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Katy Rubin

Katy Rubin is the founder and former executive director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, and a Legislative Theatre practitioner.

Katy Rubin is founder and former Executive Director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, a nonprofit organization that partners with communities facing discrimination to spark transformative action. Since 2011, TONYC has created theater troupes with various local communities and presents free, interactive public performances each year for thousands of New Yorkers. TONYC developed and popularized the practice of Legislative Theater in the United States, bringing together elected officials, advocates, service providers and communities experiencing structural racism and economic injustice, towards creative policy change. Katy trained with creator of Theater of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal, in Brazil, and has facilitated Theatre of the Oppressed projects with activists and artists internationally and across the US over the past decade. She holds a BFA in Acting from the Boston University School of Theater and is an alum of Coro Leadership New York.

The cover of a book called The Wildcard Workbook: A Practical Guide for Jokering Forum Theatre. It is purple and yellow.
The Wildcard Workbook: Why Forum Theatre and Why Now?
Essay

The Wildcard Workbook: Why Forum Theatre and Why Now?

15 November 2022

Theatremakers Sulu LeoNimm, Liz Morgan, and Katy Rubin discuss the process of co-authoring The Wildcard Workbook, a guide designed to help others in the field delve into Theatre of the Oppressed practices and devised theatre processes.

two people posing for a photo
How To Make Your Leadership Transition a Joyful, Fun Revolution
Essay

How To Make Your Leadership Transition a Joyful, Fun Revolution

6 October 2019

Katy Rubin, founder and former exeuctive director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, talks with new executive director Meggan Gomez about how long leaders should hold their roles in an organization, mission drift, founder’s syndrome, and more.

The New America?
Ferguson Moments
Essay

Ferguson Moments

Artists Respond

6 September 2014

An overview of the Ferguson Moment which was created from an impulse of theatremakes across the nation to spark and organize artistic responses to the oppression, violence, and resistance happening in Ferguson. 

Ferguson Moment
Series

Ferguson Moment

A series on artists' critical response to the shooting of Michael Brown.