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Building Our Own Tables Season 3 teaser image with guest headshot.
Create Space with Gabriel Barrera
Podcast

Create Space with Gabriel Barrera

22 March 2023

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.

Two performers embrace onstage while another sits next to them and faces forward.
One Approach to Student Engagement in Educational Season Selection
Essay

One Approach to Student Engagement in Educational Season Selection

20 March 2023

In response to student demands for greater input in season selection, the Department of Theater and Drama at the University of Michigan has spent the past few years revising their selections process. Professor Christianne Myers details their approach, which centers on a department-wide feedback and a semester-long Student Selection Advisory course.

A purple stage with a lit blue backdrop.
Inventing the “Flay” (Film/Play) with Campo Santo
Essay

Inventing the “Flay” (Film/Play) with Campo Santo

16 March 2023

When Campo Santo decided to film their production of Star Finch’s Side Effects early in the COVID-19 pandemic, they were embarking on a creative journey that felt entirely novel and a little overwhelming. In this conversation, the production’s directors discuss development of the production’s aesthetic and the generative process they embarked on at the intersection of “film” and “play.

Building Our Own Tables Season 3 teaser image with guest headshot.
Trust Your Gifts with Kelundra Smith
Podcast

Trust Your Gifts with Kelundra Smith

1 March 2023

This week, Kelundra Smith sits down with Yura Sapi to discuss building her own table as a playwright and shares the process and inspiration behind some of her latest works. Topics for this episode include affirmations, changing hierarchical structures, and moving beyond a sense of urgency.

A large group of people are seated in front of a brick wall, facing the camera.
Disability Creativity in Opera
Essay

Disability Creativity in Opera

21 February 2023

Gregory Moomjy and Marianna Mott Newirth share their approach to creating disability-affirmative opera productions in which disability artistry flourishes.

A young woman looks to her right.
“Marimacha” Laughs its Way Through Representation of Latine, Black, and Queer Characters
Essay

“Marimacha” Laughs its Way Through Representation of Latine, Black, and Queer Characters

13 February 2023

Daphnie Sicre discusses the way that Latinidad, Blackness, and queerness intersect in “Marimacha,” comedic coming out story about an AfroPanamanian family on their way to a wedding.

Four people stand side by side for a photo.
The International Presenting Commons Convenes at Last
Essay

The International Presenting Commons Convenes at Last

6 February 2023

The International Presenting Now convening brought a collective of US-based presenters of international work together in physical space in January 2023, following almost three years of virtual conversations and events. Janice Paran details the conversations that arose around the convening’s key question: how might international presenters want to work differently?

Two people sitting at a table watching someone gesture at the board on the wall.
Every Production Is a Moonshot: Research on Improving Repertoire Selection
Essay

Every Production Is a Moonshot: Research on Improving Repertoire Selection

19 January 2023

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.

Five performers, with one of them holding a baby, stand in a line on stage and hold a Ukrainian flag together.
How Slovo. Theater Group Fights for Ukraine on the Cultural Front
Essay

How Slovo. Theater Group Fights for Ukraine on the Cultural Front

6 December 2022

Slovo. Theater Group uses theatre as a tool to fight against cultural oppression by promoting Ukrainian culture abroad. Audrey Rose, the group’s producer, discusses the process of making theatre during active war as a way of resisting oppression and violence.

A large group of people walking around a wide space with banners hung all around.
Announcing the 2023 LTC Designer and Director Colaboratorio!
Essay

Announcing the 2023 LTC Designer and Director Colaboratorio!

5 December 2022

The LTC announces they are now accepting applications for Colaboratorio, a series of learning opportunities to encourage authentic creative expressions and collaboration between Latinx designers and directors.

A large selection of fresh grown vegetables lined up and organized by type on the grass.
Tending the Garden: Organic Observations on Playwriting
Essay

Tending the Garden: Organic Observations on Playwriting

7 November 2022

Writing from her little family farm in Oregon, E.M. Lewis applies the lessons learned in the garden to her experience as a librettist and playwright.

Two actors in sunglasses lounge together in a bathtub.
Everything Everywhere: Perspectives from “Third-Culture” Theatremakers in the Sinophone Community
Essay

Everything Everywhere: Perspectives from “Third-Culture” Theatremakers in the Sinophone Community

8 September 2022

Writer and translator Livian Yeh examines the complexities of Asian identity within American theatre and gives her take on what it means to be a “third-culture” theatremaker.

Eight actors dressed in costume singing together on stage.
A Music Man for Deaf Audiences
Essay

A Music Man for Deaf Audiences

6 September 2022

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.

