Kelcey Anyá Carves Pathways for the 'Little Ava Duvernays' of the Future

The Statera community is made up of incredible artists, actively forwarding the gender parity movement through their participation in Statera Mentorship, Membership, and through their own individual work. We continue to be inspired by their innovation through the last few months, as they find ways to continually advance their artistry and activism within the limits of a global pandemic.

One of our Statera Ambassadors, Kelcey Anyá, has dreamed of opening up her own performing arts academy for years, and has just launched an action-packed virtual summit! We caught up with her to hear all about her work, and why programs like the Kelcey Anyá Performing Arts Academy are needed in the lives of young artists today.

Photo by Mikki Schaffner.

StateraArts: What drives your work?
Kelcey Anyá: My work centers around the development of youth. This means cognitive, emotional, spiritual and artistic development. I want to leave a mark, not necessarily through celebrity or notoriety, but by having a lasting positive impact on people. I believe that the only way to build a stronger future, full of better adults, is to invest in kids. We need to spend more of our time and resources developing and nurturing them to set the tone for who they will become. Whenever I was experiencing the tough stuff in life as a kid, I always ran back into a dance class. I’d have a rough day and immediately turn to, “I wanna go to church and I wanna dance!” 

SA: Tell us about the Kelcey Anyá Performing Arts Academy!
KA: So, we’ve got two things going at the moment. One is KAPAA in its entirety, and the other is the Virtual Summer Summit, which is our inaugural program. As a whole I wanted to create a space where art is cultivated in young people without focusing on just one discipline. Having a hand in so many aspects of the arts has helped develop me as an artist, so I’m creating that same opportunity for young artists! I desire to be a brick and mortar school someday, and long-term I want it to be a performing arts high school!

With everything so up in the air because of COVID19, I needed to lean into the virtual space that we have as a way of launching KAPAA and getting students and parents familiar with the program. We have a full and exciting schedule for each week of the summit! Tunes Tuesday is a music production class, Writing Wednesday is for spoken word and playwriting, Theatre Thursday is their acting class, and on Feature Friday we have people professionally working in the arts come talk to the kids. Friday is really important to me, because it actively disrupts how elitist the arts can be by bringing professionals face to face with them.

I hope and pray that the program is so affordable someday that eventually it doesn’t come out of the pocket of my participants. We currently have four fully-funded participants for this summit, which is a huge victory!

SA: What does it mean for a kid to have this kind of experience in the arts at a young age?
KA: I think it’s everything. There are so many statistics that tell us it’s needed. Intercommunication skills all happen organically in the arts. I don’t think people truly understand how much of that these kids are getting in such a short amount of time. There is so much encouragement and uplifting happening just as a by-product of the way the arts are structured. Kids who don't have that at home or in their everyday life seek out the arts as asylum. For kids with trauma, this platform is safe and non threatening. If they don’t quite have the words for what is happening to them, they have a place to process it artistically. 

Photo by Mikki Schaffner.

The arts are a non-threatening place to get educated. People will come sit in a play about racism because the fourth wall makes them feel safe. A play that is done right will have you questioning and thinking even beyond the walls of the theatre. This upcoming generation is on the front lines of the things happening in the world and they need this space to express. Gen Z is killing it! I’m excited to see how they shape this industry.

What does building KAPAA mean to you?
KA: It means a lot to me, it makes me emotional. The world needs this right now. It’s a bit of a dumpster fire out there! We have little Ava Duvernays and Spike Lees that aren’t being developed or cultivated. It’s not that they don’t want to be, it’s that the resources aren’t available. Or if they are, there are companies that are white-led and enter into their neighborhoods and end up exploiting them without truly developing them, sort of saying, “look what I did with my white dollar for these Black kids”. It’s frustrating for me to see. I wanted to create a program open to all races and genders, led by a Black woman. 

This country was founded in a way that separated people on purpose. It’s systemic. If you’re able to escape your own oppression, you rarely have the resources to bring others with you. We’ve stopped more societal Harriet Tubmans from happening. This program is about giving kids a space to process what's going on in our current world. You can’t talk about the Civil Rights Movement without talking about the Harlem renaissance. The conversations we have about MLK and Malcom X can’t happen without mentioning Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde, or Nikki Giovanni and Angela Davis. They are all equally as radical and as important for us to understand ourselves. 

We need to make the modern day Harlem Renaissance happen for these kids. We are not yet truly empowering people to use their voices. We are only regurgitating what has already been created. It’s time to make room for paths that haven’t yet been created by these young people. The kids who have been alive from 9/11 until now have a lot to say about what is going on in this world.

Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
KA: I have been so blessed to have black women that I can look up to, specifically in the arts. I know not a lot of people have had that. My sister Ayanna has always been an angel to me. She was doing a gospel stage play and she made me her stage hand when I had never done theatre before. She helped cultivate my presence in the arts. Torie Wiggins is a huge mentor for me. “Help” isn’t even a big enough word. She was the only Black professor at my university and I was the only Black student. I was trying to make art about Black women and she was a safe space to be candid and free in. I don’t know if I would’ve completed my program without her. When I was in spaces where I was discouraged by white professors to not get an MFA or PHD, she was there with the weed whacker to destroy any fears that took root. There are so many amazing Black women artists who have paved the way. The sacrificial lambs before me were so willing to reach back and pull me up with them, have tough conversations, and answer tough questions.

To learn more about KAPAA, visit their website, FaceBook page, and Instagram.

---

ABOUT KELCEY

Kelcey Anyá is a multi-disciplinary performing artist hailing from the bayous of South Louisiana. She began her performance career at the tender age of 2 years old where she began dancing and fell in love with all things performance. Her passion grew when acting and singing entered the picture. A few of her favorite credits include “The Stories of Scheherazade” (2008), “Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery” (2013), “The Color Purple” (2014), and “Same Blood” (2018).

In April of 2019, Kelcey Anyá wrote, produced and performed her first solo show “Out of the Box”, followed by choreographing the regional premiere of A “Hard Knock Life: A dance adaptation of Annie” with Cincinnati Black Theatre Company in June, culminating with receiving her Master’s of Arts in Theatre, Performance and Practice with certificates in both teaching and Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies from Miami University (Oxford, Oh) that following August. Upon graduating, she moved to New York City where she is pursuing her passion for making the performing arts more accessible to Black and Brown youth.

“Ghosts of Bogota” Directed by Malini Singh McDonald

The Statera community is made up of incredible artists, actively forwarding the gender parity movement through their participation in Statera Mentorship, Membership, and through their own individual work. We continue to be inspired by their innovation through the last few months, as they find ways to continually create while honoring social distancing.

Today we are excited to share a recent project with you from Malini Singh McDonald, who is a Statera member as well as a mentor for our NYC Mentorship Chapter!

Malini Singh McDonald, Statera Mentor, New York City Chapter

Malini set a goal for herself in 2020: Work on a women-led play and process in honor of the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. As the pandemic took hold, this goal seemed immensely challenging, but she maintained her intention.

In May, Malini was invited to direct a virtual reading of "The Ghosts of Bogota," a new play by LatinX playwright, Diana Burbano, with Four Walls Theater. Not only was this a project with a woman playwright, director, and women-led production team, it was also a powerful piece about trauma, the immigrant experience, and inner strength--everything Malini had hoped for in a production, except an actual stage. Check out the interview about the piece below, as well as a recording from the staged reading which happened live on May 23rd!

Interview with malini:

“Ghosts of bogota” performance:

Check out our Statera Membership Spotlight on Malini Singh McDonald here.

An Interview with Visual Artist Ash Prather

The Statera community is made up of incredible artists, actively forwarding the gender parity movement through their participation in Statera Mentorship, Membership, and through their engagement in our conferences and convenings.

One such artist is Ash Prather, a trans artist studying Sculpture and Integrated Practices at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Ash participated in our New York Mentorship Chapter last fall. We are thrilled to share a little bit about his story and his artistry with you today.

Photo credit: Ava Trilling

StateraArts: What inspires your work most?
Ash Prather: I’ve recently been inspired by music that’s helped me undergo insightful processing and self-discovery, in addition to art made by people that have completely redefined what I believed to be possible in the art world. The Midnight Gospel, for example, has been a huge inspiration for me since late April. I’ve had a personal love of podcasts and animation for a long time, so to see those two worlds meld in unprecedented improv-like conversations on topics I have interest in has really begun to shape my perspective. (These topics span from psychedelic therapy to how energy is recycled through the perspective of magic). As someone who’s main art-focus is an uncommon one (soft-sculpture), to see work that’s also uncommon prevail gives me hope that I can too. 

Photo credit: Ava Campana

SA: Tell us a bit about your journey as a trans person in the arts.
AP: Exploring my identity has always happened through art. From a young age, the art world was my key outlet to finding a voice and still remains as the singular concept that interests me. From slowly transitioning as a cis female to genderfluid and then to trans male, art has always been on my side. It’s helped me connect the dots to things I previously was unable to articulate, and continues to do so to this day.  

SA: How is gender either relevant or irrelevant to your artistry?
AP: My most recent art follows a pattern in circus-like aesthetic and style, while maintaining expression of personal thoughts, experiences, and memories. Through the use of silkscreen printing and freeform pattern-making, my hopes are to alter both the perception and definition of “soft sculpture.” The faces that I repeatedly draw in tangent with my handwriting serve as conduits of self-portraiture. Within each piece is to some degree a depiction of my identity (black queer trans-male), mental health struggles (PTSD, depression), or influences that’ve played a key role in self-discovery.  Although gender isn’t my main source of artistic expression, the fluidity of the concept still shines through in the wide array of materials I use. I feel that both art and gender are an open-ended discussion that a person can have with themselves and other people, so my work tends to revolve around ways that my perspective and ideas aren’t boxed in. 

SA: When did you feel most supported or championed in your life? 
AP: I feel like a major point in my art career was being named a Young Arts finalist in Visual Arts (as one of 20 out of over 500 applications worldwide). It was a major milestone in gaining confidence that I was on the right track with what I wanted to say through my artwork, and made me realize the points I attempted to make successfully impacted others. It was also the first time I’d openly expressed my gender through a portfolio (which was genderfluid at the time), and definitely contributed to my journey in defining myself as a trans man.

StateraArts: What’s on the horizon for you?
AP: My dream is to become a cross-country tattoo artist (while incorporating my Sculpture degree through projects I organize as well). As a pre-T trans man, my tattoo has helped me become more comfortable in my skin. If I became a professional in that field, I’d love to use my artwork to make other people feel comfortable too! I think it would be really cool to have my work travel with people and spread to places I have yet to be as well.

Thank you for sharing your artistry with us, Ash! To view more features from our Statera Spotlight series, click here.

Tira Palmquist's "The Worth of Water" to Premier at Clutch Productions

Playwright Tira Palmquist, whose work has been featured on The Kilroy’s List, is in rehearsals for another world premier. This time, she’s working with Clutch Productions, a women-led theatre collective in New York City. The Worth of Water, which premiers October 4-20 at HERE Arts Center, was commissioned by Clutch Productions as part of their 12-month play development series. Today on the blog, Tira speaks about her process, climate change, and her newest play at Clutch Productions.

StateraArts: The headline on your website says "Viking + Writer = Motherfucker". Tell us about the special alchemy of that equation and how it manifests in your creative work.

Tira Palmquist: I should say that I’m in the process of updating my website (which is sadly a little out of date, and something that I have been too busy to get to!) – and I’ve been thinking of changing that to Viking + Writer = Badass. But the point is, I think, the same: I am inspired by the warlike nature of my cultural and ethnic ancestors. A phrase I use when I am angry and about to go off on someone or something is “Going Full Viking.” I picture a shield maiden, outfitted for war, taking out her battle ax, ready to charge in, with a full-throated battle cry. As women, we’re often taught (or expected) to be meek, quiescent. I’ve never really been very meek or quiet, and the older I get, the less bullshit I’m willing to put up with.

But, to answer the question, I aspire to be brave in the choices I make (either about the stories I’m telling, or how I’m telling them) – and to be generally ready to fight the good fight, to stand up for myself, to know when to say no, to be clear, and direct, and uncompromising about the important things.

SA: We always like to hear how playwrights become playwrights. How did you come to writing?

TP: The short answer was I was an actor and a poet, and the perfect marriage of these things is to be a playwright.

Here’s the longer answer: As an undergraduate, I wanted to be an actor. I had done a lot of acting from the time I was a kid, and I loved the theater. At the same time, I really loved writing. I wrote in journals, wrote letters, wrote poems from the time I was in grade school. When I was at the University of Iowa, I was in the undergraduate poetry workshop, and one of my teachers (the poet Jorie Graham), said, “You need to get your MFA in poetry.” I honestly had never considered that – but at the time, I was feeling frustrated with acting: getting cast as whores and grandmothers and nuns. So, I applied to about 6 different grad schools – and got into almost all of them. In grad school, I found that I couldn’t stay away from the theater, acting and writing my first (very bad) play. A few years later, while my husband and I were living in Columbus, OH, I was asked to join a multidisciplinary performance group to write poetry for performance. While doing this, I found that I gravitated to writing narratives… and wrote my first very good play (one that won an award shortly after that). 

SA: Your plays all seem to collide at the intersections of personal agency, collective grief, and the destruction of the natural world. Can you tell us about writing plays in the age of climate change?

TP: I find that I keep circling back to a few themes:

• What is home, and where do we find it?

• How do we move forward, how do we put one step in front of another, when hobbled by grief and loss?

• How can science and rational thought save us? Or, rather, how will science and rational thought (and our passion for these things) give us the capacity to save ourselves.

I know that I feel the destruction of the natural world quite acutely, quite viscerally – and I also think that theater has the capacity to change (as the phrase goes) hearts and minds. That’s not to say that I’m interested in writing polemics, but if someone can come to a play, and be moved, and then find themselves have considered another point of view, then maybe this is one way that theater can be involved in collective action. Theater works because it asks us to be ready for deep empathy. These moments of deep empathy have to change us – or, at least, we have to be willing to be changed.

SA: When you have an idea for a play, how do you proceed? Do you research, take notes, plunge right in? 

TP: It changes from play to play, but generally the idea begins with a character in some extremity, a character with some problem they’re either trying to escape or trying to solve. Then, I have to frame up the foundations of the story. That is, I have to know things like: how many characters? Where is it located? What time period? How many months or years? Who’s the protagonist? What’s their driving desire? Do they get what they want? What’s the essential conflict of the play? How does the play end?

I don’t really outline before I write, but I do have to figure out all of those questions above before I can write. I like to think of this period as the “proving” period (like baking). I can’t start writing before all those foundational questions are answered, or I’ll be stuck. Sometimes the answers to the questions come quickly. Sometimes I have to puzzle it out. To continue the baking metaphor: richer doughs take longer to rise – and I can’t short-change that process. I have to be patient.

SA: You are a prolific writer. Tell us about your writing routine? How do you schedule yourself? Or are you a loose stop-and-go writer? 

