How the kimono became a symbol of oppression in some parts of Asia

theconversation.com: A woman in Suzhou, China, was reportedly detained recently for “provoking trouble”. Her alleged crime was being spotted outside wearing a kimono. The woman was dressed like a character from a manga (a Japanese comic). Arresting her might seem dramatic but there is more at play here than a simple fashion faux pas.

Peter Dinklage Faces Backlash to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

IndieWire: Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage has made a point of refusing to take stereotypical roles commonly reserved for little people (LP), but he’s never been one to address the challenges that he and other LP actors face in Hollywood. That changed during an interview on Marc Maron’s January 24 “WTF” podcast. During a conversation regarding Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Dinklage praised Disney for casting a Latina actress as Snow White but condemned them for continuing to present what he believed were outdated stereotypes.

Creating Theatrical Ceremonies for Healing: An Interview with Gia Forakis

The Theatre Times: Gia Forakis is the Founder and Artistic Director of GF&CO in Brooklyn, NY. Gia is also the Founder and Master Teacher of the One-Thought-One-Action (OTOA)™ performance technique. GF&CO’s newest work is a video project called This Is Not A Cure: A Ceremony for Healing, which began streaming for free on March 19, 2021. I had the pleasure of speaking with Gia about This Is Not A Cure, GF&CO’s 10th anniversary, and the future of the company.

Inventing Worlds

HowlRound Theatre Commons: I grew up with a saying: “If you can’t make it in show business, you go into politics.” While there is some truth to that, ultimately it just illustrates that politics is inherently performative. It requires carefully crafted messaging, a deep understanding of perceived perspectives, and the ability to remain flexible and switch tactics at a moment’s notice. It’s made up of meticulously chosen words, meant to inspire and provoke, and body language that welcomes and dissuades.

You Say You Want a Revolution

AMERICAN THEATRE: The more I think about the incredible devastation this pandemic has wrought on our world and on our industry, the more I feel called to contribute to the conversation about using this leveling blow to rebuild how theatres work and how we treat our actors. As a theatre administrator, it feels like my Jerry Maguire moment (without the morning-after regret) to lay out the harsh realities of the structure we have created and the hopeful possibilities of where we could go if we stop talking and start walking.

Through Site-Specific Spectacle, Aerial Artist Jo Kreiter Is Exposing the Human Toll of the Prison System

Dance Magazine: There is a tragic timeliness to Flyaway Productions' Meet Us Quickly With Your Mercy. As the nation grapples with systemic racism and police brutality, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, choreographer Jo Kreiter's new aerial work seeks to amplify the call for ending the mass incarceration that disproportionately affects people of color.

Giant refugee puppet to walk from Syria to UK in public art event

World news | The Guardian: A giant puppet of a nine-year-old refugee girl will travel 4,971 miles (8,000km) from the Turkey-Syria border through Europe to the UK in what is being billed as one of the most ambitious public artworks ever attempted.

The Good Chance team behind The Jungle, the celebrated dramatisation of refugee life in Calais, is teaming up with the creators of the War Horse puppets to present an adventurous work that will last from April to July next year.

Grab a brush, take a stand. 10 Pittsburgh Solidarity for Change murals are going up in the next month

nextpittsburgh.com: Spurred by his own experiences with police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, the Homewood resident and executive artist of the Moving the Lives of Kids Community Mural Project is mobilizing other like-minded artists, college students and community members to design and create a series of art walls promoting unity and social justice.

Irondale and NYPD Use Theater To Build Empathy and Community

thebroadwayblog.com: Brooklyn theatrical think tank ensemble Irondale, with participation from the New York Police Department, will host a two-part zoomcast discussion with past To Protect, Serve and Understand participants, September 24 and October 1, to continue their mission of social change, activism and humanity.

Cody Renard Richard launches scholarship program for BIPOC students

Broadway News: Stage manager Cody Renard Richard is launching a scholarship program for Black, Indigenous and people of color pursuing off-stage careers.

Working in partnership with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, the scholarship will provide a group of undergraduate students with seminars on leadership, social justice and community building as well as the possibility of one-on-one mentorship from a leader in the field.

