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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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Queer Representation in the United States
Podcast
Queer Representation in the United States
by Nabra Nelson, Marina Johnson, Adam Elsayigh
27 September 2023
How Do We Transform the Field We’ve Inherited?
Essay
How Do We Transform the Field We’ve Inherited?
by Tara A. Houston
18 September 2023
Kinship, Solidarity, and Working Towards Everyone’s Survival
Essay
Kinship, Solidarity, and Working Towards Everyone’s Survival
by Mary Amanda McNeil , Samora Pinderhughes, Storme Webber
14 September 2023
Kunafa and Shay Teaser Image with guest headshot.
Queer Representation in the United States
Podcast

Queer Representation in the United States

27 September 2023

In this episode, playwright and dramaturg Adam Ashraf Elsayigh joins co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson to unpack what it means to put queer SWANA characters on stage and discuss the future of representation in the United States.

A graphic that reads "Call for Proposals: LTC Programming 2024-2027."
How Do We Transform the Field We’ve Inherited?
Essay

How Do We Transform the Field We’ve Inherited?

18 September 2023

Designer and Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) steering committee member Tara Houston reflects on the transformation that the LTC inspired in her own career, and how the interventions at LTC convenings are helping Latinx theatremakers transform the theatre field.

Three separate headshots for three artists, stitched together.
Kinship, Solidarity, and Working Towards Everyone’s Survival
Essay

Kinship, Solidarity, and Working Towards Everyone’s Survival

14 September 2023

As part of the Black and Indigenous Futures series, this conversation convenes Samora Pinderhughes, Storme Webber, and Mary Amanda McNeil to consider the ways that kinship and solidarity across broader collectives can coexist and mutually enrich one another through intentional practice.

Two photos merged, depicting a woman and man side by side.
On Black and Indigenous Shared Kinship Futures
Essay

On Black and Indigenous Shared Kinship Futures

13 September 2023

As part of the Black and Indigenous Futures series, Amber Starks and Kyle Mays discuss the siloing of Afro-Indigenous identity, the opportunities and challenges of developing Black and Indigenous solidarity, and the potential to build a future more deeply rooted in kinship.

Four actors sit on chairs on a set made to look like a children's classroom, smiling and talking with one another.
How Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play Lays the Groundwork for Native Artists Like Me
Essay

How Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play Lays the Groundwork for Native Artists Like Me

28 August 2023

After directing Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play at her midwestern college, Indigenous theatremaker Sierra Rosetta traveled to New York to see the same play on Broadway. She discusses the way this milestone production—which made FastHorse the first known Native American woman playwright on Broadway—and her own work push for a future in which Native theatremakers’ presence on professional stages is standard, not novel.

Gender Euphoria teaser image with guest headshot.
Making Space for Self-Authorship through Audio Description
Podcast

Making Space for Self-Authorship through Audio Description

With Guests H. May and Liz Thomson

26 July 2023

Host Nicolas Shannon Savard, Dr. H. May, and Dr. Liz Thomson discuss the creative and collaborative possibilities that emerge when audio description (AD) is made an integral part of the artistic process, as opposed to solely an accommodation for individual audience members. They critique traditional models of AD that demand objectivity and propose alternative approaches that embrace self-determination, specificity of lived experience, and universal design.

two women in 1950s clothing stand in front of a puppet theater proscenium frame with the wonderland puppet theater written on its front.
Oral Histories of Wonderland Puppet Theatre During the Civil Rights Movement
Video

Oral Histories of Wonderland Puppet Theatre During the Civil Rights Movement

Panel Discussion with Residents of Concord Park, Pennsylvania

Saturday 22 July 2023
Pennsylvania

Housing rights activist Morris Milgram developed Concord Park outside of Philadelphia as an interracial community at a time when covenants prohibiting the sale of homes to African Americans and other minority groups were routinely included in deeds. Children of the Wonderland Puppet Theatre puppeteers discussed their experience growing up in a neighborhood that intentionally sought to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of beloved community and the role that the Wonderland Puppet Theatre played in unifying neighbors.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Queer-Trans Intimacy Work: Cracking Gender Open
Podcast

