Maryland

In its second and final year, the Artistic Caucus aimed to integrate its collaborative model into the workflows and budgets of four theatres while providing freelance artists with access and compensation. Lauren Halvorsen details the program’s strategies, impact, and significance for a field in need of transformation.

“If your body is a portal, where does it lead?” This question led the creation of Paradise Portals, an immersive performance and dance party featuring Baltimore-area trans and queer artists. Laura Grothaus captures some of these artists’ answers, which span the celebration, transformation, ecology, and even escape.

Ghost Forest grapples with the climate crisis playing out through sea level rise that impacts forests of the Eastern Bay in Maryland. Taylor Leigh Lamb discusses the way the play’s ecological approach extended into new play development process that supported the art, the artists, and the surrounding community.

Philip Arnoult was one of the diplomats of the theatrical profession—those who made it their life’s work not to make the work but to make connections between people who make the work, crossing the invisible boundaries of countries and politics. Reflecting on Philip’s life and legacy, Susan Stroupe asks how we can continue his work. 

Lauren Halvorsen reports on the origins, development, and learnings of the Artistic Caucus, a collaborative initiative between four regional theatres. By employing a racially and geographically diverse collective of freelance artists to identify new work, scout projects, and facilitate relationships on behalf of all four theatres, the Artistic Caucus seeks to disrupt traditional curatorial practices.

Melissa Lin Sturges shares her experience attending Olney Theatre Center’s bilingual production of The Music Man, which was presented in both English and American Sign Language.