The Apothetae (ApoTheeTay)
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"A Place Of Exposure" Blog Series 

"A Place of Exposure" is a blog series curated in collaboration with The Lark, which takes its name from the first article written about The Apothetae and Lark collaboration in 2015.

We've launched this series in honor of the 2020 round of our Playwriting Fellowship for a Deaf/Disabled writer, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Both the Fellowship and series are dedicated to uplifting the multiplicity of voices and experiences of Deaf/Disabled communities. These are the perspectives of people who have worked to create or support new plays, and re-appropriate existing plays, in order to present the experiences of Disabled communities as part of our cultural landscape. By providing a platform to explore these varied and complex experiences, we aim to highlight the fact the 'Disability Community' is a series of communities, with a series of histories and a series of stories - just beginning to be told.
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A Place of Exposure: Introduction By Gregg Mozgala
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On Disability & Intersectionality in the Age of Zoom By Nik Anderson, A.A. Brenner, and Ryan J. Haddad
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On Directing and Disability By Brian Balcom and Evan T Cummings
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Exploring Disability Aesthetic Through Community By Tim J. Lord & Gregg Mozgala
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On Stage Management and Disability By Alyssa K. Howard & Peter Royston
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Athena Stevens on Box-Ticking & Narrative Control An Interview by Tim J. Lord

​The Apothetae & The Lark Announce 2nd Round of National Fellowship for a Deaf/Disabled Playwright

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A diverse group of disabled and non-disabled theatre professionals in attendance at the 2nd Apothetae/Lark National Disability Convening in September 2017.
Plays can start a conversation, create opportunity, generate community and be a catalyst for progress. This is why developing writers from within the Disability community is so important. We need more voices, and we need to practice using them. We need our stories told.”
— Gregg Mozgala, Founding Artistic Director, The Apothetae


New York, NY--The Apothetae, a theater company committed to challenging perceptions of the “Disabled Experience,” and The Lark, a play development lab devoted to playwrights, to the principles of equity and the power of an individual artistic voice, are pleased to announce the opening of submissions for the second round of The Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship, made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Jeffrey Steinman and Jody Falco. 

We are thrilled to be opening applications again this year, especially as 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This fellowship, the only one of its kind, is dedicated to uplifting the multiplicity of voices and experiences of Deaf/Disabled communities. The program provides a two-year residency for a Deaf/Disabled writer, a cash award of $40,000, a $5,000 Opportunity Fund for project-related expenses, and control over a $10,000 Production Enhancement Fund, to be allocated to a producing theater in support of a full production of one of the Fellow’s plays. Additionally, up to two Finalists will each receive a $5,000 honorarium. Applications will be accepted from March 31 to June 14, 2020, and the 2020 Fellowship period will run from September 15,2020 to September 14, 2022.

The partnership between The Apothetae and The Lark began in earnest in May 2015, when the organizations collaborated on the First National Convening of Deaf/Disabled Artists, during which, three major, field-wide needs were expressed: more creative content featuring people with disabilities, more opportunities for people with disabilities, which are perpetuated by the creation of more content, and more conversations as a community. 

“One of the things I was not prepared for was, because of the exposure that came with the fellowship, were all the people from the community who reached out to me in various ways,” said inaugural Fellow Tim J. Lord. “There’s a real excitement that this helped generate. The fellowship has been a way to help create that community that maybe some of us have felt is lacking.”

The Fellowship is the centerpiece of the broader Apothetae and Lark Initiative that was borne out of that Convening, designed to provide an unprecedented platform of support and advocacy for Deaf/Disabled artists. It is the goal of the collaboration to promote the generation of new plays with the power to revolutionize the cultural conversation surrounding disability, and thereby address the profound underrepresentation and oppressive misrepresentation of people with disabilities that persists throughout our cultural media. 

“Plays can start a conversation, create opportunity, generate community, and be a catalyst for progress,” said Gregg Mozgala, Founder and Artistic Director of The Apothetae. “This is why developing writers from within the Disability community is so important. We need more voices, and we need to practice using them. We need our stories told.”

The Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship is a critical component in The Lark’s acclaimed portfolio of fellowships, designed to engage a diverse community of extraordinary playwrights—at various places in their careers—who represent, collectively, a contemporary national vision. 

Applications will be accepted from March 31 to June 14, 2020.
LEARN MORE & APPLY >
​

For questions about submissions, please email apothetae@larktheatre.org. If you have accessibility questions about the application process, please contact Operations Manager Kendra Ann Flournoy at kendra@larktheatre.org. 
This round of the Fellowship and the wider Apothetae and Lark Initiative is made possible by a partnership between the Ford Foundation and the Howard Gilman Foundation, alongside the generous support of The National Endowment for the Art’s Arts Work program, which supports projects that focus on public engagement, access to art for communities across the nation, the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, learning in the arts at all stage of life, and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life. Additional financial and advocacy support for the fellowship comes from Jeffrey Steinman and Jody Falco.

Korea Disability Arts & Culture Center {KDAC} Seoul, South Korea December 5, 2019

Artistic Director, Gregg Mozgala was invited to speak to representatives from the South Korean government and Korean National Theatre by the Korean Disability Arts Center (KDAC); a nationally funded, government organization dedicated to the advancement of Disability Arts in South Korea. 

On Every Link A Heart Does Dangle; or Owed by Tim J. Lord
The Lark May 10 - May 19 2019

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The town of Thebes was once the jewel of Southern Illinois, but the river has turned poisonous, the crops are failing, and pregnant women and their unborn babies are dying mysterious deaths, all while the town's leader has locked himself away, leaving the residents to cast about for answers. Suspicion falls on Mellie, a young woman born with a serious disability. Despised from birth by the gods and barely tolerated by the rest of town, it falls on her and the other women of Thebes to wrest power from the man who has led them to catastrophe in this radical reimagining of the Oedipus myth.

BareBones® are public presentation of plays-in-progress that are in the later stages of development. They are The Lark’s most intensive development workshops, with plays receiving three weeks of rehearsal and up to eight public performances.

The Cast: 

Rin Allen, Chloe Bell, Stephanie Berry, Kimberly Chatterjee, Vichet Chum, Madison Ferris, Andy Lucien, Christina Pumariega and Jasmin Walker

The Team:  
Director / Meredith McDonough
Production Stage Manager / Alexander Murphy
Assistant Stage Manager / Peter Royston

Related Press Coming Soon...

"Accessing Artistry" - A National Convening To Discuss Inclusive Training Practices
The Julliard School (Sponsored by Yale School Of Drama & The Ruderman Family Foundation) January 9th 2019

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The Apothetae (Gregg Mozgala, Founding Artistic Director and Sara Buffamanti, Director of Education & Applied Practice) began conversations with Yale School of Drama in November of 2017 to discuss the inclusion of actors with disabilities in their graduate acting training program. Jessy Yates (Spirits Of Another Sort, The Elephant Man, Telethon! Teenage Dick *workshop at Florida Studio Theatre) is now in her first year of study, and we have been assisting with her on-boarding process. These efforts culminated in a national convening, developed by Gregg Mozgala and Sara Buffamnati, in January of 2019 with representatives of most major MFA acting training programs from across the country.  More details on The Apothetae's work with YSD and the "Accessing Artistry."

On Wednesday, January 9, The Apothetae, The Ruderman Family Foundation and the Yale School of Drama hosted the Accessing Artistry Convening in New York to advance the inclusion of students with disabilities in the leading theater schools.  Participants represented the Yale School of Drama, Brown University, The Juilliard School, The New School, New York University, University of California San Diego, City College of New York, and Columbia University.

Theatre For All- An Acting Training Program for Disabled, Early Career Professional Actors
Queens Theatre September 16th - September 28th 2018

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In March of 2017, The Apothetae presented "Spirits of Another Sort" at Queens Theatre. This led to a strong partnership between our two organiations, and the eventual creation of Theatre For All, a training program specifically for early-career Deaf and disabled actors. Gregg Mozgala, Founding Artistic Director was essential in securing funding for the launch of this program. He & Sara Buffamanti, Head of Education & Applied Practice were instrumental in this initiative's creation. Such a program is long overdue.

