Anna Deavere Smith and Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean To Headline Long Wharf Theatre's Artistic Congress

Long Wharf Theatre, in partnership with Yale Schwarzman Center, has announced that Anna Deavere Smith and Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean will be the keynote speakers at the Artistic Congress, a three-day convening focused on fostering collaboration and conversations on the future of theater and its vital importance to expression, equity and democracy. The Congress will take place at Yale Schwarzman Center and other venues around downtown New Haven, from October 25th through the 27th. Deavere Smith, the 2024–2025 Artist in Residence at Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts, and Dr. Brown-Dean will hold a joint conversation on Saturday evening.

Anna Deavere Smith (notable credits include Netflix's Inventing Anna, ABC's For the People and Black-ish, Nurse Jackie, The West Wing, The American President, Philadelphia, Ghosted and Rachel Getting Married) is an actress, playwright, teacher and author credited with creating a new form of theater. Deavere Smith's work combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance, which embodies the democratic purpose of the Artistic Congress. Her dedication to the human experience resulted in the creation of more than fifteen one-person shows based on hundreds of interviews. 

In 2008 Long Wharf Theatre produced the world premiere of Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy, which was featured in PBS's Great Performances. President Obama awarded Deavere Smith the National Humanities Medal in 2013, and she serves on President Biden's Committee for Arts and Humanities. Additional honors include the MacArthur Award, The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for Achievement in the Arts, the George Polk Career Award in Journalism, the Dean's Medal from Stanford University Medical School, Obie Awards and two Tony nominations. She was also runner up for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1993. 

"Anna's career is a testament to the transformative power of the arts and our responsibility as artists to not only craft inspiring performances but to break barriers and foster a sense of shared humanity across our work,” said Jacob Padron, Long Wharf Theatre's Artistic Director. “ We're honored that her speech will open a full weekend dedicated to exploring how the arts can serve as a catalyst for social change, promote civic engagement and ultimately strengthen the foundations of our democracy."

“Yale Schwarzman Center is honored to partner with Long Wharf Theatre on the Artistic Congress, a program that holds special meaning to us during the Theatre's 60th anniversary. With the Congress, we are reminded of the essential roles that arts and humanities play in our society and their ability to generate lasting social impact,” said Rachel Fine, Yale Schwarzman Center's Executive Director “We are especially pleased to welcome Anna Deavere Smith and Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean to our stage and join with Long Wharf Theatre in the call to action for vital conversations that shape our communities and effect positive change."

Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean, the Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and Executive Director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life at Wesleyan University and a respected public intellectual, brings a vital perspective to this conversation. As a commentator and author, her work on democracy, race, and civic engagement addresses some of the most pressing issues in contemporary society. That's something Dr. Brown-Dean also explores as host of Connecticut Public's award-winning talk show and podcast, Disrupted, where she brings together changemakers to help us see the world differently and challenge us to grow together. Dr. Brown-Dean's ability to dissect the intersection of identity and politics offers crucial insights into the ways that art and policy shape public discourse. Her voice is particularly important to this discussion as she highlights how inclusive engagement can foster meaningful social change, resonating deeply with the themes explored in Anna Deavere Smith's work.

In recent years, Long Wharf Theatre has charted its own way forward in the industry, implementing an innovative new model bringing performances to venues across the New Haven region. With each piece of programming and community engagement, Long Wharf Theatre centers its belief that theater is for everyone. Likewise, Yale Schwarzman Center is a commons where art, culinary and wellness experiences converge to build bridges, nurture creativity and foster kinship and belonging.

“As an artist, my work is deeply rooted in my desire to understand the complexities of our society. Equity and democracy are two fundamental values that continue to shape my perspective and inspire my storytelling,” said Anna Deavere Smith. “I'm honored to present the keynote with Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean at such a momentous time for the arts and for our country, and I'm eager to witness the conversations and ideas that come out of Long Wharf Theatre's Artistic Congress.”  

In addition to Deavere Smith's speech, another highlight of the Congress will be Civic Scores, co-designed and co-facilitated by Michael Rohd, in partnership with Long Wharf Theatre. Michael, Director of Co-Lab for Civic Imagination at the University of Montana and artist for Civic Imagination, Center for Performance and Civic Practice will collaborate with three local artists who will each utilize their own creative practice to build opportunities for a public exchange that supports democracy and discourse, alongside community partners. Artists include Sun Queen, Rob Esposito partnering with students from Co-op, and Luciana Q. McClure. Participants in the Congress will participate in these scores and explore together how creative approaches can provide safe spaces for vital conversations that have the power to expand collective civic awareness.

