In order for our work to have the greatest impact possible, we need to know as much as we can about the climate on your campus or in your discipline and about the goals you have for your performance. Early in the planning stages for your event, we will schedule a meeting for you to discuss these topics with a theatre program staff member. In preparation for this meeting, please consider the following questions.
Click the link for each question for additional information.
- What is the current climate in your institution or discipline? What shifts or changes in attitude, behavior, or awareness have occured in recent years? Have these changes occurred at all levels?
- Given your understanding of the climate, what kinds of topics might you be interested in addressing through a Players' session?
- What kinds of programming have already been offered by your institution or organization on the topic you've selected?
- Give your audience's familiarity with the topic, what would you like to accomplish through a Players' performance?
- Who needs to be in the room for you to accomplish your goals?
- How much time can you (and your audience) allot to this session?
- Are there particular identity issues that you are interested in exploring in this session?
Thinking critically about the 'status quo' in your context may help you to identify specific needs that the Players could be helpful in addressing.
The Players' repertoire covers a wide range of topics of interest to individuals working in the context of higher education. Please review the available sketches in advance of your meeting with a theatre program staff. We will be able provide more information about the sketches during the meeting.
Knowing how much familiarity your audience will have with the selected topic will help us to know how much orienting information we'll need to provide and how we might best target the post-performance discussion. This will also give us a sense of how much resistance we might encounter.
Would you like to use the Players' performance at your event to:
- Provoke a conversation within a group?
- Prompt an exchange of ideas between groups?
- Diagnose and surface context-specific climate issues?
- Raise awareness about experiences that fall outside of participants' personal history?
- Collectively generate strategies to mitigate problematic dynamics or processes?
- Other?
Who needs to be in the room for you to accomplish your goals?
The people whom you decide to invite to this performance will shape the nature of the session that we offer. Some things that you might consider as you think about possible audiences are:
- If you have people in leadership positions present (whether of your department/unit, or the university as a whole), it will send a clear message that the institution/organization supports the goals of the session and has made change in this area a priority. However, some participants may feel uncomfortable engaging in candid conversation if people in leadership positions are present.
- If you have people with dissimilar positions or institutional situations share their ideas with each other, it can be a great way of breaking people out of conceptual or behavioral ruts.
- If you invite individuals of a similar rank, situation, or identity position, it provides a common base of experience that can be extremely fruitful for quickly identifying issues around which strategic interventions can be brainstormed.
How much time can you (and your audience) allot to this session?
Players' sketches are not conceived as standalone events. Our performances are followed by facilitated discussions that allow our audiences to think through the issues raised in a sketch with our actors and each other. Our sessions typically last between 90 and 120 minutes. Choosing a shorter session time may help attract a larger audience (as we know, academics are always busy!), but it will limit the depth with which we can explore the issues presented. In certain rare instances, we do offer shorter and longer session times. These alterations will only be made if both the client and the Artistic Director agree that shortening or extending a session will best serve the goals of the event.
Are there particular identity issues that you are interested in exploring in this session?
We pride ourselves on having a diverse company of performers. Intentional casting can help us to highlight the varied experiences of individuals of different ages, races, ethnicities, nationalities, and abilities. If there are particular identity issues you are interested in exploring through a Players performance, please let the Artistic Director know during your first meeting. We will do our best to cast your performance in a way that allows us to explore these issues, but please know that casting is always based on actors' availability.
See also:
Selecting and Preparing the Performance Space
Securing an Audience for Your Performance
Arranging Travel and Lodging for the Players' Visit
