Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Holds National Conference In Boston, 6/21-6/23

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) convened 1,000 theatre practitioners from around the world at its 22nd National Conference June 21-23 in Boston. This year's conference was the culmination of TCG's 50th anniversary and the beginning of TCG's year-round conference and online community, Conference 2.0. The conference theme of Model the Movement invited attendees to transform their field into a movement for the digital age by better sharing, measuring and adapting models of making theatre. Executive Director Teresa Eyring also publically shared for the first time TCG's new vision statement.

"This year's conference was an inspiring reminder of what our field can accomplish when we commit to shared action," said Eyring. "As the culmination of TCG's 50th anniversary, the conference asked the big questions and provided the practical tools needed to fulfill our new vision of 'a better world for theatre and a better world because of theatre.'"

2012 TCG Session Videos Online
Live-streamed videos captured the excitement of intellectual and artistic exchange – and extended the conversation to individuals from around the world. View archived conference videos of plenary sessions and award presentations at tcg.org/conference:

Theatrical Innovation: Whose Job Is It? – Howard Shalwitz, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Woolly Mammoth (opening speaker and panel moderator); Sarah Benson, Artistic Director, Soho Rep; Blanka Zizka, Artistic Director, The Wilma Theater; Anthony Moseley, Executive Artistic Director, Collaboraction; and Eric Ting, Associate Artistic Director, Long Wharf Theatre.

Seth Godin: Invisible or Remarkable? – noted speaker and best-selling author, Seth Godin.

A Presentation and Performance by DJ Spooky – artist, writer and musician Paul D. Miller, aka "DJ Spooky".

Ensuring the Sustainability of our Field – F. Javier Torres, Senior Program Officer at The Boston Foundation (moderator); Ralph Peña, Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater Company; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director of the Goodman Theatre; Adam Thurman, Communications Director at the Court Theatre; and SuzAnne Wilkins, Director of Program Services for The Partnership, Inc.

Theatre's Role in Activism – Emily Mann, Artistic Director/resident playwright, McCarter Theatre (moderator); Steve Cosson, Artistic Director, The Civilians; Mike Daisey, monologist actor; KJ Sanchez, Founder/CEO, American Records; Ping Chong, Founder, Ping Chong Co.; and Nilaja Sun, actor, playwright & teaching artist.

The First 50 Years – This opening video shares a montage of movement-themed images and quotes chronicling the rise of the resident theatre movement and TCG's first 50 years.

2012 TCG Awards
TCG presented the following annual awards at the conference. Read more about the awards and view the award presentations at tcg.org/conference:

National Funder Award – American Express has been supporting nonprofit theatre and TCG for years, with a recent focus on supporting leadership development for emerging leaders. The American Express/TCG Leadership Boot Camp selects 30 participants – 15 Artistic or Executive Directors with 15 emerging leaders from the same organizations – and places them in a program designed to enhance the leadership skills of the participating individuals, foster intergenerational dialogues, and create a more effective leadership environment at the participants' home organizations.

Theatre Practitioner Award – Michael Maso has led the Huntington's administrative and financial operations since 1982, producing more than 160 plays in partnership with three artistic directors and leading the Huntington's ten-year drive to build the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, which opened in September 2004.

Peter Zeisler Memorial Award – 24th Street Theatre Company, based in Los Angeles, California, produces theatre for all ages as well as arts education and community outreach programming. Their mission is to engage, educate, and provoke their diverse community with excellent theatre and arts education.

Visionary Leadership Award – Ed Bullins has written over fifty plays dealing with the intricacies of the Black experience in America. Bullins entered the literary world during the Black Power Movement, a period of racial pride and social consciousness. He became involved in the social and political activity of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense and eventually served as the organization's Minister of Culture. His early affiliation with community organizations intended to educate and uplift through the Arts (also known as the Black Arts Movement) greatly influenced the thematic structure of his plays.

The Alan Schneider Director Award – Bart DeLorenzo is the founding artistic director of the Evidence Room in Los Angeles. Recently, he has directed productions at the Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, the Kirk Douglas Theater, the Cleveland Playhouse, CalArts, and the Odyssey Theater, including premieres of Donald Margulies, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and Justin Tanner.

The Launch of a Year-Round Conference Community
Conference 2.0 is an online platform that allows conference attendees and TCG's wider membership to share resources, best practices and achieve measurable progress together. Part social network for theatre people, part knowledge-sharing wiki, this platform will allow TCG and the field to build on the creative momentum and intellectual capital of the conference all year long. Follow the conversations at tcg-2012.pathable.com.

The Release of TCG's New Vision Statement
"A better world for theatre. A better world because of theatre.

TCG will become the catalytic center of a network of theatre people building more creative, diverse and civically engaged communities through theatre. Participation in theatre will be widely recognized as a right of every individual, a necessity for every community and a uniting force nationally and internationally.

In an increasingly interconnected, non-hierarchical and resource-stressed world, TCG will be the hub of an interdependent, inclusive and sustainable theatre field. TCG will harness our digital, high-tech future to champion the value of local, high-touch human connection. Our programming and core values will ripple through the primary partnership of our Member Theatres and other partner organizations to empower all theatre people and the communities they serve."

2012 TCG Conference Funders and Sponsors
TCG gratefully acknowledged the following supporters of the 2012 National Conference:

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Barr Foundation
The Boeing Company
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The Edgerton Foundation
Fischer Dachs Associates
City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
Mail Chimp
Mayor Menino's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events
National Endowment for the Arts
Ruth Easton Fund
Schuler Shook
WGBH (media sponsor)

For over 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the U.S. Center of the InterNational Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is North America's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. For more information visit www.tcg.org