The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK

Kia Corthron, an award-winning playwright known for her compelling work on African-American themes, discusses her play 'Tap the Leopard' and its exploration of Liberia's complex history. She reflects on the challenges of writing outside her own experience, emphasizing research and empathy. Joined by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, a playwright and eclectic artist, they delve into the balance between fiction and truth, the importance of cultural representation, and the emotional weight of confronting harsh historical realities through storytelling.

In its inaugural episode, The Dramatist Presents: TALKBACK looks at the line between appreciating a culture and wanting to explore it in art and appropriating a culture for art and profit. At the top, host Christine Toy Johnson (The New Deal, The Wisdom of Trees) sits down with Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse to talk about her Thanksgiving Play, as well as her approach to playwriting as activism.After a break, a panel of additional playwrights, journalists, and performers join Christine and Larissa to get more perspectives on the tensions between appreciation and appropriation. The group digs deep on the power dynamics of cultural appropriation, the long-term harm caused by misrepresentation, and pushes back on the entertainment industry's long tendency to exclude and/or underpay cultural consultants...when they're used at all. This episode features Larissa FastHorse, Diep Tran, David Henry Hwang, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, and Anita Hollander. The Dramatist Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America and BOOM Integrated. This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek, Christine Toy Johnson, directed by Sarah Storm, and edited by Jenn Grossman and Clint Rhodes of John Marshall Media. It was recorded by Eric Dabdoub for JMM, with Los Angeles tape sync support by Phoebe Unterman. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Ralph Sevush, David Faux, Tari Stratton, Adrien Glover, Robin Lai, and John Marshall Cheary.TalkBack is distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. For episode transcripts and exclusive content visit us on the web at  dramatistsguild.com. Keep the conversation going on Twitter https://twitter.com/dramatistsguild using #DGTalkBack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve seen the stats. We’ve read the think pieces. Now we’re ready to TALKBACK. TALKBACK is the podcast for every dramatist or theater fan who wants, but maybe hasn’t seen, the inclusiveness we all imagined. TALKBACK entertains frank conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion. We ask the tough questions and don’t have all the answers but dig into dialogue that’s vital and messy and real. Join host Christine Toy Johnson and her industry colleagues from the pulse of the American theatre on TALKBACK.Available on all your favorite podcast platforms October 21st. Join the conversation on twitter using #DGTalkBack, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices