Rebecca S'manga is a writer, culture-worker, performer, and story doula based in Brooklyn. In 2025 she was a New York Theatre Workshop Artist in Residence at Dartmouth with her play “Valence.” Poetry from Rebecca’s upcoming poetry collection "green book" will be featured in a museum exhibition on Black Jewish ritual by Canadian filmmaker Ella Cooper, touring in 2027. She is the recipient of a Covenant Grant for her work devising lesson plans and teaching with the program "Exploring Black Narratives," where she brings Black narrative plays to Jewish day schools. She teaches creative writing, storytelling, and intersectional wisdom to kids, adults, and communities working towards social change. Her work has been featured in Lilith Magazine, at Drexel University, the Spirit of Humanity Festival, Lab/Shul, The Braid Theatre, Society Theatre Co, and many hubs for art, spirituality, and culture. She is a Rabbinic Arts fellow, and an alum of The Workshop, LABA New York, and The New Jewish Culture Fellowship. She facilitates writing and community building with The Make Good Project, a Black women’s writing collective, which writes in places like Martha’s Vineyard, Kripalu, and the Dream Center in Harlem. 

As a performer, Rebecca starred recently in the world premiere adaptation of “Frankenstein” by Emily Burns at Shakespeare Theatre DC, in the west coast premiere of the Pulitzer Prize winning play “Primary Trust” by Eboni Booth (LA Times Best Theater 2024), the world premiere of “Love All” by Anna Deavere Smith, and in “At the Wedding” by Bryna Turner at Lincoln Center Theater. She's been on TV shows like "Prodigal Son” and "Elementary," and participated in the development of countless new works at places like Berkeley Rep, The Geffen, Sundance, New York Theatre Workshop, and more. Rebecca enjoys travel writing and performing her poetry on the road. She received her BA in creative writing from Mills College and her MFA in acting from New York University.