Rough Magic

In the final episode of the season of Under This Light, we discuss with director Rosa Joshi empathy, triumph over the lie of not knowing enough about Shakespeare, explore women taking power, cock strut, and receive a warning from Will himself. 

In which we draw parallels between Titus Andronicus and the world today, kiss some walls, congratulate Norman Lear, and name the extraterrestrials that walk among us.

In which she reveals how she found her voice as a disabled Black woman in the theatre industry, calls us out for our ignorance towards disabled artists, face our intimidation with The Bard, and visit an island of ourselves.

In this episode with playwright Yuseff El Guindi, we miss an opportunity to meet Samuel Beckett, demystify the acting process with a backstage fart, talk Shakespeare in Cairo, illustrate the rudiments of storytelling, and learn the truth from a djinn. 

In this episode of Under This Light we uncover advocacy in our blood, are given the tools for representation by our theater community, reckon with Flow Drum Song, and dance with the queen of the Fairies.

Under This Light takes a break this week, but we'll be back in November with more great conversations.  

In this episode with writer, director, actor, professor, and producer Valerie Curtis-Newton, we rediscover our cultural legacy and wade through the quagmires of academic Shakespeare. We accept an invitation to a neighborhood block party and are stopped on the way to the bathroom by our favorite Civil Rights leader.

In this episode with actor, writer, and producer Keith Hamilton Cobb, we peel back the racial layers in Shakespeare's Othello; breathe life into a cartoon; decide which plays to cut from the canon; excavate the Bard's eternal gifts; and travel back in time to rewrite history.

In this episode we delve into the revelations of solo performance with artist, activist, writer, director Sara Porkalob. She teases us with Broadway; strips supremacy from Shakespeare; and makes a life-altering choice with a family dragon. 

In this episode Carey Wong (Scenic Designer, Visual Artist, Adjunct Professor) shares his  experience as the only Asian-American boy in an all-white school during integration;  talks about his love-affair with opera; his ideas for scaling Shakespeare for smaller stages; and muses about  a futuristic production in the clouds. 

In which we learn from Dr Nike Imoru (PhD, CSA, Actor, Teaching Artist, Casting Director)  how differently Brits and Americans approach Shakespeare; how her studio - The Actor's Way - incorporates the psychotherapeutic principles of Wilhelm Reich; and we receive a hallowed visit from a Shakespearean ghost.

"Under This Light - A Revelation of Shakespeare and Self” is a new podcast series that gathers locally and nationally recognized POC theatre professionals for a conversation about their relationship with Shakespeare and the classics. Each episode in this new, biweekly series hosted by Lamar Legend, Seattle Shakespeare Company's Diversity Programming Coordinator, explores the guest artist's background and career to uncover personal triumphs, current struggles, and future ambitions while revealing what Shakespeare means to them. Learn more: https://www.seattleshakespeare.org/under-this-light/

In our final episode in the What We May Be series, Rafael Molina explores what the future of educational theatre, Seattle, and the arts community at large might and could look like. Learn about artists who are pushing us forward with new interpretations, new work, new people in the room. Dive deep into the Shakespeare Equity Engagement program with Lamar Legend, learn more about upstart crow collective with Rosa Joshi, and hear about what BIPOC and predominantly white institutions should do next (and so much more) with Sara Porkalob.

What’s the difference between diversity and equity? How is education changing? What kinds of people are our education programs trying to create? Series host Rafael Molina delves into these questions and more, while exploring after school and camp programs at Seattle Shakespeare. Our guests this week are director and educator Valerie Curtis-Newton, teaching artist Anastasia Higham, actor Sunam Ellis, and former Seattle Shakespeare student Violet Keteyian. Learn more, ask questions, and get involved at seattleshakespeare.org/education-celebration

This week, series host Rafael Molina explores education in schools and classrooms, from stories about being an immigrant struggling to understand playground games to the importance of rebellious teachers and the power of showing students that Shakespeare can be for them (and the struggle when it feels like it isn’t). Our guests are director Desdemona Chiang, multihyphenate artist QuiQui Dominguez, and high school teacher Caitlin Honig. Learn more, ask questions, and get involved at seattleshakespeare.org/education-celebration

In our first episode, we explore the foundations of education. You’ll be introduced to Seattle Shakespeare’s education programs, as well as what education and racial equity look like for individual artists, educational and theatrical institutions, and our society at large. We are joined by artist and activist Dedra D. Woods (Artists of Color Seattle); Seattle Shakespeare’s Education Director, Michelle Burce; and Manny Cawaling of Inspire Washington. Learn more, ask questions, and get involved at seattleshakespeare.org/education-celebration

The series “What We May Be: Race and Education” launches Seattle Shakespeare Company’s new podcast Rough Magic. This 4-episode series dives into the intersections between race, education, and Shakespeare through interviews with artists, educators, and students. Hosted and produced by Rafael Molina, this podcast features interviews with Valerie Curtis-Newton, Rosa Joshi, Lamar Legend, Sara Porkalob, Desdemona Chiang, QuiQui Dominguez, Sunam Ellis, Dedra D. Woods, Manny Cawaling, and more. Through transparent conversations about social justice, education, and Shakespeare—and examinations both macro and micro—we hope you will be inspired to actively decolonize, restructure, and create accountability in theatrical education.

The first episode of Rough Magic will drop Wednesday, October 28 with the series “What We May Be: Race and Education.” The world of the theatre is transforming before our eyes. It’s a magical time. The conversation has already started. So, let’s jump in.Hosted by Jeff Fickes.