The Bus Stop Creative

Creative Member Image
Playwright/Co-Director
Najee Brown
Najee A. Brown can be described as nothing else than a young entrepreneur. After starting his media company, Mindlezz Thoughtz, in 2011 he has helped provide numerous resources to aspiring artists. In addition to running his own media and arts company, Najee Brown also produced his own music and has danced on every stage from the Apollo to Carnegie Hall. He co-wrote and directed the musical Glimmerings Of Hope, which premiered in New York City and toured Michigan in the spring of 2019. He also directed and choreographed the award-winning musical Henry Box Brown - A Musical Journey, in Edinburgh Scotland in the summer or 2019. During the shutdown in 2020, Brown oversaw the "Sol," series at Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH, which focused on presenting the narratives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Concurrently, Brown premiered two new plays, Stokley and Martin and Nevaeh's Brother, at Seacoast Repertory Theatre, as well as producing a revival of his play, The Bus Stop, which sold out six times in New York City when it premiered. As a young Afro-Latino boy growing up in Brooklyn, NY, during the early '90s, theater was an important tool that helped Brown imagine a better world in the midst of the increased violence due to the crack epidemic. He saw that performing arts could facilitate a safe environment, where people felt free enough to express themselves and their social justice views through storytelling on stage. In that spirit, Brown recently founded Theater For The People to provide this same outlet and opportunities for today's youth and adults, especially in cities that either lack diversity or include communities of marginalized people.
Creative Member Image
Director
Dr. Asabi (S. Howard)
Asabi was most recently nominated as Best Director by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for her direction of Best of Enemies, Dr. Asabi is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Chair at NCCU, She has received Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival directing awards (2014 & 2016) and NCCU College of Liberal Arts Awards in Outstanding Teaching, Scholarship, and Playwriting. A graduate of North Carolina A&T State and Wake Forest University, Asabi earned her PhD at Regent University in Communication and Theatre. As a performer, director, playwright and stage manager, Asabi aspires to immerse herself in nearly every aspect of theatre. She has directed many shows, and authored God Spoke My Name: Maya Angelou; Reaching for God with Dirty Hands and Tainted Blood and Distorted Beauty. Among many stage credits, she has performed in Four Queens No Trumps and Intimate Apparel. She co-directed Soul Rhythm; Sistah’s Voices at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa and The Mis-Education of Hip Hop in Florence, Italy. She is a production manager with the NC Black Repertory Company, and is directing Black Nativity this December for the Justice Theatre Project. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Creative Member Image
Technical Director
Prof. Arthur Reese
Arthur M. Reese received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Virginia. He has set the mood for the past 23 years as Technical Director for the National Black Theater Festival. He has designed for, among others, Dr. Maya Angelou, John Amos, Samuel L. Jackson, and the Negro Ensemble Company. Reese has done technical work for many stars including Sidney Poitier, Debbie Allen, Oprah, Queen Latifah, Malcolm Jamal Warner and Denzel Washington. Reese won the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 African American Image Makers award for Best Lighting Design at ETA Theatre. Co-Author and director of By a Black Hand, he is currently the Technical Director for NCCU Department of Theatre and has recently completed a textbook, The African Diaspora of Theatre.
Creative Member Image
Prop Designer
Dr. Nadia Bodie
From Nassau, Bahamas, Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor and newest addition to the NCCU Theatre Department, teaching Acting and Diction classes, and recently directing the musical Dreamgirls. She currently serves as editor of the ENCORE Journal for the National Association for Dramatic and Speech Arts (NADSA). Before joining the NCCU Theatre family, she taught acting, history and costume design at Jackson State University; where she was recognized for excellence in Creative Research and as Humanities Teacher of the Year in 2016-17. She earned her PhD from Texas Tech University with a focus in Acting/Directing and Arts Administration, her MA in theatre from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio and a BA in Music from Florida Memorial University in Miami Florida. She enjoys integrating theatre and music to bring about social change. Her research extends to drama through ethnography, as demonstrated in her one-woman show, I Used to Sing for my Mother/Hoping she Would Love me/She Bought me a Mango Tree Instead. She works toward improving actor training with hopes that her work inspires collaborative, critical thinkers and artists who laugh a little too loud.
Creative Member Image
Light Designer
Maretha Rawls
Hailing from Clayton, NC, Maretha is a junior Theatre major with a concentration in Technical Design at NCCU, Her interests in technical theatre began in her sophomore year in high school. Maretha stays busy working behind the scenes and following her passion. She wants to thank her family, professors and mentors for their support. She is proud to be designing for this production of The House of George.
Creative Member Image
Costumer Designer
Pamela Bond
Pamela is a native of Durham, North Carolina. She received a B.A. in Theatre, a B.S. in Textiles & Apparel and a M.A. in Textiles & Apparel from NCCU). Pamela is employed as costume designer for the NCCU Department of Theatre. She is also an Adjunct Professor at UNC at Chapel Hill. She serves as costumer for Throne Life Media’s annual production of Black Nativity and several Hillside High School productions. Pamela’s design credits also include the educational video Crafting Freedom with the Apprend Foundation, JACKIE O with Long Leaf Opera, and BANGIN’ performed with Walltown Children’s Theatre. Pamela has her own clothing line, Pamela Bond Designs.
Creative Member Image
Stage Manager
Jasmyn Harper
Jasmyn, from Greensboro, NC, is a Performance Concentration Theatre Major and a Mass Communication Major. She plans to write for film and television and is excited to be working on her first University Stage production. She thanks her Theatre Professors for guiding her through this journey.
Creative Member Image
Prop Mistress
Shatera Baldwin
Shatera is from Fayetteville, NC. She is a Junior, Theatre major concentrating in General Theatre. Shatera looks forward to opening up her own talent agency.
Videographer
Kenneth Hinton Sr.

Original Creative Team