Generation Now - An Interview with Peter Brosius

 Earlier this month I posted about the Generation Now Partnership.

Generation Now brings together five nationally ranked theaters to commission and develop new works for multigenerational audiences by both established and emerging BIPOC artists. The commissions include Ifa Bayeza’s One Small Alice, Michi Barall’s Drawing Lessons, Dustin Tahmahkera’s Comanche Girl on the Moon, and a work exploring the world of folklórico dance created by Latino Theater Company. All commissions will receive at least two developmental workshops at the co-commissioning theatres.

 

I had a chance to interview CTC's longtime Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius to learn more.

1. What led to the Generation Now partnership?
   
   The desire to create new work from BIPOC artists for multi generational audiences was the driver. There is a scarcity of high quality work in this area and it is important for audiences to see themselves, to see each other and to offer artists the opportunities to tell their stories. It is important that young people learn from each other, understand each other, get to know each other and the theatre is an extraordinary vehicle for that. We live in a truly global society and the more that young people see both the uniqueness and differences between us and the commonalities and concerns we all share the more adept, curious and empathetic global citizens they will become

2. Why is it important to create works for multigenerational audiences?
   
   There is no more important audience in the world. This is an audience that is going to remember this work for the rest of their lives. This will be work that can open their eyes, their hearts and help them find the moral rudder that will guide them in life. We want the theatre to reflect the glorious diversity of this community, this nation and this planet. We want our audiences to experience a wide variety of aesthetics, narratives and insights. We want artists to see this field as a place where they can make their best work, work that challenges, excites, surprises, teaches and delights.

3. How did the theaters decide what types of play to commission? Did the theaters choose the topic/title or did the artists?
   
   Every theatre is different. What we do here is start with artists that excite us, whose work is extraordinary, theatrical, inventive, generous in sprit and dynamic theatre. We then have conversations about potential projects. Sometimes we have an idea, a book,a story,  a film, a set of songs, an issue, a challenge in our community. They may bring ideas that matter to them, from their own lives, that of their families or members of their community or something that has fascinated them for years that they are eager to explore. In our theatre, the commission is most often a result of that conversation as we want to create something that excites both of us, the theatre and the artist and something that we are eager and looking forward to producing. We only commission projects that we want and plan to produce.

4. What excites you the most about this partnership?
   
   What excites me is the opportunity to work closely with these incredible leaders and their remarkable theaters. These are national leaders, profound thinkers and artists who have truly moved the theatre field forward. They ask deep and probing questions, they seek new ways of supporting artists and supporting the communities they serve. They create work that is powerful, inventive theatre. I love the conversations we have, I love the collaboration and I love the process of learning from them as we work with artists to see how they work, how they support the artists and how they involve their communities . It is both an incredible learning opportunity, a unique way to partner  and a way to create some truly exciting new theatre work.