Why We Theater

By Broadway Podcast NetworkArts Performing Arts Visual Arts

Why We Theater episodes

January 13, 2022 Why We Theater NOW: January 2022
It can be a challenge to make an episode of Why We Theater in time for you to see every show while it’s running. So here are some recommendations for currently running Broadway and Off-Broadway shows that speak to Why We Theater and some incoming productions to keep an eye on.

From Saturday Night Live’s Cecily Strong at The Shed to The Tonight Show’s Tariq Trotter and his new Off-Broadway musical, these are recommendations you’ll want to hear and tickets you’ll want to book.

Nervous about going to the theatre? Learn about their safety protocols in this article from Ruthie.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Now Off-Broadway at The Shed through Feb 6

Assassins
Now Off-Broadway at Classic Stage Company through January 29

David Byrne’s American Utopia
Now on Broadway - on sale through April 3

Prayer for the French Republic
Now Off-Broadway - on sale through February 27

Skeleton Crew
Now on Broadway - on sale through February 20

Black No More
Coming to Signature Theatre Company Off-Broadway January 18

Confederates
Coming to Signature Theatre Company Off-Broadway February 22

English
Coming to Atlantic Theatre Company Off-Broadway February 4

Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

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18 min
January 06, 2022 THE KILLING OF KINGS meets The Prison Within
Building on our episodes about Nadira Simone’s The Killing of Kings, in this mini-episode, Ruthie recommends the documentary The Prison Within. The film reveals the stories of six incarcerated men—their upbringings, their crimes, their humanity—as we watch them go through a restorative justice process. It’s remarkable. A must-see.

In the U.S., 2.2 million people are incarcerated, which costs taxpayers $260 Billion per year. The Killing of Kings put these statistics in a human context for me. Filmmaker Katherin Hervey’s The Prison Within expanded that lens.

Watch The Prison Within

Connect with your host!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

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12 min
December 30, 2021BONUS: THE KILLING OF KINGS continued with Esther Matthews
Building upon last week’s episode “THE KILLING OF KINGS and the Transition of Incarcerated Persons From Prison,” host Ruthie Fierberg speaks one-on-one with expert Esther Matthews, PhD, about the practical steps to take to achieve the prison and transition reforms we spoke about in our main episode.
As a professor of sociology and criminology with research expertise in re-entry solutions for formerly incarcerated people, Esther answers questions in four key areas: 1. Physical safety inside prisons, 2. Shifting prisons towards transformation and away from retribution, 3. Holding your Department of Corrections (DOC) accountable, and 4. Anti-Discrimination for transitioned citizens.

Create the Change:
Physical safety inside prisons
Examine and lessen frequency of strip searches
Make strip searches more private
Expand training for personnel who perform strip searches to require humane treatment
Counseling and education—not punishment
Shift your ideology to see inmates as people
Amend training of correctional staff so that safety of the people inside (not the institution) is their protective priority
Minimize force
Reach out to head of Department of Corrections—usually called the Secretary—or reach out to the Governor (who appoints the Secretary)
Reach out to state legislators
Find your federal and local representatives
Hold the Department of Corrections and Bureau of Prisons accountable
Through Secretary of DOC, who oversees DOC policies
Reach out to superintendent or warden of local prison for implementation of those policies
Know your Governor/gubernatorial candidates’ position as they appoint the head of the DOC
Department of Justice appoints head of BOP policy in federal facilities
Reach out to your U.S. Senator for federal facility concerns and state legislators for state facility concerns
Anti-Discrimination Work
Tighten policies: Reach out to state and local legislators because they implement laws like Ban-the-Box and state and federal agencies who enforce those laws
Enforce laws that are already on the books (i.e. Ban-the-box)
Contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if you have been the victim of discrimination
Move burden of proof to employer and landlord when trying to deny a job or housing (rather than burdening the person with the record to prove worthy)
Referred to in this episode
Norway correctional staff training as mentors rather than custodians or officers (original study)
How this can work in the U.S.
North Dakota reforms corrections officer training
Other U.S. states follow Norway’s model

About Our Guests:
Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater

Esther Matthews, PhD, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Criminology, Gonzaga University
Esther earned her PhD in the Justice, Law and Criminology program from American University. She holds a Master of Science in Justice, Law and Criminology from American University, and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Oregon State University. Her research focuses on identifying and investigating successful re-entry solutions for returning citizens. She has a particular interest in how race, gender, poverty and mental health intersect, are criminalized and affect reentry efforts. Her research projects include: 1) a field experiment testing outcomes of ban-the-box policies, 2) detection of implicit bias against justice-involved individuals and determining if, and how, it can be altered, 3) ethnographic inquiry of restricted housing units and reentry programs in two Northeastern prisons and 4) qualitative examination of employment programs for returning citizens in the DC area. Esther has been published in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation and has two book chapters scheduled for publication in the Routledge Handbook on American Prisons and Prisons and Community Corrections: Critical Issues and Emerging Controversies.

