Open Studio
Open Studio provides a space for artists to workshop in-process verbatim work, flesh out ideas, and be in conversation with professionals in the field. Each studio is ‘Artist-centric’ and ‘Artist-focused’, tailored to the needs and goals of each individual coming into the space.
Open Studios are held four times throughout the academic school year and are open to artists exploring Documentary Theatre, Interview-based Theatre, or Verbatim Performance.
FALL 2024 – SPRING 2025 DATES
- Saturday, September 28th, 10 AM-1 PM
- Saturday, October 26th, 10 AM-1 PM
- Saturday, February 22nd, 10 AM-1 PM
- Saturday, March 15th, 10 AM-1 PM
Verbatim Talks
Verbatim Talks is a new speaker series that gives artists working in documentary theatre a platform to discuss their current work and upcoming projects. The series is an informal 60-minute dialogue facilitated by a member of the VPL Artistic team and open to the public. The speaker series will be held twice an academic year.
FALL 2024 – SPRING 2025 DATES
- Friday, November 22nd, 5 PM-6 PM
- Friday, April 25th, 5 PM-6 PM
Through the Open Studio series, the lab has supported the following artists in the creation and development of new work:
Where Hope Is by Jenn Bokoch Gillett. A new play recording the memories and lives of the Benedictine Nun Community in Erie, PA. As told by the Sisters themselves, and members of their extended network. Kinship Theater Collective — Jenn Bokoch Gillett (jennygillett.com
Divided We Stand by Carmen R. Myers. A new play that places women’s voices directly in dialogue. From July-October, 2019, we interviewed 30 women in Phoenix, AZ and New York, NY about their experiences surrounding the 2016 presidential election and beyond to explore how women are negotiating and maintaining their identities and relationships in today’s climate of political polarization. These are their stories. https://wp.nyu.edu/dividedwestand/about/
If You Ask Her by Suzy Jane Hunt. What shapes female sexuality in America? Is it our mothers, aunts, and grandmothers? Religion? Porn? Oprah?! WHAT IS IT?!!! IF YOU ASK HER is an interview theatre piece that posed just that question to women of differing ages, backgrounds, and beliefs. Watch creator and performer Suzy Jane Hunt portray these women’s interviews verbatim as they help her begin to find her own answers to the questions: what shapes our sexuality? And can cycles of shame be broken? https://www.suzyjanehunt.com/
Socially Distant by Durell Cooper. Socially Distant explores issues of representation, identity, and Afro-futurism through the lens of four Black male educators who aspire to inspire BIPOC youth. The script is developed using transcripts from one-on-one interviews with each of the four educators. Socially Distant is the culminating artistic piece of Durell’s doctoral journey. For more info on Durell’s work click here
Workshop: “Activating Docudrama” with Kristin Rose Kelly & Thomas Murray. Ethnodrama adapted from journal entries is all too often bereft of physicality in its translation to the stage. How can we get articulated memories into our bodies so the visual captivates us as much as the aural? Kristin Rose Kelly and Thomas Murray employed choreographer Celeste Miller’s Personal/Historical exercises in their creation of extraordinary interruptions, a piece about instances of breaking news that held our collective attention.