Ellen W. Kaplan: The Promise of Play
I believe that [National Women's History month] is about women and social change. Leaders of change reside with women. https://media.blubrry.com/firstonlinewithfran/content.blubrry.com/firstonlinewithfran/Ellen_Kaplan_Podcast.mp3 For me, working with rather than writing about people is the more radical act. Work with vulnerable communities requires us to focus on their concerns and priorities, to be respectful of their autonomy and dignity. It is not therapy, but an opportunity for to create healing spaces, self-expression, psycho-social support. Of course, there’s trepidation; I am a stranger here, we need to build trust. We work slowly, everyone participates only to the extent they desire, and no more. Theatre Responds to Social Trauma: Chasing the Demons. ed. Kaplan, Ellen W. (Routledge, 2024) Ellen W. Kaplan is Professor Emerita of acting and directing at Smith, a Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, Fulbright Senior Specialist in Pakistan, Romania and Hong Kong, an actress, director and playwright. Ellen works extensively with underserved and at-risk communities, including Arts in Special Education in Pennsylvania; Young Playwrights Festival; pre-GED literacy training; with women in prison, and death row inmates. Ellen performs and directs internationally, (Pakistan, China, Israel, Costa Rica, Argentina, Puerto Rico and across the United States), and has been guest professor at Tel Aviv University; Hong Kong University, where she was a … [Read More...]
Featured News
Janet Mitchko: Holding Hands
I would like to believe I attract heart-centered individuals to work with. I create a sense of safety in the rooms, empowerment and we are in service of the text. I pick plays that are going to take us on a journey that we all want to go on; that we’re all going to leave […]
Robert Viagas: Audience Auteur
Losing or winning an argument is not just a zero-sum game. Working together, collaborating is something that you have to learn. The most important part is not you getting all you want all the time, but learning how to feel satisfaction, even if your collaborator talks you into something else. How to find satisfaction within […]
Adrienne D. Williams: Art is Ageless
My passion is telling stories about the complexities of the human spirit. I take pride in telling stories that shed light on life’s poetry, stories of passion, rebellion, discovery and the many untold stories of women. ADRIENNE D. WILLIAMS is New York based actor, director, educator, and storyteller. She is an Artistic Associate at the Martha’s […]
Carla Debbie Alleyne: Stand Together for Fairness
Artivism is a combination of Art and Activism. I wrote about Bayard Rustin who served as the right hand of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for many years. He was a gay Quaker from Pennsylvania and a black man who was instrumental in organizing the March On Washington. Many had issues with Bayard working with […]
Stephanie Okun: Empath Superpower
Stephanie Okun is a playwright/screenwriter/director. She is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, student at NYU’s Educational Theatre MA program, and proud former intern/current member of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT). At a young age, she discovered her love for playwriting and pursued it at Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Inc., an organization […]
The First 100 Stories Campaign
First Online With Fran: The First 100 Stories Campaign National Arts in Education Week, September 8 -14. In July 2010, Congress designated the second week of September as National Arts In Education Week to promote and showcase the immense role arts education has in producing engaged, successful, and college and career-ready students. To that end, First Online with Fran is launching The First 100 Stories Campaign. The Arts continue to be cut from school curriculums across the nation. Despite arts advocacy groups’ efforts to prevent the decline of arts inclusion, the budgetary solution remains to be that the arts are perceived as extra-curricular and disposable. In Chris Cleave’s novel Little Bee, the central character decided to right a wrong by collecting stories: “One story makes you weak. But as soon as we have one-hundred stories, you will be strong.” Similarly, we can do the same for the Arts. Here’s how: Let’s hear it from you: Teachers! Students! Graduates! Parents! … Submit Your Testimonial...
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