Livestreamed on this page Thursday 8 June to Saturday 10 June 11:00 a.m. PDT (Portland) / 2:00 p.m. EDT (New York)
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The 2017 TCG National Conference: Full Circle
Theatre Communications Group presented the 2017 TCG National Conference: Full Circle (ASL-interpreted) livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 8 June to Saturday 10 June. Share your thoughts and media with hashtags #tcg17 and #howlround in all social media platforms. Follow @TCG and @HowlRound in Twitter for updates.
From June 8-10, the 2017 TCG National Conference: Full Circle will welcome 1,000+ theatre practitioners from across the globe to Portland, OR, for peer connection, professional development, and inspiring thought-leaders from within and beyond the field. We’ll build on the success of the 2016 DC Conference by strengthening core programming like our Skills-Building Workshops and At the Intersections arc, as well as conduct bold new experiments like last year’s visits to Capitol Hill.
Full Circle will also draw inspiration from our host city of Portland’s central role in the “Maker” culture—a network of artisans and hackers dismantling industrialized systems through a return to a more local, human scale. In a region renowned for its commitment to sustainable ecosystems, could our most local and human of art forms be a natural partner in these movements?
This will also be our first major gathering after a contentious election process that featured profoundly different visions of our country’s past, present, and future. As storytellers and community-builders, how can we bridge the divisions of our country and world? How can we create ‘virtuous circles;’ feedback loops where our vision for a better world for and because of theatre reinforce each other?
If you have any questions about the 2017 National Conference: Full Circle, please send an email to [email protected].
All events will be live-captioned.
Thursday 8 June 2017
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Conversation about Careers in Regional Theatre
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EDT (New York)
The League of Resident Theatres (LORT) is committed to increasing diversity and creating equity among the staff and executive leadership of its member theatres. LORT is engaging in collective action in the areas of Hiring, Recruitment and Mentorship as a multi-pronged approach to eliminate inequities that exist in the hiring and recruitment process.
LORT has identified active recruitment of new talent as an important step in ensuring that its theatres continue to attract talented candidates from the next generation of artists, administrators, artisans and technicians. This focus on inclusion is imperative to fostering a generation of theatre professionals that represent the diversity of our communities.
To that end, LORT’s Recruitment Subcommittee has conducted these LORT Ambassador Panels to actively inform, engage and recruit high school, undergraduate and graduate students, with a particular emphasis on students of color, to career opportunities in LORT theatres. We invite you to join a group of diverse senior leaders from LORT member theatres in a robust panel discussion focusing on career opportunities in all areas of professional theatre, strategic planning related to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and effective solutions and challenges that exist in the field. We also invite you to share what is working in your programming at your theaters surrounding EDI and professional development.
Conference Kick-off: How We Show Up
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. EDT (New York
This session will not only lay the groundwork for the At the Intersections sessions, but share best practices for all Conference attendees for making the most of our time together.
Beyond Diversity: Casting & Cultural Appropriation in the American Theatre
4:45 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 7:45 p.m. - 9:15 p.m. EDT (New York)
In the wake of recent casting practices from regional theaters around the country, whitewashing stories by and for people of color remains a long and historic concern in casting stories featuring people of color. Who should take responsibility? What role does the does each practitioner play in cultural appropriation? The producing institution?
Join us for this AT THE INTERSECTIONS town hall/workshop community gathering to better understand the process of producing and casting plays of color; the consequences and effects of cultural and racial appropriation; and create action towards making change in the greater American theatre landscape around race, representation and equity in casting practices.