Two actors staring lovingly into each other's eyes.
Erasure is Not an Option: Intimacy Advocacy Through a Transgender Lens
Essay

Erasure is Not an Option: Intimacy Advocacy Through a Transgender Lens

A Conversation with Raja Benz

30 August 2022

Ann James sits down with intimacy choreographer Raja Benz to discuss her experience implementing cultures of consent in rehearsal rooms, cultivating a localized approach to intimacy work, and centering trans perspectives in theatrical processes.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible
Podcast

Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible

10 August 2022

Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley interview award-winning and acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau about her recent Broadway productions of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations and Skeleton Crew; the future of Detroit theatre and performance; and reckoning with American history. Ealey and Ridley discuss Morisseau’s practice of reparative creativity and the ability for theatre to serve as a rehearsal for true change.

Black Women Got Something to Say: A Conversation with Pearl Cleage
Podcast

Black Women Got Something to Say: A Conversation with Pearl Cleage

27 July 2022

In this episode, Jordan and Leticia interview playwright Pearl Cleage. They discuss the way she has navigated her career as a Black feminist/womanist playwright often working in Black spaces; how she found her home in Atlanta, Georgia; and her most recent play, Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous.

A woman in a traditional garb stands outside facing an audience.
“The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So”: Indigenous Futurism at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival
Essay

“The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So”: Indigenous Futurism at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival

25 July 2022

Robert Hubbard discusses the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival production of Othello, which Tara Moses adapted and directed through an Indigenous Futurist lens. The resulting production employed its Shakespearean source text to model solidarity between Tribal Sovereignty and Black Liberation movements.

Full cast sit together for a picture.
Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner
Essay

Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner

14 July 2022

Ekemini Ekpo applies W.E.B. Dubois’ concept of “double consciousness” to the experience of performing Blackness for a predominantly white audience that may or may not be interested in disturbing the primacy of their own lived experience.

Daughters of Lorraine - Fat Ham
A Soft Place To Land: James Ijames' Fat Ham
Podcast

A Soft Place To Land: James Ijames' Fat Ham

13 July 2022

This episode focuses on the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, Fat Ham by James Ijames. Leticia and Jordan discuss the recent production at the Public Theater, its conversation and diversion from Shakespeare, representations of Black queerness, and what it means to be soft as a black person.

Two visitors admiring a wall mural.
How We Did It: Collecting Oral Histories to Preserve the foolsFURY Legacy
Essay

How We Did It: Collecting Oral Histories to Preserve the foolsFURY Legacy

30 June 2022

As a part of their permanent closure, San Francisco-based theatre company foolsFURY embarked upon an ambitious oral history project. Emily Weak, the archivist employed for that project, shares the process and insights of an initiative that worked to collect dozens of individual experiences of the company and provide a sense of closure.

LTC attendees standing in front of a mural at Su Teatro.
Why Comedy? Why Now?: On the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval
Essay

Why Comedy? Why Now?: On the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval

23 June 2022

Trevor Boffone reflects on the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) Comedy Carnaval that convened at Su Teatro in Denver, Colorado, which was comprised of productions, readings, panels, and special sessions that showcased the depth and range of Latinx comedy in theatre.

 

Screenshot of a zoom meeting.
From Awareness to Action: Facilitating Change in the American Theatre
Essay

From Awareness to Action: Facilitating Change in the American Theatre

13 June 2022

Lauren E. Turner, producing artistic director of No Dream Deferred, sits down with Amelia Parenteau to discuss their recent experiences in anti-racist facilitation work through No Dream Deferred’s service, Equity and Justice for Institutional Change.

A person standing amongst city approved homeless deterrent pegs on a bench.
Humanizing Homelessness: An Interview with Lisa Hoelscher of Gathering Ground Theatre
Essay

Humanizing Homelessness: An Interview with Lisa Hoelscher of Gathering Ground Theatre

19 May 2022

Gathering Ground Theatre—an Austin, Texas collective comprised of people with lived experiences of homelessness and allies—creates performances that aim to influence public opinion and local legislation. Anna Rogelio Joaquin sits down with Lisa Hoelscher to discuss Lisa’s experience as a co-creator and performer of works that expose issues like hostile architecture and camping bans, as well as the company’s current work on a memorial performance.

Several performers with large puppets standing in a field.
Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet
Essay

Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet

26 January 2022

Denise Rogers Valenzuela shares the way that learning to perform improvised crowd scenes with large, flat puppets—called naked population puppets or potato people—encourages an embodied practice that resists individualism.

blue graphic of actor onstage against yellow background
(Re)Imagine Educational Theater Pt 2: Arts Educators
Video

(Re)Imagine Educational Theater Pt 2: Arts Educators

A Series That Brings Artists and Community Leaders Together

Thursday 4 November 2021
United States

Seattle Rep Presents (Re)Imagine Educational Theater Pt 2: Arts Educators livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 4 November 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (Seattle, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).