8:30 am - 4:45 pm
Registration Desk
PIEDMONT
Your first stop at MATC! Check-in to get your credentials. Then, throughout the conference, feel free to come back with questions, to share your experiences in a quick survey, or for lightning discussions between sessions.
8:30 am - 9:00 pm
Quiet Space
ROSWELL
Feel free to use this private space for individuals needing a private moment while at the conference. If the door is locked, please see the registration desk.
ATLANTA A | History 14
Chair: Erin Bone Steele, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company
Robin C. Whittaker, St. Thomas University (Fredericton, NB)
“Nostalgia Houses: Alumnae Theatre Company and Making Theatre/s History”
Jennifer Herron, Independent Scholar
“‘Practicing Lesbians…Who’s Practicing?’ The Irreverent Aesthetics of the Red Dyke Theatre Company”
ATLANTA C | History 15
Chair: Robert Shimko, University of Vermont
Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida, Baylor University & Texas Tech University
“Musicality in Adrienne Kennedy’s The Owl Answers and She Talks to Beethoven”
*2025 Robert A. Schanke Research Award Recipient
Dave Peterson, Niagara University
"‘They Should Laugh More’: Lorraine Hansberry's construction of Queer Space in Flowers for the General”
SKY WEST - 25th Floor | Practice/Production 10
Chair: Paole Calderon, The Pennsylvania State University
Jennifer Leigh Whitehead, Independent Scholar
“Performance as Play: Sporting Rituals and Theatrical Improvisation”
James Stover, Bowling Green State University
Haley Anissa Alvarez, Bowling Green State University
Sarah Hopson, Bowling Green State University
“De-Criminalizing Meisner’s Criminal Action Exercise”
ATLANTA D | Pedagogy 14
Chair: Slade Billew, Stephen F. Austin State University
Workshop: “Fractals: Nonbinary Acting Methods”
Jo Michael Rezes, Tufts University / The Theater Offensive
Jo Michael Rezes is unable to be with us in person at the last moment. However Jo has offered to conduct an online version of the workshop. You may join us from any space you like. Slade Billew will be set up in the room with the ability for you to be physically present together even with Jo on zoom; however, we are not able to have a projector in the room, so we will only have a laptop.
https://sfasu.zoom.us/j/93396516957?pwd=UnNRa3lsZWxXZExKckdQa3dzN3p5Zz09
Meeting ID: 933 9651 6957
Passcode: 028876
PEACHTREE | Pedagogy 15
Chair: Hope Bernard, Washtenaw Community College
Miranda Keating, Independent Scholar
“Pedagogical Knot: ‘Mystery Mayhem’: The Benefits and Challenges of Devised
Theatre for Elementary and Middle School Artists”
Skye Strauss, Jacksonville State University
“Pedagogical Knot: Gestures of Noh”
ATLANTA B | Playwriting 7
Chair: Lucas Skjaret, Concord University
Dramatists Play Lab
Mom! Sorry by Justin Maxwell, University of New Orleans
Director: Cat Gleason, Truman State University
Dramaturg: Meg Nelson, Florida State University
Mom: Lana Sugarman, University at Buffalo
Son: Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, University of Illinois, Springfield
The Maw by Christine Benvenuto, Independent Artist
Director: Sloan E. Garner, University of Georgia
Dramaturg: Meg Nelson, Florida State University
Actor: Rachel S. Cooper, University of Southern Maine
BUCKHEAD | Playwriting [Rehearsal Room A]
LENOX | Playwriting [Rehearsal Room B]
ATLANTA A | History 16
Chair: Yuko Kurahashi, Kent State University
John P. Bray, University of Georgia
“Walking New York: Memory and Healing After 9/11”
Scott Proudfit, Elon University
“Impossible Reunion: Mediatization and the Contemporary Theatre in Branden
Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance and Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth
Turning”
Ariel Nereson, University at Buffalo, SUNY
“Looking with Nona Faustine: Performance, Portraiture, and Possession”
ATLANTA C | History 17
Chair: Shannon Walsh, Louisiana State University
Victoria LaFave, University of Pittsburgh
“From the Streets of Cairo to the Streets of Paris: Little Egypt, Sally Rand, and
Taxonomies of the Dancing Body”
Teri Incampo, Trinity College
“Resisting and Reframing the History of Aunt Jemima at the 1893 World’s Exposition”
Mia Levenson, Johns Hopkins University
“Performing Eugenic Science at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition”
Sky West - 25th Floor | Practice/Production 11
Chair: Cate Heiner, Middle Tennessee State University
Michael McNamara, Western Illinois University
“Leading with Care: An Ethical Framework for Rehearsals”
Tom Zhang, University of Kansas
“Bad Examples as Progress, a DEI Retrospective”
Jenna Houck, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