TP: I am busy and have several different jobs -- so I can’t really afford a set and rigid schedule. However, there are a couple of things I’ve learned about myself. 1, I write better earlier in the day. 2, I have to set short, interim deadlines for myself. 3, When I’m starting something, I have to set smaller goals (like setting aside a chunk of hours per day, or deciding that I’m going to write as many scenes as I can, irrespective of the “right” order in the play). I try not to write when I’m depressed or feeling negative about my own writing. If that’s the case, I try to do something else active, like walking and thinking, or gardening and thinking, or doing more research. Doing something – anything – positive and proactive usually helps me get out of whatever negative spiral I’m in.

SA: When you are working, are there other art forms you go to for inspiration?

TP: I rarely listen to music while I write, though sometimes I turn to music for inspiration during the research process. Painting and other visual arts are also helpful to me. I find, though, that a lot of my inspiration comes from other research: science, archaeology, history, folklore, medicine, politics.

SA: What aspect of playwriting do you find to be the most difficult? 

TP: There are two parts of the process that are the scariest, and thus the most difficult: the first draft, and the final draft. The first draft can be difficult because it’s hard to avoid the pitfalls of perfectionism. I have to keep reminding myself, in those moments, that the first draft just has to be done, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Then, in the final draft, I am actually aiming at perfection – and all the little monsters that come out of the corners at that point – self-doubt, fear, all that – can hamstring those final choices.  

SA: Mentorship is at the core of StateraArts' mission. Can you tell us about your mentors and how they've shaped you? 

TP: I’ve been lucky to have different mentors at different points in my life – some personal, some professional, and the best mentors were there at key moments to remind me that, yes, I could make powerful choices, that I could do more than I thought I could.

SA: Your play, The Worth of Water, is about to open at Clutch Productions in NYC. How did this new play come about? What was the inspiration?

TP: The original inspiration was a conversation with a former colleague of mine who told me that she was going to Mermaid Camp with her mother and sister. I had never heard of this place – but suddenly, immediately, I thought, “Oh yes this has got to be a play.” But then there was this election, and, like many artists I knew, I found myself struggling in the weeks and months after the inauguration, after we began to see the real costs of what was happening. I was going through a fairly tough time, personally, and I could not write. Not only did I see millions of voters having their voice silenced, I began to experience my own kind of voicelessness. This, then, became another theme in the play: how do we go on, when things are difficult? How do we regain our voice and power?  

SA: You recently said "The older I get, the more important it is for me to be visible as an older working artist."What do you see as the most effective way to combat and transform age bias for women in the arts

TP: First, I think it’s important to be honest about our age. I’m 56. I will never lie about my age, or cover it up. In my father’s family, we don’t tend to show our age in our hair, and maybe I’m lucky that way – But I do think we have to embrace the truth, celebrate that truth. I’ve made a conscious decision in my plays to write more characters for women over 40, and to make sure that these older women are powerful, active forces of nature – to make sure that they are flawed and sometimes terrible, and full of desires, or worries or needs.  So – I’m trying to combat and transform age bias on and off the stage by, you know, Going Full Viking.

SA: At StateraArts, we believe wholly in collaboration over competition. As a storyteller, what role does collaboration play in your work and how has your community supported your creative trajectory?

TP: I’ve been lucky to work with individuals and organizations that support the development of new plays – which is often difficult because there isn’t one set path for success, and while there are better processes for individual artists, it’s hardly foolproof. Each new play is its own beast, has its own individual quirks and complexities – and so the best way to collaborate is to move forward with a set of good principles about communication, trust, and compassion. It’s very hard not to get competitive, as we’re sending out plays, as we’re trying to make a name for ourselves – but as long as we just focus on the work, do our best, be good with each other, the more the work will get easier, better, etc. It’s also incredibly important to celebrate each other. I find, for example, that the more I share the successes of other writers, the less I find myself comparing myself to them. We just have to be more joyous in the presence of other good work – otherwise, everything will start to get small, and mean, and petty (including our own work).   

SA: What was the best piece of advice you ever got about being an artist or writer?

TP: Tell your own stories. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

The Worth of Water runs October 4-20 at HERE Arts Center in NYC. Tickets can be purchased at www.clutchproductions.org/theworthofwater.

To learn more about Clutch Productions and their commission process and EmpowHER Play Reading Series, please visit www.clutchproductions.org.

Theatre L'Acadie in Chicago Opens Inaugural Production

Today marks the first preview for Theatre L'Acadie’s inaugural production of 70 Scenes of Halloween by Jeffrey M. Jones. The show runs from September 26 through October 13 at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, IL.

This week, Statera caught up with the three founders of Theatre L'Acadie for a conversation about making art, the Chicago arts community, and women who’ve inspired their work.

Emily Daigle

Kaitlin Romero

Brandi Champagne

(This interview has been edited for clarity.)

StateraArts: What inspired your to start Theatre L'Acadie?

Emily Daigle: Brandi, Kaitlin, and I attended the same BFA program at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The idea for Theatre L'Acadie planted itself during our senior year of college and developed once we all relocated to Chicago post graduation. Fueled by the desire to create meaningful work and make a difference through the use of our art form, this tiny idea soon became a reality. We weren't waiting on anyone else to create our own work.

Brandi Champagne: We all felt very similarly about needing to do something big if we wanted big things to happen to us. As three women who are multi-talented we wanted to make sure we could use all of our skills to produce art that spoke to us.

Kaitlin Romero: Because we all came from a university where we focused on a well rounded education, we have a multi-faceted talent set that makes us hungry for work that we can really sink our teeth into.

StateraArts: What do you love most about your artistic community?

Brandi Champagne: I love how giving and how communal the Chicago theatre scene has been in this past year. It really has started to feel like family already. Since starting our company, we have had endless amounts of support and advice from so many wonderful people in the community.

Kaitlin Romero: Within the Chicago community, I really love the fact that this is such a welcoming place for actors. I believe that’s also why all three of us decided to move here after our departure from college. We all wanted to move to a place that both inspired and welcomed us as artists. 

Emily Daigle: Starting your own company is no easy task, having a supportive baseline is the key to success. I believe this reflects within the Chicago theatre community as well; this artistic community has proven itself to be extremely supportive and encouraging. We would not be where we are now without the constant support and generous advice from professionals within our Chicago community.

When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?

Emily Daigle: I'd say through the development of this theatre company, Theatre L'Acadie. Not only do I feel empowered by the women I work with, but by the women who support my work. I am incredibly lucky to come from a family of strong and smart women. Women of fearless nature who inspire my go-getter work ethic and encourage me to take up space.

Brandi Champagne: I also have always felt so incredibly supported by my two lovely co-founders. They are definitely some powerful women in my life!

StateraArts: Tell us about your inaugural project 70 Scenes of Halloween?

Brandi Champagne: 70 Scenes of Halloween is our inaugural production as a company and it is a show that hits really close to home for all of us. Its a Dark Comedy that digs deep into the things that we’ve stated in our mission statement. We see the mundane, ugly, and ordinary evening of a young couple on Halloween, as well as the inner workings of their minds. 

Kaitlyn Romero: It’s an eerie show about a couple that must live through a night of utterly absurd happenings while trying to keep their already fragile relationship hanging on.

Emily Daigle: Jones's work is incredibly challenging and thought provoking. I can't wait for Chicago to witness this untraditional tale of love and loss!

StateraArts: Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist that inspires your work.

Kaitlin Romero: Felicity Jones, for her subtlety and sheer rawness of her work. If we are talking about women generally that inspire me, I would have to say Emma Watson. She’s a pioneer for education and has been very influential in terms of showing me what it means to be a positive role model for women around the world.

Emily Daigle: Much of my work as an artist and entrepreneur is inspired by Reese Witherspoon. She is innovative, ambitious, and eager to incite change. I'm endlessly searching for ways to do more for others within my art form, and that is exactly what Reese does. She's a self-starter and an activist for women within the entertainment industry. In 2016, she started her own media company, "Hello Sunshine", with the sole purpose of creating and promoting content by and about women. She acts, writes, produces, and more, all while being a phenomenal mother; the woman truly does it all.

Brandi Champagne: I feel extremely inspired by Toni Collette. She’s done it all (stage, screen, you name it) and she’s done it very well. She is powerful and talented. She is the epitome of what I strive to be as an artist.

StateraArts: Mentorship is at the core os Statera's mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?

Brandi Champagne: There are SO many women in my life who inspire me deeply. The first woman who comes to mind is definitely my professor from my undergrad, Sara Birk. She is a powerhouse and is so incredibly great at what she sets her mind to. A bond was definitely formed in my 4 years at UL and she is always the first person I turn to when I need assistance.

Kaitlyn Romero: I would consider my sister in law my biggest mentor. She’s one of the people that encouraged me along the way of starting my first theater company. She also provided a means (along with my brother) for me to continue taking acting classes. She encouraged my to put myself out there, and really try something for myself. She gives me guidance in every walk of life.

Emily Daigle: I've had several mentors throughout my creative career, but one mentor that stands out to me is my dear friend, Leah Raidt. Two months into my move to Chicago, I signed up for the StateraArts Mentorship not knowing what to expect. In turn, I was introduced to an incredible human, Leah, who was everything I never knew I needed. Fresh out of undergrad, Leah was a tremendous help with my transition from the academic setting to the professional world. She introduced me to the ins and outs of the Chicago entertainment industry, actively worked with me to achieve my goals, and was the very person who encouraged me to start my own theatre company. In times out doubt, she was always there to listen and knew exactly what to say. She was one of my first friends in Chicago and a home away from home. Leah is giving, fearless, confident, driven, passionate, and...the list goes on. I wouldn't be where I am today without her guidance and I am infinitely grateful for our relationship.

70 Scenes of Halloween runs September 26 - October 13 at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago. Tickets are available at (773) 935-6875 or www.athenaeumtheatre.org.

An Interview with Storyteller Lenelle Moïse

As part of our ongoing efforts to increase visibility of women* artists, StateraArts is coordinating International Support Women Artists Now/SWAN Day 2019, and the SWAN Day Calendar is jam packed with incredible events.  One such event is Haiti Glass: A Concert Reading by poet, performer, playwright Lenelle Moïse.  In a synthesis of original musical compositions and poems from her book, Haiti Glass, Lenelle moves deftly between memories of growing up as a Haitian immigrant in the suburbs of Boston to intellectual, playful explorations of pop culture enigmas.  Haiti Glass lays bare a world of resistance and survival, beauty, and queer grace.  Statera Ambassador, Sabrina Cofield, reached out to Lenelle to find out what inspires this powerhouse of an artist, the importance of feminism and body image, and how she uses her storytelling to open hearts, including her own. 

Sabrina Cofield: How did you discover poetry/writing?  
Lenelle Moïse: I started writing and drawing in spiral notebooks at age five. I grew up in a tough neighborhood and I wasn’t allowed to play outside. I wrote to entertain myself. I also have a vivid memory of finding my mother’s handheld mini-cassette tape recorder. I spent hours in my room, voicing all the parts of a made up radio show. I played the male and female hosts, the special guests, the musical acts. I even included commercial breaks.

SC: What is your writing process? Do you schedule time to write or do you stop what you’re doing or wake up in the middle of the night when inspired?
LM: Poetry does yank me out of sleep sometimes! Or, out of nowhere, a line stops me in my tracks. I carry a journal everywhere, ready to record observations, epiphanies, or the unexpected things I overhear. I don’t need a specific space or time of day to work but I feel happiest when I write every day. I love those moments of urgent flow but editing is more important. 

SC: You write both poetry and plays.  Do they manifest in different ways or serve a different creative outlet for you? 
LM: I’m a storyteller. My stories come in many forms—verse, dialogue, prose, collages, movement, music. I want to communicate with all the tools in my toolbox. Sometimes I start with what I think is a poem and then—in the middle of memorizing the text—a melody appears. This happened with the title poem of my book, Haiti Glass. On the page, it’s a short, sharp poem—thirty-four words in twelve lines. But when I started rehearsing it, the poem became a two-minute song! On paper, the line “pronouncing the distance” is six syllables. When I sing it, the word “distance” extends for twelve seconds. That way the audience can feel how far I really mean! I think a lot about how to translate my line breaks in performance. Sometimes that means a dramatic pause, or holding a note, or repeating a word, or transforming into another character. Generally, poetry is how I organize and convey my own point of view. Whereas, playwriting, is an exercise in empathy. Sometimes I create characters I disagree with—people who make choices I might not make. I want to understand those choices.

SC: Your writing is so bold, covering some very provocative topics, why do you feel that’s so important to explore?
LM: I’m always a little surprised when my work is called “provocative.” Is it because I write about black girls, poor folks, and queer desire? For me, these topics are central and universal. We all have race, class, and yearning. I write about the people I’ve met, the places I’ve seen, the moments that haunt me, the world I refuse to unsee. This is how I keep my heart open. I want my readers and audience members to feel open-hearted, too.

SC: Do you consider yourself a feminist?  If so, what does that mean to you?
LM: I consider myself a feminist because I question authority, insist on freedom, strive for equality, and imagine peace. I also really care about bodies. Do we feel safe in our bodies? Do we feel seen? Are people denying or disrespecting us because of the labels they tag onto our bodies? Are we healthy? Have we eaten? Do we have shelter? Do we feel included? Satisfied? Celebrated? Free? These are my feminist concerns. 

SC: You’re also a composer and have released several CDs, is there anything you can’t do! Talk to me about your music.
LM: Thanks for listening! Music is a very visceral and organic process for me. I use a loop machine to layer sounds—rolling trills, mouth-made clicks, high-pitched squeaks, melody, harmony, and breath. I think of my hands, feet, and voice as instruments. I want to sound like earth, fire, flowers, and guts.

SC: You’re performing a concert reading on April 5th in West Palm Beach, Florida what can audiences expect?
LM: Yes! I’m thrilled to bring my work to the Norton Museum of Art. My event is part of their Art After Dark series on Friday, April 5th. It’s free. I’ll offer a set of original poetry and all-vocal music. Audiences can expect to sigh, laugh, lean in, and nod along to mouth-made beats. I’m also leading two workshops at the Norton: “All Together: Self-Expression and Social Change” on April 6th, and “Embody Language: Voice and Movement for Poets” on April 7th. https://www.norton.org/search?q=lenelle+moise

SC: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given about being an artist or writer?
LM: Keep going.

Haiti Glass - A Concert Reading is on April 5th at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Learn more on the SWAN Day Calendar.  

