Community-Based & Applied Theatre

I’m interested in what theatre can do when it moves beyond the stage and into people’s lives, communities, and shared concerns. My community-based and applied theatre work uses creative practice to explore social issues, build connections, and imagine new possibilities for ourselves and our communities.

I’m drawn to projects that bring people together across experiences and perspectives, making space for them to tell stories, ask difficult questions, and create something meaningful together. I believe the people closest to an issue should have a meaningful voice in how we explore it, and that the process matters just as much as (and sometimes even more than!) the final product. My role is to help create the conditions for that exploration through theatre, play, collaboration, and creative experimentation.

For me, this work is about what becomes possible when people have the space to connect, create, and shape the conversations that affect their lives. I’m interested in theatre as a practice of civic engagement: a way to move beyond talking about what needs to change and begin imagining what might be possible.

Select Community-Based & Applied Theatre Projects

  • We Hold These Truths

    What is America, what do we value, and who gets to define those values? In partnership with the Center for Documentary Expression and Art (CDEA), I designed and led a month-long residency in which high school students explored these questions through applied theatre, devising, and engagement with texts and competing ideas about America. Students created original pieces in response to the theme, which I curated and directed into a public performance over Fourth of July weekend. The project gave young people space to grapple with a complicated national story and contribute their own perspectives to the conversation.

  • Mental Health Devising Lab

    How can theatre help young adults make sense of mental health in a world shaped by constant connection, competing narratives, and social pressure? Through a devised performance lab at the University of Utah, I brought together college-aged artists to explore mental health through collaborative creation, physical theatre, improvisation, and reflective practice. The project treats young adults not simply as subjects of a conversation about mental health, but as artists and meaning-makers with perspectives of their own. Through the process, we explore how performance can open up conversations, complicate assumptions, and create space to imagine new ways of understanding our experiences and one another.

  • Voices of Farmers

    What stories can farmers tell about the lives, values, and practices behind our food? For Food Tank’s Voices of Farmers, I worked one-on-one with two Utah farmers, spending time with them on their farms and learning about their experiences and approaches to farming. Together, we shaped their experiences into personal stories and developed them for live performance during the Sundance Film Festival. The process centered the farmers as storytellers, bringing their perspectives and lived experiences into a public conversation about food and agriculture.

  • Big Fun Big Stories Gatherings

    How do you help two people get to know each other in ways that go beyond the usual questions? For Big Brothers Big Sisters, I developed arts-based workshops designed to help Bigs and Littles build relationships through shared creative experiences. I also coached one mentoring pair in shaping and rehearsing their personal story for the organization's live gala. Both parts of the work used creative practice to make room for connection, discovery, and sharing experiences with others.

  • Drama for Anti-Oppressive Literature Instruction

    How can drama help students engage with complex literature, question dominant perspectives, and examine the world around them? In partnership with the Central Arizona Writing Project, I facilitated a professional development workshop for English Language Arts teachers exploring drama as a tool for anti-oppressive literature instruction. Together, we practiced arts-based strategies for bringing difficult topics into the classroom, using the activities not only to explore their instructional possibilities but also to examine our own biases, assumptions, and teaching practices. The workshop invited teachers to approach drama as more than an engagement strategy: a way to create space for critical inquiry, perspective-taking, and more thoughtful conversations about power and representation.