Ethics

After Russian courts found that Svetlana Petriychuk’s documentary theatre piece Finist the Brave Falcon “justified terrorism” due to its feminist aims, Petriychuk and director Zhenya Berkovich were jailed. Viktor Vilisov discusses the production, clarifying the production’s aims to amplify the experiences of Russian women whose attempts to flea Russian patriarchy has landed them in oppressive marriages to Syrian ISIS fighters.

Munroe Shearer discusses the problem of white queer men’s positionality excusing them from anti-racism and anti-misogyny practices in theatre leadership.

Theatre artist Michael Rohd shares a lyrical call for more civic imagination, community care, and care-centric processes in the theatre field.

Theatremaker Sara Bozin reflects on her college theatre experience and shares changes she’d like to see in theatre education that prioritize students’ physical and mental health.

Projection designer David Forsee, who brings artificial intelligence into his own design workflow, creates a toolkit for other designers interested in effectively and ethically integrating text-to-image models into their design processes.

Ann James introduces the Rebuilding for the Future: A Convergence of Thought Leaders in Intimacy Practice series with this call for intimacy professionals to build a foundation of equity in the industry by interrogating available mentorship and training structures. This essay begins that work by highlighting the need for a diverse pool of training ideologies and methods; and the interview-based series that follows takes up that need by highlighting the perspectives of eight practitioners who navigate the intimacy industry in a variety of ways.

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

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

Elizabeth Doud introduces the Climate Emergency series, which looks to Brazilian artivism for reparative paths forward in the face of climate change.

Russian theatremaker Viktor Vilisov details the rapidly dwindling infrastructure for free expression in Russian culture in a time of war. As theatres and theatre workers navigate the deterioration of their sector, elements of performance persist in anti-war protests and state political messaging alike.

JD Stokely and Javiera Benavente discuss the ways the navigate they complexities of commoning while embracing listening, unlearning, and care in their creative practices and educational paths.

In their introduction to the Arts, Culture, and Commoning series, curators Jamie Gahlon and Matthew Glassman apply the concept of the commons to theatremaking as a practice and illuminate the potent intersection of these ideas.

Leda Farrow considers the history, legacy, and symbolic potential of Mr. Punch, a hand puppet characterized by his violent acts.

Sarah Plummer kicks off the puppet series by introducing the series contributors and exploring the way their work highlights puppetry’s capacity to form solidarities among humans and nonhumans.

Eve Bernfeld discusses creating a culture of care in her Alexander Technique classes by paying attention to embodiment. She asks: What if we heal the false rift between mind and body in our theatre making and training?

Charlie Peters asks, “What if the role of a director was conceived primarily as one of listening rather than visioning?”

Ashley Malafronte and Michael DeWhatley ask: How can future-minded theatres revolutionize their internship programs to create a more diverse, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial set of initiatives?

Fargo Tbakhi argues it is long past time for the American theatre to listen to Palestinian colleagues and to collectively and immediately commit to Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions.