Press Release: Jacqueline E. Lawton Serves as Panelists on TYA/SA's Diversity and TYA: Action Steps for a Bright Future Professionl Development Webinar
On February 25, 2015 12:00pm to 1:30pm (CST), TYA/USA Professional Development presents Diversity and TYA: Action Steps for a Bright Future webinar. Jacqueline E. Lawton joins esteemed panelist Sean Fenton (Arts Consultant and Researcher at WolfBrown), Jamil Jude (Director, Producer, Playwright, and Dramaturg), and Damon Chua (Playwright). The webinar will be moderated by Michael J. Bobbitt (Producing Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre MTC) and Nina Meehan ( founding company member of Bay Area Children’s Theatre).
The TYA community has a responsibility to help grow the next generation of theatre patrons and artists by introducing young people across the country to the joy of live theatre. But, whose stories are we telling? Who are we representing on our stages? Who is sitting in our audiences? It is time to take a hard look at all of our processes—casting, season selection, marketing—and assess if we are going the extra step to reach out to diverse actors, storytellers, playwrights, and patrons. This webinar will be an interactive discussion on best practices for telling diverse stories on our stages and reaching diverse audiences. We will be looking at the topic of diversity from an artistic, educational, and business perspective.
By Attending this Webinar, participants will be able to:
1. Assess your own organization's progress towards a diverse platform of programming
2. Create action steps for implementing diversity and inclusion in your organizations and programming
3. Be a part of forming a national conversation in diversity and TYA
Click here to learn more and register.
About Theatre for Young Audiences/USA
Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA), is a national service organization whose mission is to promote the power of professional theatre for young audiences through excellence, collaboration and innovation across cultural and international boundaries. Founded in 1965 as ASSITEJ/USA, TYA/USA is the only theatre organization in the United States which has the development of professional theatre for young audiences and international exchange as its primary mandates.
The TYA community has a responsibility to help grow the next generation of theatre patrons and artists by introducing young people across the country to the joy of live theatre. But, whose stories are we telling? Who are we representing on our stages? Who is sitting in our audiences? It is time to take a hard look at all of our processes—casting, season selection, marketing—and assess if we are going the extra step to reach out to diverse actors, storytellers, playwrights, and patrons. This webinar will be an interactive discussion on best practices for telling diverse stories on our stages and reaching diverse audiences. We will be looking at the topic of diversity from an artistic, educational, and business perspective.
By Attending this Webinar, participants will be able to:
1. Assess your own organization's progress towards a diverse platform of programming
2. Create action steps for implementing diversity and inclusion in your organizations and programming
3. Be a part of forming a national conversation in diversity and TYA
Click here to learn more and register.
About Theatre for Young Audiences/USA
Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA), is a national service organization whose mission is to promote the power of professional theatre for young audiences through excellence, collaboration and innovation across cultural and international boundaries. Founded in 1965 as ASSITEJ/USA, TYA/USA is the only theatre organization in the United States which has the development of professional theatre for young audiences and international exchange as its primary mandates.
JACQUELINE E. LAWTON was named one of 30 of the nation's leading black playwrights by Arena Stage’s American Voices New Play Institute. Her plays include: Anna K; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied; Deep Belly Beautiful; The Devil’s Sweet Water; The Hampton Years; Ira Aldridge: the African Roscius; Lions of Industry, Mothers of Invention; Love Brothers Serenade (2013 semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference); Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; and Our Man Beverly Snow. Ms. Lawton received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She is a 2012 TCG Young Leaders of Color award recipient and a National New Play Network (NNPN) Playwright Alum as well as a member of Arena Stage's Playwrights' Arena and Center Stage’s Playwrights Collective. She is also a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America.