CMU School of Drama


Friday, December 06, 2019

Making Radical Parent Inclusion Replicable and Sustainable

HowlRound Theatre Commons: As a freelance artist and the founder of the Parent Artist Advocacy League for the Performing Arts (PAAL), I have spent years researching different parent support solutions in our field. Based on my findings, I compiled a handbook, the PAAL National Handbook of Best Practices. When Roberta Pereira, producing director of New York City’s the Playwrights Realm, approached me about committing all these practices to a singular Off-Broadway production in an effort to manifest radically inclusive change, I knew PAAL’s research and recommendations were ready to put into action.

1 comment:

Marisa Rinchiuso said...

I had never heard of this initiative prior to reading this article. I found the article very accessible for first time readers of this topic. The author, a co founder of the parent artist group, goes into great detail about the structure and phases of the initiative behind the Radical Parent Inclusion Program. It makes sense that the first phase is creating a community in which companies recognize and want to better help parents within their staff. With that, they lend themselves to finding opportunities in which there perhaps are not ideal accommodations for parents. This is where phase 2 comes in. In phase 2 they get funding and action on the initiatives. One of the big ones was having caregivers at the theatre so that parents can enjoy a show while still being able to take their kids. This eliminates the need for coordinating babysitters, which can definitely be a barrier to going out.