ArtsEmerson Commits to 2020/21 as a 'Year of Experimentation'

ArtsEmerson, Boston's leading presenter of contemporary world theatre and the professional presenting and producing organization at Emerson College, will commit the 2020/21 season to being the Year Of Experimentation, focusing on the development and programming of its new digital venue, and providing support to International Artists through reimagined residency programs that support new works, new platforms, and new approaches to process.

To support this ambitious undertaking, ArtsEmerson will suspend live events at both the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre and Emerson Paramount Center through June 2021.

During the Year of Experimentation, ArtsEmerson will focus its resources specifically on artists from subordinated communities as part of the Jubilee Season, the nationwide theatre festival featuring work generated by those who have historically been excluded - including but not limited to artists of color, Native American and Indigenous and First Nations artists, women, non-binary and gender non-conforming artists, LGBTQIA2+ artists, and artists with disabilities.

David C. Howse, Executive Director of ArtsEmerson, shares, "Our commitment to privileging subordinated voices is an amplification of the work to which we have been committed over the years. The deeply held values of belonging, ambition and curiosity which have become synonymous with the ArtsEmerson brand are the foundation on which our work will continue to grow - even during these incredible times."

"ArtsEmerson continually scouts the world to find artists producing groundbreaking theater that helps advance our mission back home," says Artistic Director David Dower. "We're excited to continue fostering new relationships that expand the types of stories that can be presented to Boston audiences. Thanks to the strong support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Barr Foundation, and Fresh Sound Foundation, we can offer these artists commissions and other tangible resources to advance their new work, especially critical now as we all absorb the changes this era has wrought in our field."

The resources ArtsEmerson is able to offer include access to rehearsal or performance spaces, strategic business and administrative expertise, dramaturgical support and technical expertise in addition to the cash grants. In 2020/21, ArtsEmerson plans to provide residency support to more than a dozen artists and companies from around the world.

Among the artists developing new work through residencies with ArtsEmerson, and introduced through its digital venue during the Year of Experimentation, will be Wang Chong (China), Christiane Jatahy (Brazil), Why Not? Theater (Canada), Somi (USA), Travis Alabanza and Sam Lindsay (UK), Nassim Soleiamanpour (Iran/Germany), Guillermo Calderon (Chile), and Melinda Lopez (USA). The previously announced Parable Path residency, led by Toshi Reagon (USA) and recently named Best Theatre Residency 2020 by Boston Magazine, continues through June 2021 with the continuing support of The Doris Duke Foundation.