Research

Civilians’ R&D In Process: Chance/Chaos Encounters That Led To The Creation of “INSHALLAH”

R&D Group member Divya Mangwani invites you into the creative process behind her project through a game of Pachisi.

Amplifiers and Takers: Approaches to Interview-Based Playmaking

Read The Civilians' Associate Artist KJ Sanchez talk about ethically producing interview-based theater in this joint essay with Michael DeWhatley originally published on HowlRound.

Civilians’ R&D In-Process: I’ve Been To The Mountaintop

R&D Group members AriDy Nox and Jacinth Greywoode discuss their research trip to Monticello for their new musical, Black Girl In Paris.

Civilians’ R&D In Process: Moderating The Internet

R&D Group member Ken Urban provides a glimpse into the interview process for his upcoming project, The Moderate.

Civilians’ R&D In Process: An Interview With Director & Playwright Tylie Shider

Cinematographer Nick Clausen interviews Tylie Shider on their film and Tylie's R&D play, both inspired by the signage art created in protest of the murder of George Floyd.

Civilians’ R&D In Process: An Interview Between Emily Lyon and Reynaldo Piniella

R&D Members Emily Lyon and Reynaldo Piniella discuss the creation of their theater game inspired by climate justice and community activism.

Civilians’ R&D In Process: Michael Alvarez on Transcendent Theatre

In our R&D In Process Series, members of our 2019-20 R&D Group take us behind-the-scenes of their projects in development. Today, Michael Alvarez reflects on the need for innovative uses of space in contemporary theater, and his work on Jason Tseng's immersive play "Sanctuary."

Civilians’ R&D In Process: Between Cultures, Between Texts, Between Worlds (Entre Culturas, Entre Textos, Entre Mundos)

Kathleen Capdesuñer discusses her work directing Matt Barbot's "Drown My Book" as part of the Civilians' 2019-20 R&D Group.

Announcing the Ninth Annual R&D Group FINDINGS Series – now online! – and opening applications for the 2020-2021 R&D Group

The Civilians presents the ninth annual R&D Group FINDINGS Series, running 5/29-6/29, and opens applications for the 2020-21 R&D Group.

Civilians’ R&D In Process: Directing Theater Now

In our R&D In Process Series, members of our 2019-20 R&D Group take us behind-the-scenes of their projects in development. Today, Whitney Mosery discusses directing theater in an uncertain moment and her work on Kate Douglas and Grace McLean's musical "Against Women & Music!" It will receive a work-in-progress showing on June 29 at 3pm.

Expanding Where, Why, How, and With Whom Artists in the United States Work

Jan Cohen-Cruz invites theater makers working in community-based and socially engaged art in the United States to take part in research about commonalities across the field, the practices and principles adhered to, where people work and with whom, and more.

Civilians’ R&D In Process: AFRIKAN•ISCH

Ilana Becker interviewed R&D Group member Darrel Alejandro Holnes about his research process and his impetus for writing AFRIKAN•ISCH, a new play cycle drawing on ethnographic interviews Holnes conducted within Black communities in Berlin. Black Feminist Video Game, the first work in the cycle, will receive a work-in-progress showing on 6/24.

Introducing the 2020 R&D In Process Series on Extended Play

R&D Group Program Director Ilana Becker introduces the six projects in development in the 2019-20 R&D Group. Over the next several weeks, Extended Play will be publishing interviews, songs, articles and more from the R&D artists, including previews of their work and behind-the-scenes insights into their diverse research processes.

Sam Chanse on the Science of Trauma in “What You Are Now”

In this interview, playwright Sam Chanse discusses the workshop process for her new play "What You Are Now," and shares some of the things she read, watched, and listened to while she was writing it.

Trap Music Meets Investigative Theater in Stacey Rose’s TRAPT

In this interview with Extended Play, the creative team behind "TRAPT," a new devised investigative theater piece about trap music, discusses their creative process and ongoing reckoning with trap music in advance of a presentation at Joe's Pub on December 16.

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