Francesca D'Uva is a composer and comedian living in Brooklyn. She has a background in electronic music and studied composition at Peabody Institute in Baltimore. In her performance, she alternates between improvised storytelling and meticulously crafted mini-musicals where she plays all the characters. Her musical act-outs use abrupt tonal shifts and dramatic tropes to take the audience on a chaotic and strange journey inside her mind. She has performed all around New York City and at venues like MoMA PS1, MOCA and Ars Nova. Francesca was the 2022 Performance AIRspace Resident at Abrons Arts Center, culminating in her solo show, This Is My Favorite Song.

Sam Max is an American stage director, writer, and filmmaker working in the U.S. and Germany. Recently Sam was invited to be a Guest Director at Deutsches Theater Berlin, where they premiered their fourth play, The Holes (DE: Wüste) on the German acting ensemble. The production was described as “a virtuoso chamber piece," “strongly played,” and “surprising,” and the show will continue to play in the theater’s repertory through the next season. Referred to as new “theater [anarchism],” Sam’s work for stage was acquired in 2021 by Suhrkamp Theater Verlag, one of Europe’s leading publishing houses of fine literature. Internationally their work has been showcased at Under the Radar Festival (New York), Abrons Arts Center (New York), Theatertreffen-Stückemarkt (Berlin), DAGESH Transitions Festival (Vienna), and Goethe-Institut Beijing. As a writer, Sam’s accolades include the Chesley-Bumbalo Playwriting Award, the Lotos Award in the Arts and Sciences, and an Honorable Mention for the Relentless Award. They are also a current resident playwright of New Dramatists. As a film director, Sam is one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” 2022. Their “formally assured and chillingly acted” debut short film Chaperone (2022) held its world premiere at Sundance, and was deemed one of IndieWire’s “10 Must-See Shorts” of the festival that year (Filmmaker). It subsequently received a Jury Special Mention for Best U.S. Short at Palm Springs, won the Horizon Award for Most Promising Filmmaker at 24fps, and was shortlisted for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.