Cheyanne Williams (she/they) is a theater artist whose transdisciplinary practice seeks to expand traditional roles of making. Irreverent of predetermined roles of theater, they have acted in, technical directed, designed, and built shows. Cheyanne cares about storytelling that reflects the intersection of identities, languages, and materials that make up the tragedies, joys, and absurdities of the world we live in.
Her longstanding collaboration with director Kaneza Schaal has seen her technical directing for Omar (Carolina Performing Arts, North Carolina; Boston Lyric Opera, Boston), KLII (The Public’s Under the Radar Festival, Chelsea Factory, NYC; REDCAT, Los Angeles; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis), Cartography (NYU Abu Dhabi; the Kennedy Center, DC), and Jack & (Brooklyn Academy of Music and New York Live Arts, NYC; On the Boards, Seattle; MCA, Chicago).
For three years, Cheyanne has been the resident Technical Director and Designer for Towards A New Collectivity, a yearly summer residency program hosted at The Performing Garage in New York, where they have had the privilege of bringing to life several projects, including: choreographer Kiara Benn’s Just for (you) (2023), musician Otracami’s Touching the Stove Coil (2022), performer Ian Askew’s workshop performance of Slamdance (2021) and visual artist and sculptor Kamal Nassif’s على ايدها (Ala Eadha) (2021). Additional design work includes scenic design for Until Other Times (JACK, NYC).
BA: Wesleyan University, Theater.
