Transcript, Part 1 of our Conversation with Mosaic Theater Company's Artistic Director, Reginald (Reg) L. Douglas
With Hosts Elizabeth Bruce and Michael Oliver
If you want to read a transcript of Part 1 of our conversation with Reginald (Reg) L. Douglas, the Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company, you’re in luck. Below is the opening with a link to the conversation here.
Reg is a DC-based director, producer, and new play advocate dedicated to creating theater that connects audiences of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
He is currently the Artistic Director of the Mosaic Theater Company. Throughout his career and in his new position, he creates and produces theatre that catalyzes conversations, social change, and community building. He comes to Mosaic after serving as the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C.
For more about Reg, click here. For more about Mosaic, click here.
In part 1 of our Innovators, Artists & Solutions interview with Reginald L. Douglas who is the Artistic Director of the Mosaic Theater Company in Washington, DC, we discuss the theater’s upcoming Catalyst New Play Festival and Reflections on Home: a Celebration of Immigrant Voices. Reg lays out in vivid detail the scripts and workshops being offered as well as the vision of the project as a whole.
In Part 2, we discuss with Reg the challenges facing Mosaic as it continues to rebuild following the pandemic. With an infectious joy, Reg presents compelling examples on what the theater is doing to create a diverse and equitable creative environment for both artists and audiences.
Elizabeth: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Innovators, Artists, and Solutions series of Creativists in Dialogue, a podcast embracing the creative life. I'm Elizabeth Bruce.
Michael: And I'm Michael Oliver.
Elizabeth: And as our listeners know, the Creativists in Dialogue podcast has just finished a year-long series of deep discussions with DC theater-makers. That series, which was funded by Humanities DC, was entitled, quote, “Theatre in Community.” We had a fabulous time talking to a small sliver of the extraordinary theater folk in Washington, DC.
And while that series is over, happily, we have a new podcast series, which is funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, entitled “Innovators, Artists, & Solutions.” These conversations focus on ways in which people have creatively innovated to address real issues. And today, we are delighted to welcome Reginald L. Douglas, a.k.a. [00:01:00] Reg, to the Innovators, Artists, & Solutions series. Welcome, Reg.
To quote from your Mosaic Theater bio, “Reginald L. Douglas is a DC-based director, producer, and new play advocate dedicated to creating theater that connects audiences of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.” He is currently the artistic director of the Mosaic Theater Company. “Throughout his career and in this new position, he will create and produce theater that serves as a catalyst to conversation, social change, and community building. He comes to Mosaic after serving as the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, and previously as Artistic Producer at City Theatre in Pittsburgh, Penn.
“Douglas’ appointment ushers in Mosaic’s next chapter that builds on its strong history of telling stories that speak to the vital, pressing issues of our time and [00:02:00] foster space for meaningful dialogue and cross-cultural connections. He joins the team as Mosaic welcomes back audiences in person for the first time after successfully overcoming the challenges brought on by the pandemic.”
For this conversation, we're going to focus particularly on Mosaic's Reflections on Home: A Celebration of Immigrant Voices during the June 2024 Immigrant Heritage Month. But before we launch into a deeper discussion of this project, Reg, by way of background, could you share with us the current vision and mission statement of the Mosaic Theater Company?
Reg: Sure, and thank you for having me. This is really great to be here. I like to say the mission of Mosaic is in our name. We really believe that Mosaics matter. So, bringing different parts and different cultures and communities and perspectives together to make a more beautiful whole is what we try to do through the art we produce and develop. And we do that through [00:03:00] community engagement activities, we do that through education work, and of course through plays and productions.
Elizabeth: Okay. So, for listeners who are not already familiar with Mosaic, can you tell them where Mosaic is located, who some of the members of your team are, and what Mosaic's structure is?
Reg: Sure. So, Mosaic is actually celebrating our 10th anniversary next season. So, we have been producing work here in Washington for 10 years, founded in 2014 by Ari Roth and Serge Seiden, who remains as Managing Director, and the wonderful Jennifer L. Nelson, one of DC's pioneering African American artists. They believed that theater could be a catalyst for social change and social justice, that the stories we tell on stage could provoke more thought and more community conversations across the District. Mosaic currently performs at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street Northeast. Building renovated and reinvigorated by the great Jane Lang. And it's been an honor to be an arts partner there for the past few years. And [00:04:00] what was the rest of the question?
Elizabeth: You were telling us some of who the founding, who the founders were, but who are the other members of your team?
Reg: Sure. We're a small, but mighty staff. My right hand is Chelsea Radigan, She's Artistic Producer and Dramaturg. She works directly with all of our artists, hiring and casting, but also really working with playwrights to nurture new plays.
And another vital member of our team that I want to shout out is Psalmayene 24. He's our Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence, and you've seen his work all over DC. He's currently directing a show at Folger. Following that, he'll be directing a show at Studio. So, he is truly DC through. And having a playwright on staff is such a gift because he really offers another way of looking at things from the role of a working artist. And he's just so creative and passionate and really puts into focus why we do what we do.
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