Director Kendra Ware Selected As The 2022 Lloyd Richards New Futures Resident Artist At Actors Theatre Of Louisville

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) have announced that director and multi-disciplinary artist Kendra Ware has been selected as the 2022 Lloyd Richards New Futures Resident Artist at Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, KY, where she will work with Executive Artistic Director Robert Barry Fleming. SDCF, the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), launched this program during the pandemic to create a visionary strategy for supporting BIPOC artists during the field's re-emergence.

Named for the legendary leader of the American theatre, the Lloyd Richard New Futures Residency supports mid-career BIPOC directors or choreographers who are interested in artistic leadership through a year-long residency at a regional theatre, where they will work with forward-thinking artistic directors; a meaningful role at the theatre and the opportunity to direct or choreograph a production within three years following the residency's conclusion are guaranteed.

The program provides extraordinary access while positioning artists of color for advanced opportunities to lead. As Resident Artist, Ware will receive a $40,000 grant along with access to health insurance and additional assistance with housing and travel.

Says Fleming, "I'm ecstatic to have this dynamic, multi-hyphenate artist, Kendra Ware, join us here at Actors Theatre of Louisville. That her residency coincides with the advancement of our Storytelling (R)evolution Lab is enormously exciting as I expect her gifts as an artist of rigorous interrogation and joyous play will be impactful to this process-oriented R&D new work container. Kendra will not only be a great contributor to Actors, but I fully expect she will leave a lasting impression on the

North American theatrical ecosystem much like the program's namesake. It's with tremendous gratitude to SDCF for this opportunity that we get the privilege to celebrate Lloyd Richards' legacy by building meaningful creative partnership with Kendra."

A self-proclaimed experimental urban griot, Ware creates hybrid staged environments using experimental approaches to art-making, live performance, video, and installation to explore the intersections of race, gender, class, cultural politics, and identity while challenging social norms and notions of otherness.

Said Anne Kauffman, Chair of the Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency Selection Committee, "We are thrilled about the residency placement of Kendra Ware at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Through this program, SDCF seeks to build relationships between artists and artistic directors and create an avenue for visionary institutional leadership in our industry. We cannot wait to see what the year will bring and as always, we are honored to lift the legacy of the extraordinary Lloyd Richards through this opportunity."

The selection committee also included Justin Emeka, Kent Gash, and Chay Yew as well as Amelia Acosta Powell, Impact Producer and Emily Tarquin, Artistic Producer of Actors Theatre of Louisville. Scott Richards served as an advisor.

The 2022 Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency is made possible with support from the Miranda Family Fund, Jujamcyn Theaters, Judi & Douglas Krupp, Concord Theatricals, Allison Thomas, as well as support through the SDCF fellowship funds named for Shepard and Mildred Traube and Sir John Gielgud, and many generous individuals.

For more information about the program, please visit https://sdcfoundation.org/sdcf-lloyd-richards-new-futures-residency-2/.

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