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17 min
December 23, 2021THE KILLING OF KINGS and the Transition of Incarcerated Persons From Prison
Today we welcome artist Nadira Simone, who wrote the breath-stealing new play The Killing of Kings. The drama weaves a tapestry of Black families in America dealing with mass incarceration and police brutality, grappling with Black Lives Matter, and surviving racism. Simone achieves this by homing in on the King family, as patriarch Patrick King returns home from a second stint in prison. But what kind of life awaits Patrick King now that he is out?

We dig into the struggles of transitioning out of incarceration. Experts Anthony Dixon of the Parole Preparation Project and Esther Matthews of Gonzaga University rewind to the conditions that lead to imprisonment and recidivism—the tendency of a formerly incarcerated person to become reincarcerated. We learn why words like “re-entry,” “rehabilitation,” and “reintegration” are inaccurate and counter-productive and reset terminology to use the word “transition.” Simone, Dixon, Matthews, and host Ruthie Fierberg discuss possible reforms inside prisons to transform residents and how we as the receiving communities can facilitate the transition for people who get out to become integrated members of society.

Create the change
Watch The Prison Within
Question your own biases about incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons
Approach all people with compassion and humanity
Advocate for prisons that help people change; not just lockup
Support the use of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and peer support in prisons
Find short-term, medium-term, and long-term proposals from Brookings Institute
If you are an employer, consider “banning the box” - raise the bar for disqualification of employment
If you are a landlord, raise the bar for disqualification of rentals
Read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Go to Brennan Center’s “End Mass Incarceration” > Click on an “Issue” > Click “Work & Resources” > Read “Policy Solutions” > Advocate for these, Vote for representatives who include these in their platforms
Support and amplify the “Reverse Mass Incarceration Act”
Read “A Federal Agenda to Reduce Mass Incarceration”
What to look for in activists and candidates
Improve physical conditions in prisons (the jurisdiction of each state’s Department of Corrections)
Support Last Prisoner Project, reach out to them if you are in need
Learn about HOPE for Prisoners
Donate to Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Learn more about the War on Drugs and the number of people imprisoned for non-violent crimes (ACLU, AP, Brennan Center)
Referred to in this episode
Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, where Anthony spent time in his childhood
Goshen Annex
The War on Drugs and its effect on the Black community
The Prison Within documentary
Washington Post article by Esther Matthews
2.2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S., 40 % no public safety reason (Brennan Center stats)
DOC: Department of Corrections
Data on obstacles to transition (housing, employment, etc.)
Reuben Miller’s book Halfway Home
Megan Kurlycheck research (specifically Comparing the Distributional Properties of Arrest Risk Across Populations of Provisional Employees With and Without a Criminal Record)
What is “Ban the Box”?

Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Learn more about our guests at bpn.fm/whywetheater.

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1 hr 15 min
December 16, 2021INTERSTATE Meets Multiple Recommendations
Authenticity was the heart of our last episode “INTERSTATE and Authentic Trans, Queer, and Asian-American Representation.” Our discussion included artists Kit Yan and Melissa Lee and experts AC Dumlao of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and Sheena Brevig of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers. The quintet (including host Ruthie Fierberg) deliberated about how we ensure authentic representation and how we can get producers, theatres, and studios to greenlight projects that have non-white or non-male or non-straight or non-cis central characters. We just need more.

In every mini-episode, Ruthie recommends one piece of art that connects to the previous week’s larger themes. If you INTERSTATE or the conversation around it intrigued you, Ruthie recommends more stories you should explore. In the vein of “more, more, more,” Ruthie decided to offer multiple suggestions of art to put on your list, add to your queue, and place on your shelf.

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy (Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend, Rich People Problems) by Kevin Kwan

Amateur by Thomas Page McBee

Find your nearest Independent Bookstore to purchase.

