Performance Research Forum (PRF)

Department of Theatre and Performance

‘Against the Canon’: diversifying performer training

An international panel conversation about the diversification of contemporary performer training which builds on the recent publication of a special issue of ‘Against the Canon’ in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 11:3 (Routledge, 2020). Panellists will include three authors from the journal: Kaja Dunn and Sharrell Luckett (USA), and Kristine Landon-Smith (former artistic director of Tamasha). They will be joined by Abdul Shayek (artistic director of TARA) and Gail Babb (former member of Talawa Theatre and staff member at Goldsmiths).Attendees will receive short films from each of the panel members introducing their practice to watch in advance of the panel discussion.

'Against the Canon', Special Issue, Theatre, Dance and Performer Training (11.3)Guest editors Mark Evans and Cass Fleminghttps://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtdp20/current

Kaja Dunn, is an assistant professor and the Head of Acting at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Department of Theatre and affiliate faculty for Theatrical Intimacy Education, where she co-intiated the summit on Race and Intimacy at Princeton University. Kaja is is an actor, director, and activist. She has performed nationally and internationally in over 40 productions.She has presented on issues of Equity and Diversity for Actor’s Equity as their racial consultant, The Women’s Theatre Festival, Blumenthal Performing Arts, MICHA, North Carolina Theatre Association (Keynote Panelist), Children’s Theatre Charlotte, Anti-Racism and Decolonization at University of London Goldsmiths, SETC and SETC Theatre Symposium, KCATF and The Association of Theatre in Higher Education, among other places. She is on the Executive Board of the Black Theatre Network . She teaches workshops and consults for universities and private corporations. She has published in the US and has a co-authored publication coming out for a new Arden Research Companion to Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance on Decolonizing Shakespeare in Performance. She was most recently interviewed in American Theatre Magazine around issues of Race and Theatre education.

Kristine Landon-Smith is a theatre practitioner and lecturer in higher education. Her work in industry and HE has included three years as Lecturer in Acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia; twenty-three years in a senior management role as Artistic Director of Tamasha, UK; four years as Senior Producer for BBC Radio Drama; and freelance appointments as a director and lecturer within industry and HE settings. A recognized leader in the Black/Global Majority sector in the UK, she focuses on artist training in headphone verbatim practice and intracultural theatre practice, the creation of new work with and from diasporic heritage artists, and the development of audiences for this work. She currently freelances as an educator and director in mainly the UK and Australia and her industry work has been focusing on applied theatre and her multi-lingual practice which explores how to bring different nationalities and languages together in existing texts.

Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD, is Associate Professor of Drama and Performance Studies and Director of the Weinberger Center for Drama and Playwriting at the University of Cincinnati. She is faculty collaborator with the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Her research is situated in acting/directing theory and cultural studies. Luckett is lead editor of the award-winning book Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches (2017) and has authored/co-authored four other books. An accomplished theatre artist, she is also a director, playwright, actress, and dramaturg. Canonical works that she has staged include Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks and for colored girls… by Ntozake Shange. Luckett is founding Executive Director of the Black Acting Methods® Studio, an actor training program in performance theory and practice.

Gail Babb is a theatre maker, producer and lecturer who specialises in participatory arts, devising new work and supporting emerging artists. Gail’s work includes creative learning in schools, equality and diversity training in universities and workplaces, and devising with professional artists, young people and mental health service-users. She has created shows for a range of settings, including theatres, a tour to South Africa’s National Arts Festival and site-specific pieces in museums and a derelict school. As Producer for Participation &amp; Learning at Talawa Theatre Company from 2007-2018, she brought work with emerging Black theatre makers to the centre of the company and developed an innovative participation programme that placed an emphasis on bespoke, participant-led projects. Gail has freelanced for a range of arts companies including Emergency Exit Arts, The Kiln, Musicians without Borders, Autograph ABP, London Bubble Theatre Company and RADA. She is also an active board member for the London Arts and Health Forum. In 2017/18, Gail was awarded a Clore Fellowship for outstanding change-makers in the cultural sector. She is the co-director of the MA in Applied Theatre at Goldsmiths University of London.

Abdul Shayek: Recently appointed as Artistic Director of Tara Arts, Abdul Shayek was the founding Artistic Director &amp; CEO of Fio based in Cardiff, prior to this he was an associate at National Theatre Wales. Abdul devised and directed most of Fio’s touring productions, notably 'Swarm', a site-specific show about migration, working with young people, professional and community adult performers. He also developed and delivered Fio's artist development programme.Tara Arts has for over four decades supported the emergence of generations of South Asian performers, writers, directors, musicians and choreographers; and toured extensively nationally and internationally. Tara Arts remains to this day the only UK theatre organisation whose programme focuses uniquely on South Asian artists, cultural heritage and experience. Abdul’s first show will be ‘A Final Farewell’, an audio walking project, celebrating the lives of local people lost during the pandemic. He works as a freelance opera director with English National Opera and currently developing a new film project with Welsh National Opera and is Associate Director on their new opera 'Migrations'. He was associate director on Lemn Sissay’s Channel 4 documentary ‘Superkids’, about young people in care.He is a member of the British Council's Arts and Creative Economy Advisory Group, vice chair of the National Alliance for Arts in the Criminal Justice System, as well as being a trustee of mid-Wales dance company Impelo, No Fit State Circus. Internationally he has worked across Europe, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a visiting lecturer at UEL and other UK Universities.

Image credit: Marymount Manhattan College

https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=13477

All ticket-holders will be emailed the Zoom link on the day of the event.

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Performance Research Forum (PRF)

More events from Department of Theatre and Performance

Discover more events from Department of Theatre and Performance, from Arts to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.

Performance Research Forum (PRF)

More events from Department of Theatre and Performance

Discover more events from Department of Theatre and Performance, from Arts to other experiences you might love.

More Arts events

Browse more Arts events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.