“Fear: An Essential to the Designer”
Troy Coleman, University at Buffalo SUNY
“Facing the ‘Bruno’: How talking about stage fright eases the isolation, not the anxiety”
ATLANTA D | Pedagogy 16
Chair: Maddy Moreland, Clemson University
Workshop: “Traversing Heightened Text: Engaging the Contemporary Actor and Audience”
Paul Hurley, Kent State University
“Accessing Heightened Text Through Physical Metaphor”
Christie Maturo, Central Connecticut State University
“Making Heightened Text Reachable”
PEACHTREE | Pedagogy 17
Chair: Jim Davis, Kennesaw State University
Roundtable: “Reimagining Pedagogy for Theatre Students in a Post-Modern World”
Alex Stahl, Baylor University
Kiley Towne, Baylor University
ATLANTA B | Playwriting 8
Chair: Bella Poynton, SUNY Oswego State University
Dramatists Play Lab
The Last Noel by Jon Herbert, Wake Forest University
Director: Marlon Ariyasinghe, Stanford University
Dramaturg: Kristi Good, Carnegie Mellon University
Nick Kringle: Aaron Scully, University of Central Missouri
Jax: Kristi Good, Carnegie Mellon University
Jesus Christ: Devon Thompson, Independent Artist
Breakfast Ball by Aaron Scully, University of Central Missouri
Director: Burcu Seyben, College of Southern Idaho
Dramaturg: Grace Laughton, Independent Artist
Chris: Daniel C. Dennis, Ohio University
Austin: Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, University of Illinois, Springfield
BUCKHEAD | Playwriting [Rehearsal Room A]
LENOX | Playwriting [Rehearsal Room B]
GEORGIA BALLROOM
All conference attendees are invited for our annual conference luncheon, followed by our keynote address. Learn more about our Keynote Speaker here.
GEORGIA BALLROOM
All conference attendees are invited for our annual MATC Business Meeting. To access the agenda, click here.
ATLANTA A | History 18
Chair: Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida, Baylor University & Texas Tech University
Alisa Lin, The Ohio State University
“Puppeteering Belief: Vertep Performances in the Ukrainian Church”
Jesse Njus, Virginia Commonwealth University
“Puppet Ecologies and Human Legacies, Or Art Should Be Eternal (Unless It’s Made of Plastic)”
Scott Magelssen, University of Washington
“‘Ghosts of Animals Past’: Dinosaurs, Prehistoric Body Theatre, and Ghosts of Hell Creek”
PEACHTREE | History 19
Chair: John P. Bray, University of Georgia
Monijesu Ebube, Texas Tech University
“Actors with Disabilities in African Theatre: Their Disregarded Roles in the Origin of Theatre History in Nigeria”
Zach Dailey, University of Houston - Downtown
“Teen Titans: Performing Fat Adolescence”
SKY WEST - 25th Floor | Practice/Production 12
Chair: Lucas Skjaret, Concord University
Roundtable: “Contemporary Collaboration: A Roundtable on Directing in 2025”
Cason Murphy, Iowa State University
Alex Stahl, Baylor University
Nathan Bowman, Benedictine College
Jaclynn Jutting, Northern Arizona University
ATLANTA D | Pedagogy 18
Chair: Alivia Cross, The Pennsylvania State University
Workshop: "Teaching Contact Improvisation with Consent-Informed Practices"
Cat Gleason, Truman State University
PEACHTREE | Pedagogy 19
Chair: Karie Miller, Grinnell College
Hope Bernard, Washtenaw Community College
“Pedagogical Knot: Play Readings in the Drama Classroom: Inclusivity in Cold Readings”
Sam Collier, University of Colorado - Boulder
“Pedagogical Knot: The Self-Designated Artist Residency”
ATLANTA B | Playwriting 9
Chair: Tiffany Antone, Iowa State University
Playwriting Workshop Session with Topher Payne
Learn about Topher Payne here!
ATLANTA A | History 20
Respondent Session
Respondents:
Martine Kei Green-Rogers, DePaul University
Noe Montez, Emory University
Learn more about Martine and Noe here!
SKY VIEW - 25th Floor | Practice/Production 13
Chair: Kassy Skoretz, Anoka Ramsey Community College
Roundtable: “Reimagining the Stage: Elevating New Narratives in Theatrical Education and Production”
Stacey Schiller, Baylor University
Aaron Scully, University of Central Missouri
Lucas Skjaret, Concord University
Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos, Independent Artist
Greg Romero, University of Houston
ATLANTA D | Pedagogy 20
Respondent Session
Respondents:
Greg Geffrard, Brenau University
Bridget McCarthy, Co-founder, Association of Mental Health Coordinators
Learn more about Greg and Bridget here!
ATLANTA B | Playwriting 10
Chair: Bella Poynton, SUNY Oswego State University
Postmortem Session
Enjoy!
PEACHTREE
All conference attendees are invited for an informal postmortem on the 2025 MATC Conference, facilitated by this year’s Conference Planning Committee. Bring reflections on your conference going experience, as well as ideas for next year’s meeting.