Co-Creating Theater Online and Off (or IRL)

Sunday, October 29, 2:00pm – 3:15pm

Organized and moderated by Amanda Thompson, Program Officer, Arts, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Presented by Elisa Marina Alvarado, Co-director and former Artistic Director, Teatro Vision; Matt Cosper, Artistic Director, XOXO; and Adrienne Mackey, Founding Executive Director, Swim Pony Performing Arts.

In this interactive session, participants will experience the work of three theater companies that engage audiences online and in real life (IRL) to create original works of theater. From The End, a play by Swim Pony that is structured as an online game, to #CAKE, which unfolds over social media/site-specific performance, to community story circles used by Teatro Vision, participants will experience what it is like to participate in theater that is cocreated. They will learn how grantmakers can determine the quality of these types of participatory projects and what types of resources grantees need to be successful. The session will explore how the three shows funded by the Knight Foundation unfolded in Charlotte, San Jose, and Philadelphia and how grantmakers can support technology experiments in the way art is created.