The Cornell 7. Workplace harassment. An angry middle schooler resorts to physical harm because a 10 year old won’t be his girlfriend.

All are byproducts of a systemic social culture that for decades has allowed people to shrug their shoulders ‘cause “boys will be boys” and the collateral damage of mostly women has been the acceptable status quo.

But with each decade unchecked harm inducing toxicity has become more open, perverse, cruel and extreme.

In a highly relational environment like theatre, training and performance spaces have the exact same systemic harm inducing issues as corporate workplaces, universities and high schools.

The good thing is there are groups of us who are loud about doing something about it!

I salute my colleagues like Ann James founder of Intimacy Coordinators of Color and a host of other industry professionals who’ve responded to decades of informal data documenting harm in theatre rehearsals and performances and established a framework for organizations to address the needs of their most important “capital”, the performers and staff.

I stand in solidarity with practitioners doing this important work through my Restorative Theatre Training Method professional development workshops which train college and high school students and faculty from these 4 pillars:

1. Intimacy Direction: Consent Informed Engagement

2. Speed of Trust: Integrity Based Rehearsals

3. The RESET: Actor de-role-ing techniques to avoid stress overload

4. Artist Wellbeing as Practice: Centering Agency, Agreements & Accountability

Addressing harm tends to move in cycles.

The #MeToo movement gained viral noteworthy in 2017 which means with the current viral noteworthy of the Cornell 7 we’re in a 10 year social demand cycle with people pushing for steeper outcomes for harm offenders like 🍇-ists.

Offenders should face retribution and yet we know we don’t only need harsh punishments for perpetrators.

We know that what we really need is systemic culture shifts.

We need more preventive measures.

We need more emphasis on the inclusion of training that teach people how to reduce harm and increase a culture of care, wellbeing and rigor.

Doing this kind of work isn’t easy but it’s hella necessary and I’m proud to be among the number who’s willing to do it!

#RestorativePractices #Cornell7 #IntimacyDirection #ActorTraining #NonprofitTheatre

Last week I led two amazing Restorative Theatre Training Method workshops, training the theatre faculty and staff and in a separate workshop I trained theatre students from Sussex County Community College to help them reimagine their training process for actors, crew and production staff to improve learning outcomes and student experience.

The Restorative Theatre Training Method (RTTM) is an intervention created to reimagine existing academic theatre training processes with techniques informed by restorative practices. This method sits comfortably alongside the practical skills based training used by colleges and universities to prepare students for performance, administrative and technical job opportunities.

RTTM was inspired by the #MeToo movement (2017) and the #WeSeeYouWhiteTheatre movement (2020). It adds to the existing initiatives that focus on harm reduction like Intimacy Coordinators and Directors by engaging the methodology of restorative practices to help theatre leaders and practitioners move away from a culture that centers a competitive and punitive hierarchical power structure and move towards eradicating the perpetuation of harmful industry practices which remain pervasive in audition, rehearsal and performance.

During both workshop sessions, "Reimagining Theatre Training Models: Centering Care, Restoration and Rigor" the faculty, staff and students learned techniques to:

1. Build Authentic Community

2. Create Agency, Agreements & Accountability

3. Relational Work Through Circles

4. Increase Wellbeing & Alleviate Stress Overload

If you'd like this one of a kind transformative professional development training for faculty/staff and students in your theatre department I'd be happy to oblige!

#RestorativeTheatre #RestorativePedagogy #RestorativePractices #Wellbeing

I'm so proud to have submitted my recent co-authored article for peer review, "HBCU Theater Training as a Case Study for Restorative Justice, Well-Being, and Institutional Practices” for the International Journal of Restorative Justice! 🎊🎉🎊

My co-author, Kiyaana Cox Jones, is a brilliant social scientist currently with the International Institute for Restorative Practices Graduate School and I had the privilege of having her as a student in the early part of my 27 year career teaching theory, acting, and playwriting at Howard University!

My research initiative the Restorative Theatre Performance Project (RTPP), is a collaborative theatre arts-based research initiative that employs restorative practices to build bridges between theatre, culture and science to engender social change. Having the opportunity to write about the application of the research with Howard students is a highlight of my academic career!

Once published I will share the links here on my site.

