Generation Now Theatre Partnership Provides Update on Progress in 2023, 2024

The five theatres of the landmark Generation Now partnership (Latino Theater Company, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Native Voices, Penumbra, and Children’s Theatre Company) have announced the progress made in the development of multiple commissions by BIPOC artists, of new works for multigeneration audiences.
 

The current commissions include Michi Barall’s Drawing Lessons, Dustin Tahmahkera’s Comanche Girl on the Moon, Ifa Bayeza’s One Small Alice,  Gabriel Rivas Gómez’s Level Up, Kalani Queypo and Chadwick Johnson’s The Mainlanders, Lloyd Suh and Diana Oh’s The Science Fair Project, Nambi E. Kelley’s Untitled Commission, and Folklórico, a work exploring the world of folklórico dance created by Latino Theater Company.
 

“We are thrilled to be working in partnership with the extraordinary leaders of Generation Now,” said Children’s Theatre Company Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius. “These are all remarkable individuals who lead critically important theatre companies. Creating these new plays together offers a way for the American theatre to develop important new audiences, find equitable and respectful ways to partner and give voice to artists whose stories need to be told. It is an honor and a joy to bring this work to life and to have the expertise and insights of these artists remaking our field.”
 

Each of these eight commissions are co-commissions in which both theatres were involved in the selection of the artists and the subject matter, and have worked together on the play’s development through readings, workshops, and dramaturgical conversations. It is anticipated that each of the projects will go through multiple drafts and revisions before its premiere.
 

The aim of Generation Now is that each play or musical will be produced by each of the commissioning theatres. These may be co-productions or completely independent productions. The co-productions may involve  sharing actors, creative teams, and designs, or simply sharing the physical production or some other way of collaborating.  The co-commissioning theatres will determine how each of their projects will be produced.