Theatre Education, Pedagogy, and Training

Culture worker and theatre practitioner Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott provides a primer on her SoulWork process, applies it to her present processes, and expands our horizons as artists.

In the season finale of the Building Our Own Tables podcast, Yura Sapi invites Gabriel Barrera to share about creating Scenic G, a visual art and design company providing services in art and design, workshops, consultation, facilitation, and mentorship infused with social justice. After spending twenty years as a scenic designer, Gabriel shares about his decision to leave and build his own table as an independent artist providing opportunities for others along the way. Topics in this episode include decolonizing ideas of who a teacher can be, addressing toxic behaviors, and facilitation skills.

This week, Yura Sapi is joined by Christiamilda Correa to discuss creating LiberArte, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to racial, social, and climate justice worldwide; the Strategic Planning Institute; and NYU Latinx Alumni. Topics for this episode include writing prompts, seeking out spaces to find community, and transforming challenges.

Jose Solís joins Yura Sapi to discuss creating the BIPOC Critics Lab and co-creating the Token Theatre Friends podcast-webseries. This episode’s topics include finding beauty in the internet, how a metaphorical grain of sand can change the world, and a tarot reading for the first three months of 2023.

Abundance Zaddy joins Yura Sapi to talk about creating Cause Reign, an oral history project that connects Black people—with a focus on Black trans and queer folks—to their histories through dreamwork, the practice of remembering, recording, and activating the healing potential of dreams. Topics in this episode include prioritizing love and sweetness, transcending time, and asking for consent.

Maxwell Ciphinga, better known as Max DC, has weathered massive changes in the audience, form, and funding of Malawian theatre throughout his four-decade career. In this interview, he shares his perspective on the industry and discusses his policy and producorial work as the president of Malawi’s new National Theatre Association.

As a scholar, educator, and practitioner of theatre, Roselyn Madalo Dzanja knows Malawi’s theatrical landscape well. In this interview, she discusses challenges Malawian women face when pursuing an acting career, the need for artistic independence from international donors, possibilities for Chichewa-language drama, and more.

Robert Magasa is an experienced dancer, choreographer, and actor who trained in Zimbabwe and now runs UjeNi Dance Ensemble Theatre in Malawi. In this interview, Magasa discusses his career, the economics of producing theatre in Malawi, and his current work to bring a combination of traditional and Afro contemporary dance to schoolchildren in Malawi.