Lisa Joyce is so excited to be making her debut with The Nora and Underground Railway Theater! Favorite past credits include Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress (Hackmatack Playhouse), Schwartzy in 25th Annual… Spelling Bee (Firehouse Center for the Arts), and Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Salem State University). She received her BFA in performance at Salem State University and was awarded First Alternate at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 1 (2014). She would like to thank everyone who has helped her on her journey so far!

Shanae Burch* was most recently seen in Huntington Theater Co.’s Milk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge. She has appeared in WAM Theatre’s Fresh Takes Reading Series in the Berkshires, as well as in local productions with Israeli Stage, Bad Habit Productions, Fresh Ink Theatre, and Hibernian Hall. Shanae is a graduate of Emerson College’s acting program, as well as Harvard Graduate School of Education’s “Arts in Education” program with a focus in storytelling for health promotion. about.me/shanaeburch.

Lisa Nguyen is delighted to make her professional debut in Journey to the West. Recently graduated from Fitchburg State University with a B.S. in Communications Media. She was heavily involved with the theater program there. Credits include: Dr. Sara Christ in FAUSTED (Edinburgh Theatre Festival Premiere), Abigail Williams in The Crucible, Thomasina Coverly in Arcadia, The Vagina Monologues, Rodeo/Lorleen in Talking With…, and Leeann in A Piece of My Heart. Other credits: Heidi Schwartz in SHUL (Sheldon Wolf)

Tess Degen (Woman/ Mother) is excited to make her Central Square Theater debut. Most recent Boston credits include Catherine O’Neill’s The Fence, Laundry and Bourbon, A Dog Dreams, The Dating Game, Our Son and numerous staged readings and musicals. NY credits include Koshin by Mila Parish and Shadows of Mourning by Elyse McNergny. She can be seen in Almost Mercy and Slimebuck directed by Tommy DeNucci and available on Netflix. She is currently training to become a Linklater designated instructor and a Dalcroze teacher. She is also is the owner and creator of ‘Physical Actor™, a method combining several modalities to warm up the actor. Her greatest desire is be a student for the rest of her life. www.tessdegen.com