Artemisia, the Chicago theatre company dedicated to developing and performing plays that empower women, will devote its podcast series that began in May 2020 to readings of rarely produced classics and all-new feminist plays; and to discussions of the plays with the creative teams. In producing audio readings for the podcast, now renamed ARTEMISIA FEMINIST PODCAST and shifting to a bi-weekly release schedule, Artemisia Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot will team with Charlique C. Rolle, Managing Director of Congo Square Theatre, as Co-Curator and Co-Director of the readings. Completing the creative team for the readings will be Willow James as Sound Designer.
Each reading will be followed by a full-length podcast, released two weeks later, that will deliver a discussion of the plays and the impact of their messages and social justice themes. The podcasts will be released biweekly on Tuesdays and listeners can visit artemisiatheatre.org to subscribe to the podcasts and Artemisia’s newsletter. Proudfoot says, “We hope to recreate the passion for women-focused plays generated by Artemisia’s past Fall Festivals by presenting virtual performances and exciting discussions about rarely produced classic and all-new plays by BIPOC & white feminist writers.”
The series of readings and discussions will launch on Tuesday, October 6 with the release of a virtual reading of the 1919 classic THEY THAT SIT IN DARKNESS, by the pioneering African American playwright Mary P. Burrill, directed by Rolle. Burrill’s plays were considered protest plays because they advocated progressive stances on issues of race and gender. THEY THAT SIT IN DARKNESS explores how legal restrictions that limited women’s access to reproductive rights affected their welfare and that of their families. Burrill’s work was controversial because it advocated birth control as a means to escape poverty in 1919, long before women were given reproductive rights in the U.S. in 1972. The cast will include RJW Mays (Malinda Jasper, the mother), Keisha Champagne (Elizabeth Shaw, a visiting nurse), Angela Oliver (Lindy), Emerson Elias (Miles/John Henry), James Lewis (Aloysius), and Anita Kavuu Ng'ang'a (Mary Ellen). Willow James will be sound designer. The podcast to be released on October 20 will be a discussion of THEY THAT SIT IN DARKNESS with the creative team about the process of working the play and the impact of its social justice themes. Julie Proudfoot will moderate.
Top row L-R: Keisha Champagne, Emerson Elias, James Lewis
Lower row L-R: RJW Mays, Anita Kavuu Ng'ang'a, Angela Oliver
A new play, EVERY WAITING HEART, by Lauren Ferebee, will be the virtual reading to be released on November 10. EVERY WAITING HEART, the winner of Artemisia’s 2018 Fall Festival of new feminist plays, had been scheduled for a full World Premiere production by Artemisia in June 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters. Its plot centers on the relationship between an overworked single mother and her rebellious teenaged daughter. Counterpointing this main storyline is the complex and surprising relationship between two pioneer women courageously settling the Nebraska Territory in 1848. Julie Proudfoot will direct a cast to be announced. Proudfoot will lead a discussion of the play and its themes for the podcast to be released on November 24. Willow James will be sound designer.
The series will continue in 2021 with an additional eight virtual play readings. Titles and casts to be announced.
ARTEMISIA FEMINIST PODCAST SCHEDULE
Podcasts are released biweekly on Tuesdays. visit artemisiatheatre.org and subscribe to the theatre’s newsletter to get all the latest updates.
October 6, 2020
Virtual reading of THEY THAT SIT IN DARKNESS, by Mary P. Burrill. Directed by Charlique C. Rolle. Sound design by Willow James.
October 20, 2020
Discussion of THEY THAT SIT IN DARKNESS with creative team of the reading, led by Julie Proudfoot
November 10, 2020
Virtual reading of EVERY WAITING HEART, by Lauren Ferebee. Directed by Julie Proudfoot. Sound design by Willow James.
November 24, 2020
Discussion of EVERY WAITING HEART with creative team of the reading, led by Julie Proudfoot
Julie Proudfoot (Founding Artistic Director, Co-Curator and Co-Director Artemisia Feminist Podcast Readings)
Julie founded Artemisia and has served as its Artistic Director since 2011. Julie’s work at Artemisia includes curating and producing eight Fall Festivals featuring staged readings of new feminist plays, playing Viola in CHEWING ON BECKETT, and Lauren in VISITING, both written by Ed Proudfoot and staged as world premieres at Artemisia.
Julie most recently won critical and audience acclaim for her direction of Artemisia’s Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING, by Traci Godfrey. A Chicago-based actor, director & producer, Julie’s work onstage has also been seen at TimeLine Theatre, Midsommer Flight, Akvavit Theatre, The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, and Equity Library Theatre. Julie’s on-camera acting credits include THE CHI, CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO JUSTICE, and independent short film HOW LITTLE GIRLS GET STOLEN.
Charlique C. Rolle (Co-Curator, Co-Director, Artemisia Feminist Podcast Readings)
Charlique is thrilled to join Artemisia to select and direct feminist plays for Artemisia’s podcast. She is an arts administrator, performing artist, choreographer, and Managing Director of Congo Square Theatre.
A Bahamas-native, Rolle moved to Chicago in 2012 to continue her pursuit of supporting arts-based organizations administratively, teaching, and creating performance-based work professionally. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally. Rolle graduated Summa Cum Laude from Missouri Valley College with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, with minors in Business and Theatre. She has a Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership from Moody Theological Seminary and is currently completing a Master of Business Administration at Concordia University Chicago. Rolle is passionate about seeing the arts thrive and about developing artists. Her personal mission is to build, equip, and develop artists to walk in the fullness of their crafts, to create works that catalyze healing, freedom, and transformation, and to provide resources and structure for artists and organizations that will breed creative freedom, sustainability, and longevity.
Willow James (Sound Designer, Artemisia Feminist Podcast Readings)
Willow James is a theatre artist and photographer from the Chicagoland area. Specializing in acting, directing and sound design, Willow has worked on multiple shows while at his Alma mater, Connecticut College, like TWELFTH NIGHT and NO EXIT. Willow is eager to help shape a feminist podcast reading series and is thrilled to be a part of the Artemisia team! You can find more on him at willow-james.org.
ABOUT ARTEMISIA
Artemisia Theatre makes women heroes, on stage and off by sharing their empowering stories. Through readings and full productions of classic and all-new feminist plays, Artemisia provides women career-altering opportunities by putting them in creative leadership roles and hiring emerging theatre artists. Artemisia enriches Chicago’s culture through productions that take creative risks, achieve artistic excellence, and engage the audience directly in unique performances and after-show discussions that inspire compassion and social justice for women. The theatre's namesake, Artemisia Gentileschi, was a Baroque artist whose paintings depicted violence with fierce honesty and elegance. For centuries after her death, her art was attributed to men. Feminist curators in the late 1970’s rediscovered Artemisia, who is now considered the greatest female painter prior to the modern period. A common theme in Gentileschi’s later work is women in moments of power or triumph, which is why she is the perfect namesake for Artemisia. Artemisia’s leadership is one-hundred-percent women and the theatre is organized as a 501 c 3 nonprofit in Illinois.