Meet the team
Stephen Foglia
Playwright
Stephen Foglia is a writer and director from St. Louis. His work has been presented at Undermain Theatre, Dallas Museum of Art, Dixon Place, IRT, Pete’s Candy Store, Barn Arts Collective, Shanghai Theater Academy, and the Ford Studio at the Pershing Square Signature Center, among other places. He has been a finalist for the Columbia@Roundabout series and the Against the Grain Festival as well as a semi-finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the Civilians Next Forever Initiative. Stephen is a member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab. He earned his MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts in 2017. He currently teaches theater and produces plays with students at Hunter College.
“Meliou, tell us a story. Tell us about the maenads.”
— Jacob, The Maenads
Phillip Christian Smith
Director
Phillip Christian Smith is a Black Queer member of New Dramatists (class of 2030), a Fire This Time Festival Playwright, Fresh Ground Pepper PGPG, a Tennessee Williams Scholar at Sewanee (current staff), Playwrights Realm and Lambda Literary Fellow, Winter Playwrights Retreater. O’Neill, PlayPenn, Trustus, and BAPF Finalist. Florida Rep PlayLab, Valdez conference. Co-Literary Director of Exquisite Corpse Company. He teaches acting at Pace University and playwriting at Hunter College. BFA UNM, MFA Yale School of Drama, MFA Hunter College. Roe Green Commission with Cleveland Playhouse.
“Bro, you don’t gotta trip. I mean, you’re tripping, but you don’t gotta trip.“
— Max, The Maenads
Charles Manning
Actor / Producer
Charles Manning is an actor and writer from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He earned his bachelor’s degree in art history from Vassar college and worked in the the fashion industry as a writer and editor for many years before he started acting. Past New York stage credits include Tommy in “Not About Me” by Eduardo Machado, Liam in “Bad Jews” by Joshua Harmon, Charlie Morris in “Les Blancs” by Lorraine Hansberry, and Bradley in “Mr Marmalade” by Noah Haidle. Charles is thrilled to be playing Jacob in “The Maenads” and is excited to work as a producer, helping in whatever ways he can to bring this wonderful show to life.