---

Lenelle Moïse has been called “a Renaissance woman in the arts,” “an electrifying performer,” and “a powerhouse.” She is a poet, a playwright, and a songwriter. She is an immigrant and a feminist. Moïse wrote the book Haiti Glass, a winner of the 2015 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for excellence in literature. The Lambda Literary Review hailed it “poetry to be savored, then devoured, then shared.” Moïse was the 2017 Lucille Geier Lakes Writer-in-Residence at Smith College as well as a 2017 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing. Her Ruby Prize-winning play Merit, was featured on the 2016 Kilroys List. She wrote, composed, and co-starred in the Off-Broadway drama Expatriate. She was a Huntington Theatre Company Playwriting Fellow and a Poet Laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts. She has performed across the USA and Canada—at theatres, colleges, high schools, bookstores, arts festivals, cafes, a barbershop in Texas, a sports stadium in New Orleans, Central Park in New York, and at the United Nations. For more information, please visit lenellemoise.com

An Interview with Playwright Morgan Gould

International Support Women Artists Now/SWAN Day is fast approaching and the SWAN Day Calendar is filling up with some incredible events. One of these is I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART by Morgan Gould, currently playing at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago, IL. This week, Statera Ambassador Vanessa DeSilvio caught up with Morgan to learn more about her writing process, her mentors, creative experimentation, and the origins of I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART.

Morgan Gould

VANESSA DESILVIO: Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? How did you discover your talent for playwriting?

MORGAN GOULD: I'm originally from Cape Cod, MA (year round...not like the fun vacation version). I actually didn't start writing plays til like 2012, and I didn't write like SERIOUS full-length plays til I wrote this one in 2015. So in a weird way, this is sort of the first play I ever wrote. I can at least say it's the first time I wrote a play I ever thought might be produced by an actual theater, and not by me. But I've done theater all my life and went to school for directing. I've been doing that for like 15 years. I started writing plays because I ran out of fun things I was excited to direct. So I started writing my own things to work on with my actors. For me the entire point of theater is working with other people, especially actors, whom I adore. Honestly, if you don't like actors, I'm not sure I want to know you? 

VD: Do you find that playwriting and directing go hand in hand? Or do you try to keep the disciplines separate?

MG: To me they go hand in hand. When I'm writing a play, I'm imagining its execution. The script is only a blue print, always. If I wanted to have it all be done after it was written, I would have been a novelist. Theater depends on the actual SEEING of it. A script is not a finished thing, ever. Being a director makes me a stronger writer for the theater, and being a playwright makes me a stronger director. 

VD: How did you begin writing I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART? How long did it take you to complete?

MG: It was actually my thesis for my MFA at Brooklyn College. I'd been writing all this cheeky farces and Mac Wellman (who is the KING of cheeky) gave me a dare to write "a real play." He said, "Hm, what would a really sincere play look like. What if you wrote a real play? There has to be a couch in it, though, for it to be real." (Told you. Very cheeky). I laughed and accepted the challenge. Then I got busy directing and doing other projects. I opened a huge off-Broadway show, and when it was done, I realized my thesis was due in 38 hours.  I hadn't written a word of it. So I sat down and was like, "AHHH WHAT ARE REAL PLAYS ABOUT"  - and I thought, okay, they're about characters in conflict, right? So I was like, who are the characters of my life. And OBVIOUSLY I was like, "Me." And then I thought of my two best friends, both gay men, and I thought, "what would break us apart?" So I sat down to write, but then my roommate came home and was like "Wanna watch the premiere of American Horror Story?" DESPERATE to procrastinate, I  said yes. One of the first shots of season 4 (Hotel) is Lady Gaga and Matt Boomer walking down a long hallway in high vampiric drag to the song "I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart" - which I had never heard. I was obsessed. And I looked at them and I watched them savagely eat all the normal people in the park (that happens) and I thought, "That's what I want to do with my best friend...look fucking fabulous and eat the entire world alive while this song plays." So when the episode ended I had 37 hours to write it. I sat down, with that song on repeat, and I wrote 93 pages. They just shot out of me. And the first 70 pages are basically pretty close to that first draft.

VD: Wow. That is incredible. Now, has that continued to work for you as a writer - writing by the seat of your pants in very little time? Or do you typically write over a longer period of time?

Teressa LaGamba as Sam (right) and Robert Quintanilla as Leo (left) in Morgan Gould’s I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble.

MG: Yes! I am always flying by the seat of my pants, always. I've never taken more than about a week for a first draft. I tend to push those out quickly. Then the hard part begins. 

VD: How is this play deeply personal to you?

MG: It's a love letter to my gay best friends. It's a love letter to my younger self. The events are completely imagined, but the relationship is very real to me. It's my Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, honestly, haha. There is truly nothing that is more authentic to me than this relationship.

VD: What was the most challenging thing about writing this play?

MG: Writing the play was easy. Rewriting has been very hard. The impulse came so quickly. But crafting that is always the harder thing for me. I also think that this is really my only play that's had multiple productions over years. So now, when I return to it, it's like returning to a younger version of myself. It would be like getting in a time machine and going to therapy from 5 years ago. It's hard to channel and remember the feelings of isolation and sadness, but also love, that I had for this play and these characters when I was writing it. I also find this one of my most painful plays, so revisiting is always so bittersweet. I love Sam and Leo and I hope they're okay, I really do.  

VD: This play had a run at DC's Studio Theatre. How was that experience for you? How did audiences respond?

MG: It was a dream. I loved every second and I am so lucky to have worked with Nicole Spiezio, Tommy Heleringer, Anna O'Donoghue and the rest of the designers and crew and staff at Studio. Audiences in DC are similar to NY audiences, but even more diverse, so it was really fun. They got a ton of people who really got to see themselves reflected on stage for the first time. It was a big turning point for me as an artist and in my career. I'm so grateful for that experience.  

VD: Mentorship is at the core of StateraArts’ mission. Can you tell us about your mentors and how they have guided you through your journey as an artist?

MG: Well, I've mentioned Mac Wellman... but I remember that first class day where I shared it at Brooklyn, it was actually Erin Courtney who was teaching seminar and she is the BEST. She is such a wonderful and supportive playwright herself, and I'm such a huge fan. She's taught me to be unafraid of the weird AND of the sincere AND of the scary. I'm currently at Juilliard, and both Marsha Norman and David Lindsay-Abaire are such wonderful mentors. They're SO different in their approaches, but I like both perspectives on my work. My first directing teacher Elizabeth Margid. She is with me in the back of my head every single day in rehearsal when I'm directing, more than anyone. Emily Morse at New Dramatists is such a force, and truly loves playwrights. Whenever we chat, I feel so hopeful about the future of the field. She's a theater angel to so many playwrights, I'm lucky to benefit from her care and generosity. I think some of my greatest mentors are peer playwrights who lift me up every day by making me laugh at the ridiculous of our business, and whose work blows my mind and makes me see theater in a new way - there are so many I couldn't even name them all. 

VD: What are you currently writing?

MG: This email. But also. I'm currently working on a half hour comedy pilot sort of like fat sex in the city and I literally just wrote 5 pages of a new play due March 20th and I have no idea what it's about.

Teressa LaGamba as Sam (right) and Robert Quintanilla as Leo (left) in Morgan Gould’s I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble.

VD: What do you hope audiences in Chicago will gain from seeing this play?

MG: I didn't actually write it for all audiences, for better or worse. I wrote it for the fats and the gays, and I hope people who aren't fat or gay also relate, but they might not and that's ok. I think it's a positive thing, for people to have to watch things that aren't about them. I've had to do that my whole life. I've had to watch plays about straight white men. Or "women" plays that do not speak to my experience as a fat woman. Or plays about mostly rich people. And I've liked plays in all of those categories. I think it's interesting when old white (men, mostly) don't like the play, or don't get it, or get annoyed they don't understand the references. Or call it trite or light (to me, it's a deep tragedy, not a fluffy comedy). That tells me they need more training in seeing things that are not their own experience. Many of us have had that training our whole lives. They're just learning that the world doesn't revolve around them. So I try to have patience, even though it can be frustrating they aren't better and trying to see things beyond their own lens. Honestly, in my view, play is utter sincere realistic tragedy. To them it's a blur of millennial references. They seem to watch Shakespeare plays and Mamet plays just fine. Maybe the more they are exposed to language and feeling and circumstance that isn't their own, the more they'll begin to see humanity that isn't their own. I'm crossing my fat-millennial fingers.

VD: What words of advice do you have for other aspiring playwrights out there?

MG: You never know what the thing is that will be the thing. When I sat down to write this, I thought it was just an experiment. It turned out to be something that has cracked me open as a writer and in my career. It's opened a lot of doors. And I could never have done that if I sat down to do that. Just keep writing. Keep going. People will always, always CONSTANTLY and FOREVER tell you to stop. If you have something to say, and you can't not say it, then keep going. It will be very exhausting and hard. But you are lucky, because it is better than lots of other jobs, even though it does not pay very well. If you have a trust fund, honestly, why AREN'T you a writer? I mean, why not, really? 

I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART runs at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago through March 23rd. Learn more on the SWAN Day Calendar. There are five performances left and you can get you tickets HERE.

---

Morgan Gould is a writer/ director who is a Resident Playwright at New Dramatists and Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at Juilliard. Morgan's play I WANNA FUCKING TEAR YOU APART, is a Beatrice Terry/ Drama League Award Winner, and had its world premiere at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC in February 2017 (with Morgan directing). It was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, and DC Metro Arts said that Morgan's work "shows every bit as much promise as Edward Albee’s early work, arguably more." Morgan is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, a MacDowell Colony Fellow, and an alumnus of the Dramatists Guild Fund Playwriting Fellowship, The Women's Project Lab, the Civilians R+D Group, Target Margin Lab, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, SDC Observership Program, the BAX AIR Residency, Playwrights Horizons Directing Residency and New Georges Writer/ Director Lab. She has previously held staff positions at Playscripts, Inc., Lark Play Development Center, Cape Cod Theatre Project, and was the Associate Artistic Director of Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company, where she co-created UNTITLED FEMINIST SHOW (BAC/PS 122) and worked alongside Young Jean on the premieres of LEAR (Soho Rep) and WE'RE GONNA DIE (Joe's Pub/ LCT3) and tours of PULLMAN WA and THE SHIPMENT. Morgan is also the Artistic Director of Morgan Gould & Friends – her theater company with 9 actors, 3 designers, and a filmmaker (www.morgangouldandfriends.com). 

As a director, Morgan is a frequent collaborator with playwright Leah Nanako Winkler, and has directed Winkler’s plays KENTUCKY in a 2016 co-production with Radio Drama Network, Ensemble Studio Theater and P73, TWO MILE HOLLOW at the 2018 Women’s Project Pipeline Festival, and GOD SAID THIS at the 2018 Humana Festival and at Primary Stages in NYC in 2019. Morgan also recently directed the Bay Area Premiere of STRAIGHT WHITE MEN by Young Jean Lee at Marin Theatre Company. Morgan holds a B.A. in Directing from Fordham College at Lincoln Center, and a M.F.A. in Playwriting from Brooklyn College. She is currently working on her new plays ALL THE STUPID BITCHES, THREE FAT SISTERS, and NICOLE CLARK IS HAVING A BABY and developing a half hour original series with Amazon Studios and Will Graham/Field Trip Productions.

Erin Prather Stafford Launches “Girls That Create”

Erin Prather Stafford

by Sarah Greenman

“The media is in a state of great disruption, but despite all of the change, one thing remains the same: the role of women is significantly smaller than that of men in every part of news, entertainment and digital media.” -Julie Burton, president of the Women’s Media Center.

As the mother to two young girls and holder of a Master’s degree in Gender and International Development, Erin Prather Stafford is acutely aware that fixing gender imbalances in the media is key to changing gender disparity everywhere. That’s why she has just launched Girls That Create.

Several years ago, Erin joined the production team for WONDER WOMEN! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. The documentary explores the enduring legacy of Wonder Woman and how powerful women are often portrayed in mainstream media. It also encourages girls to be creators of the media they want to see.

Erin says, “Fast forward to 2019. The need to nourish and inspire girl creators is just as necessary now as it was then. Although women currently comprise half of the U.S. population, mass media continues to show them in much smaller numbers. This underrepresentation is also true for women who are behind the scenes, creating.”

Consider The Numbers

• A 2019 report found 69 percent of news wire bylines (AP and Reuters) are snagged by men; 31 percent by women. (Women’s Media Center)

• In 2018, women comprised just four percent of directors working on the top 100 films, eight percent on the top 250 films, and 15 percent on the top 500 films. (Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film)

• A recent study of 820,000 exhibitions across the public and commercial sectors, only one third were by women artists. (The Art Newspaper)

• Another 2019 study on the music industry revealed female songwriters and producers are vastly outnumbered. Across seven years, 12.3 percent of songwriters of the songs were female. More than half (57 percent) of the 633 songs examined did not credit one woman as a songwriter. (USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative)

Erin, a freelance writer and producer, became interested in the media’s portrayal of women while earning her communication degree at St. Edward’s University. This inspired pursuit of her MA from the University of Warwick. She also currently serves on the board for the Women Texas Film Festival.

Girls That Create will have posts and resources for developing creative thinking, boosting confidence, growing skill sets and constructing beneficial environments. The site will also offer practical tips and product reviews.

Erin says that March is the perfect month to launch her new platform. “Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, SWAN Day - what’s not to love? My goal is for caregivers and girls to find Girls That Create empowering and for the site to help spark future female creators.”

Visit Girls That Create online at www.girlsthatcreate.com and also on Facebook.

Self-Injurious Behavior: an Interview with Playwright Jessica Cavanagh

International Support Women Artists Now/SWAN Day is fast approaching and the SWAN Day Calendar is filling up with some incredible events. One of these is Self-Injurious Behavior by Dallas-based actress and playwright Jessica Cavanagh. “Self-Injurious Behavior”, which had a hit workshop run at Theatre Three's Theatre Too! in 2018, will move to New York for a showcase at Urban Stages in April. The New York run, April 21-May 5, will feature the Dallas cast, and will again be directed by Marianne Galloway. Statera’s Operations Assistant, Evangeline Stott, reached out to Jessica to have a conversation about this powerful show and Jessica’s journey through motherhood, loss, and the process of writing an autobiographical play with the perfect ratio of truth to laughter.

Evangeline Stott: Tell me about your process while writing this piece. How long was the writing period?

Jessica Cavanagh: I take a four and a half hour drive to visit my son, Elijah, at his school one weekend per month, which I've been doing ever since we admitted him in the summer of 2012 when he was 12 years old. Driving away from him at the end of those visits has always been hard, but that first year, it was excruciating. I would drive, weep, pull over, get myself together, drive, weep, repeat. Then, one day, during the trip back to Dallas, I started thinking of a play about a divorced woman who recently admitted her autistic son to a group home and was now half-heartedly attempting to date (which was my current situation). On a whim, I recorded myself talking about some pretty intense feelings about my kid and birth and parenthood and imagined it as a really inappropriate over-share moment on a first date. That date doesn't actually happen in the play anymore, but the monologue is still there, almost verbatim. Looking back, it kind of provided the anchor for the piece from the beginning. What followed was a bunch of short bursts of inspiration spread out over nearly three years before a full draft came together, mainly because I couldn't spend more than a day or two focused on telling this story without sinking into a pretty gross pit. It was still so raw. Within a couple years, I'd lost my mom in a car accident, divorced my husband of fourteen years, and admitted my child into a group home because he couldn't stop hurting himself. I was just incredibly not okay. The first informal reading of the first full draft didn't occur until September of 2015.

