The Ground at 20 at the 2016 TCG National Conference
(Photo by Bill Wade.)
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of “The Ground on Which I Stand,” August Wilson’s seminal remarks delivered at the TCG National Conference, we hosted The Ground at 20, an arc at the 2016 TCG National Conference to celebrate the legacies of veteran leaders of theatres of color. Over three days, The Ground at 20 featured intergenerational conversations about the visions of these leaders, the enduring impact of their theatres, and the current state of theatres of color in the field. These conversations were recorded as part of TCG’s Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project, which seeks to create a roadmap for future theatre leaders and raise broader cultural awareness about the essential value of theatres of color.
The Ground at 20: Independence and Reciprocity - The Latino Theater Company
Interviewed by Chantal Rodriguez of The Latino Theater Company
The Latino Theater Company (LTC) celebrates 30 years of commitment to the creation of exciting, thought-provoking theater in Los Angeles. Their mission at the LATC is to provide a world-class arts center for those pursuing artistic excellence; a laboratory where both tradition and innovation are honored and honed; a place where the convergence of people, cultures, and ideas contribute to the future. The members of the company include José Luis Valenzuela, Evelina Fernandez, Sal Lopez, Geoffrey Rivas, Lucy Rodriguez and the late Lupe Ontiveros.
The Ground at 20: John O’Neal, Free Southern Theater & Junebug Productions
John O'Neal co-founded the Free Southern Theater in 1963 as a cultural arm of the southern Civil Rights movement, and later founded Junebug Productions, a professional African-American arts organization in New Orleans. For FST, O'Neal worked as a field director for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and worked as national field program director with the Committee for Racial Justice. He has written eighteen plays, a musical comedy, poetry, and several essays, and has performed throughout the United States, Canada, France, and Scandinavia. He is the recipient of the Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, the United States Artists Award, and a Ford Foundation Award.
The Ground at 20: A Forward Stance featuring Jorge Ortoll, Ma-Yi Theater Co., interviewed by Snehal Desai of East West Players
Jorge Ortoll has been Executive Director of Ma-Yi since 1991, two years after the company was founded. A U.S. delegate to International Theatre Institute (ITI-UNESCO) Conferences since 2002. He is a founder and the steering committee of Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA). Recipient of the 2010 TOFA Award (Twenty Outstanding Filipinos Abroad). In December 2012, he was named an Outstanding Filipino Overseas by the Philippine Government, and conferred the award by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.
The Ground at 20: A Conversation, Native Voices at the Autry’s Randy Reinholz, interviewed by Jean Bruce Scott
Randy Reinholz, (Choctaw) co-creator and Producing Artistic Director of Native Voices at the Autry the nation's leading Equity theater company dedicated to the development and production of new plays by Native Americans for over 20 years. He is a director, producer, playwright, and actor on stage and screen, whose work has appeared regularly in Los Angeles for the past two decades; and in major venues in New York, Washington D.C., San Diego and major regional theaters and universities; urban and tribal communities across the US; and internationally in London, Toronto, Calgary, Tampico, Mexico; Adelaide and Brisbane, Australia.
The Ground at 20: Middle East, Center Stage featuring Torange Yeghiazarian, Golden Thread Productions, interviewed by Jamil Khoury of Silk Road Rising
Torange Yeghiazarian is the Founding Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East. Torange’s plays include Isfahan Blues, 444 Days, The Fifth String, Abaga, Waves, and Call Me Mehdi published in Salaam. Peace: An Anthology of Middle Eastern-American Drama, TCG 2009. Her articles on contemporary theatre in Iran have been published in The Drama Review, American Theatre magazine, Theatre Bay Area Magazine, and HowlRound. Born in Iran and of Armenian heritage, Torange holds a Master’s degree in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University.
To learn more about The Ground at 20, contact Elena Chang.