Bios

NIKKI MASSOUD is a writer and performer based in Brooklyn. She is a first generation Iranian-American immigrant, raised in Montreal, Canada and Washington, DC. She is a Launch Commission writer for Atlantic Theater Company and her writing has been read and developed at The Lark, The Coop, Brown University, and CUNY. Her television work as a performer includes Succession (HBO), Emergence (ABC), Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon), and Madam Secretary (CBS). Her stage credits include Sam Gold's production of Othello at New York Theatre Workshop, alongside Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo, and regional work at The Old Globe, Berkeley Rep, The Huntington, and Portland Center Stage. Nikki has narrated over 30 audiobooks, currently available on Audible. She is a graduate of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program, Georgetown University, and BADA (British-American Drama Academy.) www.nikkimassoud.com

Pirronne Yousefzadeh is a director, writer, and educator, and serves as the Interim Associate Artistic Director at the Playwrights' Center. She is thrilled to be working with Nikki Massoud on Cut and to be part of Bard at the Gate. Pirronne has a passion for new work that centers and uplifts the stories of global majority communities and has developed and directed work at Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public, Soho Rep, Atlantic Theater Company, Page 73, Ars Nova, The Kennedy Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Magic Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, and more. Current projects in development include new plays by Ramiz Monsef and Vichet Chum, among others. Pirronne is a Usual Suspect at NYTW, New Georges Affiliated Artist, and member of EST and No More 10 Out of 12s. She is an alumna of the 2050 Fellowship at NYTW, Williamstown Sagal Fellowship, SDC Denham Fellowship, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and Drama League Directors Project. She is a co-founder of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations who wish to engage with the stories from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa. Upcoming: the world premiere of The Ants by Ramiz Monsef (The Geffen Playhouse). M.F.A., Columbia University. Proud member of SDC. www.pirronne.com; www.buildingbetterplayworlds.com 

TURNA METE has helped develop new work at EST, The Lark, and New Dramatists. She is honored to be a part of Cut. New York Credits: BAM: The Parable Conference; Ma-Yi Theater Company: Soldier X;  The Flea: Office Hours, Looking at Christmas, The Great Recession; Ensemble Studio Theater: Asking For Trouble. REGIONAL: Pioneer Theater Co.: The Messenger; Shakespeare Theatre Co.: The Panties, The Partner and The Profit; The Huntington Theatre Co.: The Who & the What ; Kitchen Theatre Co.: Proof; American Theater Group: The Way We Get By; Theater Workshop of Nantucket: The 39 Steps, Time Stands Still. FILM: Hiding in the Open, How He Fell In Love, Completely Normal. Television: Small Miracles, Deadbeat. www.turnamete.com

ERIC T. MILLER: Theater credits include Mope (Ensemble Studio Theatre), rogerandtom (HERE), Sweet Storm (LAByrinth), (A)Loft Modulation (American Vicarious), Awake and Sing! and Ripcord (Huntington Theatre), Wink (TerraNova), Luft Gangster (Sheen Center), Safe Home (Royal Family Productions), Betrayed (Culture Project) as well as work at Syracuse Stage, Bard’s Summerscape, New York Stage and Film, Rattlestick, PS 122, Workshop, and the Flea. Television/Film credits include Mare of Easttown, Halston, Law & Order: Organized Crime, FBI: Most Wanted, The Good Fight, Blue Bloods, Chicago PD, Blacklist, Person of Interest, Elementary, The Unusuals, Kings, Law & Order, Shame, Reaching Home, The Waiting Room, Home, Tom’s Dilemma, AdFirm, Separation, Redemption in Cherry Springs, Josie & Jack, and the upcoming Jules with Ben Kingsley and Nyad with Annette Benning and Jodie Foster. www.erictroymiller.com 

CHARLIE THURSTON is an actor and playwright who splits his time between NYC and Providence, RI, where he is a member of the resident acting company at Trinity Rep. Charlie is also a founding company member of The Williams Project – a living wage theatre company based in Seattle, WA. He most recently appeared at La Jolla Playhouse in the world premiere of Here There Are Blueberries, a co-production with Tectonic Theater Project directed by Moisés Kaufman. Other Credits: A.R.T., Goodspeed Musicals, Fault Line Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, The Arden, Baltimore Centerstage, and more. Selected Film/TV credits: Life Itself, Dexter, Boston Stranger (2023), FinestKind (2023).  He plays Roland in the HBOMax series Julia. Education: M.F.A. Brown University/Trinity Rep.

RASHA ZAMAMIRI is an Arab-American actor, singer, and voice-over artist who is most recognized as the Hijabi Woman in the Coca-Cola, "America Is Beautiful" spot, during multi-season airings of the Super Bowl & Olympics Games, with the distinction of being the first Arab woman shown in a veil in a Prime-Time national commercial campaign. She was last seen in “The Blacklist” as Safiya Maroun. Film and TV credits include Mary Harron’s Sonnet for a Towncar, Joan Steins’ Sayid, Sean Mullin’s Amira and Sam, “Leverage: Redemption”, “Blue Bloods”, “Instinct”, “The Looming Tower”, “Blindspot”, “Madam Secretary” and ‘Ramy”. Theatre credits include When Monica Met Hillary (Colony Theater), The American Underground (Barrington Stage), Kiss (Yale Rep), The Who & The What (Gulfshore Playhouse), and Aftermath (NYTW/International Tour). You can also listen to her AudioFile Earphones Award winning narration of As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh. Proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.