Anti-racist Strategies in Dramaturgy

Dramaturgs' Network presented a panel on Anti-racist Strategies in Dramaturgy livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 20 November 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0).

The Dramaturgs’ Network’s Anti-racist Strategies in Dramaturgy panel will offer robust discussion of some of the most pressing issues in theatre’s move towards a decolonized model, as outlined in the open letter, “We need to talk about dramaturgy” (circulated in March 2021).

The letter outlines both the existence of explicit racism in dramaturgical relationships, as well as the more nuanced, covert ways in which imbalances of power are created and maintained. This discussion will therefore explore developments in dramaturgy that can support a more authentic, inclusive creative practice, to help the sector move consciously and confidently beyond the narratives, forms, and epistemologies of the Eurocentric canon.

In considering their own experiences of best (and worst) practices in both institutional and freelance settings, this panel of theatremakers and dramaturgs will address topics such as voice, appropriation, and “risk”, and expand on their vision of what they’d like to see happen next in the industry.

The session is curated by Lee Anderson, Tommo Fowler and Catriona Craig.

Panelists include: Samantha Ellis, Lynette Goddard (chair), Kane Husbands.

It is sponsored by the Society for Theatre Research, and is a free event (suggested voluntary donation: £4). Donate here.

The panel will be followed by The Kenneth Tynan Award Ceremony.

These events are part of the Dramaturgs’ Network’s twentieth anniversary day-long event: Celebrating Dramaturgy. For the full day’s program, please visit our website.

Panelist Biographies

Sudha Bhuchar is an acclaimed actor/playwright/founder of Bhuchar Boulevard. As co-founder of Tamasha, with Kristine Landon-Smith, their landmark work includes A Fine Balance & the award-winning musical Fourteen Songs Two Weddings and a Funeral. Other plays include Child of the Divide (Time out No1 show for families 2006/ Winner Asian media awards 2018), My Name is…. (also adapted for Radio 4) & The House of Bilquis Bibi (Lorca’s The House of Bernada Alba transposed to Pakistan). Recent commissions: Final Farewell (Tara Theatre) Touchstone Tales (RevolutonArts/Wellcome Collection) & French like Faiza (Radio3 cowritten with Ilana Navaro). Sudha has written and appears in her one woman show, Evening Conversations.

Acting credits include Khandan (Royal Court /Birmingham Rep), The Village (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and Lions and Tigers (Globe Theatre). Tv includes: Coronation street, Stella & Noughts and Crosses. Film: Riz Ahmed and Bassam Tariq’s Mogul Mowgli, Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, Ben Wheatley’s Happy New Year Colin Burstead and oscar-winning director, Orlando von Einsiedel’s, Into Dust (currently on Amazon Prime)

Sudha was a finalist for BBC Radio 4’s Audio drama awards (2019) for My Son the Doctor (co- written with Saleyha Ahsan) and was awarded Tongues on Fire’s Flame Award (2018) & Eastern Eye’s ACTA award (2019) for her significant contribution to the Arts.

As dramaturg, Sudha most recently worked with Nyla Levy on Does my bomb look big in this (Tamasha), Tuyen Do on Summer rolls (Van Thanh Productions) and Dorcas Seb on Buttercup (20 Stories High).

Samantha Ellis is an Iraqi Jewish British writer, living in London. Her plays include Phyllis or I’m Still Burning (Jermyn Street Theatre / 15 Heroines, published by NHB); Love is Not New in This Country (BBC Radio 3); How to Date a Feminist (Arcola Theatre, published by NHB, and performed all around the world in multiple languages); The Only Jew in England (East 15 / Queens’ Theatre Hornchurch) and Cling to Me Like Ivy (Birmingham Rep Theatre, published by NHB). Her books, How to be a Heroine and Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the art of life, are both published by Chatto & Windus. She also worked on the scripts of Paddington and Paddington 2.

Lynette Goddard is Professor of Black Theatre and Performance at Royal Holloway, University of London. Their teaching and research focuses on contemporary Black British playwriting through the intersectional politics of race, gender, and sexuality. Their book publications include Staging Black Feminisms: Identity, Politics, Performance (2007), Contemporary Black British Playwrights: Margins to Mainstream (2015) and Errol John’s Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (2017). They are currently working on two research projects: one about Black British theatre directors’ processes and productions and a project about how race is portrayed in contemporary plays through such themes as race, immigration and asylum, race, Black communities and the police, race and religion, race and the legacies of slavery, and race and the rise of right-wing politicians.

Kane Husbands is the Founder and Artistic Director of The PappyShow and a lecturer at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. His work is all about community and bringing people together to move, share their practice and play. He is a facilitator, director, performer and maker specialising in movement, dance, ensemble and physical theatre. His work and research look into diversity, inclusion and difference and finding spaces where many identities thrive. His work is often site-specific and seen on stages, screen and in digital spaces. Kane is an associate of the National Youth Theatre, Squint Theatre and The North Wall (Oxford). He choreographed the Welcoming Ceremonies of the London Olympics, Paralympics, and the Glasgow Commonwealth Team. He has worked across theatre spaces from the National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Crucible Theatre, the Old Vic, the Midlands Arts Centre (Birmingham), the SCOOP Outdoor Theatre, Rose Bruford College (London), the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London), University of West London, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (Cardiff), the National Youth Theatre, the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Saudi Arabia), the National Theatre of Scotland, the Kiln Theatre (London) and Fran Wen, among other companies and venues. For the company, Kane has Directed BOYS, Boy Fly, GIRLS (2018), CARE, SHINE BLACK, OUR HOUSE and continues to lead and curate The PappyShow’s works and training in collaboration with the full core team.