Alicia (pronounced uh-lee-SEE-uh) Whavers is a NY/NJ based theatre artist. She received her Bachelors in Theatre Arts and Honors English from Drew University in 2014. Afterwards, she was an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, then worked for Royal Family Productions in NYC as the assistant to the artistic director from 2014 to 2016. She then began working as a box office representative and house manager for the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in South Orange, NJ. In 2017 she started working as the audience services manager at SOPAC, and in June of 2020 she became the director of audience services at the age of 27, making her the youngest director in the organization’s 15-year history.
Alicia sits on the board of The St. James Players, a community theatre based in Montclair, NJ that dedicates itself to bring free Shakespeare to its audiences. In 2019 she established Unidentified Stages with her younger sister, a theatre group that presents new works as staged readings and will eventually move to presenting full stage productions. Unidentified Stages works with playwrights, directors, and actors to help them each develop their respective skills. Playwrights submit questions along with their plays that they would like to ask the audience. Actors are given the scripts and given a short rehearsal time to help develop their cold reading skills, and directors are assigned to each play. Audience members are asked the questions provided by the playwright, and their feedback is given back to the playwright.
Born and raised in Newark, NJ, Alicia continues to bring theatre to her community. Her mother, a woman who was never seen without a book within arm’s reach, passed along this trait to Alicia. From a young age she was always reading stories and acting out her favorite scenes, brimming with excitement whenever she saw one of her favorite stories come to life on the television. After discovering the possibilities of theatre, she decided to spend her life in that world of endless possibilities.
Her favorite color is blue, though most of her wardrobe consists of purples, and she once completely ignored Leslie Odom Jr. while waiting in line outside of Hamilton because RuPaul sauntered out of the side stage door and graced the entire line with a wave. Alicia likes to spend her free time writing plays, acting in local productions, and discovering her own ways to contribute to the art she is passionately in love with.
Visit her website here!
Unidentified Stages 