Wingspace Virtual Salon #43: Theatre Work
Image Description:
Bold graphic text with information about the event over a white background with black line illustrations of some of the tools that are used in the theatre making process, including: a tape measure, a level, a stopwatch, measuring tape, an architectural scale ruler, and a rotary cutter.
Theatre makers: have you ever been told you should be thankful to have a job? That it’s great to have work you like even if it doesn’t pay you? Have you ever felt like passion should pay your bills? Have you ever been told to minimize your issue so the show can go on? Have you been told you have to “pay your dues” by working long hours in potentially unsafe conditions, and getting paid near nothing?Have you worked on a project where the pay doesn’t equal the scale, scope, or resources you are expected to put in for the name of the art? Many of us got into this field and remain for the love of the form and the joy of collaboration. However, this love doesn't change the fact that this work is a job. In Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production (Focal Press, 2024), Brídín Clements Cotton and Natalie Robin investigate the question of artmaking, specifically theatrical production, as work. Join Wingspace for a conversation around aligning values with the work it takes to bring live performance to life. Moderated by Kate Freer
Sunday, February 23rd, 12pm ET / 9am PT via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8350351397
Wingspace is committed to inclusivity and we are dedicated to increasing accessibility for all our events. ASL and live transcription available. If you have questions or concerns centered around access or accommodations we invite you to connect via DM or email: salons@wingspace.com
Natalie Robin is a Philadelphia-based lighting designer, educator and organizer. She is the co-author of Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2024). She believes that design is dramaturgy and her work expresses emotional narratives through light as an ephemeral and time-based medium. She uses she/her pronouns. She loves musicals.
Natalie is the full-time staff organizer for United Scenic Artists / IATSE Local USA 829. She aims to advocate for transparency, inclusion and deepened organizing within the union and community.
From 2017-2023, Natalie was the Program Director of Theater Design & Technology in the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has led international workshops to help educators engage with design students by deconstructing the traditional capitalist, hierarchical, ego-driven collaborative structure. She has also been a contributing writer for Live Design and Stage Directions.
Brídín Clements Cotton (she/her) is an arts manager, educator, and mixed media artist; as well as co-author Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2024). Currently arts instructor for stage and project management at NYU Abu Dhabi, she has held a variety of management and teaching roles at arts organizations and educational institutions. Most recently as a theatremaker, Brídín stage managed the developmental workshop production of Wole Soyinka’s new play, Canticles for a Pyre Foretold. Her approach to facilitating collaboration is driven by belief in the potential for theatre as a space for human connection and interest in how gatherings can create collective meaning.