Category: Theater
-
Shared Leadership
Theatres Find an Inclusive Model Spurs More Diversity and Innovation Published by Southern Theatre Magazine Winter 2023 Theatres across the country are rethinking their organizational structures in light of the forced changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for change from We See You White American Theatre (WSYWAT), and a recognition of the lack…
-
Recognition and Reversal in the Plays of Lauren Gunderson
A dialogue originally published by the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism Spring 2022 In this introduction to a dialogue with Lauren Gunderson, the author argues that the disparity between critical responses and audience responses to some of Gunderson’s plays can be understood as the product of a devaluation of her use of surprise to…
-
Performing the Peace
Police and Former Prisoners Use Playback Theatre to Build Trust in their Community. Originally published by Southern Theatre Magazine Fall 2021. At a time when George Floyd has become a household name and police-community relations are strained across the country, a program in Memphis called Performing the Peace – which uses theatre to bridge the…
-
Dismantling Anti-Black Language
originally published by HowlRound on August 27, 2020 Calling all Shakespeare lovers! Have you seen this document: Dismantling Anti-Black Linguistic Racism in Shakespeare? Chicago-based director Lavina Jadhwani, an Asian American theatre artist and educator, created it for other non-Black theatre artists and educators to help us understand how anti-Black language can do harm to Black people.…
-
The Art and Craft of Intimacy Direction
Originally published on HowlRound on January 30, 2020. In case you haven’t noticed, we are experiencing a revolution in the way artists and entertainers rehearse and perform intimacy. The seeds were planted at least ten years ago, when a few highly trained movement specialists started noticing that they were often called upon to handle scenes…
-
The Ms. Q&A: Why Holland Taylor Wanted to Act Like Ann Richards
Originally published by Ms. Magazine on September 16, 2019. I’ve always looked forward to being old enough to play Ann Richards in a one-woman show—so imagine what happened when I saw that Holland Taylor’s Ann was on Broadway HD and running at Arena Stage, with Jayne Atkinson in the starring role. I was eager to talk to…
-
#MeToo and the Method
Originally published by HowlRound on June 13, 2019. #MeToo has raised many questions about what kinds of intimacy are created in rehearsal rooms and classrooms, and to what end. As I’ve listened to the stories of survivors, I’ve been struck by the fact that the abusers in these cases, mostly men, weren’t doing anything that…
-
Storytelling for Social Change: Inside the #HealMeToo Festival
Originally published by Ms. Magazine on April 15, 2019. Hope Singsen had done very little producing before she began putting together The #HealMeToo Festival, which just wrapped in New York City. She started with a plan to find a space to produce Skin, her solo show about the road and obstacles to healing and reclaiming intimacy after…
-
#MeToo Power, Complicity, and Collective Responsibility
Originally published on HowlRound on April 11, 2018. My #metoo theatre story is from high school. Our theatre department consisted of five women and whatever hapless guys we could convince to come play a part so that we weren’t limited to just doing Steel Magnolias over and over. The women referred to our teacher as the Dirty…
Holly L. Derr 