As Artists and Educators in Theatre, Dance, and Performance we
unequivocally condemn the historically rooted and pervasive
racist murders of African Americans and other people of color by
police in the United States and globally. We acknowledge these
most recent examples are not unique. We acknowledge this plague
is systemic and extends beyond the police. We cannot function as
a society, nor as a learning institution, in a context where
people of color cannot walk, jog, drive, talk, or even sleep in
their homes safely without fear of being murdered by the state.
We certainly cannot teach our craft, which is by its very nature
a living and breathing engagement with all people, without
denouncing this violence, and the hateful rhetoric that fuels it.
Professor L.M. Bogad, chair of theatre and dance, has been
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
from the John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation. Bogad received his fellowship for his
achievements in the category of Theatre Arts and Performance
Studies.
Ben Carter (B.A. theatre and dance, ‘20) has written and directed
a virtual musical parody that features numerous UC Davis alumni
and undergraduate students on and off screen. With music by Nate
Challis (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘20), the collaborative
project, A Marvelous Parody, spoofs superhero genre
films.
American Theatre Magazine has spotlighted Professor L.M.
Bogad, chair of theatre and dance, for his efforts as an activist
clown during the 2020 presidential election. In an article
titled “Send in the Activist Clowns,” writer Nicole Gluckstern
details the work of numerous performers who used street
theatre to provoke laughter and political introspection
nationwide.
Graduate student Danielle Levin has written and created Whole
Cloth, an M.F.A. project, in which a woman confronts her
family legacy and heritage. The UC Davis Department of
Theatre and Dance presents the play April 15-17.
Graduate student Barnaby O’Rorke has generated When It
Works, where are you? Invitations and shared
practices, a Zoom Ecamm performance in which each
iteration features improvisation with live and recorded material.
The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance presents the work on
April 19, 21 and 23 at 5 p.m. PST.
A Shakespearean tragedy gets a contemporary musical comedy
makeover when the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance
and Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank (C3T) present “Juliet and
Romeo” in a free virtual production June 3–5 at 6 p.m.
“Juliet and Romeo” is developed in special collaboration with
Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre, Dance and
Arts Administration with support from the Robert and Margrit
Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Jan Shrem and
Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.
Created by Paul Gordon, a Tony Award nominee for his music for
“Jane Eyre,” and Curtis Moore, an Emmy Award nominee for original
song for Amazon’s ”The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” this
contemporary spin on the Bard’s classic centers on
a second-rate author who finds himself in Shakespeare’s
“Romeo and Juliet” and his determination to figure out how to
change the ending!
The production is co-directed Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper, UC
Davis professor of theatre and dance, and alumna Lisa Quoresimo,
Ph.D., performance studies, ‘18, who is assistant professor of
theatre and dance at SUU. Gordon and Moore are the Granada
Artists-in-Residence for spring 2021.
The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the UC Davis
College of Letters and Science.
For details about these and other events, visit catalyst3t.com.