Anna Deavere Smith's conversation with Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean will take place on Saturday, October 26th at 7:30pm, alongside additional esteemed voices throughout the weekend including Eisa Davis, Ty Defoe (Ojibwe + Oneida Nations), Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi,  Madeleine Hutchins (Dawnland Voices, Mohegan),  Ra Joy (NEA), Judy Lichtman, Todd London, Patricia McGregor, Jennifer Newman (Yale Schwarzman Center), Joseph Roach, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Nisha Sajnani, Candyce Testa (Pequot), and Stephanie Ybarra (Mellon Foundation).

Weekend passes for Artistic Congress will be available for $126, and single keynote tickets will be available at a Pay What You Can price. Tickets and more information about the event can be found at https://www.longwharf.org/events/artistic-congress. 

Immediately following the Artistic Congress Finale, Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts will present the first public staged reading of Smith's "This Ghost of Slavery: A Play of Past and Present," published in The Atlantic in 2023. Co-produced with the Long Wharf Theatre, the staged reading will take place on Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 3pm in Crowell Concert Hall on Wesleyan's campus in Middletown, Connecticut. The event is co-sponsored by Wesleyan's Center for the Humanities and presented as part of the University initiative Democracy 2024. For more information about the staged reading, please visit https://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa/events/anna-deavere-smith-residency.html

About Long Wharf Theatre

Birthed during America's regional theatre movement, Long Wharf Theatre (Jacob G. Padrón, Artistic Director; Kit Ingui, Managing Director) opened its doors on July 4, 1965 with an inaugural production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Founded on the notion that New Haven deserves an active culture that is locally created and supported by community leaders and patrons of the arts, Long Wharf Theatre, guided by its three core pillars of artistic innovation, radical inclusion, and kaleidoscopic partnerships, continues to build on an extraordinary body of more than 400 world-class productions that represent the best of classic plays, beloved musicals, and world premieres–including three winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: D.L. Colburn's The Gin Game, Michael Cristopher's The Shadow Box, and Margaret Edson's Wit. Recognized for a historic commitment to commissioning, developing, and producing new plays that expand the canon of the American theatre, including works by Anna Deavere Smith, Paula Vogel, Tracey Scott Wilson, Lloyd Suh, Tina Landau, Whitney White, Ricardo Pérez González, and Dominique Morrisseau, Long Wharf Theatre transferred more than 30 successful productions to Broadway or Off-Broadway.

Among the earliest recipients of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre productions have won numerous accolades, including Tony, New York Drama Critics' Circle, and Obie Awards; a Margo Jones Award; and nominations and Connecticut Critics Circle Awards in nearly every category. In 2015, the company received the 50 Years of Achievement in Theatre award from National Corporate Theatre Fund and the Major Award for Outstanding Contributions to New England Theatre, the highest honor from New England Theatre Conference.

Under current leadership, and in partnership with a dedicated staff and Board, Long Wharf Theatre aspires to be a company with, by, and for the Greater New Haven community. Engineering stories that represent an inclusive culture–in all its complexities–it is amplifying the voices of living playwrights and artists of color. Long Wharf Theatre is doubling down on its commitment to new work while broadening collaborations with synergistic partners, discovering new pathways to nurture the best new American voices for theatre. In 2022, Long Wharf Theatre entered another bold chapter in its storied history when the company moved out of its physical home of nearly 60 years to activate venues, neighborhoods, and public spaces throughout its city and region to bring theatre to everyone.

About Yale Schwarzman Center:

Based in New Haven, Connecticut, and located in the historic heart of the Yale University campus, Yale Schwarzman Center is a commons for university life where art, culinary, and wellness experiences converge to build bridges, nurture creativity, and foster kinship and belonging. Positioned at the crux of social cohesion, creativity, and self-expression, the Center includes several flexible spaces in which members of the Yale and New Haven communities engage through free, public programming that ranges from the intimate to the grand. The Center's iconic building—constructed in 1901, rebirthed in 2022 following a renovation by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and recognized for excellence by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art—has recently been the site for world premieres and commissions by Nathalie Joachim, Bryce Dessner, and Ash Fure, to name a few. The Center's impact extends well beyond its walls through programming and programmatic partnerships within its home city and across the country.

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