National Theatre Conversation

In Regard of Love

8/27/2020

In the midst of all this madness, I am compelled to write. Seeing the images of a 17 year old white male, moved by misguiding beliefs, shoot a military rifle, a weapon he had no business possessing, at protesters, with deadly force, shows the outcome of rhetoric forged in hate.

By advocating no platform and acceding solely to the demagoguery of its leader, the RNC appears to be taking a page out of George Orwell's 1984: “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power... We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end."

But Orwell also wrote: "If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal."

NBA LA Clippers Coach Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers spoke about this passionately and eloquently yesterday: “It’s just so sad. You know, what stands out to me is just watching the Republican Convention, and they’re spewing this fear, right. Like, all you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones who are denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing. Why do we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.”

John Lewis' final words to American need reiteration: "I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe...the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way...walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."

Sgt. Justin Pletcher & Calvin Matthew

A glimpse of hope from a white cop and a black man in Minnesota.

"We smiled and said, ‘I needed this today.’ White cop and black man, we were both hurting. We walked around for an hour, just listening to each other.’: Police officer urges ‘we must build change together.’"

100 Years Ago Today the 19th Amendment Passed

8/18/2020

August 18, 1920, was the day the 19th Amendment to US Constitution was voted into law, assuring women in America the right to vote. On this day in 2020 we have an administration in Washington that is admittedly making it more difficult for citizens to exercise this universal suffrage: "But if they don’t get those two items [in the proposed Bill], that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it." So, today, let's remember the long struggle for voters' rights and pledge that, no matter what, whether it means mailing our ballot as early as possible, delivering that ballot personally to our Board of Elections, or standing masked six feet apart for as many hours as it takes, WE WILL VOTE.

Sojourner Truth, 1864. Library of Congress

LINKS:

2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative

The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association

The Black suffragists you should know [Fortune]

Women's Suffrage [History.com]

Equal Rights Amendment

Announcing the 2020 Stavis Playwright Award

8/11/2020

The Playwright: Erika Dickerson-Despenza
The Play: cullud wattah

The Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award is presented annually to recognize an outstanding emerging playwright. Past recipients are HERE.

Erika Dickerson-Despenza is a Blk, queer feminist poet-playwright and cultural-memory worker from Chicago, Illinois. She is a 2020 Grist 50 Fixer and was a National Arts & Culture Delegate for the U.S. Water Alliance's One Water Summit 2019. Awards: Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award (2020), Thom Thomas Award (2020), Lilly Award (2020), Princess Grace Playwriting Award (2019). Residencies & Fellowships: Tow Playwright-in-Residence at The Public Theater (2019-2020), New York Stage and Film Fellow-in-Residence (2019), New Harmony Project Writer-in Residence (2019), Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow (2018-2019), The Lark Van Lier New Voices Fellow (2018). Communities: BYP100 Squad Member, Ars Nova Play Group (2019-2021), Youngblood Collective (EST). Commissions: The Public Theater, Studio Theatre & Williamstown Theatre Festival. Productions: cullud wattah (2019 Kilroys List) originally slated at The Public Theater, 2020; Victory Gardens Theater, 2021. Currently, Erika is developing a 10-play Katrina Cycle, including shadow/land and [hieroglyph] (2019 Kilroys List), focused on the effects of Hurricane Katrina and its state-sanctioned, man-made disaster rippling in & beyond New Orleans.

cullud wattah

Synopsis:

It’s been 936 days since Flint has had clean water. Marion, a third generation General Motors employee, is consumed by layoffs at the engine plant. When her sister, Ainee, seeks justice & restitution for lead poisoning, her plan reveals the toxic entanglements between the city & its most powerful industry, forcing their family to confront the past-present-future cost of survival. As lead seeps into their home & their bodies, corrosive memories & secrets rise among them. Will this family ever be able to filter out the truth?

Development/Production History:

cullud wattah was developed during the Lark Play Development Center's 2018 Van Lier New Voices Fellowship tenure (John Clinton Eisner, Artistic Director) & received its first staged reading in October 2018 at Jackalope Theatre in Chicago (Gus Menary, Artistic Director; Nora Leahy, Managing Director). cullud wattah received a Public Studio workshop production March 7 – 10, 2019 at The Public Theater, where it was slated to have its world premiere in July 2020 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director). The regional premiere of cullud wattah is scheduled for an April 2021 premiere at Victory Gardens Theater (Roxanna Conner, Managing Director).

clickondetroit.com article by Hank Winchester and Amber Ainsworth:

6 years later: Where things stand in the Flint water crisis:
Residents still scared to drink water

ADVOCACY: CONGRESS MUST ACT!

