Maria Manuela Goyanes (she/her) joined Woolly as Artistic Director in 2018, after serving as Director of Producing and Artistic Planning at The Public Theater, where she oversaw the day-to-day execution of a full slate of plays and musicals at the Public’s five-theater venue at Astor Place and the Delacorte Theater for Shakespeare in the Park. Earlier in her career at The Public, she managed some of the theater’s most celebrated productions, including Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josephine & I by Cush Jumbo, Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee, Barbecue by Robert O’Hara, and Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. While at The Public, Maria also held a position on the adjunct faculty of Juilliard and curated the junior year curriculum of the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU. Since 2015, she has served as a member of the board of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. From 2006 to 2008, she co-chaired the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab with Jason Grote, and from 2004 to 2012, was the Executive Producer of 13P. Maria is a first-generation Latinx-American, born to parents who emigrated from the Dominican Republic and Spain. She was raised in Jamaica, Queens, and earned her Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.

Fatima Dyfan is a director, producer, writer, and performer. Fatima is the BOLD Rising Director assistant directing the world premiere of My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion, the world premiere of The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes, and the regional premiere of Amm(I)gone in Woolly’s current season. Fatima is currently in residency at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company through the National New Play Network (NNPN) Producer in Residence Program. Fatima engages the local community as the Artistic Advisor to the Black Theatre Ensemble at Georgetown University. Prior to this, Fatima served as the Fellow of the New Work Department at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company through the Miranda Family Fellowship Program. Fatima graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in African-American Studies and Government with a Minor in Theatre Performance Studies. Fatima is a first-generation Sierra Leonean American from Northern Virginia.

A Black radical humanist in the making, Fatima is interested in exploring the intersections of identity including race, gender, sexuality, and spirituality, arts, and culture through storytelling and community work. Fatima’s artistry is centered on research and dramaturgy with an awareness of harm reduction, consent, anti-racism, collective organizing, justice, and healing practices to address global issues. As a lifelong learner, Fatima continues to refine her skills in critical analysis, the performance of theatre, dance, and song, visual and design art, and writing in poetry, prose, speech, essay, and computer language for AI and virtual reality. Fatima is deeply inspired by her studies but finds sparks of influence from high fashion and glam, astrology, ratchet reality television, cooking, working at the local Jazz club, and being with loved ones.