ES: With this being such a vulnerable and personal story for you, did you share what you were writing with anyone along the way?

JC: After about the first year of random voice notes and writing, I asked a few close friends whom I knew I could trust and whose work I respected to look at the monologue and one early major scene (the toughest in the play, which is based on what I remembered as the worst day I'd ever had with my son). The responses I got really surprised me! People were stunned. Folks who had known me for a decade asked me if this was really true - if what I was writing had really been our lives. I think they were mortified and maybe even hurt to know that their friend had been struggling, and that due to my need to escape my life when I left my house and went to rehearsals or performances, I rarely shared the depths of what we were dealing with at home. And to this day, that's been the most consistent question from everyone who reads or sees the play; people I know, and people I don't: "Is this real?" That question is what made me realize this is bigger than me; this is a story that desperately needs to be told for the sake of every caregiver who sits at home with their loved one and fights despair. So, now I had a mission. And I've always done well with a mission!

Photo by Jeffrey Schmidt

 ES: Can you tell us a little bit about the title, "Self Injurious Behavior"?

 JC: The phrase "self-injurious behavior" is how doctors and therapists often refer to self-harm, so I heard it a lot over the years in dealing with Elijah. He would bang his head on the hardest, sharpest objects he could find, punch himself in the head with his fists, and bite his arms until he broke the skin, among other pretty horrific things. As I wrote the play the issue of guilt and the idea of punishing one's self for feeling as if you've failed your child and yourself is one that was immediately prevalent in the story and, in fact, became THE story. The connection between my son's self-harm and my emotional self-harm became really clear. We were both beating ourselves to death.

ES: What were your biggest challenges in the first stages of writing and developing "Self Injurious Behavior"?

JC: I think the biggest challenge was sitting down to do it. I had all these ideas swirling and I had a great NEED to get it all down on paper, but forcing myself to really sit with it and what that meant was just very hard. It never seemed like a good day for that, you know? When is it convenient to revisit the most painful moments of your life? Never, ever. Once I got started, though, I was fine. Until I wasn't, at which point I'd stop. It was always just that first move that killed.

ES: How did audiences respond to the production at Theatre Three? Have you had the opportunity to dialogue with any audience members with stories similar to yours?

JC: The responses from those audiences were really humbling. People would wait to talk afterwards and some just wanted to look into my eyes and say, "This is my life. Thank you for this," and I'd often end up crying and hugging a stranger - now friend - in the lobby. Even more common, though, were the people who said they had a nephew, grandchild, friend, etc., on the spectrum and they had no idea that this might be what their friends or family were dealing with (or they had a friend who was severely depressed) and they were so thankful to have their eyes opened. It became really clear to me early on in the run that while I had hoped the story would honor and be sort of a love offering to caregivers and anyone struggling with depression, the great thing is it was actually drawing back the curtain on their lives and promoting empathy in others. I felt like I got to actually watch empathy for these issues be born in some people, which was just...it doesn't really get any better than that, you know? Folks would come up afterwards and literally say, "Wow. I've been an asshole. Thank you. And thank you for making me laugh while I figured it out." (I actually think I turned a bunch of people on to Renaissance Faires, too, which gives me no end of nerd-joy!)

Photo by Jordan Fraker

ES: One of my favorite production images I've seen is that of you sitting among the toys and blankets with your son’s Peter Pan-like shadow over you. Can you tell us a little bit about Peter Pan, and the significance of him in this story?

JC: My kiddo is obsessed with all things Disney. He had a Peter Pan Halloween costume that he loved, and when he was 11-12, he looked a lot like a cross between Christopher Robin and Peter Pan. I still get mom heart-pangs whenever I see either of those characters anywhere (yeah, he's 19, leave me alone!)  It took me some time to settle on how closely I wanted the character of Benjamin to resemble Elijah in the play, but at the end of the day, I decided to keep things simple and tell the truth as much as possible, so I've given Benjamin an obsession with Peter Pan. And, as it turns out, there's just something really lovely and poignant about the parallels between a kid like Benjamin and the boy who never grows up. It felt really right for the play.

ES: Can you talk a bit about what its like to be a single mother and work in the theatre? Especially being a single mother of a child with special needs? What resources did you have or not have?

JC: Well, I was very lucky when my son was younger because my mom lived nearby, so, between her and a couple of sitters who were like family and knew Elijah and his routine and wouldn't flip out if he had a meltdown, I was able to cobble together a childcare team while I rehearsed. I was actually still married at that point, but my husband was in a band and traveled the majority of the time so it was almost always just Elijah and me. And I'll be honest, those years were mostly hell, and to this day, I have such admiration for the single moms I know in theatre who make it happen. Being with your kid all the time is hard. Being with your kid all the time when your kid is screaming and banging his head and never sleeps for longer than two hours at a time is actually dangerous. So, at the end of the day, theatre was my refuge and I did whatever I needed to do and bribed whatever sitter I needed to bribe in order to get where I needed to go. I think I subconsciously knew that it was the only thing keeping me (and subsequently, Elijah) alive, so I fought for it like it was life or death. But, of course, a boatload of guilt accompanied me every time I left the house, because, motherhood.

ES: What has it been like to play yourself on stage? How do you feel about doing so again this spring?

JC: It’s been different than I expected, thankfully! Super weird in some ways, for sure - mostly to do with the nauseating pre-show jitters every night which have nothing to do with being nervous about the acting and everything to do with knowing the audience is aware (if they read their playbill!) that this is my story and I really said and did many of these things. The fear of judgement was acute, especially when we first opened (I ran to the bathroom a whole lot, y'all.) But, thankfully, I've found that once I'm in character out on stage, it's really just like playing any other role. And Summer isn't one hundred percent me. Some pretty major details from my life were changed for the play (I have one wonderful sister, and I gave Summer two, for example, because I just liked the dynamic of three). So, that really helps separate Summer from myself a bit and gives me the freedom to approach her the same way I would anything else.

Photo by Jordan Fraker with Jennifer Kuenzer.

ES: What are you most looking forward to with this New York production of “Self Injurious Behavior"?

JC: It’s so big...this thought of bringing a thing to the NY market. Right now, I keep thinking about the first laugh. The first time I hear a NY audience laugh at something I wrote, I really might just happily drop dead. And I can't wait to look into the faces of my production team and cast mates (now family) on opening night and be excited dorks together! I feel so lucky to get to share this experience with such dear friends, some of whom have been with the play through years of development, such as Marianne Galloway, our director. The blood, sweat, and tears of so many people have been poured into creating this thing, so getting to bring it to NY together is truly a dream come true.

ES: How has being Elijah’s mom shaped you into who you are now? What insights have you made because of your role as his mother?

JC: Elijah has shaped me so completely that it's almost impossible to pinpoint how. I was twenty-four when he was born, so I was still growing up, myself. He shaped who I was becoming in a very real way. I don't like to think about who I was before he existed, not because I hate myself but because I think he made me infinitely better and I prefer that person. Watching him grow up and struggle against a cruel and terrifying world has made me appreciate goodness and kindness when I find it to a degree that I never did before, which in turn effects my personal relationships. It’s funny how when you learn to value kindness and unselfish love above all things, the toxic relationships in your life tend to stick out like a sore thumb and make your path pretty freakin' clear.

ES: Mentorship is at the core of StateraArts' mission. Can you tell us about your mentors and how they have guided you and your work?

JC: I feel like I've had seasonal mentors - people who cross my path at a certain point to guide me through a certain thing, be it spiritual or artistic. Lately I've felt the nudge to find a seasoned, female-identifying playwright and be her spongey sidekick, just soaking up all her wisdom. I had some wonderful guides as I put Self-Injurious Behavior together and I'm so incredibly grateful to them! The thing is, they're all men, and I'm feeling a strong urge to connect with other women right now, particularly in the professional realm. So, HEY, if Paula Vogel just happens to be reading this and feels like having a weird rando obsessively trail her (and almost definitely ask far too many questions about Indecent), I'm your girl, Paula! 

ES: And lastly, is there anything else you'd like the StateraArts community to know about you and your work? 

JC: I’ve rambled way too long already!! I'd rather take the opportunity to say how much I appreciate StateraArts and your mission, and your willingness to talk with a new girl about her thing. Y'all rock. Thanks for all you do!

Interested in attending a performance of “Self-Injurious Behavior” in NYC? You’ll find it on the 2019 SWAN Day Calendar HERE.

---

About Jessica

Jessica Cavanagh is a Dallas-based theatre artist, voice talent, and writer whose work in the DFW area spans the past fifteen years. As an actor, she’s been recognized numerous times by the DFW Critics Forum as well as the Column Awards, including last season’s Critics Forum Award for her semi-autobiographical role in her play, Self-Injurious Behavior (Theatre Three). Selected regional acting work includes: Outside Mullingar, August: Osage County, Doubt, and The Glass Menagerie (all at WaterTower Theatre), Heisenberg (Theatre Three), Mr. Burns: a post-electric play (Stage West), ‘Night, Mother (Echo Theatre), and Port Twilight (Undermain). As a staff writer with Funimation Entertainment, she’s adapted hundreds of episodes of Japanese anime for an English-speaking audience and has also worked extensively as an actor in their English broadcast dubs, so you can hear her giddily voicing roles on Cartoon Network in shows such as Attack on Titan, One Piece, and My Hero Academia, and many others.

Statera Supporting Women in the Arts - an interview with Melinda Pfundstein

StateraConIII in Milwaukee, WI. (Photo by Malloree Delayne Hill)

This interview was originally published by the Utah Theatre Bloggers Association on February 1, 2019.

by Russell Warne 

CEDAR CITY — Making a living in the arts has always been a challenge. But—as in many other fields—women experience challenges in the workplace that men do not have. Rather than talk about the problem, Utah-based actor and director Melinda Pfundstein decided to do something about reducing barriers that women face as they pursue their careers in the arts so she founded StateraArts with the help of USF actor Shelly Gaza. I sat down with Ms. Pfundstein in July to discuss Statera and its mission in more detail.

UTBA: What is the mission of the StateraArts?

Pfundstein: Statera, deriving its name from the Latin word for balance, takes positive action to bring women into full and equal participation in the arts. We work through mentorship, community and coalition building through our national conferences, and by amplifying women’s voices and work through international SWAN Day. We engage with organizations and women ready and hungry to do the work to help balance the landscape in the arts.

UTBA: What does SWAN stand for in International SWAN Day?

Pfundstein: SWAN stands for “Support Women Artists Now.” It was started 11 years ago by WomenArts founder Martha Richards and there have been over 1,900 SWAN Day celebrations in 36 countries around the world.

UTBA: What do you encourage people to do on SWAN Day?

Pfundstein: It is a grassroots movement that encourages communities of artists and arts supporters to gather, uplift, and celebrate women’s work. Some SWAN Day organizers use it as an opportunity to fundraise for arts projects in their communities.

UTBA: That’s interesting. How was Statera founded?

Pfundstein: The organization took shape on my back porch from years and years of the same conversations about the complications of being a woman in the theatre and the arts. There were so many women that we would see come and go and not advance through the organizations we were working in. But we were watching our male friends and peers doing just the opposite and grow in rank and in opportunities in directing and leadership.

UTBA: How long ago was that?

Pfundstein: That was in 2015.

UTBA: So that was your back porch here in Cedar City, Utah.

Pfundstein: That’s right.

UTBA: Wow. One day there will be a historic plaque there says, “On this spot StateraArts was hatched.”

StateraArts’s logo symbolizes balance in the arts.

Pfundstein: Right. But from there, we have team members and offices in L.A., the Portland area, Seattle, Denver, New York, and Chicago. We’re really spread out over the country.

UTBA: This is really a grassroots network throughout all of the major arts centers in the United States.

Pfundstein: Yes.

UTBA: So, with International SWAN Day, will we one day see Statera offices in other countries?

Pfundstein: That is the hope.

UTBA: You mentioned “complications” for women trying to advance their careers in the arts. What are some of the unique complications that women face?

Pfundstein: From a very personal standpoint, I’m a mother and a wife. So, any time I go off to do a job, that is a factor for me. It’s great in organizations that I have worked with that have child care on the premises or that are supportive of families working for organizations. And in our organizations that mostly do productions from the classical canon, most of the roles available are for men. That means that men then become the loyal favorites, and pathways become built. And these men start to build up through the organization into leadership and directing positions that aren’t readily available for women. And there just aren’t a lot of examples for women to look to who have grown through the ranks into leadership opportunities in theatre. While there are many male allies and men who have done so, it is helpful to see somebody who looks like you in a pathway that makes sense to you.

UTBA: It’s one thing to say, “Oh, I’ve heard my wife talk about these challenges,” or, “I’ve heard my co-worker about these challenges.” But it’s different to have a mentor to say, “Here is how I found these solutions.”

Pfundstein: Absolutely. Statera is about positive action and finding solutions. We like to work on the tactics that are working and to magnify them.

UTBA: You mentioned that the roles in the classical canon are disproportionately male, and here we are at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Shakespeare‘s most famous play, Hamlet, has two female characters. You directed a play this year, the Merchant of Venice, that has three named female characters. Tell me about how, given this issue, how you handled that to make this play more career-friendly for your female performers.

Pfundstein: With Shakespeare, in particular, we already go to the theater and suspend our disbelief about so many things: that a cardboard thing is a tree, or a piece of wood is a house or a village. But also there is a tradition of men playing women’s roles. So, this is not so much of a stress. It’s just about asking smart questions about what lens we can look through to think more creatively about themes based in human experience. I think that’s something that we do every time come to these plays. This time it happened to be a marginalization lens that I looked through.

Lisa Wolpe as Shylock in the 2018 Utah Shakespeare Festival production of The Merchant of Venice. (Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2018.)

UTBA: You cast four women into five roles that were written for men. Why did you cast those particular women?

Pfundstein: I cast those particular women because of their artistry. When The Merchant of Venice came to my plate, the first person I thought of was Lisa Wolpe because I heard her speak those words a year ago, and it haunted me. The casting grew from there, and they were the best people for the roles.

UTBA: That’s quite an endorsement for those performers. Beyond this particular production, what success stories do you have for Statera?

Pfundstein: Recent success stories that resonate for me are about individual artists who bring a new show to the national conference. Out of that, they then book performances at theaters across the country. There are also stories of people engaging with mentors and being shepherded through their pathway in the arts. It’s about connecting with women and male allies all over the country and internationally.

UTBA: Are there women who have been offered directorial positions because of Statera’s work?

Pfundstein: Absolutely. We’re connecting people and having conversations about the work and new ways of thinking. Those relationships automatically blossom the same way that they do for our male allies. We’re just seeing it more frequently now.

UTBA: Are there some jobs and positions that are more representative of women than others? Or is it more consistent across the board where you see the same level of representation in different positions?

