Faye Hargate (Director of Community Ensembles / Interim Manager CLeveland Act Now)

Faye is a performer, educator, creator of original works, and director. She was appointed to Director of Community Ensembles in 2016 after having served in a range of education, community connection, and artistic roles since joining CPT’s fulltime staff in 2009. Faye works with Teatro Público de Cleveland, supporting the production of bilingual devised plays, Spanish language scripted plays, and community projects at events like CPT’s Station Hope and Ohio City’s Street Festival, and Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi مسرح كليفلاند العربي, collaborating with Raymond Bobgan and company members to support the development of new plays by, for, and with Arabic-speaking communities. Faye has ten years of experience with CPT’s Cleveland Act Now (formerly Brick City Theatre), teaching, directing, producing original plays and community events, and collaborating with community partner, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA). Her leadership has garnered program recognition: CMHA Community Partner of the Year Award in 2015, Cleveland Foundation Arts Mastery pilot grant in 2016, finalist for National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in 2016 and 2017, and Cleveland Foundation Arts Mastery grant renewal in 2018. In 2017, she was awarded the Rising Activist Award from Community Shares of Greater Cleveland for her work with Cleveland Act Now. In 2018, Faye founded CAN Academy, a theatre training program onsite at CPT for younger teens and youth that live in Cleveland and surrounding neighborhoods. Faye is a founding member of the Cleveland CORE Ensemble. Under the direction of Raymond Bobgan, she has collaboratively created and performed in original works Fire on the Water (Part Four of the Elements Cycle), Red Ash Mosaic, Feefer Rising, and Rusted Heart Broadcast. As an installation artist, Faye has collaborated with Joan Hargate to direct and create performance/art installations When the She’ll Broke – Workshop, She’s Wearing White…, Royal Ann’s Preserve, Echoless Shore, and Fellsalie. Faye is a 2014 Creative Workforce Fellow. She has been a featured panelist for Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Education Pre-Conference and has served on TCG Education planning committee. Faye is a graduate of Ecole Jacques Lecoq (Paris, France) and has performed in France and Portugal. She holds a BA from Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) and trained with Cleveland’s Inlet Dance Theatre. Faye is a Cleveland native.

Zyrece Montgomery (Education associate)

Zyrece Montgomery is a performer and educator. She joined CPT full-time staff as Education Associate in June 2020 after having taught with CPT education programs Cleveland Act Now (formerly Brick City Theatre) and CAN Academy since 2017. Zyrece has had a leadership role with CAN Academy since its founding in 2018, leading program pedagogical practices, implementation, and visioning. Committed to creating compassionate learning spaces that center equity, empathy, and the celebration of one’s authentic self, Zyrece has been creating uplifting educational experiences since graduating from Ohio University with her BFA in Theatre Performance. She taught fourth grade full-time with Druid Hills Elementary School in Charlotte, NC for Teach For America before returning to Cleveland in 2016. Upon her return, she served as Actor-Teacher with Great Lakes Theater for three consecutive seasons, performing, coaching, directing, and facilitating discussions with students in grades K-12 on English curriculum classical plays including Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, Arthur Miller, Dr. Seuss, and many more. Zyrece has participated in “Responding to Racism in a Clinical Setting” workshops with HCOM Cleveland Campus, acting out real-life scenarios of racism and sexism in a clinical setting, engaging in conversations with medical students on how to address issues in the moment and identify racism. A Cleveland native, she is a proud graduate of Cleveland School of the Arts. As a performer, Zyrece has performed with Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Dobama Theatre’s Marilyn Bianchi Kids’ Playwrighting Festival, Ensemble Theatre, and most recently with Cleveland Public Theatre when she portrayed Elaine Brown in excerpts from India Nicole Burton’s original devised play, Panther Women: An Army for the Liberation. Notable roles in scripted work include: Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Friar Laurencia in Romeo and Juliet, Telemachus in The Penelopaid, Norma Jean in The Colored Museum, and Mayme in Intimate Apparel. Zyrece is SAFD Certified in rapier and dagger as well as hand-to-hand combat.