"If I could go back in time to the start of my career, I would want to be part of Theatre For All. Representation matters. Not only on the stage and screen, but in training environments like the one Queens Theatre has so painstakingly and passionately created," Mozgala said. "There is no other program like it in the country. Queens Theatre understands that truly inclusive theater is about reflecting the experience of ALL of us."
-Gregg Mozgala, Founding Artistic Director

Teenage Dick by Michael Lew / Presented by Ma-Yi Theater Company
The Public Theatre June 12th - July 29th 2018

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A brilliantly hilarious take on Richard III, Shakespeare’s classic tale of power lust, TEENAGE DICK reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time as a 16-year-old outsider in the deepest winter of his discontent: his junior year at Roseland High. Picked on because of his cerebral palsy (as well as his sometimes creepy Shakespearean way of speaking), Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by becoming president of the senior class. But as he manipulates and crushes the obstacles to his electoral success, Richard finds himself faced with a decision he never expected would be his to make: is it better to be loved or feared? 

​Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Present Laughter, Hand to God) directs Mike Lew’s (Tiger Style!) devastatingly funny, sharply written new play about perception, disability, and the lengths we’re willing to go to rise above our station in life… and high school.
TEENAGE DICK was commissioned and developed by The Apothetae, a company dedicated to plays that explore and illuminate the "Disabled Experience."

Press and Information Coming Soon...


The Apothetae At Lark National Playwriting Fellowship & Initiative
The Apothetae & The Lark Launch Unprecedented Playwrighting Fellowship For Disabled Writers
September 2017 - September 2019

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   "Targeted support to Disabled playwrights is essential to a culture of equity, access, and
     inclusion and can provide visibility for the issues they face both personally and
     professionally within the cultural sphere and landscape. Only by seeing Disabled
     individuals on stage and behind the scenes can real, essential and measurable change
     take place." 

A Place For Exposure: New Initiative To Nurture Writers With Disabilities
A Feature Article in American Theatre Magazine about The Apothetae at Lark Fellowship & Initiative​

Inaugural Fellow & Finalists September 2017 - September 2019

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Tim J. Lord

The Apothetae & Lark's Second National Convening September 15, 2017

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Five Conversations About Disability
​Thoughts & reflections from the Second Apothetae & Lark National Convening​

"Spirits Of Another Sort" A Midsummer Night's Dream Workshop (2017)
Conceived By The Apothetae In Collaboration With Performance Lab 115
Queens Theatre March 2nd - March 5th 2017

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The Cast:
Sara Buffamanti* as Hermia, Danielle Coles as Starveling the Tailor/Moonshine, Sarah Folkins as Peter Quince the Carpenter/Lion,
Liz Eckert* as Helena, Christopher Imbosciano* as Puck/Egeues, Marty Keiser* as Demetrius, Anthony Michael Lopez* as Oberon/Theseus,
Michael Melendez as Snout the Tinker/Wall, Caitlin Michelle as Titania/Hippolyta, Sylvia Morsillo as Flute the Bellowsmender/Thisbe,
David Skeist* as Lysander, Nicholas Whitley as Bottom the Weaver/Pyramus, Jessica Yates as First Fairy/Philostrate
The Team:
Director / Alice Reagan
Education Coordination & Producer / Sara Buffamanti
Lighting Design / Miriam Crowe
Production Stage Manager / Mark C. Hoffner*
Assistant Stage Manager / Mary Harmer
Fight Choreographer / Kyle Knauf     
 *Appearing Courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

"How Shall We Find The Concord Of This Discord" - "Spirits Of Another Sort" (2017) Post-Mortem
Thoughts & reflections on the workshop production by Artistic Director, Gregg Mozgala 

Association Of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP)|New York The Creative Mind Plenary Session
New York Hilton Grand Ballroom January 7th 2017