Pfundstein: The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the Wellesley Centers for Women put out a study a couple of years ago about women in leadership in the theatre. You can get some statistics from there. But right now we are in the midst of the biggest turnover of leadership in the American theatre ever. So, right now this is on so many people’s tongues because we’re talking about what we can do to ensure that the work stays relevant in the future. So much of that has to do with making sure we get more diverse voices in leadership positions. That hasn’t been the case previously.

Melinda Pfundstein

UTBA: It sounds like you started your work at the perfect time, right before you start getting this massive turnover in leadership. It sounds like you having this conversation going about getting women in directorial positions and artistic directing positions, those positions are really starting to open up for various reasons anyway. Now seems like the perfect chance to give female candidates a shot. Am I understanding that correctly?

Pfundstein: You are. I offer that it we have had the perfect chance to give female and diverse candidates a shot. We have simply been stuck in old, outdated habits and systems, but now we know better, and it is time to do better.

UTBA: That’s interesting. For yourself, you mentioned that you had particular challenges for yourself in your career. What changes have you seen in the industry over the course of your career in addressing this issue?

Natasha Harris (left) as Bianca and Melinda Pfundstein as Katherine in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2015 production of The Taming of the Shrew. (Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2015.)

Pfundstein: The first thing is that this is on the tongues of the industry. The whole industry is talking about how to make this a more diverse landscape. Just that it’s a conversation piece at so many organizations is totally different than it was when I was starting. And women are starting to step into these positions: women, women of color. They’re stepping into these positions of leadership, and that makes it better for all of us. There also more opportunities now. I also have more examples now—and perhaps it’s because of this work where I’m connecting to them now—but more examples of women who have taken a pathway that makes sense to me in growing and progressing in the industry.

UTBA: Besides the conversation actually happening, what is the #1 difference for a female artist starting her career now compared to 20 years ago?

Pfundstein: We have Statera. There is opportunity for mentorship, free resources, a place to convene once a year to connect to other artists who are interested in this conversation, and a growing community of makers and advocates forwarding the work. Organizations are implementing equity, diversity, and inclusion programs that are more than just lip service now. Where once these peripheral programs were created to check boxes, now companies are implementing them into their day-to-day operations. That is making a huge difference. They’re acting as examples for other organizations who want to broaden their teams and diversify the voices in their organization.

UTBA: It reminds me of a panel at a conference of the American Theatre Critics Association that I went to in 2015 where female playwrights talked about a real change in moving their work from being at women’s-only festivals or being produced as the one play per year written by a women in a company’s season to being an integral part of the season at theatre companies. Do you see a similar movement happening in acting roles, directing positions and design jobs, where there is an effort to make a large number of women part of the creative teams?

Pfundstein: Yes. More organizations are moving beyond the tokenism of adding women or people of color in and instead doing the hard and important work of implementing the value of doing art by and for more people into their missions. I believe that these organizations will thrive and those that do not will become irrelevant and struggle.

UTBA: What can patrons do? Most of UTBA’s readers are not artists.

Pfundstein: Women buy 70% of the tickets in the arts. They ought to see themselves represented in the art they buy. Simply buy tickets that support art done by and for more people. Contact your arts organizations and say, “I really love this and want more of this.” That feedback for organizations is great.

UTBA: I appreciate you giving me the time to talk about this. Is there anything else I should know about Statera or its work?

Pfundstein: Statera is not just about giving artists opportunities. It’s about allowing the arts to reflect back a picture of all our audience members, and not just a certain type. All audience members deserve to see representations of themselves because the arts inspire us to consider what could be. This work makes the arts landscape better for all of us.

UTBA: I see it as common sense. The more people who see the arts as being relevant to their lives, the more people will come to the defense of the arts when funding is in danger. It makes sense from the patron’s perspective, from the producer’s perspective, for the artists, and everyone. It makes sense to have more voices and a broader pool of support.

---

To learn more about the StateraArts, visit stateraarts.org. To help further Statera’s mission, make a donation at stateraarts.org/donate.

10 Questions with Playwright Thelma Virata de Castro

International Support Women Artists Now/SWAN Day is fast approaching and the SWAN Day Calendar is filling up with some incredible events. One of these events is The Fire In Me by San Diego-based playwright Thelma Virata de Castro. This week, Statera’s Director of Operations Sarah Greenman, also a playwright, caught up with Thelma to learn more about her writing process, deadlines, puzzles, and the creation of The Fire In Me.

Sarah Greenman: I always like to hear how playwrights become playwrights. How did you become a writer?

Thelma Virata de Castro: I’ve always been involved with stories and make-believe, which led me to theatre. I took drama in junior high and acted in Shakespearean plays in high school. I didn’t major in theatre in college because I thought English Literature was more practical. (Ha, ha, ha!) But in my last quarter I took a playwriting class and the form just clicked for me. I love dialogue and hearing the voices in my head. It’s such fun to have actors perform your work.

 SG: When you have an idea for a play, how do you proceed? Do you research, take notes, plunge right in? 

 TVD: I do a lot of percolating before I write. I brainstorm ideas and write a scene outline in a notebook or journal. I love when a play requires research because it’s a great way to delay writing. Writing the play in script form on the computer is the biggest leap for me and involves the most procrastinating. For my interview based projects, I interview someone and look for the kernel that will translate into a play.

 SG: Tell us about your writing routine? How do you schedule yourself? Or are you like me - a loose stop-and-go writer? 

TVD: The image that comes to mind is my cat being dragged into the carrier to go to the vet. The idea stage is great! I’m napping in the sun, stretching. I’m at one with the universe. Then when it’s time to face the deadline I have to throw myself in the carrier backward with my nails scratching against the plastic. I don’t yowl but it’s a struggle. I’ve submitted a play at 11:59 PM when the deadline was 12:00 AM. I set my own deadlines for my current project on the team calendar and I’ve consistently missed them. I’m missing two deadlines as we speak. Meow.

 SG: When you are working, are there other art forms you go to for inspiration? For instance, I love to listen to music while I write. 

 TVD: I don’t do anything else while I’m writing, but I’ve discovered a couple of unrelated things that help. I completed a 750 piece puzzle recently and it felt so satisfying! I think somehow it supported my creativity. And nature. It’s like a pill. One dose of nature and I see clearly again.

Thelma Virata de Castro (Photo by Jamie Clifford)

SD: What aspect of playwrighting is most difficult for you? 

TVD: I feel like I’m in confession. The actual writing is the hardest part. Once it’s done, yeah! But then you have to do rewrites or start on the next project. I must love it, though, because I’ve been doing it for a long time.

 SG: Mentorship is at the core of StateraArts' mission. Can you tell us about your mentors and how they shaped you? 

TVD: This question blows my mind. Of course mentorship is a solution to gender parity in the arts! As a woman, as an artist of color, as the child of immigrants, and as a mother, I’ve accepted struggle as inevitable. I’ve rejected possibilities and accepted limitations for myself. I have not had a formal mentor, but early in my career there was an organization that said yes to me: Hedgebrook. Hedgebrook is a literary nonprofit that offers women and trans writers space and time to write. Hedgebrook told me that my voice mattered. I founded San Diego Playwrights, an all-volunteer playwright network, in that same spirit of generosity and support.

 SG: Your most recent play, The Fire In Me is featured on the SWAN Day Calendar and will have workshop productions this March in San Diego, CA. It explores domestic violence in the Filipino community. How did this work come about? What was the inspiration?

TVD: I worked on an earlier project with Asian Story Theater that was based on interviews with the Filipino community. A man I know asked me to interview him and I was surprised that he shared a story about domestic abuse in his family. I wrote a short script based on his experience, and asked Anne Bautista, a lawyer for Access Inc., to participate in a talkback. She helps immigrant survivors of domestic violence gain their citizenship. A few months later I enrolled in Anne’s FIRE advocacy program, in which women learn about domestic violence, grant writing, and public speaking. We were asked to come up with projects to bring back to our communities, and I partnered with Access Inc. and Asian Story Theater to produce The Fire in Me. The project won grants from California Humanities and The San Diego Foundation.

 SG: Can you tell us about the title, "The Fire In Me"? 

TVD: There are many meanings to the title. I interviewed diverse community members who are connected to the issue of domestic violence, including survivors. One young woman didn’t tell anyone about her high school boyfriend’s abuse. When she broke up with him, her mother thought it was good because he didn’t match the “fire” in her. The young woman thought that was ironic, since her mother had never seen the boyfriend’s anger. Fire also refers to Access Inc.’s FIRE advocacy program. The protagonist also watches a fictional Filipino soap opera in the play that’s entitled “The Fire in Me”. The soap opera layer was a way to add humor, exaggerate traditional gender roles, and provide some distance to the audience as they engage in the exploration of this serious subject. Plus there’s a cameo of the goddess of fire.

 SG: There will be talkbacks after each reading. As a playwright, why are talkbacks important to you? And why are they important for your audience? 

TVD: Theatre is about connection! And this piece is written with the community and for the community. We had a preview reading for the interviewees in order for them to share feedback. People have taken risks to share intimate and painful experiences of their lives with me. I want to honor their stories and respect their truth. The talkbacks after the March performances are important for the audience because domestic violence is an issue that affects all of us.

 SG: What was the best piece of advice you ever got about being an artist or writer?

TVD: One of Natalie Goldberg’s writing rules is “You are free to write the worst junk in America.” I love that. It takes the pressure off.

---

ABOUT THELMA VIRATA DE CASTRO

Thelma Virata de Castro is a San Diego based playwright. Her plays have been produced by San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre, Asian Story Theater, San Diego International Fringe Festival and others. She is a Hedgebrook alumna and was a participating writer at A Room of Her Own Foundation (AROHO) retreat. Her work is collected in the Asian American Women Playwrights Archive at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She works as Community Projects Coordinator for Playwrights Project, and is the founder of San Diego Playwrights.

ABOUT “THE FIRE IN ME”

The Fire In Me by Thelma Virata De Castro

March 2 @ 2pm at Skyline Hills Library in San Diego

March 10 @ 2pm at Central Library in San Diego

March 16 @ 2pm at Scripps Miramar Ranch Library in San Diego

The Fire In Me is featured on the SWAN Day Calendar. Learn more at www.thefireinme2019.com or on Facebook.

ABOUT SWAN DAY 

As part of our ongoing efforts to create gender balance in the arts, StateraArts puts the spotlight on women artists every March and April through Support Women Artists Now/SWAN Day. SWAN Day, now in its 12th year, is an annual international celebration of women’s creativity and gender parity activism. Learn how you can get involved at www.stateraarts.org/swan-day.

Statera Seven: Katherine Owens

Statera Seven is a series about women in leadership and the path to promotion. Statera poses seven questions to past and current Artistic Directors, Managing Directors, and other women in leadership roles in the American Theatre. Statera is sharing their stories and insights in hopes of finding new ways to shift the leadership gender imbalance of America's nonprofit regional theater companies.

Today we're interviewing Katherine Owens, Founder and Artistic Director of Undermain Theatre, a theatre in Dallas, Texas celebrating its 35th season.

---

StateraArts: The research on Women's Leadership in Resident Theaters presented by The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in 2016 found that there was a glass ceiling and "pipeline issue" facing women in theatre leadership. How have you improved professional development for those seeking leadership positions in the arts, particularly women and people of color?

Katherine Owens: For many years, Undermain has been focused on finding leadership positions for women and people of color. Historically there have always been women in the artistic leadership of the theater and there are now people of color and women in all levels of management. This is an ongoing process and one that we plan to expand on and improve. The Undermain artistic company is now 50 percent people of color and 50 percent women.

S: What is the most important single decision you have made in your journey?

Katherine Owens (Photo by Stephen Webster)

KO: I came to the realization that I was an artist and decided that I would abide by the principals that I believed made up an artistic life.  Working out what is meant by leading an artistic life has been a long project. When I was about 10 years old I knew that I wanted to be an artist.  To me this meant to embark on a course of study which I would design, to study the lives of the artists, to allow myself to think freely, and to begin to acquire discipline.  At the time, I thought I would be a painter and this ambition was greatly abetted by having a number of books about art in our house.

I wore out the spine of two of the volumes in my Father’s Time Warner Art series—the books about Leonardo da Vinci and Marcel Duchamp.  But a short time later, when I saw my first play, I decided that the theater was the place I wanted to be.

S: Statistics suggest that women apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only 40%. Has this been true for you, and how do you advocate for your experience and qualifications when they are not explicitly spelled out in a job posting?

KO: I think that just knowing this statistic is useful. Since I read it on your website I have cited it in many conversations with women who were considering applying for various positions. I have applied for very few jobs in my life. Most of the jobs I had were self-created or opportunities that I was offered. In the era and place that I grew up, it seemed clear that, as a woman, if you wanted to do anything in the arts you had to create your own opportunities.  

S: What roadblocks did you encounter on your path to this position and how did you navigate?

KO: When I was growing up in Odessa, Texas, I worked as an intern at the Globe of the Great Southwest, --a replica of Shakespeare’s globe rising out of the desert and producing classics year round with a semi-professional company. Because they were always in need of help, I worked as an assistant director and did all sorts of odd jobs and small roles.

Even with all this experience, when I registered with a directing major in college I was told that women were seriously discouraged from going into directing by the then head of the program.

The first real help I got on the road to being a director came my first year out of college. I was recruited to be an artist in residence at a fledging Shakespeare theater in Oklahoma, run by the director Molly Risso. She had a wonderful theatrical mind and was a very good director. She allowed me to direct, let me assist for her, and taught me the principals of staging on a chessboard in the costume shop.

Later when we started the Undermain, I had the support of some wonderfully supportive collaborators, most notably my husband Bruce DuBose, who is an actor and producer.

S: If you had $10 million dollars of unrestricted funds, how would you spend it to improve the American Theatre?

KO: Theater needs more of a presence in smaller communities. Anecdotally, I have noticed that in Texas at least, if a town square has a preforming arts facility of any size, it is surrounded by healthy businesses and serves as a kind of center for the community. Many squares have renovated their old movie houses to provide homes for a community theater.  And having grown up in a small town I know how important these places can be for people.

S: Professional mentorship is a core part of our mission at Statera. In that spirit, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and from whom?

KO: My father was an officer in WWII. He would describe the principals of leadership that he had studied in his training.  He also taught me things he had learned in the Corps at Texas A&M and these took the form of maxims or aphorisms. He would say: “leadership is not making people do what you want them to do but making them want to do what you want them to do.” He told me that a leader has a duty to his people and that this duty required a wholehearted commitment, and that a leader should deliberate and then act decisively.

He said once that a leader is someone who, when the battle starts, gets out in front of the troops and says, “Follow me”.  I think I internalized these ideas very early in my life. As far as I could tell, leadership was not discussed with young women at that time and I felt grateful for this instruction.

The duties of a leader and the activities of an artistic life often seem opposed to one another and I have struggled with this. An artistic life requires a certain amount of interiority and freedom and often questions the nature of duty and responsibility.

