fbpx The 2017 Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas Conference “Access, Activism & Art” | HowlRound Theatre Commons

Livestreamed on this page Thursday 22 June - Saturday 24 June 9:00 a.m. (Berkeley) / 11:00 a.m. CDT (Chicago) / 12:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

Los Angeles, CA, United States
Thursday 22 June - Saturday 24 June.

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The 2017 Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas Conference “Access, Activism & Art”

Thursday 22 June - Saturday 24 June.

 

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Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas presented the 2017 LMDA Conference “Access, Activism & Art” livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produceHowlRound.TV network from Thursday 22 June - Saturday 24 June.

Share your thoughts and media with hashtags #LMDA17 and #howlround in all social media platforms. Follow @LMDAmericas and @HowlRound in Twitter for updates.

"We are thrilled to be in Berkeley, California for the opportunity to reunite and re-ignite in a city with such a celebrated legacy of social and political action. It is the perfect place for us to talk access, activism and art, and to take action not just here, but in theatre communities all over the Americas. This call to arms is meant to reach through our community, so we encourage participants to come ready with questions, observations, and thoughts about your own practices to share with everyone joining us in person, on Twitter (#LMDA17), and via HowlRound."—Ken Cerniglia, LMDA President  

Thursday 22 June

Conversation Kickstarter Panel
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. EDT (New York)

 

 

Pathways to Revolution: Roundtable on Activism and Access with Local Theatres 
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

In this roundtable discussion, dramaturgs and literary managers from a variety of local theatres will talk about how their work – from their education/outreach programs to their productions – is grappling with America’s politically divided landscape. How can theatre have a voice in this post-truth, Trumpian era? What dramaturgical strategies are we using to reframe and rethink the plays we do? How can we make theatre, to quote Eve Ensler, “a pathway to revolution….a refuge for the vulnerable, for telling stories of the invisible, for resisting the tyrannical, for imagining the new story.”

 

 

Hot Topics
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

Panelists will introduce a broad range of current initiatives and perspectives to spark conversation with attendees. Panelists include: Angela J. Latham (Governors State University), Gavin Witt and Deanie Vallone (Baltimore Center Stage), Joan Robbins (Ohio Northern University), Hanna Slattne (Dramaturgs' Network U.K. and Ireland & Tinderbox Theatre Company), Alison Ruth (University of Iowa), Lukas Brasherfons (University of Iowa), Madison Parrotta (Rider University), Yasmin Zacaria Mitchel (Chicago History Museum & Indo-American Heritage Museum), Meghan McEnery (University of Arkansas), Geoff Proehl (University of Puget Sound), Jessica Rizzo (Yale University), Mark Lord (Headlong Performance Institute). 
*Sponsor: Rachel Greene, Founder of MonologueBank.com

 

 

Bly Grant Recipient Showcase - Sustainability in Dialogue: Greenturgy in Action
3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 5:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6:15 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. EDT (New York)

Meet an awardee of the 2017 Bly Creative Capacity Grant! WIth this grant OSF artist/activist/dramaturgs Amrita Ramanan and Alison Carey will explore how the environment is a constant, substantive through line in the dramatic canon.

 

 

Access, Activism, Art & Action across LMDA's Regions
3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. EDT (New York) 

Join LMDA regional representatives in conversation about the similarities and differences in the intersections between access, activism & art across LMDA’s membership.

 

 

Friday 23 June

We're sittin' here, talkin' about Access?!
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. EDT (New York)

This panel will interrogate issues surrounding access and the theatre. While the issue of accessible spaces is one we will touch on, there are many other vectors of access we will attempt to unpack. For example, How do cultural differences / traditions trouble access? In what ways does gendered or raced spaces negotiate issues of access? What role does capitalism play in issues of access to theatre, whether that be as an audience member or horrifically under-compensated artist? Within our patriarchal culture, how does motherhood complicate access? If access is read as the ability to have a presence (physical, intellectual, or artistic) in the dominant culture, how do we measure success? Is it even a goal worth pursuing, or should we focus on building alternative structures that have inclusion as their fundament?

 

 

Playwrights Under the Radar
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

Ever get the feeling that there are great playwrights out there who just haven’t popped up on your radar? Using the popular Hot Topics format, twelve dramaturgs from around Canada and the U.S. will each present their favorite, not-yet-famous playwright – an author whose work they know and admire and who deserves a wider audience. Each pitch will last only five minutes, so fasten your seatbelt. Here is our roster of presenters: Gavin Witt, DD Kugler, Ilana Brownstein, Geoff Proehl, Art Borreca, Michael Evans, Michael Clark, Jess Hutchinson, Heather Oberlander, Lukas Brasherfors, Alison Ruth, and Sally Ollove.

