Sisters in the Round

Curating Care: A Conversation with Kaja Dunn and Noelle Diane Johnson

Kaja Dunn and Noelle Diane Johnson offer an inside look at the artistry and advocacy of being an intimacy director in film and theater. Kaja Dunn is an intimacy professional, diversity consultant, and associate faculty at Theatrical Intimacy Education. Kaja is a member of SAG-AFTRA and an actor, director, and activist with performances in over 40 productions in 5 countries including Theatrical Outfit, Playmakers Rep, Moxie Theatre and others. Current favorite intimacy work includes American Prophet (Arena Stage), Choir Boy (Denver Center and ACT Seattle) Harlem (Amazon), Strange Loop (Broadway, associate Intimacy Director), The Best Man, The Final Chapter (Peacock). She is a recipient of the Kennedy Center's National Medallion for her work on theatre and race. She has published in several journals about race and theatre, intimacy and co-authored a chapter in Arden Research Companion to Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance. She has presented on issues of equity and diversity in theater for theaters and universities, Actors' Equity Association 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 and a former executive member of Black Theatre Association. She was recently interviewed in American Theatre Magazine around issues of Race and Theatre education. You can find out more at her website kajadunn.com. Noelle Diane Johnson is an artist, actor, intimacy director, educator, and so much more. Often drawn to roles that live at the intersection of emotional intimacy, strength, and wit, she especially enjoys classical and contemporary work centered on language, humanity, and relational complexity. She continues to explore creating and expressing my artistry through different mediums, with storytelling at the center. Regional: TJ Loves Sally 4Ever, Theatre Horizon; A Raisin in the Sun, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Intimacy Direction: Choir Boy, Philadelphia Theatre Company; Redwood, Ensemble Studio Theatre; A Raisin in the Sun, Bristol Riverside; John Proctor's the Villain, Bryn Mawr College; The Climb and On My Deen, InterAct Theatre Company; Be Here Now, Montgomery Theatre; and Spring Awakening, Relic Theatre. Noelle holds a BA in Theatre from Temple University and an MA in Theatre and Certificate in DEI Strategy from Villanova University. Noelle is also an adjunct professor at Rowan University has worked nationally, serving the non-profit sector, empowering communities through storytelling, collaboration, and equity-based and strategic solutions in race and belonging. Noelle also serves as an adjunct professor at Rowan University.

The Art of Advocation: A Conversation with Donya Washington and Parker Essex Hardy

Donya Washington and Parker Essex Hardy discuss their roots in education and experience, influencing their artistic voices and shaping the trailblazers that they are today.

Behind the Breakdown: A Conversation with Destiny Lilly, CSA and Hershey V. Millner

Destiny Lilly, CSA, and Hershey V. Millner unpack the business, the process, and how to build a future in casting. Destiny Lilly, CSA, is a 3 x Emmy-nominated casting director based in New York. Recent projects include The Color Purple (WarnerMedia), Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), and Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway. Destiny is an advocate for actors and artists, and she currently serves as the President of the Casting Society (CSA). Hershey V. Millner is a producer and arts administrator with experience in casting, dramaturgy, and engagement. They began their career in casting as an apprentice at McCarter Theatre Center before joining the staff of the Alliance Theatre. They have worked with organizations such as the Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company, and the Sappho Project. In addition, they are a former member of the BOLD Theater Women's Leadership Circle.

Directing Your Destiny: A Conversation with Lili-Anne Brown and Alexis Kulani Woodard