My friend, the filmmaker Julia Dyer, gave me some advice that was given to her. She said that when you are directing you come in the first day and declare in a loud and definite voice, “the camera goes here, and the lights go here and the actor goes here and so on”. This tells the crew that you are in charge and know what you are doing and can be relied on as a leader.

S: In what ways are you thriving in your leadership role?

KO: I tend to want to make decisions through consensus but I have learned that this is not always the best approach in all cases. Through the years, I have become comfortable with authority.

Organizations produce a huge number of decisions, large and small, and the job of making those decisions, or finalizing them is in the hands of the leader.  

Mentorship is an ongoing process. There is a saying: “When the student is ready the guru appears”.

I have been fortunate to have found new mentors as the theater has grown, most notably our new general manager Patricia Hackler, who brought a profound understanding of organizational leadership to the theater during its expansion and the designer John Arnone who has had a incalculable influence on my life as a director. Together with Bruce DuBose, the theater’s producer,  we all  look for ways to keep make the Undermain a place of growth for artists and engagement for the community.

---

ABOUT KATHERINE

Katherine is known for bringing new and visionary theater to Dallas audiences. She has received the AAUW Texas Woman of Distinction Award as well as the 2013 Dallas Historical Society Award for Excellence in the Creative Arts, was chosen as one of The Dallas 40 by DMagazine, was named one of Dallas’ 100 Creatives by the Dallas Observer, and was nominated for the 2013 “Texan of the Year” by the Dallas Morning News. She has been a fellow of the Sundance Institute since 2015 when she and Len Jenkin were selected to participate in The Sundance Institute’s Theater Lab to workshop the script of Jonah, which had its world premiere at Undermain in 2016. Other world premieres directed by Katherine Owens at Undermain include work by Matthew Paul Olmos (so go the ghosts of méxico, part two), Len Jenkin (Abraham Zobell’s Home Movie…, Time in Kafka, and Port Twilight), David Rabe (The Black Monk), Lynne Alvarez (The Snow Queen), Mac Wellman (Two September, A Murder of Crows, and The Hyacinth Macaw) as well as Sylvan Oswald (Profanity). Katherine directed Neil Young’s Greendale and John O’Keffe’s Glamour at the Ohio Theatre, Jeffrey M. Jones’ A Man’s Best Friend at WalkerSpace, and Lenora Champagne’s Coaticook at the SoHo Think Tank’s Ice Factory Festival. She has designed the videos for Erik Ehn’s Gold Into Mud (HERE American Living Room Festival in New York) and Swedish Tales of Woe (the Ohio Theatre). In 1995, Katherine traveled with Undermain Theatre to Macedonia, where she appeared in Goran Stafanovski’s Sarajevo, a threnody to the victims of the siege. She has directed numerous other productions in Dallas, New York, and Europe including the world premiere of Gordon Dahlquist’s Tomorrow Come Today, which went on to win the James Tait Black Award for Drama in 2015 and Judges 19: Black Lung Exhaling, which she directed as part of the international Belegrade Summer Festival in 2000. Katherine has served as a juror for the Asian Film Festival of Dallas, has been a panelist for the Alpert Awards and Texas Commission on the Arts, and is a member of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts Artistic Council. Her familiar voice can be heard narrating a number of programs for PBS and KERA 90.1 as well as several documentaries including Mark Birnbaum’s Las Mujeres de Valle and Judy Kelly’s Frozen Music, which won an Emmy and a Matrix Award. Katherine is a native of Odessa, TX and a graduate of the University of Texas.

Statera Seven: Suzan Fete

Statera Seven is a series about women in leadership and the path to promotion. Statera poses seven questions to past and current Artistic Directors, Managing Directors, and other women in leadership roles in the American Theatre. Statera is sharing their stories and insights in hopes of finding new ways to shift the leadership gender imbalance of America's nonprofit regional theater companies. 

Today we're interviewing Suzan Fete, Founder and Artistic Director of Renaissance Theaterworks, a 25-year-old Milwuakee-theatre dedicated to promoting the work of women onstage and off. 

STATERA: The research on Women's Leadership in Resident Theaters presented by The Wellesly Centers for Women (WCW) and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in 2016 found that there was a glass ceiling and "pipeline issue" facing women in theatre leadership. How have you improved professional development for those seeking leadership positions in the arts, particularly women and people of color?

SUZAN FETE: Renaissance Theaterworks (RTW) is the nation’s second oldest professional theater company with a commitment to gender equity and we are Milwaukee’s only women-founded women-run professional theater. Founded in 1993, our mission clearly states our commitment to providing roles for women –on stage and off. Over the last 25 years RTW has given opportunities to more than 800 theater artists and technicians; 75% of these have been women. Our staff is and has always been all women. The make-up of RTW’s board of directors ranges between 80-90% female. I am most proud of the many vital “first-time” chances we have given to women to help them advance or refocus their careers. For example, we have encouraged several local actors to try directing –Laura Gordon, for instance, directed her first show for RTW in 2004 and now she directs all over the country.

STATERA: What is the most important single decision you have made in your journey? 

SF: To believe in myself and trust my instincts. There are always so many voices telling you what you want is impossible, or that the “better people” do it differently, it can be really hard to have faith and patience. Who cares what the “better people” think and who are they anyway?!

STATERA: Statistics suggest that women apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only 40%. Has this been true for you, and how do you advocate for your experience and qualifications when they are not explicitly spelled out in a job posting?

SF: I have seen plenty of evidence of this throughout my life.  But it has not been a pitfall for me personally, I’m not sure why. My personal mantra has always been “Oh, how hard can it be?” This has really gotten me in trouble at times. But it is essential to risk and fail boldly. Failure must become your friend, without it success is impossible. Creativity demands courage and patience.

STATERA: What roadblocks did you encounter on your path to this position and how did you navigate? 

SF: In 1993 five women (Myself, Marie Kohler, Raeleen McMillion, Jennifer Rupp and Michele Traband) founded RTW because of the lack of leadership roles available to women in professional theater.  We created our own opportunities. We weren’t able to pay ourselves for a while, but now RTW has six paid staff positions. 

Renaissance Theaterworks was founded in 1993 by Suzan Fete, Marie Kohler, Raeleen McMillion, Jennifer Rupp and Michele Traband.

STATERA: If you had $10 million dollars of unrestricted funds, how would you spend it to improve the American Theatre?  

SF: I wish it could be ten times $10 million! I would love to create several Art Hubs across the country. Each hub would have an active and authentic relationship with their community. Each would contain at least three theaters in varying sizes. We could foster the work of new playwrights –particularly women and people of color. We would broaden our range of work and cultivate the next generation of theater artists. And we could pay everyone a living wage!

STATERA: Professional mentorship is a core part of our mission at Statera Foundation. In that spirit, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and from whom?

SF: “Don’t be afraid to put yourself in situations where everyone looks to you for answers –you will have no choice but to rise to the occasion.”  Tom Fulton Acting Teacher Cleveland Ohio 1988

“Just do it already!”  My mom pretty much all my life.

STATERA: In what ways are you thriving in your leadership role?

SF: I love my job!  I am so blessed.  I go to work every day with the brightest, most dedicated women I know. We work as a team to create outstanding theater that is relevant to our community. I turned 60 this spring and most of the RTW staff is half my age, working with these energetic and enthusiastic young women helps to keep my outlook youthful and positive. I may never retire!

Other Statera Seven Interviews: 

NATAKI GARRETT - Associte Artistic Director of  The Denver Center

JENNIFER ZEYL - Artistic Director of Intiman Theatre

BRENDA DEVITA - Artistic Director of American Players Theatre

---

About Suzan

Suzan is the Artistic Director and a Co-Founder of Renaissance Theaterworks - Milwaukee’s only women-run, women-founded professional theater company.  Since its inception in 1993, Renaissance (RTW) has been committed to creating roles for women theater professionals onstage and off. RTW produces three main stage plays and one staged play reading in the ninety-nine seat Broadway Theatre Center Studio Theatre in Milwaukee’s historic Third Ward. Twenty-four years of debt-free operations, rave reviews and a passionate audience base speak to RTW’s success.  

Other RTW successes under Suzan’s leadership include:

♦    Finalist (12 out of 1500) in the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Play Festival 2016

♦    First successful International Cultural Exchange: sending our production of NEAT to Isithatha Theatre in South Africa – June 2013.

♦    Initiation of the Diversity Series in 2010, with a 3-year commitment from RTW to dedicate 40% of annual programming to the voices of people of color, resulting in a 900% increase in attendees of color.

♦    Recognition in OnMilwaukee.com for our leading role in helping women initiate and expand their careers in theater, September 30, 2010.

♦    Two Milwaukee Magazine awards for Best Play of the Year: BOSWELL’S DREAMS (2005) and MIDNIGHT AND MOLL FLANDERS (2000); additionally, the American Association of Theater Critics nominated RTW’s COUNTING DAYS as Best New Regional Play;

♦    From 1993 -2015, RTW produced 59 full productions and staged 33 readings employing more than 700 local theater professionals, more than 65% of whom were women.

Suzan has 30 years of experience as an actor, director, and producer in professional theater.  Suzan has a degree from University of Illinois and lives happily in Wauwatosa WI with her husband Jeff.

Statera Seven: Nataki Garrett

Nataki Garrett, Associate Artistic Director at DCPA. (Photo by Daniel Benner.)

Statera Seven is a series on the Statera Foundation Blog about women in leadership and the path to promotion. Statera poses seven questions to past and current Artistic Directors, Managing Directors, and other women in leadership roles in the American Theatre. Statera is sharing their stories and insights in hopes of finding new ways to shift the leadership gender imbalance of America's nonprofit regional theater companies. 

Today we're interviewing Nataki Garrett, Associate Artistic Director of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. DCPA won the 1998 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and is the nation's largest nonprofit theatre organization.

STATERA: The research on Women's Leadership in Resident Theaters presented by the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in 2016 found that there was a glass ceiling and "pipeline issue" facing women in theatre leadership. How have you improved professional development for those seeking leadership positions in the arts, particularly women and people of color?

NATAKI GARRET: First, I am fighting to ensure that future generations of women and people of color can use me as a ladder to a future in the theater that includes them. I have worked hard to earn this space, and I plan to hold it for the next generation. I have spent much of my career recruiting, training and mentoring the next generation of women and people of color in the theater. I have active relationships with many of the women and people of color who are pursuing leadership positions throughout the country. We support and mentor each other because we know that together we may be able to move the needle forward, even if only a bit. There are currently no black women leading a theater with an organizational budget of $5 million or more, and of the 25 percent of LORT theaters run by women, there are no black women among them. The glass ceiling is real, and it is much lower for black women. That's a problem - and I am pushing to change that for the next generation.

S: What is the most important single decision you have made on your journey? 

NG: My decision to attend one of the best MFA directing programs in the nation. The truth is, without the validation and networking opportunities afforded to me by my grad-school training, I never would have had a chance in this industry, and my voice surely would have been silenced long ago. Simply put: My degree validates me where my race and/or gender do not. Lately, I have heard a few people in this industry try to equate their career paths without an MFA to mine, with an MFA from a top-5 grad school — and that is simply a false equivalency. If you got your seat at the table without an MFA, it might be because you have benefited from a privilege that validates you without one.

Even with the huge debt, all my career accomplishments as a director stem from the risk I took to attend CalArts. My opportunities for leadership at the Center for New Performance at CalArts and my current position at the Denver Center, starting a theater company and receiving the NEA/TCG – Career program for Directors are a result of my attending one of the best grad programs in the nation.

S: Statistics suggest that women apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only 40%. Has this been true for you, and how do you advocate for your experience and qualifications when they are not explicitly spelled out in a job posting?  

NG: My advice is to apply no matter what. You will never know what's possible if you don't apply. Even when an organization clearly wants someone who has had the opportunity to do the job for decades, I still apply. This stipulation is the simplest way to exclude most women and people of color from consideration. I also make a point to apply for every major opportunity because it is important that search committees consider a diverse slate of candidates. That makes it harder for them to justify a traditional hiring decision by saying there just were not enough qualified females or people of color to consider.

For the past several years, I have held the second-highest position at two major organizations, and I was also tasked with the responsibility of leading each organization for a period a time. But when I am interviewed, I have had to push for recognition of my leadership accomplishments. There are about two dozen artistic leadership positions open at present, and I encourage every woman who is thinking about applying to do so because their participation is itself confirmation that there are female candidates worth considering. The only way the Boards of these organizations are going to recognize our potential is if we promote ourselves. That's even more true for women of color and worse for black women because of systemic and pervasive racial bias. 

S: What roadblocks did you encounter on your path to this position and how did you navigate? 

NG: It may sound strange but I look young. I'm sure I should see this as a benefit but as a woman of color in leadership I am often regarded as either some sort of prodigy who has yet to be discovered or a young upstart. I am in my late forties with more than 20 years of experience. I tend to reveal my age early in a conversation to quell any misconceptions. I have a friend and mentor who often says to me,  "Well you are just starting out", even though I am 10 years older than he was when he started. Another colleague suggested that I should stop revealing my real age because, "Men have to feel like they are discovering a woman in order to be compelled to help her get ahead in her career." 

S: If you had $10 million dollars of unrestricted funds, how would you spend it to improve the American Theatre?

NG:  I would start by providing grants to companies that are committed to developing a new subscription plan that doesn’t require theater patrons to pay for an entire season up front. The current subscriber model only attracts a tiny portion of the population because the number of people who have access to a large amount of disposable income is inherently limited. I fundamentally believe many theaters currently avoid risk by programming seasons that only appeal to their current, affluent subscriber base. Perhaps making it possible for lower-income patrons to reasonably participate in the subscriber process would also encourage regional theaters to program more inclusive seasons for the other 99 percent of their communities who are often alienated and underrepresented on and behind the stage. There are so many companies working on effective community-engagement strategies to attract new audiences to the theater, but they are not realizing their adherence to the current subscriber model is a fundamental barrier to more inclusivity.

I would also create a fund to support women and people of color who need the kind of support I could have used when I was forced to turn down an internship opportunity that I was offered at NYTW in the late 90’s. This fund would defray living expenses so candidates with proven financial need can attend an internship or apprenticeship. Preference would be given to women and people of color pursuing leadership careers. The metric to determine eligibility would not be based solely on current income, as most middle-class black people are a paycheck or two away from financial crisis. I would use debt-to-income ratio. I believe these efforts would provide some economic stability for those who need it while pursuing an administrative or artistic career in the theater.

S: Professional mentorship is a core part of our mission at Statera Foundation. In that spirit, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and from whom?

NG:  “This is a business of relationships.” This is my mantra. I work to create and maintain good relationships with virtually everyone I meet. The professional theater is a very small world with a constantly shifting landscape. You never know who you are speaking to at any given moment, or where they are going. I believe it’s just good practice to be decent to everyone.

S: In what ways are you thriving in your leadership role?

NG: I was hired as the Associate Artistic Director of the Denver Center but for more than a year I have been charged with the duties of the Artistic Director during our ongoing leadership transition.