 

 

Indigenous Art Activism: We don't cross your borders - your borders cross us
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

In this plenary session, Indigenous award-winning playwright and dramaturg David Geary will lead a roundtable discussion with Indigenous artists/activists and dramaturgs. The discussion 6 will showcase the work of artists/activists across North America as well as internationally. Indigenous dramaturgs will not only present their fellow artists’ work, they will share how they as Indigenous dramaturgs can facilitate art-activism in their work and practice. This panel will consider the work of: Tame Iti, Te Hamua Shane Nikora, Adam Goodes, Dr. Elizabeth La Pensee, and Art Napoleon.

 

 

Collaboration & Communication: a Cross-Border Conversation in Digital Space 
3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. EDT (New York)

What is the nature of culture and performance in an increasingly digital society? How does it impact borders? What access do digital spaces provide? What does it mean to be National? Members of HowlRound and SpiderWebShow will appear physically and digitally in the same space via CdnStudio to consider these questions. Demonstrated at last year’s LMDA conference as a tool seeded by a Bly Creative Capacity Grant, CdnStudio is an online ‘room’ that uses internet technology to bring collaborators together to see and hear each other in the same digital ‘space’.

 

 

Saturday 24 June

Bly Grant Recipient Showcase: Black Theatre Commons
9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 11:00 a.m. CDT - 11:45 a.m. (Chicago) / 12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. EDT (New York)

Meet an awardee of the 2017 Bly Creative Capacity Grant! The mission of Black Theatre Commons (BTC) is to enrich, nurture, and support Black theatres. The Bly Creative Capacity Grant will allow the BTC to unite Black theatres and artists through a national online community with a focus on artistic resource sharing through dramaturgy that focuses on Black theatres and Black artists.

 

 

Long-Running Duos at A.C.T. & Shotgun
9:50 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 11:50 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 12:50 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

Moderator: Nakissa Etemad (Regional VP Metro Bay Area, Freelance Dramaturg) 
Panelists: Carey Perloff (Artistic Director of A.C.T. - American Conservatory Theater), Michael Paller (Dramaturg and Director of Humanities, A.C.T.), Patrick Dooley (Founding Artistic Director of Shotgun Players), Joanie McBrien (Dramaturg and Development Director, Shotgun Players). 

Nakissa Etemad will guide a conversation between two artistic leaders, Carey Perloff of A.C.T. and Patrick Dooley of Shotgun Players, and their long-time resident dramaturgs Michael Paller 7 and Joanie McBrien. Get acquainted with the work of these two theater companies as we explore why they employ staff dramaturgs, details of their positions, and how these vital dramaturg-artistic director relationships work and grow throughout the seasons. How has dramaturgy and dramaturgical thinking influenced each theater company, both logistically and artistically? How have these artists supported each other’s work over the years? Learn more about these inspiring collaborations.

 

 

The Opportunities & Challenges of Responsive Theatre
11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EDT (New York)

This roundtable discussion will explore how and why responsive theatre gets made (examples: Every 28 Hours Project, Orlando Project, Ghostlight Project, etc); what challenges are posed by the emergence of this form of immediate "social emergency" style work; what best practices look like; and how to amplify and innovate (rather than duplicate) the great work being done in this field. Together, we will to begin to codify a list of discoveries and revelations around the challenges and opportunities that others can practically draw from in the coming months and years — surely, we are more in need of effective, immediate responsive theatre actions now than ever before.

 

 

Representation, Inclusion and Activism: Concrete Ideas for Building a More Representative and Inclusive Theater
4:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. PDT (Berkeley) / 6:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 7:45 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EDT (New York)

Moderator: Martine Kei Green-Rogers 
Panelists: Catherine María Rodríguez, Megan Monaghan Rivas, Ben Randle, Torange Yeghiazarian 

This session is focused on ways theater companies, individuals and universities can take action to bring diverse voices into all levels of an organization, both on stage and off. The focus is not on challenges but about specific ways to take action and make change. Panelists will each talk about concrete things an individual or organization can do to start making changes. The group will open up for discussion and in the last 15 minutes we will divide up in to action groups where 9 the attendees will work in small groups on strategies and action items to come out of the conference for either their home organizations or LMDA.

 

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.

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