Amplify & Ignite: Creative Practice in and With Communities

Hearing Our History: The Sonic of Historic Sonic Happenings

The Society of Historic Sonic Happenings
Presenter: Adrienne Kapstein

This presentation will profile The Society of Historic Sonic Happenings (SHSH): an immersive, participatory performance and sound art project about the hidden histories of our surroundings. At its core, SHSH is a playful invitation for deep listening, inspiring curiosity for what came before us. The work occurs in partnership with the communities it seeks to serve, engaging audiences of all ages and abilities in thought-provoking dialogues and workshops that occur in situ before the work is presented. We are guided by the question: how can a radically inclusive understanding of a local community’s past help it unite and imagine its future?

The Search For Signs Of Meaningful Inclusion Of Disabled Students In The Public High School  Theater Universe
Presenter: Marianne Pillsbury

This paper seeks to illuminate qualitative research conducted on intentionally including disabled students, identified for special education services, in a public high school theater context. The findings are based on the experiences of a theater educator, artist, and scholar running a "unified theater" program where students with and without disabilities come together to create and present an original devised play. The author dramatizes what "meaningful inclusion" of students with disabilities (particularly autism, ADHD, and anxiety) looks, sounds and feels like by creatively interpreting field log observations and participant interviews in the form of an ethnotheatre-inspired play referencing popular theatre forms including musical theater.

Reimagining Technique: Teaching Theatre Skills in a Changing World
Nigel Semaj
 As we face an uncertain world marked by divisions and transformations, theatre education holds immense potential to bridge gaps, foster connections, and amplify community wisdom. Yet, we find ourselves at a crossroads: How do we teach foundational acting, movement, and voice techniques in ways that resonate with today's learners while staying attuned to the urgent social and cultural concerns of our time? This session invites theatre educators, artists, and scholars to collectively imagine new approaches to teaching theatre skills that are experiential, embodied, and rooted in the realities of our students' lives. How might our classrooms whether on campus, in community centers, or other shared spaces serve as places where techniques are not only learned but also practiced as tools for connection, reflection, and change? How do we engage Gen Z learners, who crave immediacy, application, and purpose, while nurturing their artistry and critical awareness? Through facilitated dialogue and collaborative inquiry, we will explore how reimagining the ways we teach and assess technique can better reflect the cultural brilliance found in classrooms, schoolyards, kitchens, and street corners. Together, we will grapple with questions about the role of performing arts education in movements for justice, equity, and community-building. This session is not about presenting answers but about sharing questions, reflecting on challenges, and envisioning possibilities. How can our pedagogical practices foster artistry that both honors tradition and amplifies contemporary concerns? What can we learn from the beautiful failures and inspiring successes in our work as we adapt to meet the needs of this generation and the communities we serve?

As we face an uncertain world with stark divisions and ruptures, what is our role as artists, educators, and scholars working with and across our multiple communities? How can and do the performing arts amplify community concerns, connections, and celebrations? How can we center arts and culture in movements for local and global change?

Join us for an inspiring discussion moderated by Michael Bobbitt, Executive Director of Massachusetts Cultural Council, and featuring:

• Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive
• Ronee Penoi, Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts & Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson
• Alison Yueming Qu 曲悦鸣, Co-Founder and Executive Director of CHUANG Stage.

Sponsored by the Dean’s Office at the School of the ArtsClick Here for Live Stream:
https://howlround.com/happenings/welcome-boston-keynote-panel-creative-practices-and-communities

(Re)Turning to Storytelling
Presenter: Alex Ates

The COVID-19 shutdowns, the violent political conditions in the United States, the corporate manipulation of social media, and the rapid rise of AI necessitate a return to the basics of theater pedagogy storytelling. In 2022, I introduced a new course, Storytelling and Performance, at Westtown School, where I was the director of the arts. The course was an introductory course to the grades 9-12 Theater program, designed to intrigue and attract students who might not typically foresee themselves taking an introductory theater course. It worked. Sixty percent of the students who enrolled in the course had never taken a Theater course or participated in a production. After a series of intimate, in-class "slams" (performances) of their stories, students compellingly performed themed stories for the enraptured school body. Performances were audio-recorded and evolved into an intentionally-produced podcast. Storytelling and Performance focused on the simple, innate human need and ability to share compelling stories that impact life experiences despite the "slings and arrows" of dehumanizing modernity.

Using Theatre Practices to Manage InfoWhelm
Presenters: Milly Schmid + Jackie Agliata
In the Spring of 2024, Jackie and Milly co-presented a six-session-long artist-in-residence program using exercises from Newspaper Theater to investigate media coverage of Climate Change and Climate Justice with 11th and 12th grade International Baccalaureate theater students at Snowden International School at Copley in Boston, MA. In this workshop, Jackie and Milly will highlight the moments of success and emerging tensions in developing the curriculum for the project and then lead symposium  participants through an embodied, Newspaper Theater-inspired devising activity. Session participants will unpack and reflect on the devised work and brainstorm applications to their own education or community context. Participants will receive a residency map and example exercises to explore media literacy with youth.

