Emit Theatre Announces New Leadership

Emit Theatre announced today the appointment of Victoria Giambalvo, José Noel, and Nicole Orabona as Co-Artistic Directors. Giambalvo, Noel and Orabona have all served as ensemble members of the company and will take on leadership roles previously held by Artistic Director Gianna Cioffi and Executive Director Hannah Johnson-Walsh.

This move comes as an effort to de-centralize leadership and allow for a sharing of workloads and appropriate work-life balance among company members. Ms. Cioffi will stay on as Director of Pedagogy and Research, while Ms. Johnson-Walsh will make a shift to Director of Finance and Development. Additionally, ensemble members J.F. Seary and Lily Lipman will be promoted to the positions of Director of Education and Director of Accessibility, respectively.

The new triumvirate of Artistic Directors come from a variety of backgrounds. José Noel (he/him) is a director, stage manager and set designer. He recently got his B.A. in Theatre and FS: Africa, PR/Lat Studies at Hunter College. Victoria Giambalvo (she/they) is a theatre and film actor, writer, and producer currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Nicole Orabona (she/hers) is a collaborative theatre maker who has been part of over 30 immersive and interactive productions.

"Emit Theatre is a company that I'm immensely proud of," says José Noel. "From adapting to a virtually setting in a pandemic and being able to be accessible for all children. I see the challenges that we are facing at this moment, but I also see the amazing different possibilities to come. I'm joining with some awesome other co-artistic directors, and I know with our shared vision for the company, that it will bloom into something more."

"I hope to continue Emit's goal of exploring methods of creating accessible theatre for all," adds Victoria Giambalvo, "A personal goal for this position is to bring Emit programming to my new home in Scotland, hopefully starting with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!"

"I am excited to move into this position and continue Emit's commitment to dismantling the traditional way of making theatre," says Nicole Orabona. "By prioritizing the health and wellbeing of our ensemble, we will be able to make theatre for young audiences that is joyful, educational, and accessible."

Mission: Emit Theatre is an immersive educational theatre company committed to creating theatrical experiences through which learners of all kinds have the freedom to explore stories through direct interactions. At our core is a dedication to inclusive learning through the arts, placing artists and audiences side by side to provide one-of-a-kind opportunities for wonder and discovery. We are committed to sharing high-quality adaptations of Shakespeare and innovative new works with diverse young audiences in non-traditional settings and ADA compliant spaces. We invite each audience member to approach our productions from their own curiosity with a high level of agency.

History: Emit Theatre is a 501c3 organization originally founded by Gianna Cioffi, Amy Frey, Jo'Lisa Jones, and Amanda Urban, formed from a desire to create immersive theater that held education at its core and could be easily shared to impact as many people as possible. The collaboration began with an immersive production of Romeo and Juliet at BrooklynONE as part of the Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival. The production closed after an extended run and uniformly positive reviews.

Drawing from their diverse experiences in both interactive theatre and education, the team saw the potential for the immersive format to be used to educate students struggling with literacy comprehension. Their theory was put to the test as part of Gianna and Amanda's master's thesis project at The City College of New York. Using previous productions as a template, this version of Romeo and Juliet was specifically crafted to appeal to the average high school student. The project sought to create greater connection between the students and the characters in order to maximize comprehension. Data was recorded at every stage of the project. The research was awarded the Edward W. Stitt Memorial Fund grant for demonstrating excellence in research in an educational field in 2016.

Propelled by the data findings and the audience response of the first phases of the project, Emit Theatre was officially formed.

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