Lynn Nottage, librettist for This House, is a master American dramatist, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship recipient. Upon selecting her in 2007, the MacArthur Committee noted that “Nottage’s imaginative exploration of history, her ability to find resonance in unexpected moments in the past, and her sensitive evocation of social concerns have made her a powerful voice in theater.” Her work, which includes musical books, screenplays, and opera librettos as well as plays, has been frequently produced both in the United States and abroad to wide acclaim. She has previously collaborated with composer Ricky Ian Gordon as they worked together to transform her lauded 2003 play, Intimate Apparel — which won the 2004 Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play — into an opera commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater.

Ruby Aiyo Gerber is a poet, nonfiction writer, and librettist of This House. A recent Brown University graduate, she was featured in The New York Times Style Magazine’s “Culture Issue: Mothers and Daughters,” where she reflected on the rich and multifaceted experience of collaborating with her mother, Lynn Nottage, as a young writer working on developing her own voice.

Jacqueline Thompson is an Actor, Director, Associate Professor in the Communication and Media Studies Department at UMSL and Artistic Director at Metro Theater Company. Some of her local credits include The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Black Rep, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Upstream, Mustard Seed, SATE, and New Jewish Theatre. In March 2018, the St. Louis Post Dispatch recognized her as one of six women shaping St. Louis Arts and entertainment. She was also noted as one of St. Louis’ most versatile performers. She received a St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama for her portrayal of Esther from Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel.   The same year she received an Artist Fellowship from the Regional Arts Commission and was selected by the Theatre Communications Group to participate in The Rising Leaders of Color program.  She’s a recipient of a Visionary award which recognizes St. Louis women in the arts.  She is a proud member of Opera Theatre St. Louis’ New Works Collective and Actors Equity Association.