The Old Globe Presents COCKTAILS WITH THE CANON

The Old Globe today announced the release of its latest podcast, Cocktails with the Canon, an interview-based series hosted by colleagues and friends, the Globe's Literary Manager and Dramaturg Danielle Mages Amato and Artistic Associate Lamar Perry.

Through a series of informal but hard-hitting conversations, Amato and Perry will take audiences on a journey that investigates the "traditional" Western dramatic canon, along with the writers, groups, identities, and aesthetics that have historically been excluded. Over the course of the season, they will welcome to the podcast an acclaimed group of American playwrights to reflect on the forces that have historically shaped-and continue to shape-the American theatrical canon, and to discuss the works they consider canonical within their own communities. The hosts and guests will also dive into personal stories and share their dreams and action plans for the future of the American theatre. Ultimately the podcast hopes to ask the question: how can we expand the canon and create access for all? Listeners will walk away from Cocktails with the Canon feeling like they've just left a night at the theatre and a gathering with their community over drinks and food. Cheers!

Cocktails with the Canon will premiere on Thursday, May 13, and new episodes will become available bi-weekly on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Music, and Podbean. The trailer is currently available and can be streamed and downloaded at those links.

The first episode will feature playwright Lauren Yee, and the podcast will continue with playwrights Dave Harris, Donja R. Love, Ryan Victor Pierce or "Opalanietet", Whitney White, and Karen Zacarías. Each interview is curated in collaboration with the episode's playwright to ensure that safe space is facilitated for open and honest conversation that is not a monolithic representation of the various communities and identities these artists hold.

"Even as we look forward to our return to live theatre production, the Globe continues to provide virtual and digital programming in many forms, including this dynamic and fascinating new podcast," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Lamar Perry and Danielle Mages Amato have curated a remarkable series of conversations with some of the most provocative thinkers in the American theatre, and the ideas that ping through this podcast express some very big themes about who the American theatre is for, what work stands center stage, and how rich voices that have been excluded need to be heard loudly. Lamar and Danielle lead this exploration with all the wit, humor, and insight that make them central to the Globe's artistic life, and to the field at large. I raise my glass to them and their guests, and urge Globe audiences to listen in."

"This podcast, and the conversations we've been having with artists about the idea of 'canon' in the theatre right now, have been so powerful and transformative for me," said Literary Manager and Dramaturg Danielle Mages Amato. "I'm excited to welcome audiences to join us at this table where we're gathering with friends and colleagues for a series of fun, relevant, eye-opening, necessary, and often challenging conversations about the theatre-where it has been and where we imagine it can go."

"This series," said Artistic Associate Lamar Perry, "is an invitation to imagination, something I believe we're desperately in need of in the American theatre at the moment. I'm particularly mindful of not asking People of the Global Majority to reckon with fixing a system they did not create nor break, but rather to ask: what do you dream of, and who inspired those dreams? No sole person is the proprietor of right when it comes to restorative justice, in my opinion, but I do believe that through collaboration, accountability, and grace we can begin a systemic reimagining. I hope these conversations can contribute to that."

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