Virtual Event — Conversation with a Theater Maker: Nataki Garrett with Shariffa Ali
Event Overview
Dates
June 19, 2020
Hours
4:45-5:30 PM (EDT)
Location
Admission
FREE and open to public
Since late March, Program in Theater Director Jane Cox has invited special guests to join her students for informal conversations about theater-making and the creative process. The broader community is invited to join these virtual conversations on Zoom. We ask — what inspires these significant theater artists? What does community mean to them? How do they think about audiences, casting, design, arts education?
Now we’re turning the mic over to lecturer in theater Shariffa Ali to interview guests of her choosing.
On June 19, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garrett joins Shariffa Ali in conversation.
Each virtual event features 20 minutes of conversation, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A with the audience.
NATAKI GARRETT is Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s sixth artistic director. As the former associate artistic director of CalArts Center for New Performance, Garrett has been hailed as a champion of new work as well as an experienced, savvy arts administrator. 2019 was Garrett’s first season at OSF, where she directed How to Catch Creation. At CalArts, Garrett oversaw all operations of conservatory training and produced mainstage, black box, developmental projects, plays, co-productions and touring productions. She is currently on the nominating committee for The Kilroys, and she recently served on the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Distinguished Playwright Award nominating committee and the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship panel.
Garrett’s forté and passion are fostering and developing new work. She is responsible for producing the world premieres of The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson, Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist, Zoey’s Perfect Wedding by Matthew Lopez, The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, and American Mariachi by José Cruz González. She also directed the world premieres of BLKS by Aziza Barnes and Pussy Valley by Katori Hall, and the U.S. premiere of Jefferson’s Garden by Timberlake Wertenbaker. She is well known for her work with MacArthur Fellow–winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, having directed the regional premieres of several of his plays, including Everybody at California Shakespeare Theater and An Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Garrett also directed the first professional production of Jacobs-Jenkins’s acclaimed play Neighbors at the Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Garrett’s production received five Ovation Award nominations—including Best Production.
Garrett most recently served as acting artistic director for Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) during the $66 million organization’s 18-month leadership transition, working in partnership with the chief executive officer, managing director, and board of directors to oversee all artistic operations for the theater company. During her tenure, she produced a very provocative Macbeth; the play was the most successful production in the Space Theatre’s 40-year history. She also initiated and negotiated the first co-world premieres in 10 years for two DCPA-commissioned plays—The Great Leap with Seattle Repertory Theatre and American Mariachi with The Old Globe.
Garrett is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group Career Development Fellowship for Theatre Directors and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Garrett is also a member of the board of directors for Theatre Communications Group, a company member at Woolly Mammoth, and an advisory board member for Mixed Blood Theatre.
Garrett is a graduate of California Institute of the Arts with an MFA in directing.
Photo by Jeremy Tauriac
SHARIFFA ALI is a creative leader committed to working with an open-heart at the intersection of the performing arts and humanitarianism.
Shariffa has worked at the Public Theater in New York since 2013 where she has served in numerous capacities often piloting new roles that serve her interest in curating radical spaces of hospitality, equity, inclusion, diversity and promoting anti-racism throughout the institution.
As a theater director, Shariffa moves her audiences to engage with timely issues touching upon Black, Afropolitan, and African-American identities. Shariffa has directed and lectured at colleges where her productions have brought many “firsts” to campuses: “first all-female cast and creative team” for her production of Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed at Princeton University;“first all-black ensemble with a director of color” for her production of Dominique Morriseau’s Detroit67; “best attended show” for her production of We are Proud to Present at Yale University.
Shariffa has served as Assistant Director to mentor Cynthia Nixon for Rasheeda Speaking, Steve (The New Group, NY) and Motherstruck! (Culture Project, NY). Shariffa is a member of Black History Museum, a collective of interdisciplinary artists brought together by Here Arts and Smoke & Mirrors Collective.
Shariffa is on advisory committee of Africa’sOut! Founded by renowned visual artist Wangechi Mutu, an initiative geared towards advancing radical change through the power of art and activism, particularly supporting artists, initiatives and institutions from Africa and its Diaspora that celebrate freedom of creative expression.
Shariffa is a graduate of the University of Cape Town’s select Theater and Performance division and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree. And perhaps the thing that she is most proud of, is that she was featured in the New York Times Gentleman’s style section for her great taste in fashion.
