train to Nevada (Chain Theatre), Macduff in Macbeth (Circle in the Square Theatre Youth Series), The Ghost in Princess Hamlet (The Flea Theater). Pascal would like to thank his friends and family for their unwavering support and immigrants for their resilience and bravery. Training: Circle in the Square Theatre School. @pascalphoa.

Yuchen Zhou

Opa

YUCHEN ZHOU is a bilingual actor/director (English/Mandarin) based in NYC. He appeared in Anti-Gone (A.R.T./New York Theatres); Macbeth, Twelfth Night (Prague Shakespeare Company); Fury, Skin, Mad Forest (Vassar Drama); Birds and the Curiosity (Hollywood Fringe); 鲸鲸鲸鲸鲸鲸鱼！(Beijing Fringe) among other productions. Tall, strong, empathetic, and kind-natured, he is comfortable playing a variety of roles and is always open to challenge himself. @yuchenzhou007

Sarah Liu

Oma

Sarah Liu is a Chinese American actor, model, and avid Letterboxd user. Recent credits include Virgilia in an independent production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and Vivian in Lottie Baby, a short film with support from studios such as NBC, Paramount, and A24. NYU BFA Drama alum. liusarah.com

Nightmares Spring From American Dreams:

Stephanie Jane Toussaint

Jennifer

Stephanie Jeane Toussaint is thrilled to take part in RiffRaff’s Immigrant Stories festival! Her recent credits include As You Like It (Hamlet Isn’t Dead), The Proposal (The PIT), Midsummer Night's Dream (Hip to Hip Theatre), Burning Cloud (Chain Theatre), Look How Far You’ve Come (New York Theatre Festival), Two Takes (Frederick Loewe Theatre), Just Us (Gene Frankel Theatre), The Witching Hour (The Kraine Theatre), Dogeaters (Two River Theater) among others, as well as several Indies and shorts. MFA Columbia. @stephaniejeane

Ethan Williams

Marlowe

Ethan Williams is a Brooklyn based actor and theater-maker. His New York credits include Art Gets What It Wants (Max’s House), Heaven Is The Arrivals Gate At the Airport In My Hometown (SalOn!), All’s Well That Ends Well (Highside Workshop), and sylvia, beginning to end and onward (IHRAF). Other theater credits include John Deserves to Die (Fresh Ink Theatre Company), Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre), and Red (Unified Theatre Company). Ethan graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Acting.

Public Comment: Brad White

Writer

Brad White is a playwright and former advertising creative director who decided it was time to write something besides dog food and snack cake ads. His short plays have been produced at festivals across the country, exploring the humor, tension, and complexity in everyday life. Brad’s work ranges from dark comedy to social drama, often aiming to make audiences laugh, reflect, and see the world a little differently.

Public Comment: Joe Staton

Director

Joe Staton is a British actor, director, and producer based primarily in New York City, with bases in London and Europe. He is an alumnus of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Originally from Minehead, Somerset, he grew up in France and Spain. Recent projects include the short film Soy Boy (NYU), Locked Down — a short he produced and starred in under the direction of Marvin Avila — and a fine art portrayal of Oswald in King Lear for Picturesque Shakespeare, a Baroque-inspired photography series by the Society for Baroque Revival. Joe also directed and performed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with his own theatre company, RiffRaff NYC. Past stage credits include Romeo and Juliet with The Curtain, performing alongside Aria Shahghasemi (CW’s Legacies) and Andrew Sellon (Fox’s Gotham), as well as productions with The Blind Cupid Shakespeare Company, The Stella Adler Studio, Cumberland Theatre, and Shakespeare in the Woods. Joe’s screen credits span indie film, student productions, and network television. He recently appeared in Soy Boy (NYU), and played the lead in Chekhov’s Eye and Seagull, both directed by Jon Campbell for White Space Film Productions. Other film credits include The Lightworker (Mac Films, over 21 awards, directed by Paul McNeilly), Supreme Tweeter (LLC Films, starring Harry Lloyd), Take Two (Fragile Wildflower Productions), and several short films produced at Regents University and the University of Luton. Joe has also been featured in The Tonight Show parody sketch Prince Harry Visits (NBC, Tonightmares).

