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Visionaries in the theatre field lead a community conversation exploring a range of theatrical practices for engaging communities in conflict resolution, healing, and fostering an environment of empathy and care. The conversation kicked off a weekend of practical workshops which demonstrate their methodologies.
Facilitated by Stages of Change (David J Diamond) and presented by La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.
About Stages of Change
What am I doing to effect greater understanding, empathy, and positive engagement in my community?
That’s what I have been asking myself. What can any of us do? A lot. During the weekend we present a short, but deep dive into six proven processes that theatre practitioners use to effect change. These are among the field’s most inspiring theatre artist/activists who have created or became expert in techniques you may not be familiar with. Stages of Change is your chance to get a taste of all of them.
Over the course of the holiday weekend, participants met and worked closely with Daniel Banks, Michael Rohd, Hannah Fox, Jessica Litwak, Liz Morgan, and Derek Goldman. Facilitation by Todd London and curated by David J Diamond.
Artist Bios
Daniel Banks: Devising for Community Connection
Daniel Banks is a director, deviser, dance dramaturg, and community organizer. He is co-founder/co-curator of DNAWORKS, which centers Global Majority and LGBTQQ2SPIAA+ voices and experiences to create more complex representations of identity, culture, class, and heritage through theatre, dance, film, and art installation. He has served on the faculties of New York University, the City University of New Yorkk (CUNY), Carnegie Mellon, and as chair of performing arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Websites: www.dnaworks.org www.danielbanksdirector.com
Michael Rohd: Theatre as Coalition/Democracy as Public Health
Michael Rohd is a theatremaker who has spent thirty-five years leading process and facilitating conversation around complex public issues across the nation, as well as co-designing community programs, convenings, and public engagement work. In 2022, he founded co-lab for civic imagination at University of Montana, where he serves as a University-wide system dramaturg/artist-in-residence. Website: michaelrohd.com
Jessica Litwak: The Fear Project
Dr. Jessica Litwak is a recognized leader in the field of socially engaged theatre. She is an award-winning playwright, an actor, educator, puppet builder, coach, and a registered drama therapist. She is the artistic director of the H.E.A.T. Collective, which she founded to bring together the practices of healing, education, and activism through theatre. She founded Artists Rise Up New York (ARUNY) and the New Generation Theatre Ensemble. Litwak is a core member of Theatre Without Borders and a Fulbright Scholar.
Derek Goldman: In-Your-Shoes
Dr. Derek Goldman is an award-winning international stage director, playwright, producer, festival director, adapter/deviser, curator, and published scholar. He serves as artistic and executive director of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics (the Lab), with a mission “to humanize global politics through performance.”
Hannah Fox: Playback Theatre
Hannah Fox, M.A., APPT, RYT 500, is an accredited international Playback Theatre trainer, co-director of the New York School of Playback Theatre, and founder of Eugene Playback Theatre (1996), Big Apple Playback Theatre (2002), and Pangea Playback Theatre (2020), all professional multicultural Playback Theatre companies. Hannah has a focused interest in both using theatre and performance as a tool for promoting social justice and using movement and full embodiment to enact stories. Hannah is the author of Zoomy Zoomy: Improv Games and Exercises for Groups (2010), as well as numerous scholarly publications about Playback Theatre. She is also a certified yoga teacher, dancer, and performance artist. Hannah is the daughter of the founders of Playback Theatre.
Liz Morgan: Theatre of the Oppressed
Liz Morgan (she/her)has worked with Theater Of the Oppressed NYC since 2015. She is an award-winning theatre artist based in New York City best known for her poem "Why I was Late Today…" (Huffington Post). Liz studied theatre and dance abroad at the London Dramatic Academy, the Jana Sanskriti Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed in India, and the Yeredon Center for Malian Arts. Liz was a member of the ART/New York Body Autonomy Leadership Council and Theatre Communication Group's 2021 Rising Leaders of Color cohort. In2022, she co-authored The Wildcard Workbook, a practical guide for devising forum theatre.
For more information, visit the program website here.
Curated by David J Diamond with La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Community Space.
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will this be watchable as a recording or only live?
Yes! This livestream will be archived on this page within the next few days.