Margo Hall, Ely Sonny Orquiza And Donna Washington Lead Stagebridge Performing Classes

Stagebridge, the nation's first performing arts company for older adults, returns to a 12-week digital session showcasing pillars of the San Francisco Bay Area theater and storytelling communities and beyond leading into the fall.

After successfully shifting to an online format and providing digital conferencing training sessions for older adults, the company's hallmark program-the Performing Arts Institute, or PAI-welcomes Margo Hall, Donna Washington and many new faces offering vital workshops for potential students.

Award-winning actor, director and educator Margo Hall will teach Performing on Camera, a workshop empowering acting students through direct experience with on-camera auditions and performances. She has performed and directed in theaters throughout the Bay Area, and recently appeared in the Netflix film "All Day and A Night" and the film "BLINDSPOTTING."

"In alignment with our solidarity statement, we are focusing on expanding the vibrancy and breadth of our classes," PAI program director Lily Nguyen said. "This is a chance for our students to grow while we simultaneously uplift BIPOC voices in our organization and curriculum."

The session also includes several new offerings from nationally and internationally recognized writers and storytellers including Black Narratives on Stage and Screen with Kim Euell, The Basics and Dynamics of Effective Storytelling with Masankho Banda, 3-D Storytelling Model with Kirk Waller, and Crafting Stories for Life with Donna Washington.

The combination of new and returning classes provides an encouraging and supportive creative space for aspiring older artists to learn and to heal inside of an ever-expanding community. In addition to a focus on hiring BIPOC teaching artists, the company is also revising its mission statement and several organizational policies to actively support Black voices and the Oakland community.

"The shift to digital is exciting because we're entering a new frontier in our organization's history while our nation is facing a reckoning around inclusion and equity," Stagebridge Executive Director Shannon McDonnell said. "We are boldly directing our programs into the future by ensuring that the diversity of our content truly reflects the needs of our community."

Additionally, Ely Sonny Orquiza returns to Stagebridge with a Monologue course as well as more courses teaching older adults about the basics of digital conferencing. Orquiza is the artist, educator, and activist behind the Living Document of BIPOC Experiences in theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Artists and storytellers Radhika Rao and MK Chavez will also return with a range of classes for older creatives.

To learn more about the Performing Arts Institute, visit https://www.stagebridge.org/pai.

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