The Weathering Project: A Sensory Theatre Workshop for Connection and Inclusion
Presenter: Kaitlin Jaskolski

Step into a world where the senses reign, and connection takes center stage. The Weathering Project is a sensory theatre workshop designed to create immersive, inclusive experiences for diverse audiences particularly those often left out of traditional arts spaces. Just as weather can shift in an instant, this workshop invites participants to explore the fluid, dynamic nature of sensory theatre, where touch, sound, movement, and visuals combine to spark new forms of creative expression. In this workshop, we'll harness the elements of sensory engagement to foster connection over perfection. Participants will explore how sensory stimuli can be used to break down barriers, build bridges, and celebrate the beauty of shared experience. Together, we'll weather the storm of uncertainty, embracing the unpredictable and playful nature of inclusive performance. By focusing on creating experiences that prioritize connection between participants, their careers, artists, and teachers, we'll uncover how sensory theatre can encourage deeper, more meaningful collaboration. This workshop will also explore how these "weathered" experiences born from collaboration and sensory play can lead to transformative change in performance, community building, and education. Just as the weather can be unpredictable, the connections made in sensory theatre can surprise and inspire, creating powerful, lasting memories of shared creative moments. Participants will explore together new ways to amplify voices, celebrate diversity, and weather the elements of inclusion together.

Theater of Union: Our Stories as Life Sustaining Projects?
Presenter: Annalise "River" Guidry
As artists who inherit a lineage of empire, how do we create and cultivate life where systems of domination have left ruin? Inspired by mushrooms and informed by indigenous, feminist and anthropological notions of "knowing-with," and, "a love ethic," Theater of Union is a decolonized theatrical pedagogy and praxis- with love as the foundation and knowing as the practice- to contribute to life-sustaining, world-building projects with theater as the vehicle.

Storytelling as Empowerment: Voices from 'The Stories of Giving Birth'"
Bindi Kang

"The Stories of Giving Birth" (dir. Zhao Zhiyong, Beijing, 2019) is a groundbreaking theatrical production collaborated by professional artists and rural-urban migrant workers. Developed in a collaborative manner, "The Stories of Giving Birth" is a devised theatre work woven from archival materials gathered from more than 30 interviews with female migrant workers. This project illuminates the intersectional challenges faced by women at the margins of societal structures. Emerging from extensive community engagement organized by a local NGO Mulan Community Service Center, this production provides platforms for migrant women to voice their living experience that includes traumatic experience of abortion, persistent cycles of economic marginalization, and systemic familial and social neglect. Following the production's success, a subsequent interactive museum exhibition expanded the project's reach, designing immersive experiences that bridge diverse social backgrounds through personal narratives. After its initial success in the theatre house, in 2021, Mulan Community in collaboration with Beijing Yue Art Museum, launched an interactive art project called Personal History/Game Theatre + Exhibition The Story of Mulan Narratives of Grassroots Migrant Women Workers. This project featured the play, the women's stories, and their everyday items, documents, photographs, etc. Moreover, the creative team also designed an interactive game, inviting the museum visitors, to immerse themselves in the life journey of a randomly assigned female worker character. Through this method, the curators aimed to connect the experiences of the female workers with the largely middle-class and well-educated museumgoers. In my presentation, I aim to take this production as a case study, to survey how theatre serves as a consoling instrument among the members in the migrant wokers' community, as well as a communicative tool between this grassroots community and middle class art consumers.

This is My Body
Kimberly LaCroix

Working at the intersection of gender studies, theology, and philosophy, I am researching how applied theatre can be utilized to explore Judeo-Christian theology's influence on female embodiment. Then, in collaboration with the Gordon College theatre program in Wenham, MA, I will be working with a group of college students who both ascribe to the tenants of Christianity and identify as female. This work will culminate in an ensemble-devised production, performed on Gordon's campus, January-February, 2025. I hope this production will be a sort of Complete History of Female Embodiment, Abridged in the style of Reduced Shakespeare Company. In a world deeply obsessed with the differences between us- our gender, religion, political affiliation, all aspects of our positionalities- I am committed to joy, play, and common ground. This production aims to be a celebration of resilience, while likely also being a hobble through some difficult territory. ​​​​

[PLAY]ING THROUGH OUR DIFFERENCES: How Creating a Fictional Play Can Open Real Community  Dialogue Presenter: Taylor St. John
"SHAVONNE: In case you haven't noticed we live in the same hood, Einstein. BAKARI: Nah, we in the same hood living two different lives." An excerpt from We All We Got: A Binghampton Play By Ann Perry Wallace Over the past two years, I have been leading a new community-playmaking program in one of Memphis, Tennessee's most diverse neighborhoods. Binghampton (pronounced Bing-HAMP-ton) is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Memphis (with over 27 languages spoken). It is also a neighborhood where national conversations about immigration, policing, gentrification, discrimination, and safety are all playing out daily on the streets. Through the duration of the project, community members shared hundreds of real stories about the beauties and challenges facing their neighborhood. These stories then inspired a fictional play, We All We Got: A Binghampton Play, written by local playwright Ann Perry Wallace that featured over 40 community members performing onstage. In this presentation, I will use this latest community-playmaking project to reflect on how working within a fictional context allowed a safe entry point that made it possible for participants from very different backgrounds to coexist along differences, build authentic relationships, step into other's shoes, and have discussions that simply may not have been possible within the limitations of "real life". In addition, I will provide analysis of the human, artistic, and operational challenges of engaging with multiple communities that often have conflicting needs. Finally, through stories from the project, we will explore the benefits of community-playmaking in neighborhoods.

