A Collaborative Voice Initiative
In June 2020, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter uprising, three BIPOC theatres—Conch Shell Productions, Kumu Kahua Theatre & Braata Productions— formed an alliance designed to spotlight playwrights of color in America, responding to current events. This alliance, named the Reset Theatre Coalition, collaborated via Zoom to co-produce a series of performances reflecting the turbulence and violence of systemic racism in America that defined our lives as we all sheltered in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Writers were given 48 hours to respond to writing prompts with 5-minute monologues and/or 10-minute scenes. The prompts were these:
Eye of the storm
Breath/breathing
Being human when enduring inhumane circumstances
Microaggressions
Disruption of norms
Privileges of the past becoming pain of the present
Each theatre company solicited, collected, cast, and rehearsed script entries from their local artists. Each night feature unique, live performances of these world premiere pieces that were streamed to Conch Shell Production's YouTube channel, with recordings uploaded to Kumu Kahua Theatre’s YouTube channel immediately following live performances. The 30-40-minute performances were followed by a moderated Q&A session with the artists (attendees were invited to submit questions via YouTube and Facebook). The collaborations led to five nights of powerful, thought-provoking new work productions, and revealing/enlightening dialogue between diverse theatre artists and audience members.
In July 2021, Kumu Kahua Theatre and NYC-based Conch Shell Productions bridged a 6-hour time difference (EST/HST) and produced a selection of new plays written by Caribbean Diaspora, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander playwrights. The selected plays explored the strength and courage of women. Reset Series 2021 was partially funded by a grant from the 2021 NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program).