Mo Smaointe: Francesca Garry

Writers, Co- Director and Performer

Francesca Garry is an Irish based actor, writer and musician. She is one of the founders of Suaimhneas theatre company. She graduated from the Gaiety school of acting in 2022. Her performing credits include A Doll’s House(2021) directed by Eric Weitz, Othello(2022) directed by Liam Halligan and Bailegangaire(2022) directed by Paul Brennan. For her manifesto showcase she performed an original song “Mam”(2022) at Smock Alley Theatre Dublin. Francesca also performed in Lee Coffey’s Strange Days (2022) at Smock Alley Theatre directed by Tracey Ryan. She has been a client of Lisa Richards agency since 2022. Recently Francesca has worked alongside Tisch film students based in New York city, she is also working on a play with In Between productions. Francesca is excited to work with RiffRaff theatre company to debut Suaimhneas' first short play at The Rat Brooklyn.

Mo Smaointe: Jodie Sweeney

Writers, Co- Director and Performer

Jodie Sweeney is a Dublin based actor, writer and director, she is also one of the founders of Suaimhneas Theatre Company. Jodie recently graduated from UCD with a Masters in Theatre Practice, where she produced and directed her own short play Hello, can you hear me? I’m cawing… (2023) performed in Smock Alley’s Boys School, Ireland. Most recently, Jodie had the opportunity to work with The Irish Repertory Theatre on their production of The Dead 1904 directed by Ciaran O’Reilly. Jodie has previously worked as Director on the production of Was I Not A Girl by Montgomery Quinlan as part of the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2024. Jodie also worked as assistant director on a production of William Shakespeares As You Like It directed by Paul Meade. Jodie is currently assistant director on The Black Wolfe Tone written and performed by Kwaku Fortune, directed by Nicola Dubey Murphy at The Irish Repertory Theatre. Jodie is excited to work with Riff Raff Theatre Company to debut Suaimhneas’ first short play at The Rat Brooklyn.

Mo Smaointe: Holly Walker

Designer

Holly Walker is a multidisciplinary digital designer from Ireland with a passion for storytelling, the arts, and theatre. After earning First Class Honours in Visual Media & amp; Animation in 2018, she began her career in the animation industry, working in design departments across a range of animated productions. Since then, Holly has expanded her creative practice into illustration and digital marketing, blending visual storytelling with strategic insight to create engaging and impactful content.

Once in a Lifetime: Andrew Ouyang Rusli

Writer

Andrew Ouyang Rusli is a writer, filmmaker, and musician. His short film A Hotter Shower (2025) recently won Best Indie Short at the East Village Film Festival. He also makes pop music under the name Andrew Ugh. This is his first produced play. @rus_ontheloose

Once in a Lifetime: Christie Zhao

Director

Christie Zhao 赵元媛 (she/her) is a theatre director, producer, and founding artistic director of Yun Theatre in Seattle. She is currently a 2050 Artistic Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop and a director in the Ma-Yi Writers Lab.Directing credits include Wandering by Max Yu, June is the First Fall by Yilong Liu, Passage and Caught by Christopher Chen, Young People Social Death Archive by Siming Lu, On the Train by Lisa Price, In Between, Two Goldfish, Monologues of n Women, and The Good Person of Szechwan. www.christiezhao.com

Nightmares Spring from American Dreams: Kathryn Ryan

Writer

Kathryn Ryan’s full-length, one-act and ten-minute plays have been presented in NYC and the Hudson Valley, plus Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey and on Zoom. A proud member of the Dramatists Guild, she’s a winner of the Oxford 10-Minute Playwriting Competition. Her short play, HANNAH AND GREYSON, was published by Drama Notebook. She has been part of the PlayGround-NY Writer’s Pool since 2022.

Nightmares Spring from America: Abigail Rosen

Director

Abigail Rosen is a director, dramaturg, and producer originally from Washington, DC. She is the Executive Producer of PlayGround-NY, the New York branch of a thirty-year old early career playwright incubator. Ask her about Taming of the Shrew, or her cat.

Photos

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