We Begin With Classics: How To Radically Impact the Theater Landscape

Classics are very often the first entry point into the theatre for communities across the world. Whether it’s a community theatre performance or a play read in school, classics are a major window into the theater arts. So what if someone doesn’t respond to the incredibly limited classic canon presented to them? What happens when the history and culture of the world is diluted to a predominantly male and white western lens? Do they disengage with theatre altogether? What do we lose as a culture when narratives are systematically excluded?

At Expand the Canon, we are on a mission to make a more inclusive classic canon by uncovering and advocating for the performance, teaching, and reading of classic plays by women and gender-expansive playwrights. In this panel discussion, we will unpack how a more inclusive canon could radically change the future of the theatre, and the histories we present to the world. We’ll assess where we are now, and propose opportunities for change to move the needle toward a more inclusive canon.

Panelists include

• Hillary Cohen: Executive Director of Institutional Advancement of The Acting Company
• Emily Lyon, Artistic Director of Expand the Canon
• Sarah Spring: Actor, Coach Shakespeare Made Clear
• Arminda Thomas: Dramaturg, Archivist, Director and Producing member of CLASSIX
• Moderated by: Rhiannon Ling: Dramaturg, Playwright, Actor, ETC Researcher

Presented in partnership with: The Acting Company.

Learn More About the Panel

Arminda Thomas (she/her) is a dramaturg, director, and archivist. She is a resident dramaturg and producing member of CLASSIX, and a resident dramaturg/curator for New Perspectives Theatre’s On Her Shoulders reading series. She has served as associate artistic director and resident dramaturg for the Going to the River Festival and Writer’s Unit and as archivist and literary manager for Dee-Davis Enterprises, where she was an executive producer for the Grammy-awarded audiobook, “With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together,” and consultant for the film Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee. Selected dramaturgy credits include The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (Brooklyn Academy of Music/Broadway), The Wash (New Federal Theatre), Wine in the Wilderness (Classic Stage Company), The Great Privation (Soho Rep), and Wedding Band (Theatre for a New Audience; Stratford Theatre Festival).

Hillary Cohen (The Acting Company Executive Director for Institutional Advancement) has arts administration experience working with Vox Populi co-operative art gallery, Manhattan Theatre Club, Film Forum, Wave Hill public garden and cultural center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Cherry Lane Theatre, and New York Classical Theatre. She has served as a Creative Space Grant panelist for the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York. Hillary studied Nonprofit Management at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and is a graduate of Drexel University with a degree in Corporate Communication and a Theatre Production minor. She is a proud IATSE Local One spouse.

Sarah Spring (aka "Dame Sarah") is a professional actor, coach, and Shakespeare influencer. She has degrees in theater from Interlochen Arts Academy and Fordham University at Lincoln Center, and has played many of Shakespeare's most powerful women, including Lady Macbeth, Isabella, Viola, Hermione, and Beatrice. Her film "A King's Curtain" has garnered several awards and is currently making its way through the festival circuit. For more, follow Sarah on social media and Patreon @shakespearemadeclear.

Emily Lyon is a director, artistic director, and dramaturg that carves out the humor and authenticity in new and classic texts. She co-created, leads, and curates Expand the Canon – a call to action to include a global intersection of historic women writers in the canon of classics – as Artistic Director of Hedgepig Ensemble. Expand the Canon highlights 52 plays by 50 historic gender-expansive writers from 1600-1990, and has partnered with companies across the country including Classic Stage Company, Fiasco Theater, American Shakespeare Center, Roundabout, INTAR, Island Shakespeare Festival, The Acting Company, The Folger, and more. As a freelance director, Lyon has directed 9 world premieres, many classic plays, and worked with The Folger, The Brick, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre, The Old Globe, LaMaMa, Yale Rep, The Royal Shakespeare Company, University of Michigan, and others. Her productions have won Best Direction and Best Production (sheNYC), Best Ensemble (MITF), Best Actress (FringeNYC), and Best Premiere (UnitedSolo). As a freelance dramaturg, she’s worked with writers on shaping 25+ new plays, including the world premiere of Kate Hamill’s Sense & Sensibility and Diana Ly's Sex and the Abbey, as well as editing classical texts, including many of the Expand the Canon plays, an English-Spanish bilingual Hamlet (readings at The Public, The Folger, CTH, TAC), and The Tempest directed by Michael Greif for Shakespeare in the Park. Drama League Directing Fellow, SDC Associate. Find out more at EmilyALyon.com and ExpandTheCanon.com.

Rhiannon Ling (she/her) is a bisexual, multi-industry artist, specializing in the creation and development of politically-driven, community-engaged story across mediums. Her work often revolves around gender and sexuality and its entwining with history, politics, the arts, and identity; she is passionate about amplifying the voices of those silenced, providing unity in discomfort, and sparking genuine query between opposition. Recent credits include: All the Daughters of Viola’s House, The Collapse of the Hubbard Glacier, Seasons, The Interview, Rebound, The City of Forget-Me-Nots, Assassins, Nunsense, A Woman’s Kingdom (actor); Best Time to Be Alive, Monsters in Our Blood, The City of Forget-Me-Nots, Manic Pixie Dream Girl Goes to Brunch  (writer); The Selkie Bride, Beethoven: Live in Concert, The Maids, (beyond) Doomsday Scrolling, This Mortal Life Also (dramaturg). O’Neill and SheNYC Arts Semi-Finalist. NAPSeries Finalist. Recipient of the Mayor’s Arts Award, the NEA ArtWorks Grant, and the RedLine Arts in Society Grant. Proud member of AEA, Rewrite the BiLine, Ring of Keys, LMDA. BFA, CAP21 Conservatory. rhiannonlingnyc.com

About Expand the Canon

Expand the Canon uncovers and uplifts classic plays by women and underrepresented genders–and is a call to action to produce them**. Expand the Canon champions women and gender-expansive playwrights whose works should have always been considered classics. For over a decade, our partnerships with theatres, educators, and advocates have established a legacy of storytelling with gender equity at its core. By curating a collection of excellent **historic plays, we’re building a more inclusive and accurate theatrical canon. expandthecanon.com @etcclassics.

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 develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in this 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 contribute content page.