10 Miriam A. Hyman ’12 as Posthumus Leonatus with Sheria Irving ’13 as Imogen in Yale Rep’s production of Cymbeline (2016), directed by Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Faculty). Photo by Carol Rosegg. 11 Lydia Garcia ’08 12 Yi Zhao ’12 13 A collection of posters from plays FOLKS has presented as part of their annual staged reading series, which has included works by Adrienne Kennedy, Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sonia Sanchez, and August Wilson.
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14 Bianca Castro and Ricardo Dávila ’17 in A. Rey Pamatmat’s ’03 Thunder Above, Deeps Below, at the Cabaret (2016). Photo by Steven C. Koernig ’17.
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Yi Zhao ’12 Lighting Designer
Lydia Garcia ’08 Dramaturg To this day, I walk into a rehearsal room with the thought that we’re not just working on a play. We’re actually engaging in a deep conversation about what we value as a society. At YSD, I started to become aware of the absences in what was being taught. I realized that most of those absences reflect people like me: people of color and women. I absolutely saw the validity of the material that we were studying, but I also felt that there was a lot that we weren’t acknowledging. Now, I feel a sense of duty to point out what we’re missing, what we could be doing better, what I feel is our responsibility as artists. Recently, I returned to New Haven to help run the workshop Beyond Diversity: Practicing Equity and Inclusion with Carmen Morgan (Faculty). I recognize the beauty of the YSD experience, but I also have to be really honest about where we fell down, where we didn’t live up to our ideals, and where we have a lot of work to do. We have to confront our fear and discomfort. 4 2
15 FOLKS 2015–16: (back row, left to right) Tori Sampson ’17, Leland Fowler ’17, Lauren E. Banks ’17, Emalie Mayo (Staff), Courtney Jamison ’18, Sean Boyce Johnson ’18, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy ’18, Rasean Davonte Johnson ’16, Taylor Barfield ’16, Chalia La Tour ’16, Juliana Canfield ’17, Setareki Wainiqolo ’18, and Jiréh Holder ’16; (front row, left to right) Galen Kane ’16, James Udom ’18, Jonathan Majors ’16, Curtis Williams ’18, and Julian Elijah Martinez ’16.
Looking back, YSD was where I began collaborative relationships with directors such as Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12 and Charlotte Brathwaite ’11, who have brought different perspectives to plays in the American canon written by white authors. It was obvious throughout my experience at YSD that the student population was exceptionally diverse. It probably has a lot to do with the School’s commitment to financial aid. But the regional scene is not at all diverse, either in terms of the people onstage or backstage. Almost always, I’ve found myself being the only non-white person on the creative team, even on plays that touch on issues of different cultures. I hadn’t thought about it much until I designed Han Ong’s Chairs and a Long Table at the Ma-Yi Theater Company. The piece dramatized some of the discussions that were happening within the Asian American community over The Nightingale casting controversy at the La Jolla Playhouse. But the larger argument of the piece was that diversity is not only a matter of fair representation, but also a matter of the arts being truthful and relevant.
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Miriam A. Hyman ’12 Actress and Hip Hop Emcee The most memorable experience for me at YSD was playing Blanche DuBois in Charlotte Brathwaite’s ’11 thesis production of A Streetcar Named Desire, which had a mostly black cast. I’m so thankful that Charlotte was bold enough to make that choice and that the School supported her decision because for me, as well as for Trai Byers ’11 who played Stanley, we don’t usually get these opportunities. It was a way for me to be me, to be in my black skin, but still be Blanche. Last year, I was really excited to find out that I would be playing Posthumus Leonatus in Cymbeline at the Rep. I appreciate what Evan Yionoulis ’85, YC ’82 (Faculty) did with this production, providing more opportunities for women, and specifically African American women. I don’t see enough actors of color doing Shakespeare. Who’s to say that one race or culture can perform Shakespeare better than others? Things are getting better, and as opportunities open up more, you start to see that just having white men is not interesting anymore—if it ever was.