8/5/2020

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that Arts & Culture accounts for $877,809,406,086 and 4.5% of the U.S. economy, contributing 5,107,889 jobs. [Source: US Dept. of Commerce]

America’s nonprofit arts industry generates $166.3 billion in economic activity every year, resulting in $27.5 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues. [Source: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies]

LINKS FOR ARTS/THEATRE ADVOCACY WE NEED NOW:

ACTORS' EQUITY - Extend Pandemic Unemployment Compensation

ExtendPUA.org: Pandemic Assistance Should Continue Until the Pandemic is Over

Be An Arts Hero: An Open Letter to our US Senators

Announcing the NTC 2020 Outstanding Theatre Award: Cleveland Public Theatre

8/2/2020

Cleveland Public Theatre will receive NTC's 2020 Outstanding Theatre Award (OTA) this December!

This year’s OTA committee members, Vivienne Benesch, Kirsten Brandt, Deborah Brevoort, Mindi Dickstein, David Feldshuh (Chair), Bruce Levitt, and Courtney Sale stressed Cleveland Public Theatre’s remarkable longevity, breadth and diversity of programming and commitment to its neighborhood, the City of Cleveland and its artists, echoing what NTC member and nominator Laurie McCants wrote: “Cleveland Public Theatre is a truly outstanding organization." The NTC Board of Trustees unanimously and enthusiastically approved the committee’s selection.

The award will be presented at our 2020 Virtual Conference on Saturday, December 5th at 1:00 PM, Eastern Time, followed by a conversation with Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan and nominator Laurie McCants. We will then have a Q & A session with the membership.

Cleveland Public Theatre’s Breakout Session (or Frogorse) by Nikkole Salter (2020). From left: Jess Moore, Nicole Sumlin*, Enrique Miguel, Tina D. Stump*. *Actor appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. +2019/2020 Premiere Fellow. Photo by Steve Wagner.

"Cleveland Public Theatre's mission is to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through groundbreaking performances and life-changing education programs. We are about bold innovation, adventurous performance, and powerful community engagement..."

[Check out their website.]

Pictured (from left): Ebaa Boudiab, Omar Kurdi, Amro Handousa, Ahlem Zaaeed, Jamal Julia Boudiab, Hussein Ghareeb, Abbas Alhilali, Ahmed Kadous, Issam Boudiab, Shirien Muntaser, & Haneen Yehya in Cleveland Public Theatre & Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi’s وبعدها التقينا And Then We Met.... Photo by Steve Wagner.

Founded in 1981, Cleveland Public Theatre has become integral to the cultural fabric of Cleveland. They have been instrumental to the revitalization of their city and they continue to be standard-bearers for community engagement that is truly inspiring.
- David Fuller

Cleveland Public Theatre’s Cleveland Act Now performing at Station Hope 2016. Photo by Steve Wagner.

John Lewis (1940-2020)

7/30/2020

Photo from the New Jersey Education Association Website

From his letter published in the NY Times today:

"Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."

 Click here for the FULL LETTER

"And that’s what John Lewis teaches us. That’s where real courage comes from, not from turning on each other, but by turning towards one another. Not by sowing hatred and division, but by spreading love and truth. Not by avoiding our responsibilities to create a better America and a better world, but by embracing those responsibilities with joy and perseverance and discovering that, in our beloved community, we do not walk alone."

- President Barack Obama, July 30, 2020

#WhileWeBreathe and Happy Birthday Woodie!

7/29/2020

Steve H. Broadnax III

NTC Member Steve H. Broadnax III directs one of the virtual world premieres for #WhileWeBreathe: A Night of Creative Protest which begins tonight 7-29-20. The evening features short works written and directed by theatre alums, to benefit the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, The Bail Project, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD), BYP100 Education Fund, Forced Trajectory Project (FTP), The Justice Committee, and SONG. Here's the Broadway World article.

