The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK: Where Art, Community, and Inclusion Meet. It's time to expand the canon. Our new season of DG's Talkback podcast examines how we can challenge the status quo. Over the course of six episodes, host Christine Toy Johnson and special industry guests explore how we can expand the canon of which plays are taught, read, programmed, and used to define the idea of what constitutes a classic in American theatre. We also discuss the idea of igniting the concept of the canon with new, actionable strategies. How can we be intentional in the ways that we make space for diverse, and inclusive stories, while also reimagining often the produced ones, so that the American landscape of storytelling is truly reflective of the gorgeous tapestry of people who inhabit it?
https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/talk-back/
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 20 hours 30 minutes
episode 3: There is No Such Thing as Failure Unless You Don’t Get in the Game: A conversation with Charlayne Woodard
We're excited to welcome back actress and writer Charlayne Woodard. In Season 1, Charlayne spoke with Christine Toy Johnson about her experiences marketing her work. In this episode, Charlayne takes us to the beginning of her career, sharing about how her early experience in the oral tradition inspired her to start creating theatre...
episode 2: I Love Being in this Lousy Hotel Room with You Creating Something of Beauty: A conversation with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Talkback host Christine Toy Johnson interviews Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, a dynamic musical theatre songwriting duo who have been collaborating together for almost forty years. Even at the height of the pandemic, their writing never stopped...
episode 1: “You should feel weird if they love what you do”: A Conversation with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
DG Council Vice President Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has made his career by building community with other writers - even if that community started as three blogs in the early aughts. In this episode, Branden tells Talkback host Christine Toy Johnson about his passion for fair and equitable treatment of writers and how his role at the Dramatists Guild enables him to advocate on behalf of his community of fellow playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists...
A Long Overdue Correction: Collaborating with Non-Homogenous Creative Teams Leigh Silverman
In our final episode of Season 3 Christine sits down with celebrated director Leigh Silverman about her ongoing commitment to form teams that have intersectional inclusion. Leigh shares candidly both her own efforts to create parity on her teams, and her personal learning curve. Leigh will be a part of New York City’s Vineyard Theater 2021/2022 season. Visit (vineyardtheatre.org) TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America...
episode 5: I See You. I Respect You. I Honor You. Collaborating With Your Community with Teresa Coleman Wash
In this episode Christine talks to Teresa Coleman Wash, Executive Artistic Director of Bishop Arts Theater Center in Dallas, Texas. We discuss the ways individualism and collectivism can go hand in hand in creating true community collaboration, using examples from Bishop Arts Theater Center’s programming and efforts during the pandemic. Teresa Coleman Wash is a producer, playwright, and founding artistic director for the Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC)...
episode 4: Artists First and Foremost: Collaborating with the Disability Community with Nicholas Viselli, Sarah Hom and Anna Morton
While the pandemic left so many things unsure this year, one thing was clear: connecting communities from across the world is easier than ever. In this episode, we’ll hear from artistic leaders from two theater companies that approach centering artists with disabilities in different ways...
episode 3: Artists Without Borders: Amplifying The Work of Immigrant Playwrights During The Pandemic with Saviana Stanescu, Caridad Svich, and Daniel Gallant
Christine welcomes playwrights Saviana Stanescu, Caridad Svich and recently former Artistic Director of the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe Daniel Gallant (Gallant was still the current Artistic Director at the time of this recording) to chat about ways they have helped amplify the work of immigrant artists...
episode 2: That Beyonce Energy: The Dramatists Guild's Inclusion Rider with Ty Defoe and Chisa Hutchinson
In this episode, we talk about the Dramatists Guild’s new Inclusion rider and the initiatives surrounding it. At the time of this recording the rider had not been released. We're happy to report that we've released the rider and you can get a copy here: https://www.dramatistsguild.com/inclusion This rider is the first of its kind to come out of the theatre industry...
episode 1: Bhangra meets La Jolla: Collaborating on Culturally Specific Shows Rehana Lew Mirza and Rohi Mirza Pandya
In our first episode of our third season we’ll talk about the journey of bringing a culturally specific show to a predominantly white institution. Our guests are Rehana Lew Mirza, Rohi Mirza Pandya of SRC Partners and Natasha Sinha, who are working to bring the new musical Bhangin’ It (book by Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew, music and lyrics by Sam Willmott) to their world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2022...
Season 3 Trailer
TALKBACK returns with six new episodes on October 18 – and this season is all about collaboration! I’m your host, Christine Toy Johnson, and I can’t wait to share our conversations with you. We’ll be talking about bringing culturally specific shows to Predominantly White Institutions and how large institutional theaters are pivoting their focus to be more inclusive...