feel at home, is exactly the same for how we do geo-targeted social media. It’s still storytelling. Almost everyone on my team is a theatre person—so when we talk about storytelling, representation, and community, they are already ahead of the curve. MICHAEL | Right now, you are very focused on recovery. It’s a purpose that, regardless of context or form, seems to be motivating you across how you think about storytelling and how you spend your energy. This could be a lifetime of work. You could work for the next 30 years on this, and there’ll be a need for it. Do you see on the other side of, or alongside, your work with recovery another issue or need in our communities that you could also make a difference in by approaching in a similar way? SEAN | There are plenty of other issues that I think could be tackled, but before we turned 50, you and I were more likely to die of an overdose than we were of a car accident, of a gun, of cancer, of any of those things. It is the number one killer of people 18 to 49. We have to tackle the thing that is killing the actual workforce of our country.
So many people were there for me when I was struggling, and I feel like it’s my job to be of service and try to be there for the next person. There’s a show that I did 10 years ago, The Lion, and it’s like, of all the shows, it can’t be stopped. The show is about the idea that great things can come from awful things. It’s about a young boy who loses his Dad and is angry at him, and then he gets Stage 4 cancer but is able to beat it. Then, because of being able to beat it, he’s able to reconnect with his Dad. We just did it in Tokyo, in Japanese, and it was amazing to watch a Japanese audience connect with it and be moved by it. It was amazing to be like, “We’ve toured the US. We’ve done it in London, and now, we’ve done it in Tokyo.” And it works everywhere, because we all need to believe that great things can come from awful times. And so, even though I’m not a cancer survivor, to see how those same principles can be truly universal across the world—it’s inspiring to think about what we can do with other issues.
MICHAEL | That’s a good place to end the conversation. Thank you, Sean, so much for talking about the really beautiful and important work you’re doing. I know it will be really moving content-wise, but also for people to think about a theatre artist working in ways that might surprise them. Michael Rohd (Sojourn Theatre, Center for Performance and Civic Practice, Co-Lab for Civic Imagination at University of Montana) is a theatremaker, educator, processdesigner, writer, and facilitator. He has a 30+ year history of creative practice and projects bringing cultural activity to the work of public engagement, community planning, health equity, and cross-sector coalition building.
The 39 Steps at Geva Theatre Center, directed by Sean Daniels PHOTO HUTHPHOTO
40 SDC JOURNAL | FALL 2025