Photos: DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR Workshop at IAMA Theatre Company

All new photos have been released from IAMA Theatre Company's workshop production of Don't Touch My Hair by Douglas Lyons, directed by Velani Dibba, produced in association with Jessica Green Harrison.  Check out the photos below!

A piece about friendship, this new work follows lifelong best friends Eemani and Jade as they decompress over a good blunt, not knowing the weed is laced with something else. As the duo spiral into a hilarious hallucination, they are able to confront the oppressors of the past dead-on. The cast for Don't Touch My Hair features Sarah Hollis, Jasmine Ashanti, Jenna Anne Johnson*, James Luster and Michael Rishawn. Don’t Touch My Hair will be performed February 13–24, 2025 at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave, Los Angeles.

Don’t Touch My Hair marks the final work created in the Douglas Lyons’ “The Deep Breath Trilogy: New Plays for Black Women.” The trilogy launched with the family play Chicken and Biscuits on Broadway September 2021, followed by the romantic comedy Table 17.

Douglas Lyons (Playwright) is a multi-hyphenate artist. As a writer, he earned a GLAAD nomination for his Broadway playwriting debut, Chicken and Biscuits, which was the second most produced play across America during the 2022/23 season. His most recent play, Table 17, premiered Off-Broadway at MCC Theater, earned a New York Times Critics Pick and won two 2024 AUDELCO Awards for Best Playwright and Outstanding Ensemble. Lyons also served as a writer on both seasons of Apple TV's Emmy Award-winning series “Fraggle Rock.” His Broadway acting credits include The Book of Mormon, plus the original casts of Beautiful and the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Parade. Tour credits include RENT, Dreamgirls and The Book of Mormon. As a composer-lyricist, his music and lyrics have been featured on Nickelodeon, BET Plus, Apple TV, CBS' “Sunday Morning Show” and more. His musicals include Polkadots (Off-Broadway Alliance Winner Best Family Show, Atlantic Theater Company), Beau (Adirondack Theatre Festival), the world premiere of Five Points (Theater Latté Da) and more. He is currently developing television with Skydance and Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort. 

Directing Don’t Touch My Hair is Velani Dibba, who recently served as associate director on the Geffen Playhouse’s Waiting for Godot. The L.A.-based director and multidisciplinary artist focuses on the collision of cultures through design-focused and ensemble-driven pieces. Dibba’s stage work includes Pride and Prejudice with The Dramat at Yale Repertory Theatre, we need your listening at New Ohio Theatre Ice Factory Festival, Apologies to the Bengali Lady at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Tank NYC and The Gathering, I Pledge Allegiance at the UNESCO International Theatre Festival, World Congress and TCG National Conference and Space Odyssey at Columbia School of the Arts. She is an inaugural Fellow at the Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics in Washington D.C., a former Global Cultural Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and a former SITI Company artistic associate.  

IAMA Theatre Company has assembled a talented cast for Don’t Touch My Hair, including Sarah Hollis as Eemani, a hard worker with optimistic spirit who is dramatically honest to a fault. Hollis is an actor, writer and producer making her IAMA Theatre Company debut. Her notable theatre credits include Intimate Apparel at Arizona Theatre Company, Clue at Paper Mill Playhouse and La Mirada Theatre, Tiny Beautiful Things, King Charles III and Pygmalion at Pasadena Playhouse and A Raisin In The Sun at A Noise Within. Hollis’ screen credits include “My Divorce Party,” “The Unit,” “Lie to Me,” and a 10-episode arc on “24.” A seasoned voiceover actor, she has voiced characters in “The Search for WondLa,” “Big Nate” and recently she was crowned new Disney royalty out of the “Frozen” universe for “Frozen: Forces of Nature,” a podcast starring her character, Queen Disa. Jasmine Ashanti plays Jade, a very single and hopeless romantic with dry humor and no patience, lifelong best friend to Eemani. Making her IAMA Theatre Company debut, Ashanti has performed with Ojai Playwrights Conference, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, Skylight Theatre Company and Rogue Machine Theatre. Her television credits include “Shameless,” “The Good Doctor,” “Lucifer,” “Black-Ish,” Netflix’s “On My Block,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” Hulu’s “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” “East New York,” and Amazon Prime Video's “Upload.” 

IAMA Theatre Company Ensemble Member Jenna Anne Johnson will take on the role of Susan, a woman sincere in her heart, but all wrong in her actions. Johnson has most recently performed in The Last Bohemian and The Infinite Swell as part of IAMA’s ongoing immersive theatre hotel collaborations with Marc & Rose Hospitality. Other theatre credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare Center of LA, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit… at Geffen Playhouse, and Cult of Love at IAMA. Her television credits include playing Kev’s sister, Bambi, on “Shameless” and Walker in MAX’s “Holiday Harmony.”   

Returning to IAMA Theatre Company after starring in the world premiere of The Very Best People as the former NYPD cop Joey this season, James Luster plays Harold, a sweetheart with unfortunate breath who tries too hard to impress. He is an actor, writer, comedian, and recent transplant from Portland, Oregon where he worked with such notable Portland theatres as Bag&Baggage Productions, Portland Shakespeare Company, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Theatre Vertigo, and Action/Adventure Theatre. Luster was part of IAMA’s 2024 Summer Intensive cohort, a two-week program for emerging, to mid-career actors that focuses on building the artistic muscles, creative community, and tangible skills necessary to work in the theatre, TV, and film industries in Los Angeles. Michael Rishawn is set to play Alick, a shy, guarded handsome man who eventually makes his presence known. Making his IAMA Theatre Company debut, Rishawn is best known for his work on Broadway, television, and film. He can be seen guest-starring on CBS’ “FBI: Most Wanted,” Disney’s hit series, “BUNK’D,” “Raising Dion” and Netflix’s “Survival of the Thickest.” Other TV credits include MAX’s “And Just Like That” and multi-camera comedy series “Crutch” on Paramount. On stage, Rishawn has originated roles in several world premiere plays: Douglas Lyons’ Table 17, Handjob at Echo Theatre Company and Jordan E. Cooper’s high-octane Broadway comedy Ain’t No Mo’ produced by Lee Daniels. He can also be seen in John-Michael Powell’s independent feature, “The Send Off,” which debuted at Cinequest and is available on Prime Video/Apple TV. 

The production team bringing Don't Touch My Hair to life on stage includes Erica Ammerman (Lighting Designer), Roz Bevan (Associate Director), Jordan Bass (Casting Director), Brendan Doyle (Original Sound Design), Shelia Dorn (Wig Designer), Jessica Green Harrison (Enhancement Producer), Dennis Ho (Production Stage Manager), Celina Lee Surniak (Intimacy & Fight Director), Ethan Pakchar (Original Compositions), Zachary Phaneuf (Technical Director), Devario Simmons (Costume Designer), Jonathan To (Sound Programmer) and Randy Wong-Westbrooke (Set Designer). The standbys for Don't Touch My Hair are Jamal Henderson, Obehi Janice, Mike Bash and Marnie Price*. (* denotes IAMA Theatre Company Ensemble Member) 

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