#  Black Girl Nerd: A Workshop Production (Fall 2024) 

 



       ![The cast of the TDM workshop production of Black Girl Nerd clustered around two subway seats](/sites/g/files/omnuum6821/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2025-06/2024-12-04%20Black%20Girl%20Nerd%20Dress%20Rehearsal%20Photography-322.jpg?h=d75f851b&itok=slSsqkXw) 

 

 



 

 



 

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   ![Event poster for the 2024 fall workshop production of Black Girl Nerd](/sites/g/files/omnuum6821/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-06/Black%20Girl%20Nerd%20Poster.jpg?itok=eX_Fzw0x) 

 

**About BLACK GIRL NERD: A WORKSHOP PRODUCTION**

A new play development process is a living organism brimming with opportunities for theater artists, theorists, craftspeople and academics alike. How does the nature of the collaboration change as the work changes? How do ideas formed at the table transform into scene work? How do frameworks such as intersectionality steer a theatrical process? For the Fall ‘24 Production Studio, students were invited to examine the broader context of Black theater production and performance in America as they engaged in a production process for *Black Girl Nerd*, a new play by Susan Blackburn finalist Tori Sampson and directed by course lead and Princess Grace Award winning Miranda Haymon. Through research, studio work, rehearsals and discussions, students workshopped a play in a course that takes absurdity, fun and collaboration as seriously as accessibility, wellbeing and care for our ensemble. *Black Girl Nerd* braids the aesthetics of stand-up comedy, auto-fiction, game shows, comic books, and more into a story of–as the play’s subtitle says–“One Nappy-Headed girl’s Superhero Journey to understanding her Blackness.”

**Performance Dates & Times**  
Thursday, December 5 at 7:30pm  
Friday, December 6 at 7:30pm

**Farkas Rm. 303, 12 Holyoke Street, Cambridge**  
*The performance runs approximately 90 minutes.*

Written by Tori Sampson  
Directed by Miranda Haymon

Performed by  
Hannah Alexis '27  
Dominic Carter  
Victoria Marshall '27  
Layo Oloritun ‘25  
Nia Weeks '25

Featuring Contributions by Tiffany Agkpo ’25, Verda Annan ’25, Darcel Rockett, Jonah Sorscher ’25, and Haley Stark ‘25

Scenic Design by Luciana Stecconi  
Costume Design by Trevor Bowen  
Lighting Design by Kayla Bey ’25 and Olafade Omole ‘25  
Sound Design by Carsen Joenk  
Wigs, Hair & Makeup Design by Earon Nealey  
Props Supervision by Jesse Cannon  
Stage Management by Mara Sims ‘25

   ![In the workshop production of Black Girl Nerd, Victoria Marshall throws her arms out to the sky while Layo Oloritun and Hannah Alexis look on skeptically.](/sites/g/files/omnuum6821/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-06/2024-12-04%20Black%20Girl%20Nerd%20Dress%20Rehearsal%20Photography-33.jpg?itok=ayAuqn6B) 

 



 

  ![Hannah Alexis, acting as a game show host, speaks into a microphone in the TDM workshop production of Black Girl Nerd](/sites/g/files/omnuum6821/files/2025-06/2024-12-04%20Black%20Girl%20Nerd%20Dress%20Rehearsal%20Photography-156.jpg)

 



 

  

 

  ![Production photo of Layo Oloritun in a red fur coat with a matching baseball cap and shoes](/sites/g/files/omnuum6821/files/2025-06/2024-12-04%20Black%20Girl%20Nerd%20Dress%20Rehearsal%20Photography-235.jpg)