Milwaukee Repertory Theater Hosts First Of Its Kind Intersections Summit

“What’s always moved me most about the theater is its capacity to build community. It is a communal experience. By definition. In an age of virtuality, it requires presence. The presence of performers, of an audience. At its best, theater creates a sense of shared experience and sparks a conversation in a way no other art form can.” – Ayad Akhtar, Milwaukee Rep Associate Artist

October 18, 2017- [Milwaukee] –Milwaukee Repertory Theater will host the first of its kind, Intersections Summit, a national convening for community engagement practitioners in regional theaters across the country. As theaters continue to add community engagement practices to their institutions at increasing frequency, the Intersections Summit will be a platform for reflection, inquiry, and collaboration.

“The first line of Milwaukee Rep’s mission is to ignite positive change in the cultural, social, and economic vitality of its community, which means that Community Engagement is as vital to us as the art on our stages,” said Managing Director Chad Bauman. “By hosting the Intersections Summit, we hope to provide a space for regional theater community engagement practitioners to come together, share resources and increase our capacity for nationwide collective impact.”

At the heart of the Intersections Summit is the recognition that community engagement efforts constantly intersect with the work of others—with colleagues in other areas of our organizations, with organizers and leaders in our communities, with donors, trustees, audiences, and artists. The Intersections Summit is an opportunity for practitioners and supporters of community engagement to name the tensions and the strengths that occur at these intersections, to build collective capacity across institutional and geographical borders, and to envision a future for community engagement in the American theater.

The Intersections Summit planning committee includes Milwaukee Rep’s Director of Community Engagement Cortney McEniry, Marcie Bramucci (People’s Light), Elizabeth Broderson (A.C.T), Leah Harris (Dallas Theater Center), Anita Maynard-Losh (Arena Stage), Chris Moses (Alliance Theatre), Erica Nagel (McCarter Theatre Center), Nabra Nelson (Milwaukee Rep), Jesus Reyes (Center Theatre), Willa Taylor (Goodman Theatre), Jenny Toutant (Milwaukee Rep), and Mark Valdez (Mixed Blood, Alliance Theater)

Support for the Intersections Summit is provided by Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Mpact Program, a new initiative designed to use the theater’s assets to create bridges between disparate communities, bring us together in the examination of varying worldviews, and discover creative ways in which programming can address community needs and maximize our collective opportunities. Mpact is generously supported by Northwestern Mutual, the Lubar Family Fund for Engagement and Education and the Herzfeld Foundation.  Participation in the Intersections Summit is free of charge.

The Intersections Summit Keynote speaker is Carmen Morgan, founder and director of artEquity, a national program that provides tools, resources, and training to support the intersection of art and activism. Additional speakers and session presenters to be announced in January.

The Intersections Summit will take place this March 23-25, 2018 at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com/IntersectionsSummit for more information.

About Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Milwaukee Rep is a nationally-recognized company that presents compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and full-scale musicals housed in its three unique performance venues – the Quadracci Powerhouse, Stiemke Studio and Stackner Cabaret. The Rep also produces an annual production of A Christmas Carol, which featured a World Premiere adaptation in 2016, at the historic Pabst Theater.  Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Clements and Managing Director Chad Bauman, Milwaukee Repertory Theater ignites positive change in the cultural, social, and economic vitality of its community by creating world-class theater experiences that entertain, provoke, and inspire meaningful dialogue among an audience representative of Milwaukee’s rich diversity.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.