NY Queer Theatre Collective: A Proposal

This letter came to us from Brent Stansell, a graduate student in Dramaturgy at Brooklyn College. With his permission, we are posting it here so that Brent’s proposal to create a new Queer Theatre Collective can reach as many ears as possible. Brent’s contact information is included below.

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To New York Queer Theatre Artists:

Are you concerned about the state of queer culture in New York and across the country? Are you angered by injustice yet ultimately hopeful that theatre can transform the world we live in?

I’m looking to form a collective of queer artists to discuss and address the issues facing queer theatre and gay culture in our country today. The goal is to form a small but diverse ensemble of queer dramaturgs/actors/playwrights who are interested in collaboratively exploring issues facing queer people today through performance. Ideally this work will result in a theatrical piece to share with a larger audience, but ultimately I am seeking individuals invested in process, interested in developing their unique artistic voices through the collaborative work of an ensemble.

To share a little about myself: I am currently pursuing my M.F.A. in Dramaturgy at Brooklyn College and this project will serve as my thesis. Before coming to NYC for graduate school I was a professional actor in D.C. working at Round House Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, and Actors’ Theatre of Washington (where I also served as Assistant Communications Director for D.C.’s GLBT company), among others. I’ve been a theatre educator at Round House Theatre and started Kid Power, an after-school theatre program for D.C. kids. I am an alumnus of National Player’s Tour 55 out of the Olney Theatre Center and graduated from George Washington University in 2003 with an Honors B.A. in English and Dramatic Literature.

More about the project: We will use inspiration to explore essential questions: What is the state of queer theatre today? What issues are most important for queer artists? What is the future of queer theatre and performance art? And political questions: What is the next step in the queer rights movement? How is the performance of our lives an act of civil disobedience? How do/can we politicize our sex lives to fight for our equality? Who are we fighting against and how do we win?

This work will be dramaturgical in nature. We will be reading important writers, sharing research, watching films, and cultivating resources in order to spark discussion and keep our work connected to a greater context of queer voices. I am inspired by the work and words of Tim Miller, Tony Kushner, Larry Kramer, Edward Albee, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Reverend Billy, Eve Ensler, Tectonic Theater Project, Doug Wright, Susan Sontag, Judith Butler, John Cameron Mitchell, Kiki & Herb, Dina Martina, and many others. I am interested in exploring the full scope of our artistic history and finding ways to connect to our contemporary history. Perhaps we might do volunteer work to inspire or inform our process, such as working for ACT UP or reaching out to gay homeless youth.

I hold certain assumptions in cultivating this ensemble of artists. I am only interested in making theatre connected to the world around me. I believe that the best theatre occurs in collaborative processes where all artists who work together have equal voices and feel empowered to express their complete selves. Each artist will share equal artistic and managerial responsibilities once they commit to the group. Although leaders will naturally emerge, all decisions about the future and progress of the work will be made by the consensus of the ensemble. We have all the tools required to make theatre that is socially aware, artistically gratifying, accessible, and laudable.

I’d like to start meeting with people interested in the project immediately. Most likely I will have the ensemble formed by this December, our meetings will start in January, and the bulk of the rehearsals will happen in March 2008. If you’re interested in meeting with me to discuss this work please call or e-mail, tell me a little about your background and your interest in this work, and we’ll find a time to meet soon. Please feel free to share this open letter with anyone who might be interested, though I am looking for people who have some experience making theatre and who have a passion for the issues we’re addressing.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Brent Stansell
brentstansell@yahoo.com
202-321-6144

September 25, 2007 | Filed Under News, Queer Art & World 

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