Migration on Stage

André Nascimento is a Ph.D. student of Spanish in the Department of Romance Studies at Cornell. His primary field is radical democracy, and his research interests include political philosophy and protest literature. Before graduate school, Mr. Nascimento served as an interpreter for state and private agencies including the Brazilian Ministry of Oil and Gas, U.N. Women, and UNASUR.

Andy Colpitts is a theatre artist and scholar from the hills of northern New England whose scholarly interests include rural theatricality, popular performance, and political action. He holds a B.A. from Brown University in Theatre and Performance Studies as well as Comparative Literature and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Performing and Media Arts.

Aoise Stratford is a dramaturg, playwright, and lecturer at Cornell University’s Department of Performing and Media Arts, as well as director of education at The Cherry Arts, a not-for-profit arts facilitator and presenting organization. Her plays have won several awards and been produced around the world, including at National Theatre London, Solo Chicago, and the New York City Fringe. Locally, Ms. Stratford has co-authored two walking headphone plays for The Cherry and adapted “A Christmas Carol” for The Hangar Theater. Her work on The Cherry’s season seeks to provide meaningful production context for audiences and to spark, foster, and facilitate community conversations — as well as inspire action — about displacement, dispossession, migration, and oppression. Ms. Stratford holds a Ph.D. in Theatre History and Dramatic Literature from Cornell and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco.

Eleanor Paynter is a postdoctoral associate in Migrations with Cornell’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Her work in critical refugee studies focuses on Africa-Europe migration and displacement and asylum in the Mediterranean through narrative and ethnographic methods.