idaboutwho
Staff

ben
Ben Guillory studied at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and has worked extensively in theatre, film and television for the past 30 years as an actor and director. Currently, Mr. Guillory is the Producing Artistic Director of the award winning Robey Theatre Company, coordinating Robey's playwright lab, directing the Robey play reading series, and serving as instructor for it's Advanced Scene Workshop. Co-producing with Elephant Industries Bee-Luther-Hatchee, Yohen with East-West Players, For The Love of Freedom Part I: Toussaint and Part II: Dessalines with the Greenway Arts Alliance, Part III: Christophe with the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, The Last Season with Legacy Productions, A Medley of One Act Plays at the Los Angeles Theatre Center with the Against Type Theatre Company, are some of his accomplishments as director and co-founder of Robey.

In the interest of diversity in the Television and Motion Picture industry, 2001 brought an ongoing partnership with ABC resulting in development of a nationwide Industry Diverse Showcase for actors. Mr. Guillory serves as Director for ABC Diversity showcases and has mounted multi-cultural showcases for CBS and consults with Fox.

While at the American Conservatory Theatre, Mr. Guillory appeared in, Julius Caesar, The Taming of the Shrew, Peer Gynt, Desire under the Elms, Misanthrope, The Cherry Orchard, Othello, Athol Fugard's Sizwe Banzi is Dead for the Arizona Theater Company, The Los Angeles Theatre Center's production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Sacramento Theatre's production of Fences, the Mark Taper Forum's Miss Ever's Boys, and the Robey/Greenway co-production of Permanent Collection at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Mr. Guillory won the San Francisco Critic's Circle Award, for his portrayal of Paul Robeson, in the Illustrated Stage's production of, "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been". For his Los Angeles performances of Phillip Hayes Dean's Paul Robeson, Mr. Guillory won the DramaLogue Award and Special NAACP Theatre Award and for his directing efforts on For the Love of Freedom: Part I, he was presented with an NAACP Theatre Award.

Television credits include, Eli Stone, My Name is Earl, The West Wing, Threat Matrix, Still Standing, Charmed, The Guardian, Dynasty, The District, Judging Amy, Linc's, LA Law, JAG, The Young and the Restless, NCSI, Jack and Bobby.

Films include, The Color Purple, Our Father, The Tuskegee Airmen, Star Wars, Maid to Order, The Kindred, 3 Strikes, Crawlers and America's Dream.
judith
Judith has twenty years of non profit arts and Humanities projects experience. In addition to grant management and development work, Judith provides volunteer coordination and community outreach for Robey. Past events and projects include the LA Festivals connected with the US Olympic Games; UNESCO Day of the Child; Watts Towers Music and Drum Festivals; Pan African Film Festival; Slamdance Film Festival; and the Malcolm X Festival. Judith illustrates her own books--books for adults who miss their favorite fairy tales or zany comic books. Judith is a graduate of Spelman College and has studied at the University of Ghana and obtained an advanced degree from UCLA. Her travels have included Cuba with filmmakers and artists; West Indies; Greek Isles and Athens; Egypt; Turkey; and Mexico by train to Mexico City and Puebla. Her plan is always to blend the business experience she obtained before discovering non profits with her love for the arts and humanities to support organizations that sustain those aspects of our culture.
alex
Alejandra is a graduate from UC Irvine in Film and Media Studies, and Art History. She has worked in non-profit theater management for the past several years with CASA 0101 and TeAda Productions. She directs and produces for the stage, most recently the family-friendly, critically acclaimed El Verde series, the story of a superhero that is not entirely sure of what his superpowers are but still fights for truth, justice and the Mexican-American way! Her directorial skills have also been highlighted in productions of Eat it!, Go-Go Girls From Hell!, Soledad, In My Mama's Closet, and TEN! Alejandra continues to direct short films such as Keep on Fishing, which depicts life as seen through a fishbowl; the film won Best Animated Short at the 2006 UC Irvine Film Festival. She continues to give back to her neighborhood and believes in helping develop the untold stories of her community.
adrienne

Adrienne DeVine is an artist with 18 years of administrative experience in the nonprofit sector. She was awarded a Bachelor's degree in Art from California State University Long Beach with a minor in journalism. Prior to working in nonprofit administration, she was a production editor and graphic artist. Her passion has always been art, and she enthusiastically joined the development team at the Robey Theatre Company so that she could align her administrative skills with her passion for the arts and Black culture. Adrienne's interests are traveling, photography, gardening, creating and collecting art, spending time with friends and family, and reading scripts of upcoming Robey Theatre Company productions.

derrick

harry

Lennix, youngest of four siblings, was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lillian Cleo, a laundress, and Harry Lennix, a machinist. Lennix attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary South and Northwestern University, majoring in Acting and Direction. He taught music and civics for several years in the Chicago Public School system and is a frequent lecturer.