The theater is a hierarchical industry where one’s title is important. Officially appointing someone as interim makes it easier for artists to know who to count on for support and guidance. I was never offered the interim title. Despite the obstacles, I persevered without the title, and that allowed me to be more collaborative. I galvanized my teams for support and empowered others with ownership of their own outcomes. With the artistic team, I was able to keep the DCPA Theater Company moving forward to the end of what is turning out to be a record-breaking season, including the most successful production in the history of the Space Theater – Macbeth, directed by Robert O’Hara, which finished $119,000 over the show’s projected revenue goal. My team and I produced a season that was fully inclusive, adventurous and at times outlandish but always sought to represent a broad-ranging view of the human condition. I also initiated and negotiated co-productions for two of our commissioned plays – The Great Leap by Lauren Yee with Seattle Rep and American Mariachi (which finished $108,000 over goal) by Jose Cruz Gonzales with the Old Globe Theatre. Neither of these would have been possible without my drive to give these playwrights additional opportunities for continuing to develop their works. It has been a gift to provide opportunities for those whose voices and stories are not often seen on our stages and to invite new audiences into our spaces through work that reflects their lives and values. My goal was to create a space where people from disparate experiences and backgrounds could rub elbows and find intersection and connection.

I was given a literal seat at the Artistic Directors’ table at the 2017 TCG conference in Portland. Not surprising, I was the only black woman in most of the rooms, and only one of a handful of other identified women of color. I witnessed the palpable reluctance many of our current artistic leaders revealed about participating in the equity, diversity and inclusion work the TCG has been engaging in for the past several years. I also witnessed the exhausting work a few artistic leaders continue to engage in, working as allies and leading the charge for change in this industry.

My personal mandate is to leave a place better than I found it. This thriving and talented community has inspired me by holding me to their high standard of leadership. They unknowingly helped me show my beloved industry what means to have a woman of color – a black woman – be successful as artistic leader of a large theater organization, even for a short period of time.

---

ABOUT NATAKI GARRETT

Nataki Garrett is the Associate Artistic Director of  Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theater Company.  Since January 2017, Garrett continues to serve as their producing artistic lead during their search for and on-boarding of their new artistic director coming in May 2018. She is credited with producing the most financially successful production ever in their renowned Space Theater in the 40 year history of the DCPA. Formerly the Associate Artistic Director of CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP) Nataki is a Company Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors and a member of SDC.

Nataki Garrett is co-Artistic Director of BLANK THE DOG PRODUCTIONS (BTD) a LA/NYC based ensemble Theater Company, which is celebrating its 10th year and is dedicated to developing and fostering new work by emerging, adventurous and experimental artists.

To read Nataki Garrett's full bio, please visit her WEBSITE.
 

Statera Seven: Jennifer Zeyl

Statera Seven is a new series on the Statera Foundation Blog about women in leadership and the path to promotion. Statera poses seven questions to past and current Artistic Directors, Managing Directors, and other women in leadership roles in the American Theatre. Statera is sharing their stories and insights in hopes of finding new ways to shift the leadership gender imbalance of America's nonprofit regional theater companies. 

Today, we're interviewing Jennifer Zeyl, Artistic Director of Intiman Theatre in Seattle, WA. Founded in 1972, Intiman Theatre is the recipient of the 2006 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. 

STATERA: The research on Women's Leadership in Resident Theaters presented by the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in 2016 found that there was a glass ceiling and "pipeline issue" facing women in theatre leadership. How have you improved professional development for those seeking leadership positions in the arts, particularly women and people of color?
    
JENNIFER ZEYL: Over the 12 years of my freelance set design career, I only ever had one male-identified assistant. I had 11 female-identified and continue to work with womxn. Scenery design is already a male-dominated career and fabrication environment and I wanted to be able to mentor women as I was by my mentor Christine Jones. Period.

On the other hand, Intiman has more opportunities to share power and leverage privilege than a solo set designer and we do. Jobs: On our small staff of 10 there are two male identified members, (POC_and 7 female identified (4 POC) and one non-binary non-POC rockstar. Leadership: For the past 3 years Intiman has engaged with a Co-Curator to assist (Andrew Russell, former AD) with season planning. The women who have participated have all been POC and totally empowered to make top leadership decisions. We have a free Emerging Artist Program, led by our 2017 Co-Curator Sara Porkalob, which focuses on creating autobiographical solo performance.  The participants in this program are over 70% female identified, 74% POC and 15% non-binary.

Our 2018 Season, Co-curated by KJ Sanchez, features work by Talyor Mac (HIR), Allison Gregory (WILD HORSES) and Karen Zacharias (NATIVE GARDENS).

S: What is the most important single decision you have made in your journey? 

JZ: I married the right person. There is no way on earth that I could have accomplished one half of what I have without their support and understanding.
 
S: Statistics suggest that women apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only 40%. Has this been true for you, and how do you advocate for your experience and qualifications when they are not explicitly spelled out in a job posting?  

J.Z. I don't know if I should answer this one. I've only applied for a few jobs.
 
S: What roadblocks did you encounter on your path to this position and how did you navigate? 

JZ: Gender bias in my own backyard! I have been with Intiman for many years, first in 2010 as a seasonal set designer then + production management, then + Associate Artistic director full time, then Artistic Producer full time - you get the idea. The year I became PM, in 2013, I had access to all of the contracts past and present and SAW that in the same past season, for very similar shows, a male-identified colleague (and dear friend) with whom I went to grad school, out-earned me by over 2k on his design fee. FACE PALM. Needless to say, I fixed that real quick.
 
S: If you had $10 million dollars of unrestricted funds, how would you spend it to improve the American Theatre?

I think I would first talk with youth about what support they need in reinforcing their messaging. I'm so tired of the same bad ideas and as I write this youth are Marching for their Lives. I am inspired and listening. Though, if they didn't have any ideas (fat chance) programs like Public Works are really moving the needle in important ways.
 
S: Professional mentorship is a core part of our mission at Statera Foundation. In that spirit, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and from whom?

JZ: Oof.  I'm trying to get better at even asking for advice, let alone taking it. My therapist said to me recently, "You're one of the most disciplined people I know; what if you turned your self-discipline towards your joy and relaxation?" I'll let you know how that goes.
 
S: In what ways are you thriving in your leadership role?

Photo: Alex Garland

JZ: I make really great theatre in a radically inclusive way. For example, I just directed Taylor Mac's HIR.  This is a dark comedy addressing the effects of oppressive masculinity on a white suburban family. This play is a classic absurd realism piece where the extremity of the realistic given circumstances are so heightened it becomes absurd. There are four characters each suffering in traumatic states that isolate them from each other. PTSS, stroke recovery, domestic violence and gender transition. None of these experiences are personal to me or any of the actors playing these roles so - I assembled a Cultural Advisory Council to keep it real. It was helmed by a dazzling non-binary Dramaturg (see Crosscut interview with them below!) and comprised of a Marine Sergeant, an Army Major, a vascular neurologist, a speech pathologist, a police detective specializing in domestic violence, and 3 trans folx, one of whom is a counselor. It's important to me as a white woman to not tokenize in the telling of stories variant from my own.

---

Interested in reading more about Jennifer's first production as Artistic Director at Intiman. Reviews for "Hir" by Taylor Mac, a co-production with ArtsWest, are linked below. Intiman's next offering is "Wild Horses" by Allison Gregory and directed by Sheila Daniels. 

●      The Stranger:  If You Go See Hir, Don't Make the Mistake I Did

●      Seattle Gay Scene: ArtsWest/Intiman’s Production of Taylor Mac’s “Hir” Strikes All The Right Chords…And Then Some

●      Seattle Times: "Whatever you think of Taylor Mac’s ‘Hir’ at ArtsWest, the play provokes"

●      Westside Seattle: Review: ArtsWest, Intiman join to present Taylor Mac’s “Hir”

●      Drama in the Hood: Taylor Mac's HIR a knockout at Seattle ArtsWest Theatre

●      BWW Review: ArtsWest's HIR Takes Gender/Family Issues to an Absurd Level, and That's Funny?

●      Seattle P-I: Family Dysfunction at Arts West

●      Crosscut: New play in Seattle takes apart the American dream

●      Seattle Weekly: The Sunset of Masculinity

●      Broadway World: ArtsWest And Intiman Team Up For Taylor Mac's HIR

●      Westside Seattle: Coming soon to ArtsWest, Taylor Mac’s Hir

Statera Seven: Brenda DeVita

Statera Seven is a new series on the Statera Foundation Blog about women in leadership and the path to promotion. Statera poses seven questions to past and current Artistic Directors, Managing Directors, and other women in leadership roles in the American Theatre. Statera is sharing their stories and insights in hopes of finding new ways to shift the leadership gender imbalance of America's nonprofit regional theater companies. 

Today, we're interviewing Brenda DeVita, Artistic Director of American Players Theatre (APT) near Spring Green, WI. From June through November, APT produces nine plays in rotating repertory. With annual attendance of over 100,000 and an annual budget in excess of $6 million, APT ranks as the country’s second largest outdoor theater devoted to the classics.

Brenda DeVita, Artistic Director of American Players Theatre.

STATERA: The research on Women's Leadership in Resident Theaters presented by the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in 2016 found that there was a glass ceiling and "pipeline issue" facing women in theatre leadership. How have you improved professional development for those seeking leadership positions in the arts, particularly women and people of color?

BRENDA DEVITA: In the time I’ve been at APT, the organization has gone from being entirely male-led to female-led. Since I became artistic director four seasons ago, we’ve hired a female managing director, the senior management team is 2 to 1 female to male, female stage directors have increased from 1 of 9 in 2013 to a projected 4 of 9 in 2019, and the design teams are made up of 50% more females than five years ago. We are intentionally choosing plays that reflect the female journey in equal measure to male-dominated stories. And as a classical company, this is challenging, but we are committed to it.  I know that our attention to parity in this regard has led to our initiative in diversity and inclusion in our company, having increased these hires exponentially in the past five years.

S: What is the most important single decision you have made on your journey? 

BD: Honestly, learning to trust my instincts. To listen to myself in the face of an industry which told me to value other things. Coming to APT 23 years ago and leaving my acting career behind to become a company manager for actors I had just been on stage with seemed absurd to most people. But I trusted my gut that APT was a pretty spectacular place. So by defying most logical thinking, I found a home and purpose I am fulfilled by and proud of. 

S: Statistics suggest that women apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only 40%. Has this been true for you, and how do you advocate for your experience and qualifications when they are not explicitly spelled out in a job posting?  

BD: This isn’t a job I applied for; it’s a job I’ve grown up in.  Nothing in my past made me think I was right for this job. It was only what was in front of me that made me think it was right for me. So I guess it hasn’t been true for me, though unfortunately, that statistic doesn’t surprise me. 

My advice: trust yourself. Look for the work and do it without permission. Don’t wait for someone to tell you what you’re capable of doing. Do it. Fail. Learn. Do it again. Gather your experience, your strengths. Risk looking foolish, and practice humility because it’s going to come anyway… you may as well be good at it. And apply for those jobs that on paper look impossible if it’s what you want to do.

S: What roadblocks did you encounter on your path to this position and how did you navigate? 

BD: Though I’m loathe to admit it, my own insecurities were a roadblock. My fear that I was posing – faking it. And I assumed that others weren’t doing that – that men didn’t do that. Eventually, I figured out that everyone does it. So I could own that I was doing it, stop apologizing for it and just do my work. 

Starting as an actress and moving up the ladder to artistic director (doing every job in between on the way), it’s a drag that I felt I had to prove to people that I was smart. And resilient and strategic and a hard worker. But, ultimately, I asked myself, is that a bad thing? It didn’t feel good, but honestly, that probably made me a better leader and a better person.  

S: If you had $10 million dollars of unrestricted funds, how would you spend it to improve the American Theatre?

BD: I’d like to create vast opportunities for women and people of color to explore true collaborative leadership and develop leadership styles that promote “we” instead of “I.”  Also, I’d start a paid training program for people at the associate level (associate artistic directors, associate designers, associate directors, etc.) to get real experience while making a living wage so we can bridge the experience gap that the theater industry has perpetuated. 

S: Professional mentorship is a core part of our mission at Statera Foundation. In that spirit, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and from whom?

BD: “Never buy your own bullshit. Be sure to have trusted humans around you to tell you the truth when you need to hear it.”  -- I don’t know who said this…maybe Winston Churchill or someone.  

“Never apologize for being an optimist.”  -- Gretta Berghammer (my college professor)

“You can cry yourself to sleep every night and still be successful at this.”  -- Susan Sweeney (my colleague and dear friend)

“They pick on the ones who can take it. Remember that. Even when don’t think you can.”  -- Judy Corkery (Mom)

S: In what ways are you thriving in your leadership role?

I’m thriving by doing my work with a team that I trust. Also, I resist the notion that leadership equals power in any way – it’s my job to empower others to do their jobs well. Together we look at what problems we need to solve in the organization and work together on them. 

Also, I value what I’m great at and lean into that. At the same time, I’m absolutely committed to learning what I’m not great at. The goal is to know what I know and what I need to learn. 

How we do what we do is as important as what we do. And what we do is really important. 

Follow AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE online:

WEBSITE   |   FACEBOOK   |   TWITTER  |   INSTAGRAM

---

ABOUT BRENDA DEVITA

Brenda DeVita is artistic director of American Players Theatre. APT is one of the country’s most popular Shakespeare festival theaters, welcoming more than 110,000 patrons each season to its home outside of Spring Green, WI. In 2014, the Wall Street Journal called APT the “best classical theater in the country.” 

Brenda came to APT in 1995 when her husband, actor Jim DeVita, was hired to play Romeo. Never one to idly sit when there was a job to do; she accepted the position as Interim APT Company Manager. Over the next several years, Brenda played many roles at APT: she began to assist Artistic Director David Frank with casting-combing through thousands of actors’ resumes to find the six or eight needed each season. It became clear that she had a gift for connecting with actors who have a passion for classical texts and being able to talk them into spending six months doing Shakespeare in the middle of nowhere.  

In 1999, she helped David Frank create the Core Acting Company, which now consists of 13 actors for whom APT is their artistic home. In 2004, Brenda was appointed Associate Artistic Director and soon began to take over much of the day-to-day artistic management, including season selection, hiring directors and designers. Among her many accomplishments is the establishment of the Acting Apprentice program, now in its 10th year. It has grown to be an elite training opportunity for early-career actors with a passion for Shakespeare and the classics. 

Brenda has also grown APT’s voice and text department to become among the most robust and respected in the country. Each APT production has its own full-time voice and text coach who is charged with not only coaching the actors individually with voice technique and text interpretation but also collaborates with the director on the overall production. 

In January 2014, Brenda was appointed Artistic Director. Since her appointment, she has continued to advance APT’s mission to bring the classics to as wide and varied an audience as possible. She has also begun a diversity and inclusion initiative to increase the number of diverse actors, artists, and staff in the APT Company, as well as increase the diversity of APT’s audience. The 2015 season – the first she planned as Artistic Director – broke all box office records, reaching nearly 115,000 patrons. 
 