Go to the #WhileWeBreathe website: "We are a group of BIPOC Artists and Allies, unconditionally committed to ending police and state brutality, institutionalized racism and the interrelated structural issues of racial and economic injustice, both in the broader world and in the theatre and entertainment industries ... While We Breathe: listen, learn, act."

New Federal Theatre Founder Woodie King, Jr. (photo by Lia Chang)

NTC Member Woodie King, Jr. is given a virtual Birthday Bash to help New Federal Theatre (NFT) celebrate its 50th Anniversay. Here's the Backstage Pass with Lia Chang article. Over 100 artists participated in this wonderful one hour video for benefit of NFT.

Woodie and Me (Pres. David F.)

Woodie has been a cherished member of NTC since 1975! Here's to Woodie!!!
Our NTC Living Legacies interview with Woodie is HERE.

Framing the Future in an Uncertain Present

7/23/2020

NTC Members Fran Dorn and Robert Schenkkan - 2019 Conference Action

Times are always tough for Theatre in the good ol' USA. But now? Not only are we in major pandemic mode, we are finally starting to begin to come to terms with the racism rampant in our society. Tacit acknowledgement of the problem just doesn't pass muster anymore. But where do we go? What can we do? Really LISTEN, for one thing. Then, work for change. Like Yoda said, "Do or do not. There is no try." So, let's DO. As we plan for the December 2020 Virtual Conference, we look for ways to LISTEN and for ways to ACT. In the Post Election world of 2021, we are called to all become Engines of Change. - David Fuller

CALLING ALL SENATORS: FUND THE ARTS NOW!

AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE:
An Open Letter to the Senators of the 116th Congress: Fund the Arts

BY MATTHEW-LEE ERLBACH
The arts are not a luxury but a huge economic engine for America’s cities and towns, and a reflection of our national culture. They deserve your unstinting support.

A New Blog for the President

7/18/2020

2019 NTC Conference - Paul Green Award Recipient Jeremy O. Harris, President Fuller, Person of the Year Robert O'Hara

Hi, Everyone!

The Board of Trustees has given me the green light to start this Blog as a way to communicate to you all. I will be sending a more formal letter to the membership soon. But this is a way to get some thoughts out quickly.

First, the death of Shirley Basfield Dunlap so suddenly last month was a huge shock to us all and we mourn her deeply. Shirley was an outstanding member of NTC and a great colleague on the board. Because we have much business to do, the Trustees acted quickly to bring in a new member to the board, as is provided in our By Laws when there is a vacancy. We elected Benny Sato Ambush to fill Shirley's term. Benny was a unanimous choice whose past board experience will be a great asset as we move forward.

The Trustees had our "annual retreat" last weekend. I put that in quotes because we had planned to travel to Kansas City, but instead, due the pandemic, we held a virtual meeting. Randy and Jean came to us from San Diego, James from LA, Benny was in San Francisco, Michael was in Arizona, Nicole in Kansas City, Paul in St. Louis, Erica down in South Carolina, Chuck and Jeni in New Hampshire, and our Assistant Katie and I were in different parts of Brooklyn. A well-spread out group!

Chief among the business conducted, was our beginning to plan the 2020 Virtual Conference. Our poll to the membership showed an overwhelming preference for having the 2020 Conference done over the internet, so here we go! Much news on this will be forthcoming. But for now, SAVE THESE DATES: Friday December 4, Saturday December 5, and Sunday December 6.

MORE SOON!

David

#BlackLivesMatter Full Statement

7/15/2020

On behalf of the membership of The National Theatre Conference, comprised of leading theater makers from across our nation, the NTC Board of Trustees avows and affirms that #BlackLivesMatter and that American systemic racism must end.

While we applaud the tenets of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives in our theatres and institutions of learning, we believe we must go further, not to just embrace EDI as a tangential modus operandi, but to act to bring real change to centuries old, out-moded, and dangerously lethal belief systems.

Now, in the time of COVID-19, just as in the time of the HIV/AIDS crisis, we reiterate that Silence = Death. So, we stand with those whose voices are raised throughout the country demanding that the murder of George Floyd be not just the last straw, for there have been too many "last straws," but the Final Scene.

We pledge that together we will help be the engines of change.

- THE NTC BOARD OF TRUSTEES, David Fuller, President