Devised Work
THEATER OUTSIDE THE BOX: DEVISED WORK
Artists and administrators from around the country came together last February to address the unique challenges of championing, supporting and sharing devised, ensemble, and interdisciplinary work. Coming out of this and other conversations was the sense that the lines are blurring for theater nationwide. Producers are sometimes presenters, presenters are sometimes producers, play labs are sometimes agents, and artists are working in multiple disciplines, making their own paths. Panelists at the Theater Outside the Box: Devised Work convening included:
Kirk Lynn from
the Rude Mechs
Barney O'Hanlon from
the SITI Company
Andy Paris from
Tectonic Theater Project
Geoff Sobelle from
Rainpan 43
- Rachel Chavkin
- Artistic Director, the TEAM
- Stephen Earnhart
- Artist (UTR’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)
- John Eisner
- Producing Director/Lark Play Development Center
- Leatrice Ellzy
- National Black Arts Festival
- Susie Farr
- Executive Director, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland
- Kamilah Forbes
- Artistic Director, Hip-Hop Theater Festival
- Sandra Gibson
- President and CEO, Association of Performing Arts Presenters
- Sabrina Hamilton
- Artistic Director, Ko Festival of Performance/Network of Ensemble Theatres Board
- Christopher Hibma
- Associate Director, Sundance Institute Theatre Program
- Dan Hurlin
- Artist (Disfarmer, recently at UMD)
- Morgan Jenness
- Creative Consultant, Abrams Artists
- Melanie Joseph
- The Foundry Theatre
- Andrew Kircher
- Under the Radar (NYC)
- Kelly Kirkpatrick
- Center Theater Group
- Thomas Kriegsmann
- President / ArKtype
- Sam Miller
- President, OAM Company, Inc
- Jennifer Morris
- The Civilians
- Barney O'Hanlon
- SITI Company
- Andy Paris
- Artistic Associate, Tectonic Theatre Project
- Jim Lasko
- Core Artist, RedMoon Theater
- Kirk Lynn
- Co-Producing Artistic Director, Rude Mechs
- Ann Rosenthal
- Executive Director & Producer/MAPP International Productions
- Dan Rothenberg
- Co-Artistic Director, Pig Iron Theatre Company
- Steven Sapp
- Universes
- Vincent Scott
- Program Producer/National Museum of the American Indian
- Leigh Smiley
- University of Maryland
- Geoff Sobelle
- Co-Artistic Director, Rainpan 43
- Lisa Steindler
- Executive Artistic Director, Z Space
- Alex Torra
- Associate Artistic Director, Pig Iron Theatre Company
- Meiyin Wang
- Under the Radar (NYC)
- MK Wegman
- President and CEO National Performance Network
- Ben Yalom
- foolsFURY Theater Company
The weekend culminated in a unique public event at Georgetown University, entitled How the Devising’s Done: Theater Mavericks Talk Process, where four artists lead a lecture-demo on ensemble and devised performance techniques and process: Kirk Lynn from Rude Mechs, Barney O'Hanlon from SITI Company, Geoff Sobelle from Rainpan 43, and Andy Paris from Tectonic Theater Project. The event was livestreamed on NewPlayTV, and those in and out of the room tweeted with hashtag #newplay to comment on the event.