Radical Inclusion at Sound Theatre Company

This article was originally published by WomanArts.

Cast members of “You Can’t Take It With You” at Sound Theatre Company. From left to right: Corey Spruill, Ayo Tushinde, Laura Steele, Chris Shea, Tee Dennard, Gurvinder Singh, Laurie Lynch, Aaron Jin, Shermona Mitchell, Andrew Weiss, Neve Mazique and Bob Williams.

By Sarah Greenman

One in five Americans identifies as having a disability and they span all ethnicities, genders, and ages. And according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) disability is even more common in women (1 in 4) and minorities (3 in 10). So where are their stories? This season, you’ll find them at Sound Theatre Company in Seattle, WA.

Sound Theatre’s 2018 season is called The Human Family: Toward A Radical Inclusion, and features artists living with disability. They will present the comedy classic, You Can’t Take It With Youwith an inclusive cast, an ASL version of Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the world premiere of Rules of Charity, a play about the relationship between a wheelchair-bound father with cerebral palsy and his caretaker daughter.

The company is also offering their Making Waves program, which includes a series of readings of plays by disabled playwrights, art exhibitions, accessible performances and other experimental works.  All programming will be made accessible for audience members with disabilities.

Sound Theatre Company is known for consistently employing women and artists of color, and fostering an inclusive and diverse environment is integral to its mission. Teresa Thuman, Founding and Producing Artistic Director for Sound Theatre, is wholly invested in a humanizing approach to art. She says, “We are intentionally centering the role of people with lived experience of disability, rather than featuring metaphorical roles created for able-bodied audiences. This is not inspiration porn. We are reframing disability.”

When disability is depicted onstage, it is usually framed within a stereotypical narrative of uplift and courage. Roles in such productions are often offered to able-bodied actors, which means that most actors with disabilities don’t even get the opportunity to play themselves. Obviously, theaters should give priority to disabled actors in roles defined as disabled. The next step, of course, is to consider them for all roles. Thuman says, “Human disqualification is rampant. We desperately need different bodies represented on stage.”

Thuman credits Statera Foundation’s National Conference (Denver 2016) for inspiring her last two seasons at Sound Theatre. “Attending Statera’s breakout session with Phamaly Theatre (presented by Lucy Roucis and Jenna Bainbridge) totally reframed my relationship with theatre. The whole conference shifted my understanding of my own work.”

Teresa Thuman accepting a Gregory Award for Theatre of the Year on behalf of Sound Theatre Company.

“There are great innovations happening around the country in these creative, evolving dramatic forms of cultural inclusion; I believe we in Seattle are behind in embracing this exciting theatrical movement,” said Thuman in a statement. “These days particularly, everybody needs to be invited to laugh, to love, to celebrate family and to dream of a better world. We also look forward to a long overdue conversation about the importance of people with disabilities in our art, our theatre, our storytelling and every aspect of our modern lives.”

Sound Theatre Company is not alone in their quest to reframe disability on and off stage. On March 1, 2018 Roundabout Theatre opens their production of Amy and the Orphans, a new play by Lindsey Ferrentino, which stars Jamie Brewer, an actress who has Down syndrome. Brewer and her understudy Edward Barbanell are the only known performers with Down syndrome to play the lead in an Off-Broadway or Broadway theater production.

In 2015 Mixed Blood Theatre founded the Disability Visibility Project, and solicited forty theatre professionals to share plays that they feel best speak to disability in two ways: plays with theme or content on disability and/or plays with characters with disabilities.

Other theaters that are inspiring audiences to re-envision disability through professional theatre include theaters like Phamaly Theatre Company,  Deaf West, Phame, Apothetae, Identity Theater, Wry Crips, InterAct Center for the Visual and Performing Arts,  Theatre Breaking Through Barriers,  That Uppity Theatre Company’s Disability Project, and Nicu’s Spoon Theatre Company.

Sound Theatre’s first offering in their new season is “You Can’t Take It With You”, Directed by Teresa Thuman and Assisted by Sadiqua Iman. It runs February 24 – March 11, 2018 at Center Theatre at the Seattle Center Armory. For more information, visit www.soundtheatrecompany.org.

RESOURCES:

National Arts & Disability Center (NADC)  The mission of the NADC is to promote the full inclusion of audiences and artists with disabilities into all facets of the arts community.

Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts is a nonprofit that promotes full diversity in theatre, film, and television. They focus on authentic dialogue about race, culture, and disability that embraces the complexity of underlying social and historical issues. Formerly called the Nontraditional Casting Project, they have a disability advocate on staff.

Disability and Theatre: A Practical Manual for Inclusion in the Arts by Stephanie Barton Farcas.

Disability Aesthetics by Tobin Siebers.

---

About the author: Sarah Greenman serves on Statera's executive team as Creative Director. She is also a writer for the WomenArts blog and contributor at Houzz. Sarah is a playwright, actor, artist, and activist. Learn more at www.sarahgreenman.com. 

On Common Ground: Reclaiming Public Space in the Wake of Terror

This article was originally published by WomanArts.

By Sarah Greenman

In the wake of the deadly school shooting in Florida many parents are left wondering how to explain and address horrific acts violence to their children. Can theatre help communities reclaim public spaces, museums, movie theaters, concert venues, and schools? Theatre Wallay says yes.

On Common Ground is a devised theatre piece that explores how communities reclaim public places which have been targeted as venues for terror. At a time of heightened political, social, and religious sensitivity and growing intolerance to diversity all over the world, Theatre Wallay is using theatre to address the disappearance of public cultural spaces due to extremism.

Executive Producer, Kathleen Mulligan (left) and Theatre Wallay Artistic Director, Fizza Hasan (right).

“Economic considerations and shifting priorities are killing off cultural spaces, which are perhaps the best means to combat fear and terror and division," says Theatre Wallay Artistic Director Fizza Hasan. "Public cultural spaces build tolerance and bring people together in a climate of mutual respect and understanding through creative and artistic expression.”

On Common Ground is largely a women-led project. Executive Producer Kathleen Mulligan and Producer Linda Alper, both American Fulbright scholars, created the piece in collaboration with Theatre Wallay, a repertory company helmed by Artistic Director Fizza Hasan. The piece was directed by David Studwell and featured eight Theatre Wallay actors/writers, two Pakistani musicians, a dancer and a stage manager. 

While the piece originated in Pakistan, its first performances took place in the United States. We need look no further than the recent mass shootings in Parkland, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, and Newtown to know that this topic resonates with American audiences. "For people all over the world - violence has overtaken our public spaces",  Kathleen Mulligan said in a recent interview with WomenArts. "Parents are afraid to take their kids to a park,  high school students are afraid to go to school in the U.S., and their parents are afraid to send them. What does that say about our world?"

The History of On Common Ground

Initial writing sessions and loose rehearsals began in Islamabad in September of 2016. Then in the summer of 2017, Theatre Wallay traveled to Oregon and performed On Common Ground at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon and again on the Green Show stage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In the fall of 2017 Theatre Wallay artists traveled back to the US to present a workshop at Ithaca College. The entire project was made possible by a grant from the US Embassy in Islamabad.

Vocalist: Razia Abrar

When asked how the project came into being, Mulligan said, "Fizza and I were meeting via Skype sessions to throw around ideas. And then the attack on the children's amusement park in Lahore happened. And we knew what our subject needed to be."

On Common Ground Returns to Pakistan

On Common Ground has come full circle and has been translated into Urdu for Pakistani audiences. Zard Paton Ka Ban (On Common Ground) is now touring theaters and schools in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, combining performances with educational workshops that encourage students to explore the public space theme through writing as well as participatory exercises. The culmination of the project will be a script writing competition for young people, organized by Theatre Wallay. The winning script will be developed and workshopped with Theatre Wallay artists.

Learn more about Theatre Wallay's On Common Ground by visiting their FACEBOOK page or WEBSITE.

---

About the author: Sarah Greenman serves on Statera's executive team as Creative Director. She is also a writer for the WomenArts blog and contributor at Houzz. Sarah is a playwright, actor, artist, and activist. Learn more at www.sarahgreenman.com. 

Four American Theaters Name Women to Top Posts

This article was originally published by WomanArts.

Left to right: Pam MacKinnon, Jennifer Zeyl, Rachel Fink, and Marcela Lorca.

By Sarah Greenman

This winter, four major American theaters filled open Artistic and Executive Director positions with women theatre-makers: Pam MacKinnon at American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco,Jennifer Zeyl at Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Rachel Fink at Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, and Marcela Lorca at Ten Thousand Things Theater Company in Minneapolis.

These appointments feel like a hopeful shift in theatre leadership even though three of the four new hires are replacing current women Artistic Directors.  Although Margo Jones is credited with launching the regional theatre movement when she created Theatre ’47 in Dallas, Texas seventy years ago, and there have been many other visionary women leaders, most of the top-paying jobs in the field have been going to white men.

In fact, Women in Leadership in Resident Theater, a 2016 study commissioned by American Conservatory Theatre, found that women have never held more than 27% of the leadership roles in American non-profit theatres.  During the data collection period for this study in 2013-14, the researchers at Wellesley Centers for Women found that there were only 15 women artistic directors at the 74 LORT regional theatres around the country, and only one of them was a woman of color.  There were 19 women serving as Managing Directors or Executive Directors, and none of them were women of color.

Founding regional theatre visionaries: (Top) Margo Jones talks with Tennessee Williams during rehearsals for "Summer and Smoke", (bottom left) Zelda Fichandler, founder of Arena Stage in Washington D.C., and (bottom right) Nina Vance, founder of the Alley in Houston, TX.

Given this context, it is not surprising that the four women who have managed to beat the odds to get these important positions are all powerhouses.

Pam MacKinnon is a Drama Desk and Tony Award-winning director known in the industry as a leading interpreter of Albee. MacKinnon has been named ACT’s new Artistic Director and succeeds Carey Perloff who helmed the theater for the past 25 years. With a budget of approximately $23.8 million*, ACT is one of the larger regional theaters in the country. MacKinnon currently serves as president of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (a union) and she is also chairwoman of the board for New York’s Clubbed Thumb, where she has been a champion of new plays. MacKinnon’s first day on the job is July 1, 2018.

Designer and producer, Jennifer Zeyl, is the curator and creative director of Genre Bender at City Arts Magazine and also the founding co-artistic director of Washington Ensemble Theatre (WET) in Seattle. Zeyl is Andrew Russell’s successor at Intiman Theatre, which has a budget of roughly $1.1 million. She has already spent two months on the job. In a statement about what to expect under her leadership, Zeyl said, “We will hold underrepresented stories to the light while centering new artists, unlikely combinations, and lived true stories, reminding our audience and artists alike that we are what makes America great.”

Rachel Fink, former Executive Director of Theatre Bay Area and Founding Director of Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre, has been named Artistic Director of Lookingglass Theater, which has an annual budget of $5.6 million. An outspoken advocate for gender equity in the theatre, Fink recently served on the steering committee for the Berkshire Leadership Summit.  Fink succeeds Rachel Kraft and will begin work on February 19th.

Born and raised in Chile, Marcela Lorca is a director, choreographer, and master teacher. She became Movement Director for the Guthrie Theater in 1991, and has since coached more than 100 plays. She is also Head of Movement for the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training program. Lorca was named Artistic Director of Ten Thousand Things Theater Company, which has an annual budget of roughly $800,000. “I’ve known and admired Ten Thousand Things’ work for many years,” said Lorca in a statement. “The company’s imaginative staging of epic stories, its respect for actors, and its commitment to women and artists of color have been a source of joy in our community.” Lorca succeeds founding artistic director Michelle Hensley.

There are still more than 20 artistic director vacancies at major theatre companies across the country, along with a handful of executive and managing director positions. In TCG’s recent article, “American Theatre’s Leadership Vacuum: Who Will Fill It?“, Executive Director Teresa Eyringhighlighted the importance of this transitional moment: “There absolutely is an opportunity to build a more inclusive and diverse leadership composition of the American theatre field. And there is absolutely a responsibility to recruit with a special eye toward identifying talent among women, people of color, trans people, and others.”

Despite these new hires, women and people of color still face serious “pipeline issues” as identified by the Women in Leadership in Resident Theater study. Here are some ways to help encourage an equitable shift in leadership:

Apply for the Jobs! If you feel qualified to be the Artistic Director or Managing Director of a regional theatre, please consider applying for some of the available jobs.  If you know other women who might be qualified, encourage them to apply too!  We need to cheer each other on!

Contact Board Members/Hiring Committees – If you know board members at any of the theaters that are hiring or if you are on the board yourself, please advocate for qualified women candidates to help them get the jobs.  Personal recommendations are often very important to hiring committees, and your positive comments about a candidate can make a big difference.

* Annual theatre budgets are from the 2016 fiscal year via Guidestar.

---

About the author: Sarah Greenman serves on Statera's executive team as Creative Director. She is also a writer for the WomenArts blog and contributor at Houzz. Sarah is a playwright, actor, artist, and activist. Learn more at www.sarahgreenman.com. 

Intimacy Directors International Offers Dec. 10th Workshop in Oklahoma City

Intimacy Directors International (IDI) is a non profit dedicated to safe, authentic, and dynamic scenes of intimacy on stage and screen. Their work has been steadily growing since its inception - being featured in The NY Times (among others) with work intimacy directing at the Stratford Festival, Yale School of Drama, and a number of other Universities and Theaters across the country and in Canada.

IDI's next 2-part workshop for directors and choreographers interested in Intimacy Director training will be in Oklahoma City. This workshop is offered in conjunction with Oklahoma City's Fresh Paint Performance Lab.

From IDI's event page on Facebook:

Intimacy for the Stage for Actors and Performers

December 10th: 11:00 am to 2:00 pm

$100 or $75 for IDI Members

We will examine IDI's Four Pillars of Intimacy Standards and Protocol by applying them to safe and repeatable exercises. Only guided exploration, no improvised intimacy. Kissing isn't required. As a performer, you will be provided with tools to find chemistry quickly and safely onstage, secrets to portraying sexual vulnerability without mingling actual romantic feelings with a partner, and tricks uses to make the choreography feel and look less rigid. (Directors can choose to observe this workshop for free if they are attending the second workshop)

Intimacy for Directors and Choreographers: The Pedagogy behind the process

3:00 to 6:00 on December 10th

$125 or $100 for IDI Members

We will be using information and experiences from the previous actor workshop as pedagogy tools to improve and explain techniques, and I will be sharing IDI's protocol and standards so that participants can bring the information back to their respective companies. This approach is meant to provide a standardized method to prevent trauma and harm during rehearsal and performance processes. Although the title refers to Choreographers and Directors, all areas of theatre focus are welcome, especially Stage Managers.

Light snacks and drinks will be offered, due to the short dinner break between classes. To reserve a spot, and for more information: email Tonia Sina at [email protected].