The 2018 Conference
December 7-9, 2018
New York City
NTC members from all over the country gathered in New York City for the 2018 Annual Meeting with sessions at The Players in Grammercy and in midtown at the Barrow Group.
View the full 2018 Conference program HERE.

​Award Recipients

Person of the Year 
​Sara Ruhl
Outstanding Theatre
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
The Stavis Award
Jessica Huang
The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin
Paul Green Award
Tori Sampson
Emerging Professional Award
Raquel Nobile
Cindy L. Havens Award
​Sara Radamacher

New Members

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From left to right: Ian Belknap, Virginia Louloudes, Shirley Basfield Dunlap, Richard Rand, Darrah Cloud, Janet Allen, Desdemona Chiang
Eight new members were inducted into the National Theatre Conference​​: ​
  • Janet Allen
  • Ian Belknap
  • Desdemona Chiang
  • Darrah Cloud
  • Shirley Basfield Dunlap
  • Keith Byron Kirk
  • Virginia Louloudes
  • Mark Clayton Southers​
Learn more about the ​2018 new members ​HERE.
The new members introduced themselves in a session entitled "Rants," moderated by Benny Sato Ambush. Richard Rand (inducted 2016), who had missed previous "rant" opportunities joined the class of 2018 stage and finally got to have his "rant!"

Friday, December 7

Tactics for
​Changing Times
In our opening session, led by Risa Brainin and designed in collaboration with Lisa Rothe and Donna Walker-Kuhne, members investigated the impact of the #MeToo movement. Starting in small groups, members engaged in silent writing conversation in response to the question: 
What impact has the #MeToo Movement had on your artistic life?
The small groups were then given a prompt for a verbal conversation: 
Based on that impact, what strategies are you using to respond to challenges in the rehearsal hall, classroom or your institution?
 The small groups then reported their discussions back to the entire group.

Native Theatre in America: from
​OSF to Broadway, ​Native Theatre Artists are having an impact

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Randy Reinholz (right) introduces Delanna Studi during the session on Native Theatre in America
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Panelists: Jake Hart, Jean Bruce Scott, Muriel Miguel, Tanis Parenteau and Delanna Studi discuss Native Theatre in America
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Delanna Studi shares an excerpt from her play "And So We Walked"
​​NTC member Randy Reinholz, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and co-creator and Producing Director of Native Voices at the Autry, began this session by reminding us that New York City is the land of the Lenape People, and encouraged NTC members to recognize and honor the peoples on whose land we all work and live.
You can watch the entire session above, or on NTC's YouTube Channel
​​​Cherokee performance artist Delanna Studi performed an excerpt from her one woman play "And So We Walked," was followed by a discussion featuring a panel of prominent native theater artists including Muriel Miguel (Kuna and Rappahannock Nations), Tanis Parenteau (Metis/Cree), Jake Hart, Delanna Studi, Randy Reinholz and Jean Bruce Scott (founder and Producting Executive Director of Native Voices at the Autry.)
​The wide-ranging conversation, which included a Q and A, covered everything from the struggle move beyond the "feather and leather" image that for too long permeated American culture, to the need to bring the arts into Native communities with a sense of ownership.

The President's Reception

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Nicole Hodges-Persley and Michael Hood
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Members mingle during the President's Reception at The Players
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James Still and Risa Brainin
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Shellen Lubin, Sherry Eaker and Erica Tobolski
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Woodie King, Jr. and Shirley Basfield Dunlap
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Fran Dorn
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Robert Schenkkan

Saturday, December 8

Stavis Reading: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin by Jessica Huang

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David Shih and Sasha Diamond in the Stavis reading of "The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin"
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Playwright Jessica Huang interviewed by Liz Engelman
A lively excerpt from Jessica Huang's Stavis Award-winning play The Paper Dreams was followed by a discussion with the playwright led and moderated by Liz Engelman. Jessica spoke about the real life inspiration for the play, including the Chinese Exclusion Act which led many Chinese nationals seeking to enter the US to buy forged identities, creating a web of secrets, regrets, lies and complications for generations to come. 
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David Shih, Samantha Diamond and Brooke Bloom

Outstanding Theatre: National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
An Inteview with Chris Massimine, CEO

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Sherry Eaker interviews Chris Massimine

Award Luncheon at The Players

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Tori Sampson accepts the Paul Green Award
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Sarah Ruhl & Julia Jordan at the luncheon
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Michael Hood hosts the awards ceremony
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Luncheon at the Players

2018 Person of the Year, Sara Ruhl 

NTC Board member Liz Engelman interviewed Person of the Year Sara Ruhl

Sunday, December 9

The Meeting of the Membership

Thanks to the Barrow Group for hosting our annual meeting of the membership on Sunday morning. We started the day with a visit from Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, the recipient of NTC 2018 Outstanding Theatre Award. The meeting also included committee reports and the election of new Trustees and Officers: David Fuller (President), Randy Reinholz (Vice President), Erica Tobolski (Treasurer) and Nicole Hodges-Presley (Trustee).
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Zalmen Mlotek discusses his work with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
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Risa Brainin and Lisa Rothe report on the progress of the Pipelines for New Work
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Liz Engelman and Nicole Hodges-Persley update members on the progress of NTC's Diversity in Leadership project
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NTC President Michael Hood at the helm at the meeting of the membership

 Idea Cafe
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The Conference wrapped up with a frank, revealing and inspiring discussion of equity, diversity and inclusion led by Risa Brainin and Nicole Hodges-Persley. After engaging in a "silent" discussion, members worked in groups to identify and share observations, questions, and challenges they have faced in working toward greater inclusion and equity in the workplace, in the classroom and in the world. 
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NTC members share and discuss issues of inclusion, equity and diversity during the Idea Cafe
Photos by NTC Members:
David Fuller, Felicia Londre, Jeni Mahoney and Susan Mickey