The Presenters:
Liz Lerman, Choreographer & Founder of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
Camille A. Brown, Founder & Artistic Director of Camille A. Brown & Dancers (13:08)
Gregg Mozgala, Founder & Artistic Director of The Apothetae (20:42)
Paola Prestini, Composer & Executive Director of National Sawdust (36:31)
Maysoon Zayid, Comedian/Actress/Writer/Tap Dancer (45:40)

A Call To Act(ion)!
A transcript of Artistic Director Gregg Mozgala's presentation
Ed Roberts, The Disability Rights Movement and the ADA
An article published by the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD) on the 78th anniversary of Ed Robert's birth

"Telethon!" A Virtual, Theatrical Event Produced by The Apothetae & The Lark
​September 6th - September 29th 2016

The Performers:
*In Order Of Appearance*
Gregg Mozgala (Founder & Artistic Director of The Apothetae), Evan Ruggiero (Evan & The S'Evan Legs)
Pamela Sabaugh (Immaculate Degeneration), David Harrell (A Little Potato And Hard To Peel)
Lloyd Suh (Director of Artistic Programs at The Lark), Anita Hollander (Still Standing), Ryan Haddad (Hi! Are You Single?)
Jessica Yates (Cerebral Pussy)
The Team:
Video Direction & Content Management / Kris Thor
Communications & Social Media / Anna Kull, Communications Director @ The Lark & Olivia George, Communications Intern @ The Lark

"Telethon!" was filmed at The New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, Stone Street Studios, The Lark & Stuyvesant Town (NYC)

What Was The Telethon?
The story behind the real 'Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon', and why The Apothetae and The Lark felt it was necessary to work to reclaim this, "fixture of the American mediascape over the latter half of the twentieth century."
Thank You For Tuning Into "Telethon!" (A Letter From Gregg Mozgala)

Teenage Dick by Michael Lew (Public Studio Series)
The Public Theatre March 24th - April 2nd 2016

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The Cast: 
Liesel Allen Yeager (Clarissa), Cindy Cheung (Elizabeth), Shannon DeVido (Buck), Nick Dillenburg (Eddie) Gregg Mozgala (Richard),
Carra Patterson (Anne)
The Team:  
Director / Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Scenic Coordination / Ryan Howell
Costume Design / Montana Levi Blanco
Lighting Design / Lucrecia Briceno
Sound Design / M. Florian Staab
Movement Director / Emily Pope
Violence Movement / Robert Westley
Production Stage Manager / Kat West
Stage Manager / Rob Chikar
Stage Management Intern / Jhanae Bonnick
Wardrobe Supervisor / Julia Bowers

Richard On Richard
An interview with Artistic Directors, Gregg Mozgala (The Apothetae) & Michael Patrick Thornton (The Gift Theatre)
Shakespeare's Deleted Scenes
To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, The New York Times asked four contemporary writers to envision lost and rebooted scenes from some of the playwright’s works.
Teenage Dick at 2016 Eugene O'Neil National Playwriting Conference


The Penalty by Clay McLeod Chapman & Robert M. Johanson (A Chamber Version)
The Library @ The Public Theater December 18th 2015

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The Cast:
Sara Buffamanti (Sophie Ferris), Erc Graise (Blizzard), Anthony Michael-Lopez (Dr. Ferris) Evan Ruggerio (Emcee)
Anita Hollander, Sarah Knolles, Eli Pauley & Jessica Yates (Chorus/Burlesque Performers)
Gregg Mozgala (Stage Directions)
 The Team:
Director / Kris Thor
Composer / Robert M. Joahnson
Musicians / Joel Howard, Beau Moore, Hunter Moore
Equity Stage Manager / Geoff Boronda*
Casting Director / Kate Murray*
Line Producer / Yuvika Tolani*
Literary Manager / Jesse Alick*
*The Public staff
Photo Credit:
© Eric Sams/Eric Sams Creative Direction & Design

