Mr. Lee
Written by Darryl Wharton-Rigby
Directed by Melissa Mowry
During quarantine and after riots have hit their city, two men learn more about one another via a Zoom call than they did together at work.
ACTORS
DOM MAGWILI (MR. LEE)
Dom Magwili guest starred on such TV shows as Close to Home, King of Queens, and ER. He was seen in the HBO show, How to Make It in America. He was also in the movie, Fifty First Dates. He has directed the webseries, The Ho’s on 7 Th Street. He is in post production on his own written, directed, and produced webseries, Samurai Mon Amour. During this pandemic Dom’s short playlet on the being Asian in these times was selected and performed by the Dramatist Guild of America. This summer he is teaching and directing the East West Player’s Acting III Student Lab Project as well as teaching Asian American Film & Video at Cal State Fullerton. He recently had a Zoom reading of his stage play, Steampunk Dragons, where he used actors from both the East Coast and West Coast.
VAUGHN POLE (RODNEY)
Vaughn Pole is a NYC actor, currently going into his final year at Columbia University's MFA Acting program. He appreciates the opportunity to work with such talented artists, and would like to thank everyone who tuned in on Zoom tonight. Made in The Bronx, USA.
Dom Magwili
Vaughn Pole
Playwright: Darryl Wharton-Rigby
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Darryl Wharton-Rigby has worked diligently to be a storyteller. He has an MFA in Film Directing from Chapman University and was a Lecturer for Morgan State University's Screenwriting and Animation program. Darryl wrote for two NBC television shows, Homicide: Life On The Street and Just Deal. Recently, he has worked as a script consultant for Worldwide Nate: African Adventures and A Girl Named Joe. His debut feature film Detention received numerous honors and awards. His film, Stay, makes him the second African-American to make a feature film in Japan. He is currently working on Don Doko Don, a documentary about a taiko group that was displaced after the 2011 Great Quake as well as his next narrative feature film.
In Japan, he has worked on productions for NHK, Farfetch, Buzzfeed, Airbnb, and Usquaebach Whiskey. Darryl is an international writer who explores the human experience and builds cultural bridges. He is passionate about human and equal rights, LGBTQ issues, immigration, and those who are disenfranchised. Via his work, he’d like to create a level playing field. Darryl lives in Saitama, Japan and credits his wife and three children as his ultimate muse. @whartonrigby / filmsnoirfilms.com
Director: Melissa Mowry
Melissa Mowry is a Brooklyn-based director and teaching artist. Originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Melissa has a BA in Music Industry and Drama from Randolph-Macon College, and her MFA in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University. She has also worked with The Lower Eastside Shakespeare Company, The WP Theatre, The Tank, Women of Color Productions, New York Fringe Festival, and The New Group in New York; Virginia Repertory Theatre and Cadence Theatre Company in Virginia; The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles; and the Kattaikkuttu Sangam and Gurukulam in Tamil Nadu, India.
Recent projects have included: I Have a Dream (VA Rep), Lost Sock Laundry, Astoria Queens (Wild Project), Trouble In Mind (Rutger University), If Women Rose Rooted (The Tank), Where Love Lies Fallow (The Shed), (DE)CODED (New York Fringe Festival), The Slave (ASDS Repertory Season), The Audition (ASDS Repertory Season), Proof (ASDS Repertory Season), North of Providence (ASDS Repertory Season), Bee (Lower Eastside Shakespeare Co.), and the 5iveSenses Film Series (Secret6Train Productions).