Never Have I Ever, Netflix

The Sex Lives of College Girls, HBOMax

Connect with your host!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 min
December 02, 2021INTERSTATE and Authentic Trans, Queer, and Asian-American Representation
Representation is the buzzword of the day. But mere presence means nothing if it isn’t accurate and genuine. Authentic representation in storytelling benefits not only members of historically excluded groups like Asian-Americans and trans people but members of every group, including the dominant culture. As of 2019, 69.1 percent of all film roles were white. How do we achieve a greater variety of stories, roles, and jobs in theatre, movies, and television? How do we ensure these stories and parts are written “authentically”? How do we get producers to greenlight projects?

Interstate, a new musical by Kit Yan and Melissa Li, follows two Asian-American artists (one a lesbian and one a trans man) as they embark on a U.S. tour with their band Queer Malady. Meanwhile, trans teen Henry discovers QM’s music and finds his story in theirs. Kit & Melissa join host Ruthie Fierberg and experts Sheena Brevig of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers and AC Dumlao of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund for this discussion about the importance and impact of authentic representation and how we can push for parity.

Hear songs from INTERSTATE here.

Create the change
If you are a studio head, producer, director, greenlight stories about historically excluded characters AND make sure members of that community are part of the creative team.
Use the Kilroys List—the annual industry survey of excellent new works by women, trans, and non-binary playwrights—to find quality stories by underrepresented artists to produce.
Read These Numbers Show How More Diversity on TV Leads to Increased Viewership
If you are an audience member, buy a ticket to a show/movie or watch a series about a community you are not a part of.
Download the Center for Scholars and Storytellers’ “AIR Tip Sheet for Race” to ensure authentic, inclusive representation across races.
Read these storytelling tips to evolve the representation of boys and men.
Enlist CSS to consult on a project or sign your team up for a CSS workshop.
Get in touch with AC Dumlao and enroll in a workshop (i.e. Trans 101).
Watch “Trans Literacy Project” videos from Honest Accomplice Theatre for their Trans 101 series.
If you or someone you know needs help changing their name, visit TLDEF’s Name Change Project.
If you or someone you know needs info about trans health services and access, visit TLDEF’s Trans Health Project.
How to support TLDEF
Follow TLDEF on social: @translegaldefense on IG, @TLDEF on FB and T.
Read this article about the need for and benefits of authentic Asian-American representation.
Read this discussion about trans roles for theater in American Theatre Magazine.
See this graphic on Gender Parity in Children’s Television.
Referred to in this episode
Ruthie’s Playbill interview with Kit and Melissa
“On T” refers to taking testosterone hormone therapy, which some trans men choose this as part of their gender affirmation process
“Het” abbreviation for heterosexual
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF)
Center for Scholars and Storytellers (CSS)
CSS’ AIR Report
The Vito Russo Test
The Writers Guild of America 2020 Inclusion Report (statistical source)
UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report 2020 (statistical source)
Understand racial bias communicated via television nonverbal behavior
Quote from CSS - “Many believed having a Black president…”
LGBTQ+ lead characters in TV and film stats
API 1 protagonist in top-grossing film
Dr. Sheila Murphy’s study out of USC about the impact of narrative vs non-narrative film on public health outcomes for women. (Correction from the podcast: This study was published in 2015, not 2012.)
DEI workshops through CSS

About Our Guests:
Ruthie Fierberg, Host
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater

Melissa Li
www.melissali.com/ @melsaboo

Kit Yan
www.kityanpoet.com/ @kityanpoet

Sheena Brevig
@sheenamidori / CSS IG @scholarsandstorytellers

AC Dumlao
IG: @mx.acdumlao/ T: @mxacdumlao

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1 hr 12 min
November 25, 2021 Why We Theater NOW: November 2021
Host Ruthie Fierberg recommends the most thought-provoking and moving pieces of New York theatre she’s seen to date. These plays and musicals bring to life issues in our society, which make them ripe for discussion. Each is further proof of why we theater. Some of these shows may become full episodes in the future. Some of them relate to past episodes. All of them will appeal to your taste if you love Why We Theater. Ruthie wants to be sure you have the opportunity to see them live onstage if you’re near New York or planning a visit, or that these titles are on your list if there happen to be streaming releases, a regional production, or tour that comes to a theatre near you.

Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord
New York Theatre Workshop Off-Broadway
Streaming through December 14, 2021
Buy a streaming pass here.

Thoughts of a Colored Man
Broadway
Tickets on sale through March 20, 2022
Buy tickets here.