There's A Blizzard Coming Our Way
Learn more about the play and the rehearsal process (with photos & video)
Blizzard On Blizzard
An interview with Artistic Director, Gregg Mozgala and actor, Eric Graise (Blizzard)


Downsizing Camus by Todd Bauer
CRIPFEST/Brooklyn Academy of Music July 25th 2015

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"Downsizing Camus" by Todd Bauer
Directed by Kristjan Thor
The Cast:
Sara Buffamanti, Gregg Mozgala, Eli Pauley and Pamela Sabaugh

Reviews and Related Press

Bauer on Camus
An interview with Artistic Director, Gregg Mozgala and "Downsizing Camus" Playwright, Todd Bauer to learn more about the play and the rehearsal process (with photos).


Good Dancer by Emily Chadick Weiss
Finalist: Mixed Blood Theatre's Disability Visibility Project
​May 27th 2015

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​  Mixed Blood Theatre's Disability Visibility Project/HowlRound
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​  Disability Visibility/Mixed Blood Theatre


The Lark/The Apothetae Convening: A National Conversation at the Nexus of Disability & Theatre
Lark Play Development Center May 14th 2015

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On May 14th 2015 The Lark Play Development Center and The Apothetae collaborated on a national convening which brought together stakeholders from all over the country to discuss issues facing the Disabled Community within the Theatre community.


The goals of the convening were to:

Assemble a diverse network of artists and leaders in the field who are stakeholders in the advancement of disabled artists, to discuss current and planned initiatives that are being undertaken, allow for the sharing of resources or creation of potential partnerships and provide a forum for strategizing next steps toward the advancement of disabled artists in the theater.

To read more about the day itself, check out, A Place Of Exposure: Theatre, Disability & The Apothetae

Event Organizers:
Gregg Mozgala, Artistic Director, The Apothetae
Lloyd Suh, Director of On-Site Programs, The Lark Play Development Center

Steering Committee:
Claudia Alick, Associate Producer, Community, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Jack Rueller, Artistic Director, Mixed Blood Theatre
Sharon Jensen, Executive Director, Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts

The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance - A Reading & A Conversation About Disability On Stage
New  York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts November 3rd 2014

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Bradley Cooper as Joseph Merrick
Check out more photos and our blog post about the reading- 
The Elephant In The Room
The Cast:
Seth F. Abrams, Scott Barton, David Harrell, Anita Hollander,
Matthew Joffe, Gregg Mozgala & Jessica Yates 
The Team:
Director / Heidi Handelsman
Photo Credit:
© Lori Grinker/Lori Grinker Photography
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Matthew Joffe as Jospeh Merrick

"Spirits Of Another Sort" A Midsummer Night's Dream Workshop (2014)
Conceived By The Apothetae
In Collaboration With Performance Lab 115
Ensemble Studio Theatre August 13th & August 14th 2014

PictureRegan Linton as Hippolyta/Titania
Workshop Production Photos- Spirits of Another Sort

Spirits of Another Sort Workshop Journal #1- Origins

Spirits of Another Sort Workshop Journal #2- Same/Different

Spirits of Another Sort Workshop Journal #2.5- "How Now?"

Spirits of Another Sort Workshop Journal #3- Where Are All The Actors?

Spirits of Another Sort Workshop Journal #4- An Assumption of Competence

Spirits of Another Sort Workshop Journal #5- The Best In This Kind Are But Shadows

E Tu, Apothetae? The Shakespeare Society Residency @ The Public Theater

A Midsummer Night's Dream Panel Excerpts On Soundcloud


The Penalty by Clay McLeod Chapman & Robert M. Johanson
Dixon Place June 14th - June 29th 2013

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Reviews and Related Press

Production Photos of "The Penalty"

Listen to all of the original songs from the production on Soundcloud

Dixon Place Promo Video/Work Sample- Blizzard & Sophie Meet (1:26)

Vaudevisuals Interview With Playwright, Clay McLeod Chapman

Vaudevisuals Interview With Artistic Director, Gregg Mozgala

The Choice For The Penalty