The People vs. The NEA
The Civilians
March 7, 2025
As the ACLU files a lawsuit against the NEA, we are sharing the original February open letter written in protest of discriminatory guidelines.
As the ACLU files a lawsuit against the NEA, we are sharing the original February open letter written in protest of discriminatory guidelines.
In 2017, Kirsten Greenidge suggested that the playwrights’ responsibility in challenging times was to remain: present, agile and full of questions. What can her words tell us in these times?
How might we, as theater artists, respond to the current crisis in Palestine? Beto O’Byrne offers some ideas, answers, and responses.
Bright Phumayo Chayachaya and Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. discuss producing political theater in Malawi and the relationship between politics, the arts, and the government.
MFA Dramaturgy student Kate Foster dives into NYU’s Verbatim Performance Lab and its potential to counter white supremacy.
Discussing the Court Theatre’s recent production of Owen McCafferty’s play Titanic: Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912, the parallels to current issues in American society and its use of sound design bring the courtroom drama close to home.
Blair Nodelman discusses why theatremakers are so well-suited to deeply understanding the political machine and work toward dismantling the status quo.
In this update from The Civilians’ Associate Artist community, Quincy Tyler Bernstine talks about the creation of her “New York Daily News” op-ed and the future of “Three Sisters” at New York Theatre Workshop.
Reunited after the shutdown, the cast of Theater of War Production’s “Antigone in Ferguson” provide comfort to the afflicted just as they did when the show first premiered in 2016.
In their first live performance since the shutdown, two theater veterans read Frederick Douglass’s historic speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” on its 168th anniversary, baptizing Brooklyn’s Black Lives Matter mural.
Moscow-based director Anastasia Patlay discusses the power of documentary theatre to elevate the voices of those who are not typically represented on stage in today’s Russia.
Ten years after “The Great Immensity,” received a National Science Foundation grant that drew the ire of Congressional Republicans, The Civilians’ Artistic Director Steve Cosson discusses the complicated relationship between the government and arts organizations.
On this Juneteenth, organizations to support and actions you can take to fight for racial justice in New York City.
Kathleen Capdesuñer discusses her work directing Matt Barbot’s “Drown My Book” as part of the Civilians’ 2019-20 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.
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