Alliance For Jewish Theatre Announces 2021 Virtual Conference

From Sunday, October 24th through Tuesday, October 26th, the Alliance For Jewish Theatre held its annual conference completely online. It was the second consecutive year that AJT's annual conference has gone virtual.

Built around the theme "Our Role in a Changing World", each day featured award-winning speakers, international panelists and curated performances, all featuring current and future theatre leaders and stars.

"Theatre-makers of Jewish content can change the world," said AJT Executive Director Jeremy Aluma. "Our theme this year reflected all the ways we contribute to a positive impact. This conference was our opportunity to set the narrative on what is important to us and the world at large."

The conference began with an insightful keynote conversation with Tony-nominee and Obie Award-winning director Leigh Silverman (Violet, In the Wake). That keynote was followed by three days of workshops and discussions touching on the diverse artistry of Jewish theatre-makers.

Among those offerings, Jewtina y Co shared stories of Jewish-Latin theatre-making in the United States, South and Central America, and led an identity-exploring writing exercise. The conference culminated in a screening of DNAWORKS' HaMapah/The Map Dance on Film -- a
multimedia, genealogical dance journey about intersecting identities, followed by a workshop on discovering identity in your art with co-creators Adam McKinney and Daniel Banks.

The conference was packed with workshops and events catering to every type of theatre artist and lover, from a playwriting workshop led by award-winning playwright and director Aaron Posner (Stupid f-ing Bird, My Name is Asher Lev); to a clowning workshop with Zach Steel (USC Head of Comedy). There were numerous panels including ones on Jewish Comedy, Jewish Theatre and Climate Crisis, and a Toward a Jewish Theatre Bill of Rights discussion.

Each day of the conference also featured curated performances from International Artists creating theatre through a Jewish lens. The carefully selected performances showcased excerpts from a total of fifteen established and up-and-coming performers and playwrights from across the United States, as well as Canada, Israel, and Hungary.

The conference's Membership Meeting saw the addition of four new board members, each elected to a two-year term. This year, that impressive and diverse slate included Leah Hamos (a Theatre Agent at The Gersh Agency), Shawna M James (Theatre Communications Group), Kendell Pinkney (Brooklyn based theatre-maker, creative producer, and almost rabbi) and Jill Rafson (Associate Artistic Director for Roundabout Theatre Company).

Also featured was the newest class of TheatreMachers -- emerging artists invested in creating theatre through a Jewish lens. Over the next year, the AJT TheatreMachers will participate in workshops, conversations and other programming sponsored by AJT.

"The success of the conference, the introduction of four new board members and the upcoming class of TheatreMachers allows AJT to continue forward on its path of growth, rejuvenation and possibility," says Hank Kimmel, AJT Board President.

"As we move forward," sums up Aluma, "we continue to consider how the intersecting issues of race, climate change, and technology shape the way we make theatre. The conversations sparked by this year's conference content will support us as we adapt and pivot to make theatre and Jewish Theatre a more vibrant part of our culture."

AJT has held its convention annually since 1982. Previous conferences took place across America and around the world, most recently in Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. Previous featured speakers included Tovah Feldshuh, Theodore Bikel, Emily Mann, Kimberly Senior, and Rebecca Taichman.

Alliance for Jewish Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and the leading organization for Jewish theatre worldwide. AJT is made up of theatre-artists, theatres, and other people connected to theatre to promote the creation, presentation, and preservation of both traditional and non-traditional theatrical endeavors by, for, and about the Jewish experience. Its mission is to develop, innovate, promote, and preserve theatre with a Jewish sensibility.