Q&A: Matthew MacKenzie on Strife and Indigenous sovereignty in storytelling

Intermission Magazine: Strife, MacKenzie’s newest work, continues that line of inquiry, focusing on Monique, an oil-patch worker navigating a family and community reckoning after the violent loss of her brother, Nathan, an Indigenous climate activist. As she grapples with her grief, she is drawn into a recurring dream in which she reconstructs his bones under the guidance of a spectral Owl — a presence that blurs the boundaries between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Sets Opening for September 2026

www.hollywoodreporter.com: The new cultural institution designed to celebrate illustrated storytelling, founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, will open to the public on Sept. 22, 2026. “This is a museum of the people’s art. The images are illustrations of beliefs we live with every day,” said Hobson in a statement making the date announcement. “For that reason, this art belongs to everyone.”

It’s Time to Move Beyond the Colonial Narrative

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Narrative is a powerful tool. It enlightens, ignites critical thought, and invites reflection. However, narrative can also divide us, harm us, and manipulate us into believing false truths. The way narrative can be weaponized against the most marginalized in our communities is not a surprising revelation stemming from recent presidential elections, but rather it is something I have experienced my entire life as a Native person.

Hollywood Stars Discuss The Power Of On-Screen Storytelling Right Now

www.forbes.com: This past Sunday was a night to remember, as the entertainment industry and the world at large celebrated the outstanding achievements of creative individuals within a wide array of skill sets at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. Yet beyond the star-studded red carpet where the Fiji Water was flowing, to the elaborate live telecast hosted by Nate Bargatze and the glitzy gala & after parties that followed, these Hollywood professionals see the power & purpose within their work today.

Storytelling Alchemy with Sona Tatoyan

HowlRound Theatre Commons: I founded the organization. And then I got obsessed about these puppets. And I found my way to Aleppo in 2019, still very much at war, in the Syrian War. And I discovered this trunk in the attic of our home in Aleppo filled with 180 shadow puppets, a whole cosmos of puppets. Animals, homes, people. Then I fell down the stairs a week later. In the building there was no electricity—it was an active war zone. And I broke my foot.

Theme park storytelling

InPark Magazine: As a child growing up in Los Angeles, I regularly visited Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Universal Studios Hollywood. I was awed by the attractions at the parks and they left a lasting impression. What I did not understand at the time was that elements of storytelling were what so appealed to me, whether narrated or environmental. Fast forward to now, where I have two college degrees centered on stories, a Ph.D. where most of my research focused on theme park narratives, and classes I teach that emphasize the power of storytelling for great guest experiences. The stories in theme park spaces that I encountered over the years were major inspirations for my career path.

Storytelling adventures and critical hits

Exeunt Magazine: I’m sitting in the pub with my demon-pal Bollox, deciding whether to use acid blast against the dimension-shifting spider in the basement. It’s already a busy Wednesday, what with the resurrected skeletons and having technically died for 12 seconds, last thing I need is to damage our stockpile of wine.

Props Drive Plots: Introduction to Theatre Props

Dramatics Magazine: PROPS DRIVE PLOTS. Whether it’s a plate of sardines in Noises Off or a sword in Romeo and Juliet, props give characters choices, movements, and consequences. It’s hard to believe such crucial pieces often get last billing in theatre. A great prop cannot save a mediocre scene, but a bad prop can ruin a great one.

Be Here Stories: A Digital Storytelling Experience

AMT Lab @ CMU: With over 400 million people using Instagram’s story feature daily,[1] digital storytelling is becoming an integral part of how we connect to people and places. To facilitate digital cultural storytelling, MuseWeb Foundation developed Be Here Stories – an app that utilizes a mobile device’s geolocation and microphone tools to allow users to record stories about their favorite arts and culture sites.

Illusion to Reality

PLSN: Is there a “normal” way to interpret Shakespeare in 21st century theater? The days of recreating Elizabethan England seem to be behind us, as today’s directors place their productions anywhere they like and use the Bard’s intricate language and story lines to create a new take on centuries-old material. In recent memory, we’ve seen an all-female production of Twelfth Night set in the roaring 1920s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream on post-apocalyptic Earth, and The Taming of the Shrew as part of a traveling circus… and that’s just in theaters around upstate New York.

The 'Downwinders' From Atomic Testing Get Deserved Attention

NPR: It's dress rehearsal at the Santa Fe Opera and Tina Cordova is waiting for her cue.

"There is not a single one of us onstage that isn't either a cancer patient, dealing with a tumor or a cancer," she says.

Cordova and the others preparing to take the stage are from southern New Mexico. They're downwinders — the people who lived near the first nuclear explosion and their descendants.

Who Will Play You In The Opera?

Butts In the Seats: I frequently write about how people often don’t feel arts and cultural events are for them is because they aren’t seeing themselves and their stories portrayed. So it was with some interest that I read about Opera Philadelphia’s effort to provide a free high definition broadcast of their 2017 opera, We Shall Not Be Moved, which uses the 1985 bombing of the MOVE compound by the city of Philadelphia as a starting point.

How Do You Say ‘Tradition’ in Yiddish?

The New York Times: Yiddish was the language spoken by Tevye the milk peddler and the other shtetl characters depicted in the stories that inspired “Fiddler on the Roof,” yet in this country the landmark musical has never been performed professionally in that savory and supple tongue. Until now.