Lennix has had supporting roles in films such as the The Matrix series, The Five Heartbeats, the Spike Lee film Get on the Bus, Stomp the Yard, Ray, Love & Basketball, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and State of Play. In television he had a recurring role in Diagnosis: Murder as Agent Ron Wagner, as well as a voice-over role in the Legion of Super Heroes animated series. He starred in the ABC TV series Commander in Chief and the movie Titus (based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus) as Aaron the Moor. He had a recurring role in the sixth season of 24 as fictional Muslim civil rights activist Walid Al-Rezani. He appeared on the show House MD as a paralyzed jazz trumpet player, and appeared in 6 episodes of ER as Dr.Greg Fischer. He also appeared in the episode "The Blame Game" of the first season of "Ally McBeal". He played the part of Boyd Langton in Joss Whedon's series Dollhouse and the President of the United States in the comedy sketch show Little Britain USA.

dwain
Dwain Perry graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Communications with a concentration in Theatre. After spending over ten years in Chicago and working in regional theatre across the country, Los Angeles is now where he calls home. More specifically, The Robey Theatre Company. Dwain made his directorial debut at the Robey with their production of Permanent Collection. Other credits include, A House with No Walls, Asst. Director, Bronzeville, Actor, and The River Niger, Director.
aaron
Aaron Henne's plays include King Cat Calico Finally Flies Free! (published by Original Works Publishing), Record Storm Spreads Ruin! (commissioned by the Los Angeles History Project) and Sliding Into Hades, which received LA Weekly Awards for Playwriting and Production of the Year. Aaron has served in script development capacities for Culture Clash, The Colony Theatre, Center Theatre Group and The Theatre @ Boston Court, where he serves as Co-Literary Manager. Mr. Henne also works with spoken word and movement based techniques. Through his exploration of machines and their relationships to humanity, Body Mecanique, was developed and produced by LA Contemporary Dance Company. His playwriting process book, You Already Know, will be published in May by Writ Large Press. He teaches writing for the Playwrights' Program at The Robey Theatre Company, Writing Pad and runs the writer's studio, Wordstrut. Aaron is a proud member of The Playwrights Union.
dylan
Dylan Southard trained as a dramaturg under a two-year fellowship at Centerstage theater in Baltimore. There, he co-curated the theater's new play reading series and served as production dramaturg for Speed-the-Plow and the east coast premiere of Tom Gibbons' Permanent Collection. Currently, Dylan is the literary manager for Los Angeles' needtheater, where he dramaturged last year's Fatboy (winner of 3 L.A. Weekly Theater Awards) and the recent Mercury Fur. He also works as a literary consultant for local theaters including The Center Theatre Group, The Geffen Playhouse, and The Theatre @ Boston Court. Dylan is a graduate of Wesleyan University.
erin

Erin DeVine is the product of a creative family. Both of her parents had creative talents that she was exposed to at an early age. Her mother, a renaissance woman of sorts was a fine artist and her father, a musician. The youngest of four, also creative siblings, she got hands on exposure to television production, fine art and music. Erin never wanted to be a doctor, lawyer or fireman like many other children her age, instead she knew since the age of 11 that she wanted to be a graphic designer. This desire never changed, it only grew with her knowledge of self and what she could achieve.

Erin's design interests span from print, to web, to game design. She currently freelances as a multi-media graphic designer.  Some of her personal projects include a children's book and a line of greeting cards. Her hobbies include print and web design, painting, illustrating, television production and crafting.

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Board of Directors

Bennet Guillory

Robey Co-Founder
Board Chair
Artistic Director, Robey Theatre Company
Actor, Director

Danny Glover

Robey Co-Founder
Actor, Director

Diana Price Smith

Robey Board Secretary
Regional Manager
Southern CA Automobile Club
Owner, Excellent Events Special Events Company

Sarisa Middleton

Robey Treasurer
Accountant, Carrie Productions
Berkley, CA

Karen Chappelle, Esq.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General
California Dept. of Justice

John Sergio Fisher, AIA

Architect, John Sergio Fisher and Associates

Danielle Forbes, Esq.

Attorney
Writer's Guild of America - Los Angeles

Bonnie Berry LaMon, Esq.

Attorney / Writer

Karen D. Lincoln

M.S.W., M.A, PhD
Associate Professor
University of Southern California
School of Social Work

Bettina Moss

Writer / College Instructor
National University

Steven Temple

Owner, BAM Management Inc.
Beverly Hills Tax / Accounting Firm

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Board of Advisors

A. Beverly Cole

Walt Disney Co.

Ernest Dillahay

Cultural Affairs Department

Harry Lennix

Actor

Delroy Lindo

Actor, Mako Actor

Victoria Rowell

Actor

Carmen Smith

ABC, VP Talent Development

Harold Sylvester

Actor, Writer, Producer

Josie Thomas

Senior Vice President, Diversity, CBS

Glynn Turman

Actor

Blair Underwood

Actor

Charles F. Johnson

Producer

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Robey Theatre Company: Links