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Rayne (formerly and forever Angela Bey) is an artist from Southwest Philadelphia. They tell stories of transformation that center Black folx.

 

Rayne is the founder of Upstream Performance Collaborative, a Barrymore-Award-Winning Philly-based theatre company that specializes in boundary-breaking new works by underrepresented, emerging artists. They have a passion for new work, devised, and community-driven processes.​ Their work and artistic philosophy is informed by personal experience as a private-school-scholarship-kid who grew up in the hood. They craft stories for the most disenfranchised Black girl on their block, consistently investigating intersections of race, class, and Queerness with radical compassion, honesty, humor, and play. They hold a commitment to telling intimate stories in both speculative and historical contexts. Rayne constantly investigates how the past resonates within our present moment. A student and admirer of James Baldwin, Rayne also believes that it is an artist's purpose is to make the future—and the revolution—irresistible.

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Since childhood, Rayne has professionally contributed to over sixty arts and culture organizations nationwide, working across mediums as a performer, writer, director, and designer. They are an Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts recipent, F. Otto Haas Award finalist, Leeway Art & Change grant recipient, Wayne F. Milward '57 Prize winner, six-time Barrymore Award nominee, Barrymore-Award winner (Upstream Performance Collaborative; “Outstanding Original Production” for COMET), Leeway Foundation Art & Change Award recipient, and "one of 18 young Philadelphians shaping the future of the city's creative class" (PhillyVoice). Featured in several publications such as NPR, The Inquirer, Mouthful, Token Theatre Friends, Grid Magazine, MetroPhilly, and Philly Gay News, Rayne’s work continues to resonate nationwide. They pay this forward as an arts educator, having taught at University of the Arts, Bryn Mawr College, Friends Select School, The Colored Girls Museum, and more. 

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Rayne is a dynamic and versatile performer with over thirty professional roles across stage and screen. They are known for their depth, range, and commanding presence, often playing complex, layered characters. Praised as “mesmerizing” and “multi-dimensional", Rayne's recent work in COMET earned a Barrymore Nomination for "Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play"and a Barrymore Award for "Outstanding Original Production". ​In The Light, Rayne's portrayal of "Genesis" also earned a nomination for "Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play". Other roles include "Undine" in Fabulation and "Kila-T" in the world-premiere of Young Money, which won an ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Citation. In film, Rayne was part of the Actor’s Ensemble at Sundance Directors Lab, collaborating with Tayarisha Poe and Jharrel Jerome. Rayne's performance in LP as “Brenda” won the Carl Lerner Award for Social Significance, and their portrayal of “Emma” in Bracelet won the film "Best of the Fest" at the San Francisco Independent Short Film Festival.

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Rayne's playwriting has garnered recognition and support through workshops, commissions, and productions from institutions including Shakespeare in Clark Park, Christ Church Preservation Trust, Elevate Theatre, The Painted Bride, The Strides Collective, Primary Stages, The Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre, Temple University Institute on Disabilities, Museum for the American Revolution, Temple University Institute on Disabilities, the National Constitution Center, and more. Rayne is a proud member of Ring of Keys, The Foundry at PlayPenn, and New Pages at Azuka Theatre. 

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Rayne is a lover of vampire lore, collector of vintage jeans, and often smells of geraniums. 

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Affiliations:

Ring of Keys, The Foundry (PlayPenn), and New Pages (Azuka); [former] Rising Writers (Azuka Theatre), Playwrights Cohort (PlayPenn), Echoes (Primary Stages), Emerging Playwrights (Strides Collective), Directors Gathering, and Jouska PlayWorks (Simpatico).

 

Selected Credits:

[design] sandblasted (Theatre Horizon) and A Hit Dog Will Holler (Azuka)

[performance] Actors Ensemble at Sundance Directors Lab (Sundance Institute) and “Genesis'' in The Light (Theatre Exile)

[words] Comet (Upstream Performance Collaborative) and On Buried Ground (Christ Church Preservation Trust)

[direction] Judy's Life's Work (Naptown African American Theatre Collective) and Water By the Spoonful (Eagle Theatre)

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Recent Commissions

[words & performance] Private History Tour (The Ministry of Awe)

[words] New Play Development with Temple Insitute on Disabilities

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In-Development

[words & performance] MASC. (Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant 2026, Upstream Performance Collaborative, and Theatre Exile)​ 

[words] Ever with musician Zachariah Julian