846 Live review – rousing shout-out keeps flame of activism alive

Theatre | The Guardian: In the direct aftermath of George Floyd’s killing, the playwright Roy Williams conceived a collection of audio plays as an act of “creative activism”. They were quick-response dramas that spoke to the moment and bridged the gulf between art and political protest.

Why Our Industry Needs To Wake The F- Up Now

Pollstar: Collectively, Black Americans are hurting. We are hurting from years of systemic racism and police brutality. We are hurting from the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the countless others throughout the years. We are hurting from the words of Amy Cooper in Central Park, and other white Karens across America, but specifically as Black Americans in the Music Industry, we are hurting from years of silence from our white colleagues.

The Dangers of Optical Illusionary Performative Activism

The Theatre Times: Dear white folks (and institutions) seeking to be true allies,

Resist the urge to pat yourselves on the back.

This process is never-ending.

If the following makes you defensive …

Good.

The Power of Transcripts

HowlRound Theatre Commons: In July 2019, I sat down with a few people at the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School to discuss the possibility of bringing a performance of The Courtroom: a re-enactment of one woman’s deportation proceedings—a production by the New York City–based theatre company Waterwell, where I’m artistic director—to their campus. Fast forward thirty minutes and Elora Mukherjee—the director of the clinic, an immigration lawyer and professor—had our attention focused in a different direction.

Maybe 'Riverdale' Doing 'Hedwig' Wasn't a Good Idea

The Mary Sue: I was worried about Riverdale trying to do Hedwig and the Angry Inch from the moment it was announced in January. Mainly because they were taking the “it’s controversial” route as if Riverdale hadn’t already done Carrie and Heathers as their previous musicals, without commenting on controversies therein. Confirming my fears, the episode made questionable choices in depicting numbers and characters from Hedwig while not explicating the show’s rich and complicated background.

Instigating Institutional Change Towards Decolonization

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The Global First Nations Performance Network (GFNPN) is thinking about how to be acute and responsible while acknowledging that the systemic inequities revealed by this pandemic are reflective of the deliberate settler-colonialist project and paradigm.

GFNPN will continue to grow alongside our accomplices. The work and efforts of our cultural organizations in these times of urgency and emergency must consider, center, and continue toward decolonization and indigenization rather than forsake these shifts in consciousness, awareness, and action for the sake of a “return to normalcy.”

Philadelphia DA explores new role for arts in the criminal justice system

PBS NewsHour: Mixing art with criminal justice has become increasingly common in the U.S. The work often tackles complex subjects of redemption and reform. Jeffrey Brown recently traveled to Philadelphia for a look at a new program bringing art to an unexpected part of the justice system: the office of the city’s top prosecutor.

Stage Left: Is Nashville Ready for a Progressive Theater Scene?

www.nashvillescene.com: Early on a recent Monday morning, a group of high school students is gathered at the Global Education Center on Charlotte Avenue. They lean over drawings and canvases with paintbrushes and pens in hand. Aaron Gardner, a junior at East Nashville Magnet High School, sits beside the painting he’s just completed. It depicts two African American youths shackled together by their necks. Black straps criss-cross their faces, bearing words like hopeless, suspect, broken, voiceless and guilty.

A Manifesto for Staging Gendered Violence

HowlRound Theatre Commons: The performance and staging of gendered violence is a political issue, and not a recent one. Gendered violence can be understood as a spectrum of acts, ranging from physical, sexual, and emotional abuses against marginalized women, to acts that nullify and demean women’s resistance to patriarchy. Women’s resistance takes on a variety of forms, such as anger, joy, care, self-preservation, and protest.

Should Art Be a Battleground for Social Justice?

The New York Times: The civilized dinner party is probably over — even when you’re dining with friends. Everything means too much now. Everything. Our politics, obviously. But our genders, our food, our television. Our television. Last month, I was in a six-way conversation about HBO that narrowed into two people hung up on “Insecure,” a sitcom co-created by and starring Issa Rae about two best friends — Issa and Molly — in Los Angeles. It just ended its third season on HBO, and I’d describe my ongoing viewership as “exasperated fealty.”