I developed the Restorative Theatre Training Method (RTTM), as an intervention which focuses on deconstructing and reimagining audition, rehearsal and performance practices and processes.

RTTM is a new model that places wellbeing at the center of applied practice for theatre actors, directors and writers. In support of my ongoing research I engage professional development to explore advancements in the social sciences.

My commitment is to deepen my craft and practice through regular professional development. During August I had 2 amazing days of professional development through the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) Graduate School's course, Restorative Practices for Educators, I learned more tools and further refined my methods. Shout out to our facilitator Chella who was top notch!

These are my day 1 takeaways and paradigm shifts to build impactful community with students…

1. Create room atmosphere that centers voice and choice.

2. The art of crafting agreements in collaboration versus isolation.

3. When students are disruptive and it’s not a crisis, be curious versus furious.

4. Strive to engage with students versus not being present or doing things for them.

5. Use the 5 central Restorative practices questions for conflict resolution.

Day 2 takeaways and paradigm shifts to help build impactful community with students of all ages…

1. Circle work is 100% an act of resistance and a vital tool to initiate, develop, reset and strengthen community

2. When working with adult and college aged students prepare in advance for disruption by collaborating on how we'll respond to disruption and add this to "Collaborative Agreements" before hand. 

3. When harm is caused, after an appropriate cooling off period, lean into the 5 restorative questions to foster conflict resolution

4. As facilitator you model how to use language to create a psychologically and emotionally supportive environment

5. Shame and guilt shape our identities and they're taught to all of us at a young age as a mechanism to exert control over our personhood. How you facilitate can either cause more harm or help students learn to trust themselves and heal

6. Create circle topics that support wellbeing and harm reduction during audition, rehearsal and production.❤️🌟❤️

"This is history being told. It’s not fictionalized. It’s not a fabrication. It is true history… told through a form that brings it into contemporary conversation." 

By Chad Eric Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts

Denise J. Hart, Professor of Playwriting and Dramaturgy in the Department of Theatre Arts at the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, is bringing a powerful convergence of research, performance, and personal history to the stage this summer in Boston.

Commissioned by the Boston-based Museum of African American History, Hart will present How I Met My Cousin: The Genealogical Saga of the Bailey Family Tree, an original autoethnographic docu-play rooted in years of genealogical research and centered on the life and legacy of her third great cousin, Sue Bailey Thurman.

The work will be presented alongside a public lecture, A Blueprint for Freedom & Justice: The Life and Legacy of Sue Bailey Thurman, during Juneteenth weekend, offering audiences both a historical framework and an immersive artistic experience.

At its core, the project is about recovery—of history, of lineage, and of stories too often pushed to the margins.

FULL ARTICLE - Read More  

"Let's build a world where no ones humanity is in question." 

Wether you identify as an artist practitioner or academic theatre is likely your second home and in many cases, when we were young, theatre became our first love and home away from home because as a home place it was where we finally felt safe, free and courageous enough to be ourselves.

But as we transitioned from adolescent theatre camp and high school performing arts musicals, into collegiate undergrad/graduate training and professional practitioner and academic careers the love of our second home began to wane.

We start to see our beloved industry for what it’s always been, a site where capitalistic patriarchal systems are designed to take more than give and dehumanization is the price of admission to the “big leagues”.

In my developing research, Restorative Theatre Training Method (RTTM), where I reimagine and deconstruct nostalgic archaic dehumanizing theatre training and performance practices and instead position wellbeing at the center of applied practice for theatre actors, directors and writers, I theorize that all theatre training and performance spaces function as a temporary homeplace.

I draw inspiration for my definition of homeplace from activist, author and Black feminist bell hooks’ essay HomePlace: a site of resistance.

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More  

"Yes we can learn to live with anxiety and make it work for us too." 

In her book “Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion” neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki argues that not only can we learn to live with anxiety but we can make it work for us too.

Now that’s a really different way of thinking.

Mostly I’ve only thought of anxiety as being bad for me. I mean, who wants to have an anxiety attack or feel your face flush as your heart rate beats faster than you want it too? I think you’ll agree, we prefer to feel like we’re in control and anxiety isn’t the most comforting feeling.