Lili-Anne Brown and Alexis Kulani Woodard explore what it means to be an authentic director who challenges the status quo. Lili-Anne Brown, a Chicago South Side native, works as a director, actor and educator, and has performed in, directed and produced many award-winning shows in Chicago and nationally. Directing credits include: The Nacirema Society…, School Girls, or The African Mean Girls Play and the world premieres of Ike Holter's I Hate It Here and Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre); Two Trains Running (The Acting Company, National Tour); The Hot Wing King (Writer's Theatre); Dreamgirls (McCarter Theater and Goodspeed Musicals), FELA! (Olney Theatre), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Huntington Theatre), Ain't No Mo' (Woolly Mammoth and Baltimore CenterStage), Waitress, Rent, and The Color Purple (The Muny), Once on This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Acoustic Rooster...(Kennedy Center and National Tour), Put Your House in Order (La Jolla Playhouse), Cullud Wattah (Victory Gardens). She is the former Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she focused programming on Chicago-premiere musicals and new play development with resident playwrights. During her tenure she directed Dessa Rose (Jeff Award), Passing Strange (BTA Award), See What I Wanna See (Steppenwolf Theatre Garage Rep), and the world premiere of Princess Mary Demands Your Attention by Aaron Holland, and produced many other award-winning shows. Other directing credits include The Color Purple (Drury Lane Theatre), P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle (Jackalope Theatre), The Total Bent (Haven Theatre w/About Face), Caroline, or Change (Firebrand Theatre w/TimeLine), Tilikum by Kristiana Colon (world premiere, Sideshow Theatre), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (American Blues Theatre), Hairspray (Skylight Music Theatre), The Wolf at the End of the Block (16th Street Theatre), Marie Christine (Boho Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (Metropolis Performing Arts), The Wiz (Kokandy Productions), Xanadu (American Theatre Company), Jabari Dreams of Freedom by Nambi E. Kelley (world premiere, Chicago Children's Theatre), American Idiot (Northwestern University); and Little Shop of Horrors, Unnecessary Farce, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, and The 25th…Spelling Bee, among others, at Timber Lake Playhouse where she was an Artistic Associate. She has received 2 Helen Hayes Awards, 5 Jeff Awards, 2 BTA awards and one African American Arts Alliance Award for excellence in directing. Lili-Anne is an inaugural recipient of the Walder Foundation's Platform Award (2024), a 2021 recipient of the 3Arts Award for Theatre and the 2023 Zelda Fichandler Award Finalist. She is a member of SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and a graduate of Northwestern University. Alexis Kulani Woodard (she/her) is a Director and Adaptor, proud Spelman College Alumna and former Spelman Leadership Fellow at the Alliance Theatre. She is a 2024 Princess Grace Award Winner in Theatre and the Associate Artistic Director of Compagnia de' Colombari. Alexis believes in theatremaking as an incubator to create the (seemingly) impossible — personal freedom, social liberation, and true community. She believes in theatre as a space to escape into — a playground to dream and conjure other worlds. Alexis believes in the artists' responsibility to heal and transcend the divisions we were born into, create community and thereby destroy isolation. She uses the transformative power of theatre to create empathy and challenge the social boundaries we place around others and ourselves. As an investigator of New Work and a partner to playwrights, Alexis uses her deep curiosity and process driven ethos to invite audiences into the rich complexity and diversity of our contemporary times. Select Directing Credits include: The Dark Lady (Synchronicity Theatre), Metamorphoses, SORT, Moe's a D*ck, Stray Dogs, Measure for Measure (Yale Drama), Every Brilliant Thing (Yale Cabaret), Hamlet (The TINY Theater Company, Alliance Theatre: Guest Artist Series); HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments and Do You Love the Dark? (Alliance Theatre). Her work on HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments earned the production six Suzi Bass Award Nominations, including Best Direction, and a win for Outstanding Social Justice Production. She also directed Lungs by Duncan Macmillan, which was shown at the National University of Theatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale Bucharest" and other venues around Romania. As a Spelman Leadership Fellow at the Alliance Theatre, Alexis served as the Co-Artistic Director of The Alliance's inaugural 2020–21 Digital Season, where she produced Laugh Track, BackStage Atlanta, Spotlight Studio, and From the Ashes. Alexis also directed From the Ashes, an original adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 which was created in collaboration with the Alliance's Teen Ensemble. She has worked with directors Liz Diamond, Tamilla Woodard, Laurie Woolery, Hana Sharif, Leora Morris, and Khalia Davis. Associate directing credits include A Christmas Carol: The Live Radio Play, Working (Alliance Theatre), and the world premiere tri-production of Dream Hou$e (Alliance Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage). She also has served as assistant director for Escaped Alone (Yale Repertory Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), and A Kids Play About Racism (Bay Area Children's Theatre). Upcoming: The Notebook, First National Tour (Assistant Director). MFA: David Geffen School of Drama at Yale

Measurements of Success: A Conversation with Ari Fulton and Harri Horsley

Ari Fulton and Harri Horsley address the ever-changing landscape of Costuming, race, and gender in this epic meeting of the minds. Watch as they beautifully share hot takes, laughs, and industry insights. Ari/ Ari Fulton is a New York-based costume designer for stage and film. Ms. Fulton has built a diverse career designing costumes regionally and internationally. Ms. Fulton received a BFA in Costume Design from The Theater School at DePaul University. She continued her studies by obtaining an MFA in Design for Stage and Film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2018, Ms. Fulton received her first feature film credit, for her design work for Nigerian Prince, which was shot on location in Lagos, Nigeria. Spike Lee executive-produced the film. Nigerian Prince is the first recipient of the Tribeca and AT&T New Voices Award. Recent theater credits include: Disney's Frozen, Rocky Horror, Rent!, and Off-Broadway directed by Robert O'Hara. Film credits include: Cupids, directed by Zoey Martinson, which is a part of Tribeca's 846:Reclaiming Time for Stories of Black Love and Joy Film Series, and Ricky, winner of the Sundance Best Directing Award. Ms. Fulton is the proud recipient of the Black Theatre Coalition's Costume Design Fellowship (2023) and the Lily Creative Spirit Award(2017) for her costume design work. In 2021, Ms. Fulton started the new year by receiving a Broadway World Miami Award for Design of the Decade, for her work on A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical. Ms. Fulton has taught at the University of Connecticut, where she was the Interim Head of Costume Design (2020/2021). She currently serves on the faculty at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Brooklyn College. Harri Horsley is a 2nd generation Afro Costa Rican-American, a Texan, and a native of the Chicago Southside. Currently and in the future as an interdisciplinary artist, a trans queer person, and a product of centuries of migration from their ancestors, Harri's main goal as a costume designer is to help enhances stories of grit and transcendence in art. They hold an MFA in Costume Design from the University of Texas at Austin and a BFA in Design/Technology from Kent State University. Along with designing, Harri was previously on faculty as an Assistant Professor of Costume Design at James Madison University and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Illinois Wesleyan University. Harri's favorite things to do are visiting museums, reading a really well-written book, and traveling. Harri is based in New York City and Chicago. Harri is a proud member of Local USA 829, IATSE.