Theater District

When waacking and disco and crafting come up in one conversation, it must be about something deep and powerful and transformative like community engagement. Katherine Harroff (Director of Engagement and Associate Director of Public Programming with the Folger Shakespeare Library) and Kristen Jackson (Associate Artistic Director and Director of Connectivity at Woolly Mammoth) join forces to speak about the joy and necessity of creating spaces of communal recognition and growth, how an engagement ethos can infuse an entire organization, and how to both plan ahead and remain flexible in this important work. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Eric Ruffin is a professor of theatre arts at Howard University, focusing on acting and directing. A Howard alum himself, he has helmed productions at Mosaic Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, 1st Stage, African Continuum Theatre Company, Imagination Stage, the Kennedy Center, and more. His 2015 production of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity with Theater Alliance won three Helen Hayes Awards. A gregarious and charming interlocutor, Eric discusses the importance of Howard to the American entertainment industry, how love and transcendence should be central to the theatrical experience, and the kind of work we need to make today. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Shanara Gabrielle is a force for good in the DC theater scene. Since planting roots here in 2017, she has worked as an actor, director, and cultural producer across our region, and in July 2024, became the producing artistic director of Theater Alliance, which specializes in socially conscious, thought-provoking work. We discuss how the company is settling into their new venue, the values that underpin theater, the need for theaters to understand and support their community, and how the non-profit model could use a re-thinking.

Learn more about Shanara on her website, shanaragabrielle.com, follow her on Instagram at @shanaragabrielle, and check out Theater Alliance's website, theateralliance.com. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Sierra Young is a multi-hyphenate artist known for her violence and intimacy direction, as well as an actor and director. A graduate of Howard Community College and UMBC, where she worked with Chelsea Pace, Sierra quickly established her credentials and reputation in the DC/Baltimore area. In our conversation, she emphasizes the importance of cultural competency, trauma-informed practices, and sustainability in her work. She addresses the priorities and best practices of intimacy direction, including the need for clear communication and boundaries, and the role of consent and anti-racism in her practice. She also discusses her experiences working with students and her work as a director.

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Dylan Arredondo has been building an incredibly impressive and varied resume of credits both in front of the footlights and behind the director's table. He's worked with companies from Signature to Chesapeake Shakes to Spooky Action, all of whom no doubt have benefitted from the care and creativity he brings to his craft. Our conversation covers a lot of ground: being a multi-hyphenate artist, learning when to give a note, seeking balance, and the role complicity plays in both the rehearsal process and what we share with an audience. There's a David Ball name drop and a really effective Lego-acting metaphor, too. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

No corner can contain Navi or their artistry, they’re so well rounded. A manymedia artist, they run the research and development wing of Flying V as an Artistic Lead. They’ve worked with companies big, small, and smaller across the DMV—including Pointless, Spooky Action, Woolly Mammoth, and Mosiac—in lots of different ways, from acting to devising, designing sound to writing music and lyrics, puppeteering to producing. Navi discusses his creative and professional processes, their definition of ‘theater,’ and challenges theater makers to find wonder and create communities. “Baguette!” 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Alberto Segarra is a lighting designer in the DMV who has probably illuminated almost as many people and places as the sun. He has designed in theaters of all shapes and sizes all over the District, as well as across the country, and won a Helen Hayes Award for his work on The Honey Trap with Solas Nua in 2024. We discuss his creative process, from first reading the script to the long, long hours of teching a show, as well as the differences in working with actors, dancers, and opera singers. He also talks about the past, present, and future of lighting design. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Arts journalist Rebecca Ritzel discusses her journey from early childhood storytelling to becoming a first-rate journalist and critic, adept at reviewing a wide range of performing arts as well as investigative and preview articles. A brilliant setter of scenes, Rebecca invites her readers into the theater with her, to experience the work from her point of view. Our conversation includes her perspectives on DEI in arts journalism, her experiences with conflicts of interest and other ethical considerations for arts journalists, and how critics can serve as advocates, witnesses, and memory holders for local arts scenes. We also discuss making and seeing work in DC—including which production Ruth Bader Ginsburg saw four times—and the changes Rebecca has seen over her time in DC. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

No one has likely welcomed more audience members to DC theaters than Joy Johnson, and certainly no one has done it with more humor, grace, and compassion than Joy. A patron services professional in the District for almost 20 years--first at Shakespeare Theatre and now the Folger Library--she knows what makes a good box office employee, the supportive and risk-taking nature of DC audiences, how gatekeepers need to leverage their positions to better welcome new patrons and artists, and how to remove stage blood from the patron in the 4th row's clothes. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Shonali Burke is the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Arena Stage, one of the largest and most prominent theater companies in the District. Trained as an actor and director in her native India, Shonali is today one of the best in the business of understanding and applying analytics. Adept in all things PR and marketing, she discusses content development, how data crunching is a form of listening, measuring and understanding patron relationships, Arena Stage's role in the redevelopment of the Wharf neighborhood, and serving on boards. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district