Expanding the Canon: a play reading circle
The goal of Expanding the Canon: a play reading circle is to expand our familiarity with the works of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and global majority playwrights. We simply must do the work to change “the canon.” Becoming familiar with these works is one small thing that we can do to move toward the equity we want to see in the world. A guest dramaturg curates the list of plays the circle reads and comes together to discuss.
Season 1: Black Playwrights
In the first year, Jasmine Bracey led the circle in a study of five works by contemporary Black playwrights, beginning on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 18, 2021. Jasmine is a Chicago-based member of Actor’s Equity and is an adjunct faculty member at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Her Chicago acting credits include work with The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, American Blues Theatre, and Chicago Dramatists. Regionally, she worked with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Alley Theatre, The Guthrie Theater, The Resident Ensemble Players, The Acting Company, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. She received theatre degrees from Florida State University, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and the University of Delaware.
The Plays
Until The Flood by Dael Orlandersmith
PYG or The Misedumacation of Dorian Belle by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm
Barbeque by Robert O’Hara
Dead and Breathing by Chisa Hutchinson
The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe
Season 2: Asian American Playwrights
For the second season of the play reading circle, dramaturg Deanna Meyers chose five plays that spanned styles, subject matter, moments in history, and scope. The playwrights themselves came from all over the Asian diaspora — from Vietnam to South Asia, to Korea and China — and from a variety of marginalized identities. Though they could not possibly adequately cover the entirety of the Asian American experience, they were wonderful samples of the incredible diversity within a community that was often made into a monolith. Deanna’s essential question, particularly in response to the rise in civil unrest over the past year, was, “What does an American look like?” Americans were so often educated to assume that the country was full of citizens who matched a specific prototype, and that this prototype was the “neutral starting point” of the American experience, while any other experience was an anomaly. Through reading and discussing these plays, participants might have moved closer to a more universal starting point: when thinking of the word “American,” they included as many faces, bodies, and experiences in as wide a scope as possible.
More about Deanna
Deanna is a Chicago and London based actor, writer and educator who has traveled the U.S. to facilitate conversations about equity and social justice. She has worked with Catharsis productions, hosted for the International AIDS Society’s World AIDS day conference, and has spoken on panels on equity for The United States Foundation for the Children of Haiti, Our Perspectives Theatre Company, and Aloft Circus Arts for racial equity in the arts. Deanna is a frequent storyteller with Second Story Chicago, and is currently a lecturer at the University of Illinois-Chicago and Northwestern University. Selected acting appearances include: Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The House Theatre, About Face Theatre, The Hypocrites and Writers Theatre.
The Plays
The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh
Vietgone by Qui Nguyen
Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey Patmatmat
King of the Yees by Lauren Yee
House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar
Season 3: Indigenous Playwrights
In the third circle, Danielle Soames, a theatre artist from the Mohawk Nation, led a study of works by contemporary Native playwrights. Danielle acted, wrote, directed, and had an art exhibition at the Iroquois Museum in Howes Cove, NY. Danielle had performed on stage since she was 12 years old. She received her Master’s Degree in Educational Theatre from NYU and graduated with Honors. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University, attended the University of MN for Theatre, and was the President of AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society). After graduating from NYU, Danielle was a Native American Fellow at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, for the Education and Interpretation Department. Her personal mission had been to break stereotypes of mixed ethnicities and mixed cultures by exploring identity, primarily in new plays and poetry events that addressed conflict within cultures.
Danielle chose five plays by contemporary Native playwrights from five different Nations to explore the world of Native identity.
The Plays
CARLISLE by Myrton Running Wolf (Blackfeet from Browning, Montana)
Smoke by Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora)
More Than Feathers and Beads by Murielle Borst-Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock Nations)
Este Cate by Nicholson Billey (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)
The Fish by Madeline Sayet (Mohegan of Connecticut)
Season 4: The Disabled Voice
In the fourth circle, Stephanie Barton-Farcas, a theatre artist and author of the book Disability and Theatre: A Practical Manual for Inclusion in the Arts, led a study of works by playwrights highlighting the Disabled voice. Stephanie selected plays by playwrights from all over the country who had written extensively about a community that had been severely underrepresented and even stigmatized in many aspects of American culture.
In the preface of her landmark book on inclusivity in the theatre, Stephanie wrote, “Disability history is our shared history as a country whether we acknowledged it or not, as we would all be disabled one day. I was not an activist, although I was an advocate for full inclusion in all things, free expression of art and thought, and a believer in a new theory of accessibility which demanded full accessibility for all people in all places at all times.”
More about Stephanie
Stephanie Barton-Farcas is Artistic Director of Nicu’s Spoon theater, the first company in NYC history to be fully inclusive and specifically work with all disabilities, colors, ages, genders, religions, you name it. She assists with casting for plays, films and TV and actively encourages disabled, women and actors of color to be cast. As a disability and inclusive theater consultant she has worked with companies globally on season selection, access to spaces, fundraising and the creation of inclusive projects and programs.
The Plays
A Nervous Smile by John Belluso
Staring Back by Susan Nussbaum and Lawrence Perkins
I Never Slept with Helen Keller by Raymond Luczak
A Therapy Session with Myself by Anthony J. Piccione
Blanche and Stella by A.A. Brenner