Trouble In Mind
Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway
Tickets on sale through January 9, 2022
Buy tickets here.

The Trevor Musical
Stage 42 Off-Broadway
Tickets on sale through April 17, 2022
Buy tickets here.

Get in touch with Ruthie!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 min
November 18, 2021 RINSE, REPEAT meets Brave Girl Eating
Harriet Brown’s memoir Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle With Anorexia is a must-read for anyone looking to better understand eating disorders after last week’s episode “RINSE, REPEAT and Eating Disorders.”

The book serves as a fitting companion to Domenica Feraud’s Off-Broadway play Rinse, Repeat. Though the drama portrays a family’s struggle with this disease, the main perspective is Rachel’s. In our panel last episode, Domenica and expert Johanna Kandel shared personal experiences as people who have struggled with an eating disorder; Dr. Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodriguez offered the point of view of a researcher and clinician who specializes in eating disorders. In Brave Girl Eating, the perspective is that of a mother trying to help her daughter survive this mental illness. Hear more about the book and what you’ll glean from reading it.

Read Rinse, Repeat here.

Find a copy of Brave Girl Eating.

About Our Guests:
Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
11 min
November 11, 2021RINSE, REPEAT and Eating Disorders
Eating disorders affect 29 million Americans (9 percent of the population). Every 52 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies as a direct result of their eating disorder. Guided by Domenica Feraud’s rapturous play RINSE, REPEAT, this week we delve into eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, orthorexia, and every eating disorder on the spectrum.

Host Ruthie Fierberg and Feraud unite with experts Dr. Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodriguez (researcher and clinical psychologist and fellow at the Academy for Eating Disorders) and Johanna Kandel (founder and CEO of The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness) to understand how to recognize if you or a loved one suffers from an ED; the stigma surrounding EDs; the true spectrum of EDs; the gaps in the medical system in treating EDs; EDs across cultures, particularly in the Latinx community; the economy and effects of diet culture; how and where you can find help for yourself or a loved ones; and legislation that will make ED treatment more accessible.

Read the play here.

About Our Guests:
Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Domenica Feraud, playwright
domenicaferaud.com

Dr. Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodriguez, PhD., FAED
med.unc.edu

Johanna Kandel, founder and CEO of The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness
Follow her on Instagram: @johannakandel @allianceforeda

Create the change
Call The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness (866-622-1235 or click here).
Join a free weekly clinician-led support group through the Alliance.
Please do not comment on the way anybody looks.
Do not label food “good” or “bad” or “junk”. All food in moderation.
Listen when someone tells you they are struggling with eating, especially if you are a medical practitioner.
Sign up for Action Alerts from the Eating Disorders Coalition (EDC) to easily sign petitions when legislation reaches Congress.
Donate to the EDC.
Support the bipartisan Nutrition CARE Act. (Learn more here.)
Support the SERVE Act. (Learn more here.)
Advocate for culturally sensitive treatment of eating disorders across cultures.
Learn more about Health At Every Size.
Referred to in this episode
2019 Playbill interview between Ruthie and Domenica
Understanding the word “recovery” relating to EDs
Statistics and research on eating disorders from National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
Racial and ethnic bias in ED care, specifically for Latinx people

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1 hr 14 min
November 04, 2021 WITNESS UGANDA meets The Good Doctor
Beloved medical drama THE GOOD DOCTOR has a lot to teach us. Beyond its premise—following the evolution of Dr. Shaun Murphy, a physician on the autism spectrum, and the hospital and its employees around him—and beyond its weekly case, the ABC television series also demonstrates the use of the strengths model in foreign aid. Expert Ana Jiménez-Bautista taught us the definition and importance of the strengths model in last week’s episode “Witness Uganda and Ethical Foreign Aid.” So this week, we connect musical theatre to television, Witness Uganda to The Good Doctor.

Witness Uganda creator Griffin Matthews also emphasized the importance of international travel during last episode’s discussion. In this mini-episode, we also look to Rick Steves for his decades-worth of thoughts on how traveling is a political act and the greatest weapon against hate.

Watch The Good Doctor on ABC or Hulu.

Read “Rick Steves Wants to Set You Free” by Sam Anderson.

Listen to the full episode on “OSLO and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

Connect with your host!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
13 min

About Why We Theater

From the publisher's feed

Social justice meets theatre in this podcast from Playbill’s former Executive Editor Ruthie Fierberg. Artists and experts unite for curated panels, using plays and musicals (Broadway, Off-Broadway,…