Queer-Trans Intimacy Work: Cracking Gender Open

With Guests Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield and Raja Benz

21 June 2023

In the first part of a two-part conversation on queer-trans intimacy direction and choreography, Nicolas talks with Theatrical Intimacy Education faculty members Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield and Raja Benz about their courses Working with Trans & Non-Binary Artists and Staging Intimacy Beyond the Binary. They discuss crafting courses that are less Trans-101 and more cracking gender open, resisting patriarchal and colonialist scripts, and bringing queer culture into the rehearsal room.

A woman giving a speech at a podium on the left and a man speaking into a microphone on the right.
Projections and Reflections on Chicano Theatre
Essay

Projections and Reflections on Chicano Theatre

15 June 2023

Tony Garcia and Claudia de Vasco share their experiences becoming immersed in the Chicano movement, which has informed both of their careers in artistic leadership.

Two men posing for a picture in front of a wall that reads "Experimental Theater".
Ripples of Legacy in California’s Latinx Theatres
Essay

Ripples of Legacy in California’s Latinx Theatres

12 June 2023

Richard Falcon and Fran Astorga discuss the need for inclusive spaces that led to founding their own companies, the road blocks they've pushed against, and the legacy they hope to create as part of the teatro field.

On stage, a performer dressed as an angel holds another performer's limp body.
Examining White Gay Responsibility in Our Theatres
Essay

Examining White Gay Responsibility in Our Theatres

8 June 2023

Munroe Shearer discusses the problem of white queer men’s positionality excusing them from anti-racism and anti-misogyny practices in theatre leadership.

event poster for MENA Playwrights on Storytelling, with UW & Cal Poly Theatre Students.
NO SUMMARY: MENA Playwrights on Storytelling, with University of Washington and California Polytechnic State University Theatre Students
Video

NO SUMMARY: MENA Playwrights on Storytelling, with University of Washington and California Polytechnic State University Theatre Students

Delving into the Challenges and Opportunities of Bringing Diverse Stories to the Stage

Wednesday 7 June 2023
United States

The panel will be joined by a MENA American theatre class at California Polytechnic State University, designed by professor Hala Baki to imagine how MENA theatre can contribute to a more inclusive American culture, and a plays and styles drama class at the University of Washington, taught by Mona Merhi, who focused the course on topics related to race, ethnicity, and identity representation by examining the works of playwrights from the MENA region alongside modern and contemporary Western texts.

Gender Euphoria teaser image featuring guest profile image.
Making Space for Thriving Queer Communities Through Applied Theatre
Podcast

Making Space for Thriving Queer Communities Through Applied Theatre

With Guest Dr. Jesse O’Rear

7 June 2023

Host Nicolas Shannon Savard talks with Dr. Jesse O’Rear about applied theatre with LGBTQ students on college campuses. Jesse describes some alternatives to traditional models of bystander intervention and diversity trainings to create embodied learning opportunities for LGBTQ students to step into positions of leadership and for audience-participants to practice “kinesthetic allyship.”

Four actors sit in a classroom set.
Larissa FastHorse on Indigenizing Theatre
Essay

Larissa FastHorse on Indigenizing Theatre

6 June 2023

Holly L. Derr talks with Larissa FastHorse about Indigeneity and misogyny in The Thanksgiving Play, using satire to create change, and rewriting Peter Pan.

Event poster for muslims in the margins.
Muslims in the Margins
Video

Muslims in the Margins

A Joyful Panel on Underrepresented Perspectives

Monday 5 June 2023
United States

“There are three billion Muslims out there with inherently unique stories and you keep telling the same one. What does that mean?” “It means people want to keep hearing it.” Lines from Rehana Lew Mirza’s play Hatefuck ring truer than ever in a time where Muslim representation is growing yet still predictably homogenous.

