When Stage Left Theatre went looking for a space to produce The Distrikt of Lake Michigun, they turned to Chicago’s history of storefront theatre. Seth Wilson details the company’s process of successfully staging a production in an empty mall storefront.
Shared leadership is not revolutionary, and it is more than a trend. In this essay, Devon Berkshire and Miranda Gonzalez kick off their series The Evolution of Shared Leadership by exploring the generations of shared leadership practice—especially in theatres of color—and the contemporary push toward more collective leadership.
Bringing Together Practicing Festival Artists with Scholars to Consider the Intersection of Puppetry with Other Disciplines and Ideas
Saturday 18 January to Sunday 26 January
Chicago, IL
The 2025 Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium series at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival explores the dramaturgical elements that distinguish puppet theatre and actively engage audiences in endowing material with life.
Access dramaturgy is a practice of integrating access creatively and collaboratively in performance from the earliest moments of the creative process. Access dramaturg Alison Kopit, in collaboration with Ann Marie Dorr and Maggie Bridger, introduces the transformative practice of access dramaturgy as implemented in Radiate and Dark Disabled Stories.
A Weekend-long Conference Celebrating the Strides Being Made in Inclusive and Accessible Theatre
Saturday 11 November 2023
Evanston, Illinois
Seesaw Theatre Presents: the 8th Annual Inclusive Theatre Festival (ITF)! This event is a weekend-long conference celebrating the strides being made in inclusive and accessible theatre. ITF aims to bring together theatre artists and practitioners from across the country, giving us all the chance to learn about the amazing work being done and how we can also improve our own work while supporting marginalized communities. The conference is intended not only for theatre artists (students and professionals alike), but also for the disability community and their families, educators working with autistic and otherwise disabled individuals, and truly anyone interested in this ever-expanding and heartwarming field of inclusive theatre.
For three years, Kristin Patton and Nick Rabkin worked with five case study theatre companies to study the often fraught, high risk, and complex decision-making process of theatrical repertoire selection. The result of their research project, the Moonshot Report, offers insights into their process and practical recommendations for strategic approaches to season planning.
A Forward-Looking Solutions-Based Conversation with Chicago Arts Leaders and Organizers
Tuesday 1 November 2022
Chicago, IL
Parent Artist Advocacy League of Chicago and Prop Thtr presented the conversation, How Your Theatre Can Become a More Equitable Employer of Parents and Caregivers livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 1 November 2022 at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
Gender Euphoria, the Podcast, host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with storyteller, educator, and advocate for transgender rights, Rebecca Kling. Their conversation addresses Rebecca’s work as a solo performer-turned-activist, the importance of consent in deciding to take on the trans educator role, and her radical and hilarious approach to the post-show talkback: the Strip Q and A.
Founder, Ensemble Member, and Former Artistic Director of Lookingglass Theatre Company, David Catlin, shares how their limitless aesthetic showcases their Chicago-based artists across the country. In addition we dive into their unique shared leadership model, their growth and goals for the future, and how tension with your board members can be a good thing.
Glenn Davis, co-artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, sits down with Ken-Matt Martin, artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater, to talk about shifting relationships with donors, the concept of term limits for leadership, the joys of returning to rehearsal rooms, and their shared experiences as Black men at the helm of Chicago theatres.
In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites three of their Future Fellows—Amirah Sackett, an independent artist and activist, and Malika Umarova and Marat Raiymkulov of Art Group 705—to share their vision for how they see the future of arts practice.
Regina Victor, artistic director of Slideshow Theatre Company, and Kaiser Ahmed, artistic director of Jackalope Theatre Company, discuss the joys and challenges of stepping into their Chicago-based positions as theatres across the United States recalibrate their programming.
Jacob Juntunen shares how the MFA playwriting program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale adapted their new play festival for the online world and how open-access software and streaming platforms helped students at the rural school transcend geography.
Presented by The Oaks Collective in collaboration with Regina Taylor. Short plays and conversation exploring the African-American community's relationship with the political process.
Thursday 1 October 2020
USA
The Oaks Collective presented the livestreamed of Regina Taylor's VOTE! event — which included short plays and conversation exploring the African-American community's relationship with the political process.
Neil Blackadder writes about three productions of Juliet at Chicago’s Theatre Y, including the most recent one that configured and filled the small black-box space in an unusual way.
Crossing Borders, Pt. 2: Action in a Time of Division
Thursday 20 June - Saturday 22 June 2019.
Chicago, Illinois
Livestreaming the 2019 Annual Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas Conference: Crossing Borders, Pt. 2: Action in a Time of Division from Chicago, Illinois livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Thursday 20 June to Saturday 22 June 2019.
In episode seven of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser talks to Leda Hoffman about her recent appointment of artistic director of Strawdog Theatre Company. This is a two-part interview with Strawdog Theatre Company—you can listen to Part One here.
Tara Branham talks about the importance of harm reduction in the rehearsal hall and shares tools she uses in her practice to reduce risk and manage it if it arises.
Trevor Boffone examines Isaac Gómez’s new play La Ruta, which focuses on the feminicides in Mexico, and talks about the growing canon of Latinx theatre that dramatizes and theorizes on gendered violence.
Lydia Milman Schmidt, founder of the advocacy group Parents in Chicago Theatre, looks at the progressive policies Rivendell Theatre Ensemble has in place when it comes to working with parent artists on production.