Suzuki is clear that she’s not referring to clinical anxiety, but to everyday anxiety. In her book she points out that the way to make the most of anxiety is to do things that turn down the volume of anxiety.

Taken as a whole Suzuki’s interventions are really about regulating your nervous system.

In my career as a theatre professional and acting/playwriting teacher and founder of my research initiative, the Restorative Theatre Performance Project, which studies and creates tools for students to incorporate nervous system regulation and wellbeing practices into theatre training and performance, I find Suzuki’s perspective and scientific interrogation to be a perfect bridge between arts and sciences.

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More  

The next generation of Black storytellers is stepping into the spotlight at Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts Oct. 9-11 to present “Young Griots: New Works for the Stage,” a showcase of four original 10-minute plays written by student playwrights exploring love, identity, and the many shades of Black joy. 

Directed by Professor Denise J. Hart, the production highlights the creative voices of Essence Jackson, Kevoy Sommerville, Joycelyn Sophia Jackson, and Efeoghene Rhonor, students in Howard’s Playwriting minor program. “5 Minutes,” “Echo Chamber,” “Incline,” and “Two Sides to Black” will debut at the Al Freeman Jr. Environmental Theatre Space in Childers Hall. 

This is the inaugural showcase from the department and they are anticipating it for years to come. “I conceived this project, which I've coined Young Griots: New Works for the Stage. It was designed to support these very talented student writers who I have been training for over 20 years, and to create a fully student-centered production—from the playwrights and actors to the designers and producers, " said Professor Denise J. Hart

"Ever since the 2020 pandemic, Black joy has been a trending topic,” said Hart. “Whether it’s on stage or screen, audiences want to experience stories that reflect the diverse expression of the Black diaspora. These playwrights reclaim and interrogate Black joy through deeply vulnerable relationships — siblings, partners, marriages, and friendships — and I’m moved by how they pursue joy by any means necessary.” 

The student playwrights view the experience as both an artistic milestone and a journey of personal growth. “Before coming to Howard, I had no intention of becoming a playwright,” said Sommerville. “Being here has shown me that I have a voice worth sharing with the world — and a responsibility to be a contributor, not just a consumer.” 

Dr. Khalid Y. Long, associate dean for research and creative endeavors and interim chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, emphasized the showcase’s importance to Howard’s artistic mission. “Events like this help us fulfill our role as the center of the Black dramatic narrative,” he said. “These plays demonstrate rigor, creativity, and a deep seriousness about the craft of storytelling.” 

When asked about the audience reception, Professor Hart said the proof is in the pudding. “It was absolutely outstanding, and that’s because the audience response tells the tale. When you have a production where the audience doesn’t want to leave the lobby afterwards, that’s a very significant sign of how deeply they were engaged,” she said. 

As one of the nation’s leading institutions for arts education, the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts continues to honor its namesake’s legacy by nurturing bold voices and expanding the canon of Black theatre. With “Young Griots,” Howard  once again affirms its place as a cradle of creativity where young artists write, act, and imagine futures rooted in truth, culture, and joy.

"Don't just study its history, seek to create the future of every aspect of the theatre industry. 

My professional side hustle hobby is interior design. I’m really good at it effortlessly. Meaning I don’t lack ideas or solutions to room design and decor when I need to tap in for a project. I don’t just do the work and create a strategy I enjoy it immensely.

On my YouTube channel “Home Style and Design” I posted a photo of me at Ford’s Theatre in DC with students who completed my playwriting masterclass series. I started the post by saying I was in my sweet spot teaching the final class. One of my subscribers commented under the picture “you’re good at everything.” I responded “I’m definitely good at those things I’ve chosen to be good at!”

My response got me thinking about what I’m good at, why I’m good at it and how have I gotten better at what I’m good at.

I’ve always been an arts & science nerd. If I had several lifetimes to live I’d be a scientist in a few of them! As a result of my fascination with both arts and science I spend a considerable amount of time teaching theatre artists and listening to science focused podcasts.

From this weeks neuroscience nerdi-ness, I learned about the revolutionary power of “Tiny Experiments” from Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff, and from Dr. Wendy Suzuki I learned how and why exercise is wonderful for the brain.

