New York, NY
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, proudly announces the 2025 Rising Leaders of Color (RLC) cohort of three exceptionally talented early-career journalists and critics of color who are shaping the future of cultural discourse and deepening the field’s engagement with Black, Indigenous, and Theatres of Color (BITOC). This year’s cohort includes Mike Davis, Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel, and Miranda Purcell.
This year’s iteration of the Rising Leaders of Color program uplifts and provides professional development for leaders whose work centers the stories, artistry, and legacies of communities too often marginalized in the U.S. theatre landscape.
Since 2020, the field has seen a surge in BITOC-led productions and initiatives, but there remains a critical need for journalists and critics who bring cultural fluency, historical context, and a lived understanding of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artistry. The 2025 RLC cohort embodies that need—and represents what’s possible when criticism becomes a space for justice, curiosity, and celebration.
“At a time when the theatre needs culturally responsive criticism and storytelling, these three leaders bring clarity, boldness, and vision,” said Emilya Cachapero, TCG’s Co-Executive Director of National and Global Programming. “We are excited to invest in their continued growth and to amplify their voices through the Rising Leaders of Color program.”
Embedded in TCG’s mission is a long-term commitment to transforming the theatre BIPOC; Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC); and Disability communities. Programs such as RLC directly confront the structural barriers that have historically limited who gets to lead and whose stories are uplifted in American theatre.
About the 2025 Cohort
Mike Davis is a Seattle native currently living in Chicago. He covers theater for WBEZ and the Chicago Sun Times. Mike started his journalism career as a music writer at an alt weekly newspaper. In 2020, Mike tried his hand at reporting on local politics. It was short lived. He quickly returned to the arts, joining KUOW, Seattle’s local NPR station. These days, you will find Mike in theaters across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs watching shows.
When he’s not in the theater, Mike loves rooting for the Seahawks, having beers with friends, and reading good books in quiet parks. https://www.wbez.org/author/mike-davis
Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel (she/they) is a Chicago-based dramaturg, arts journalist, and cultural producer. As a queer, fat, Iranian-American femme, they endeavor to amplify and archive stories that go lost/stolen/forgotten. Their praxis across producing live, digital, and print media centers audience experience that is community-focused, responsive, and vibrant. Mikhaiel’s arts writing and research explore possibility models for a more inclusive and sustainable theatre culture and industry (American Theatre magazine, the Chicago Reader, In These Times, Teen Vogue).
As a new play dramaturg, their work centers narratives at the intersections of queer family drama and diaspora, especially of the SWANA region. Mikhaiel’s facilitation practice spans workshops on topics like cultural competency (Roundabout’s Broadway premiere of English), self-archiving for artists (Digital Development Project), and post-production debriefs (The Theatre School at DePaul University). Mikhaiel holds a M.A. in Performance as Public Practice from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.F.A. in Dramaturgy/Criticism from TTS DePaul University, where they teach as part-time faculty. Mikhaiel recently founded BIYA BIYA, a creative agency and production house dedicated to supporting artists and their artistic homes. Learn more and connect with them at YasminZacaria.com or on socials @yasminzacaria.
Miranda Purcell is a Puerto Rican actress and journalist working at the intersection of performance, media, and cultural access. She recently earned a master’s degree in journalism from Harvard University and currently works in Marketing & Communications at Art Bridges, a national nonprofit dedicated to bringing American art out of storage and into underserved communities. She was a 2024–2025 cohort member of the BIPOC Critics Lab at the Public Theater, where she explored criticism through an equity-focused lens. Her multidisciplinary background includes work as a screenwriter for “The Writer’s Gang,” a reporter at “El Nuevo Día”—Puerto Rico’s leading newspaper—and a content creator for Caribbean Cinemas, the fourth-largest movie theater franchise in Latin America. Miranda holds a B.F.A. in Theater Arts from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where she trained in the Meisner technique. She also studied Shakespearean performance at London’s Globe Theatre, grounding her in both contemporary and classical traditions.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Since its founding in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 500 Member Theatres and affiliate organizations and over 3,000 Individual Members. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year. TCG offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the TCG National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people; awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG’s partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 22 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG believes its vision of “a better world for theatre, and a better world because of theatre” can be achieved through individual and collective action, adaptive and responsive leadership, and equitable representation in all areas of practice. TCG is led by co-Executive Directors, Emilya Cachapero, LaTeshia Ellerson, and Alisha Tonsic.
