Aurora Theatre Company Presents WELCOME TO OUR SPACE? A Town Hall On Audience Interactions

Aurora Theatre Company today announced that it will host WELCOME TO OUR SPACE? A Town Hall on Audience Interactions on Monday, March 2 in Aurora's Alafi Auditorium, in partnership with Shotgun Players, Theatre Bay Area, Z Space, and Calling Up Justice. This free public town hall-style conversation will explore how theaters and theatergoers can create a more welcoming and inclusive theatre-going culture in the Bay Area.

Panelists Claudia Alick, Leigh Rondon-Davis, and Sean San José will discuss the ways in which both organizations and patrons contribute to the performance around the performance. How and why are some theatregoers made to feel unwelcome in theatre lobbies and even in their seats? Why are these moments of ableism, racism, gender discrimination, or age discrimination so common? What is a microaggression? Do microaggressions really happen in liberal Berkeley? How can organizations and patrons work together to help decrease the incidence of oppressive behaviors that take place in public spaces?

"I believe that a theatre is the storyteller for its community," said Aurora's Artistic Director Josh Costello. "Aurora's community is growing. We're telling stories that resonate for all sorts of people in all sorts of ways, and we want everyone to feel welcome in our space. That sense of being welcome comes from a combination of sources -- everything from the content of the performance to the greetings from the ushers to the behavior of the other patrons. We're listening to people about their experiences at Aurora, and looking for ways to make those experiences better. This event is a response to stories we've heard about unwelcoming behavior from other patrons. What can we do as an organization to encourage welcoming behavior? How can we help our patrons help us make everyone feel welcome here? I'm looking forward to hearing from our three remarkable panelists and to a great conversation."

PANELISTS

Claudia Alick (she/her/they) is a performer, producer, and inclusion expert. Named by American Theater Magazine as one of 25 theater artists who will shape American Theater in the next 25 years, Alick has served as the founding Artistic Director of Smokin' Word Productions, is a NY Neofuturist alum, published playwright, recipient of NYC Fresh Fruit directing award, TedXFargo speaker, the Lilla Jewel Award for Women Artists, featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and former Community Producer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is currently the executive producer of the transmedia social justice company CALLING UP.

Sean San José (he/him) is happy to be part of a discussion dealing with creating open spaces and addressing the ever-present issues of "whyte" supremacy. San José is part of the group Campo Santo--a local, new performances company for people of color, which he has been part of since its inception in 1996. Campo Santo recently premiered Richard Montoya's Translating Selena at Brava Cabaret in San Francisco, and will next premiere Star Finch's new play, Side Effects, at African American Art and Culture Complex, also in San Francisco.

Leigh Rondon-Davis (they/them) is a performer, visual artist, and dramaturg from both New York City and the Bay Area. They attended Wellesley College and was a member of Oakland's Laney College Fusion Theatre Project. Rondon-Davis' stage credits include Crowded Fire Theater, Cutting Ball Theater, FaultLine Theater, Variance Festival, The Curran, and Magic Theatre, Shotgun Players, and Ubuntu Theater Project. They currently work for and is a Company Member at Ubuntu Theater Project in Oakland and Shotgun Players in Berkeley.

More information can be found at bit.ly/AuroraTownHall.

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!