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More  

"In theatre we’re fond of saying the show MUST go on.” Starting today, let’s get in the habit of asking “but at what cost”. 

Theatre Performance is precarious... always.

Will the entire cast be healthy enough night after night to hit the stage and dazzle? Will the headliners be able to keep up the rigor month after month? Honestly, "the show must go on" signals... who cares about performer wellbeing.

Is theatre more than mere entertainment? I argue, yes it is and theatre artists deserve to be more than a human “cog” in the theatre machine.

The sentiment, "the show must go on" lies at the very heart of my developing research initiative, the Restorative Theatre Performance Project.

This oft used sentiment makes me think of the athlete who knows if they get hurt but can still move, see and blink they're getting a shot in the leg and they're back on the field/court because the top brass said so. People paid their money to be entertained!

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More  

"Howard University’s impact on Black theatre."

by Sholnn Freeman (MA '12, PHD '21)

For decades before the 1920s, even at historically Black colleges and universities, theatrical training meant performing the works of European playwrights. Shakespeare, the Greeks, and other white authors of the Western canon were considered the gold standard for “serious” drama, even on campuses meant to nurture Black minds.

However, at Howard University, Alain Locke — a young philosophy professor who would later be called the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance” — and Thomas Montgomery Gregory, an English professor, envisioned a new kind of theatre. Instead of simply mirroring the white classics they had been trained in, they sought to create a stage that centered Black stories and expressed the realities and beauty of Black life. This vision set the stage for a pivotal moment in Howard’s theatre history and, by extension, Black theatre more broadly. It led to a national revolution in how Black people were presented on stage and the subject matter they addressed in their productions.

FULL ARTICLE Read More 

"The theatre Industry isn’t quirky, it’s old and crotchety and slow to change." 

The arts get a really bad rap in higher ed when it comes to research. Many faculty in non-arts disciplines think theatre and performing arts faculty don’t do real research. 😲 

In fact, years ago when I arrived at my dean’s office for a meeting he asked me was I in my office reciting poems. He said it with a smirk of sarcasm! I tersely responded I was working on the narrative for my archival research project I’d be presenting at a conference the following week. His face was pinched like an owl “oh!” 😂

At this point in my academic career I’m 27 years in, honored to have helped hundreds of students to advance skillset, knowledge and mindset. I’ve achieved full professor and now contend with those who think once you’re a full professor WHY continue to do research at all! 

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More 

"Performing artists are the only people expected to accept abuse and toxicity just to get training and a job." 

Having experienced and witnessed both the joys and the ofttimes inhumane pathology of theatre training, I'd long been interested in the question "How can the culture of academic theatre training be changed for the better?" 

In fall 2025 at Howard University I started the journey to answer this question with the  launch of  a student play development program, Young Griots: New Works for the Stage, which serves as the vehicle for the application of my developing research initiative, Restorative Theatre Performance Project (RTPP). 

RTPP is a collaborative arts-based research initiative that employs restorative practices through theatre to engender social change and establish baseline standards and optimal methods for wellbeing and harm reduction in performing arts training programs. 

Theatre and the arts that embody restorative pedagogy do the heavy lifting of helping us to become better human’s and build a far better world. 

The arts teach audience and artist how to engage in critical thinking, acknowledge harm, avenues to access courage, remove barriers and seek solutions. 

The arts hold up a mirror of the world and help us embrace both tragedy and joy as meaningful and transformational aspects of the human condition. 

This is the kind of transformational culture work through the arts I’ve committed myself to for the past 27 years at Howard University...

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More 

"The code of silence makes us all complicit in an academic and arts industry that accepts the toxic teacher abusive personality trope masquerading as quirkiness."

It was 2019 when I first heard the term “psychological safety”. At my job a newly hired administrator expressed to me privately that there was no space in our work environment that was psychologically safe. 

In that moment it clicked “There wasn’t anything wrong with me. The systemically unaddressed psychologically unsafe culture was the issue.” 

One comment from someone new to the academic ecosystem changed everything and set me on the path to study wellbeing and harm reduction in performing arts training, audition, rehearsal and performance, in both academic and professional spaces, and to seek solutions to increase wellbeing and optimal training methods for performing arts students and practitioners.

FULL ARTICLE on my Substack. Read More