Portraits of  Julia Varley and Eugenio Barba.
A Conversation with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley / Odin Teatret
Video

A Conversation with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley / Odin Teatret

Theatre as Politics by Other Means: Floating Islands, Transit Next Forum, and the Magdalena Project

Tuesday 30 May 2023
New York City

Join us for a talk with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley about their current projects, including the 2022 Living Archive Floating Islands project, conceived by Eugenio, which will be installed this year at the Bernardini Library in Lecce, Italy, and Transit Next Forum—Theatre and Women, a collective created by Julia to raise opportunities for women in theatre and increase the awareness of women’s contribution to contemporary theatre.

Many multi-colored board game pawns arranged in a circle.
A Revolution in Governance
Essay

A Revolution in Governance

17 May 2023

Jaan Whitehead examines the history of boards in the theatre sector and argues for a better way to approach governance, including through changes to a board’s membership, structure, and values.

Two people standing in front of a lit whiteboard with an audience.
A Living Intergenerational Conversation
Essay

A Living Intergenerational Conversation

9 May 2023

Star Finch and Ellen Sebastian Chang, friends and artistic collaborators in the Bay Area, have a conversation about their local theatre scene’s recent but long overdue racial reckoning, scraping together a creative life, the institutionalization of artists, and more.

Two people standing on a barely lit stage with large photos of faces behind them.
Claim Your Culture, Find Your Power
Essay

Claim Your Culture, Find Your Power

5 May 2023

Jacqueline Flores and Abel López, co-curators of the Latinx Leaders at the Forefront series, discuss their careers, their sense of cultural identity as Latinx theatremakers, and importance of intergenerational dialogue.

A woman standing in front of a stage with her arms outstretched.
Understanding Theatre as Service, Part Two
Essay

Understanding Theatre as Service, Part Two

4 May 2023

Olga Sanchez Saltveit and Shayna Schlosberg continue their conversation for the Latinx Leaders at the Forefront series, focusing on mentorship, trade-offs they have made, and their shared experiences working in service of equity.

A large group stands on a stage and smiles at the camera.
El Movimiento Continua/The Movement Continues
Essay

El Movimiento Continua/The Movement Continues

1 May 2023

Latinx Theatre Commons producer Jacqueline Flores introduces the Latinx Leaders at the Forefront Series, which amplifies the history and work of Latinx teatros through conversations between established theatremakers with future leaders of the field.

Six performers in jumpsuits dance on either side of another performer who is dressed in an usher costume.
The Need for Scholarship on Black Queer Theatrical Culture
Essay

The Need for Scholarship on Black Queer Theatrical Culture

24 April 2023

Jessica Elaine Ellison writes about the need for robust scholarship on Black queer theatrical culture.

Five cast members of Ain't No Mo' stand on stage during a performance.
Dreaming Beyond Broadway
Essay

Dreaming Beyond Broadway

13 April 2023

Playwrights Star Finch, Psalmayene 24, and J. Nicole Brooks chat about Black playwrights on Broadway, and what being produced there represents to them.

Illustration of various cushioned chairs.
Imagining Creative Fat Futures
Essay

Imagining Creative Fat Futures

29 March 2023

Morgan Davis and Jules Vodarek Hunter discuss the process of creating Fat Fables, a theatre program for fat LGBT2SQ+ artists who are twenty-nine and under.

A performer sits at a desk and draws while a screen to the right broadcasts a video of the drawing.
Community Engagement, Anti-Oppression, and Digital Space
Essay

Community Engagement, Anti-Oppression, and Digital Space

27 March 2023

Artist, facilitator, and cultural innovator Nikki Shaffeeullah kicks off this series by sharing her journey to creating Undercurrent Creations, a Toronto-based arts organization, and Parallel Tracks, a gathering of BIPOC artists that offers training in visioning, producing, and facilitating community arts projects.