Opening Plenary Session—#ASL Interpreted
6:30 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 9:30 p.m. - 10:45 p.m. EDT (New York)
Sponsored by: Scandiuzzi Krebs
Welcome: Teresa Eyring, Executive Director, TCG
Remarks By: Cynthia Fuhrman, Chief Operating Officer, Portland Center Stage; Sarah Horton, Managing Director, Artists Repertory Theater
Theatre Practitioner Award Presented to Linda Hartzell, Artistic Director Emerita,Seattle Children’s Theatre
Speaker: Lidia Yuknavitch, Author
Friday 9 June 2017
Morning Plenary Session—#ASL Interpreted
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. PDT (Portland) / 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT (New York)
Welcome: Adrian Budhu, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, TCG and Kevin Moriarty, Artistic Director, Dallas Theater Center
Remarks By: Representative Suzanne Bonamici
(D-OR 1st District)
Visionary Leadership Award Presented to Susan Medak, Managing Director, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Speaker: Jeff Chang, Author and Executive Director, Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University
Jeff Chang has written extensively on the intersection of race, art, and civil rights, and the socio-political forces that guided the hip-hop generation. His most recent book, We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation, questions why we keep talking about diversity even as American society is resegregating, both racially and economically. Jeff’s many awards include the North Star News Prize, the St. Clair Drake Teaching Award at Stanford University, and being named as one of the “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World” by The Utne Reader. (photo credit: Jeremy Keith Villaluz)
Jeff serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University, where he continues his long career specializing in culture, politics, the arts, and music.
Jeff’s Books include:
We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation
Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post-Civil Rights America
Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Check out jeffchang.net for more information on Jeff’s work, and read his full bio here.
Theatres as Civic Institutions, Arts Advocates, and Agents of Change
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EDT (New York)
Description: 2017 promises to be a year of historic political and social importance. Theatres have the opportunity, some might say the obligation, to be a civic resource to their community, staff, and artists. But where do you start? What’s allowed? Who are models to learn from? What impact might this have on the art and how you work? This panel will share civic engagement practices from theatre artists/managers, advocacy coalition leaders, and advocacy trainers. We’ll discuss how theatres are bringing civic engagement to the core of their work, what’s happening in arts advocacy at the city, state, and national level, and where to find inspiration from other nonprofit sectors and movements who have successfully galvanized around an issue of importance in their community.
Creative Access: Accommodations for Professional Performers with Disabilities
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. EDT (New York)
Join this in-person and digital panel of Professional Performers with Disabilities to discuss the nuts-and-bolts of including performers in auditions, callbacks, rehearsals, tech and performances. Performers will not only share success stories first-hand of accommodations that have worked for them in the past, but will also offer practical examples of how to plan for and communicate the accommodations your theatre is prepared to provide for a given production. Accommodations don’t have to be costly— they can be provided with a sense of creativity and teamwork!
Saturday 10 June 2017
Transformational Experiences: Co-Creating Theater with Incarcerated Populations
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. PDT (Portland) / 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT (New York)
This session gives experienced prison arts practitioners an opportunity to share collective experiences, their passion for the work, and build an expanded network of peers. These artists and educators are engaged in transformational arts programs using theater for change in prisons across the U.S. (and the world). The panelists will explore and discuss the effects such programming has on prison populations. This session promotes a collaborative learning forum where participants are exposed to a diverse array of programs that all strive for a common result: “the habilitation of the inmate’s mind, heart, body, and spirit.”
Morning Plenary Session—#ASL Interpreted
10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 1:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EDT (New York)
Welcome: Devon Berkshire, Director of Conferences and Fieldwide Learning, TCG
Peter Zeisler Memorial Award presented to Latinx Theatre Commons
Meet the Kilroys: Readings from “The Kilroys List: 97 Monologues and Scenes"
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. EDT (New York)
Put a little performance in your Conference experience! Just released and debuting at the TCG Conference— The Kilroys List: 97 Monologues and Scenes by Female and Trans Playwrights, Volume One. Join Joy Meads and Carla Ching, founding members of The Kilroys, for a reading of the book by Kilroys playwrights and special guests, followed by a book signing.
At the Intersections: How We Move Forward
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York)
At the Intersections will culminate with a town hall (“How We Move Forward”) on Saturday that empowers all of us to share what we’ve experienced across these interwoven areas of identity.
Closing Plenary Session—#ASL Interpreted
3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. PDT (Portland) / 6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. EDT (New York)
Welcome: Teresa Eyring, Executive Director, TCG
Funder of the Year Award, Regional, presented to James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation
Funder of the Year Award, National, presented to William & Eva Fox Foundation
Speaker: UNIVERSES in conversation with Chay Yew, Artistic Director, Victory Gardens Theater
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.
Find all of our upcoming events here.
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