Sessions 

Dreaming for Our Freedom presented by Caitlyn McCain 
Workhop #1

Why has freedom become a controversial topic in America? Perhaps the controversy stems from our varied definitions of freedom. In this workshop we will explore how theatre might help us define freedom for ourselves and dream together about our collective freedom.

Caitlyn McCain (she/her) is an award-winning, black-mixed-queer NYC-based applied theatre practitioner, actor, educator, and voice professional. With an MA in Applied Theatre from the City University of New York and a BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Caitlyn believes theatre is the most powerful tool for connection, self-discovery, and social change. She has worked with diverse populations, including K-12 students across NYC, youth in transitional housing, LGBTQIA+ communities and neuro-divergent communities, focusing on social-emotional growth through a trauma-informed lens.

Developing Pre-Show Workshops For Challenging Content presented by Juan Manzo and Saawan Tiwari
Workshop #2

Juan Manzo is an Arts Education professional & advocate with over two decades of experience in the field. He has led arts education programs and professional development workshops in Arts Integration for teachers and young people in New York and California and has worked as a Teaching Artist and Arts Education Consultant for multiple organizations on both coasts.  He has worked for a stronger and more equitable arts education community in the Bay Area and is deeply committed to ensuring access to the arts to all students regardless of socioeconomic status or race.

SAAWAN TIWARI (they/she) is a costume designer based in New York City. They love to work on new and daring projects that expand the American theatre cannon and have always created their best work when they have positive collaborators who push and challenge them. Recent projects include cunnicularii, Picher Project, Sitayana, The Gospel According to Heather, and cityscrape.  Some other personal favorites include -Before the Flood, The Mountaintop, Bruise and Thorn, and Yerma. They have been a teaching artist for Roundabout for two years and specialize in costume design, costume construction, hair and makeup, and wardrobe.

Indie theater case study producing from head to tail: Mud or when things get messy and how we live with it presented by DaMonique Ballou and Camille Simone Thomas
Workshop #3

Through two productions, 2Plays2Days and Mud, Camille Simone Thomas and DaMonique Ballou created, engaged, and educated audiences about bipolar disorder. Using their experiences as case studies, this workshop intends to support arts-educators and theater-makers looking to develop healthy, caring, working communities. Participants will walk away having first articulated the aspects of theatre/ the creative process they are disillusioned with and what their dream collaborative/creative art-making process looks like.

Camille Simone Thomas (she/her) is a 5th generation Detroiter through her father’s side and a first-generation Jamaican through her mother’s. It’s important for her to name this because her work most often interrogates cultural legacies, familial healing, spirituality + ancestral wisdom, and the general kicking and screaming of how Black femmes get free despite the oppressive forces of colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. Her plays have been workshopped at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Sanguine Theatre Company, Blackboard Playwriting series, Lime Arts Theatre company, American Slavery Project, The Obie Award-winning Harlem9 and Detroit Public Theatre Company, Dixon Place, Workshop Theatre, Barter Theatre Company, The National Women's Theatre Festival, The Brick, and more! 

DaMonique Ballou (she/her) is a storyteller, producer, and educator. She co-produced “2PlaysDays”;self-produced a staged-reading of her one act; and co- produced a multimedia exhibit on bipolar disorder. She’s taught theater workshops through Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Columbia University and DreamYard. She’s an alumna of Barnard College and New York University Steinhardt. She thanks this cast, crew, the co-producers and Camille for having the faith to fulfill this vision. 

Cultural Transformation: Giving and Taking Notes presented by Alexa Smith
Workshop #4

Alexa Smith is Associate Artistic Director and Director of Cultural Transformation at The Public Theater. She also serves as the EDI director for Broadway’s HELL’S KITCHEN, a new musical by Alicia Keys originally produced at The Public Theater and directed by Michael Greif. She is the host of WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase” and founder of the Duncan Williams Voice Program for Black and Latinx artists. In 2023, she was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals.

She previously served as Associate Vice President for Strategic Innovation and Special Initiatives at Manhattan School of Music. She oversaw the creation of and led MSM’s Cultural Inclusion Initiative which fosters diversity, equity, and inclusive practices throughout the school. She also served as Interim Dean of Performance and Production overseeing all elements of all performances and stage productions. 

She holds degrees in voice from Roosevelt University and Manhattan School of Music and an MBA from Boston University.