A Collective Vision for a Future in the Arts through Community and Civic Engagement Programs
Presenter: Sharon Counts

The arts have the power to effect change and animate democracy by demonstrating the public value of creative work that contributes to a larger social good. In this accelerated moment of radical change, the arts are being more consciously used as a way to engage communities around achieving civic goals and to create positive connections. A major tension in the field right now revolves around how to galvanize our collective resources and knowledge toward building a more sustainable future for theater at large. This article centers the use of civic and community engagement programs as one prominent and effective method that can foster synergy with communities that arts organizations and theaters engage and seek to engage. Many theaters are using community engagement programs to ignite community conversations and address past inequities. A case study highlights how one regional theater, Mid-Sized City Theater (MCT), a pseudonym, used community and civic engagement programs to promote reimagining their organization as a civic institution and to rebuild relationships with their community. The pursuit to improve relationships between theaters and communities using community engagement programs is one way this sector is working to address historical inequities for cultural workers, artists, and participants in the arts.  

A Girl Can Only Watch Fiddler on The Roof So Many Times
Presenter: Blair Bean
In a world marked by division and uncertainty, the role of artists, educators, and scholars in fostering community, connection, and change has never been more critical. This presentation is based off of my thesis that explores the intersection of Jewish identity, cultural storytelling, and theatre as tools for addressing contemporary societal issues, particularly the rise of antisemitism. As an assimilated Jew, I delve into the complexities of Jewish-American narratives in theatre, using autoethnography to examine my own evolving relationship with Jewish identity in the context of modern challenges. Diving deep into the idea of catharsis in communities and synthesizing widespread narratives. I look into Jewish immigration and generational trauma as the drive for this paper. I reflect on how these themes have shaped seminal works like well known Fiddler on the Roof among others and its relevance in today's cultural climate. I have explored the delicate balance between honoring painful histories and celebrating Jewish joy in performance, while questioning how these stories are adapted, interpreted, and portrayed for diverse audiences. As theatre is a source of cultural resilience and creative expression, this project is a personal and collective exploration of how Jewish storytelling can evolve. How do we bridge generational divides, and contribute to larger dialogues around social justice, identity, and cultural preservation? Examining the intersection of, Jewish heritage, and artistic practice, I aim to highlight the power of theatre to amplify voices, challenge preconceptions, and create space for meaningful conversation educational spaces during a time heightened division.


Beyond Belonging: Navigating Marginalization in Theatre Education
Sobha Kavanakudiyil
I would like to have the opportunity to share my research for my dissertation.  In the proposed research, I will examine stories of female-identifying performing arts practitioners from ethnically and racially minoritized populations. The impetus for this has been reflection on my experiences as a South Asian Indian woman in theatre education, and the lack of other South Asian Indian women in the field.  This has impacted my sense of belonging and my identity.  I  am interested in examining the moment of decision-making to continue a career in the performing arts or not and how cultural, social, and familial influences impact that decision. The hope is that the outcome of this research will illuminate the challenges many practitioners have experienced to help theatre teacher training programs better understand the barriers that exist for these populations to engage in the field.   Although my research centers on female-identifying artist educators from ethnically and racially minoritized populations, I acknowledge that many minoritized populations need to be uplifted. The research focus of this paper represents just one aspect of a broader dialogue on diversity and inclusion in the arts.My research questions are: What are the pivotal social, cultural, and familial experiences of female-identifying South Asian artist educators in theatre education?What personal and/or professional experiences have shaped the identities of female-identifying performing arts practitioners from ethnically and racially minoritized populations, and what has been the impact of their professional journeys?What are theatre education programs doing to increase access and opportunity for practitioners from ethnically and racially minoritized populations?


Work/Play
Presenters: Sara Berliner + Calvin Keener
"Work/Play" was a workshop series conducted in the Spring of 2024 at Emerson College focusing on using demechanizing exercises from Theatre of the Oppressed to identify challenges and opportunities for transformation in higher education workplaces. The workshops aimed to engage students, staff, and faculty in a collaborative artistic process to reclaim our collective humanity. While there had been robust union activity in the school year, these disparate groups do not consistently organize cooperatively together or share a vision for campus working conditions and labor organizing. While many undergraduate and graduate students are employed by the college in various capacities, they tend not to see being a worker as a salient part of their identity, nor do they typically identify with a larger labor movement, due to the temporary, part-time nature of their work and transitory relationship to campus. We hoped to enable participants to make connections with other workers at Emerson, to recognize commonalities between their needs and experiences, and to identify tools for changing conditions in the workplace.In this narrative, we will reflect on the challenges, discoveries, and lessons learned in using artistic techniques for labor organizing with participants who have a common employer but differing work identities.