Luker Fellows Showcase

Saturday, August 17, 2024, 10:30pm
All Tickets $25

 

What is the Partnership?

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2024 is the third year of the Rebecca Luker Theatrical Partnership at Clear Space Theatre, a program dedicated to the memory of Rebecca Luker, who succumbed to ALS in 2020. Rebecca’s fierce commitment to racial justice, equal rights, and reproductive rights inspired James FitzSimmons to create this program in her honor, designed to foster a pipeline for leadership opportunities for future artists and administrators from historically marginalized communities.

In its first two years, Karen Richards (2022) and Ashley Williams (2023) were the recipients of the partnership. Karen’s project focused on increasing access for young people to the 2022 production of The Submission and creating community conversations around the themes of representation and access that were part of that play. Ashley’s 2023 project focused on building partnerships across organizations and individuals in our community to celebrate and showcase diverse perspectives through theater. This resulted, partly, in the partnership between Clear Space Theatre Company and the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice on the 2024 “Clear Space Gives Back” production of A Raisin in the Sun.

This year, CSTC continues to evolve the program, focusing on emerging performing arts leaders in our summer repertory company telling the stories of their diverse experiences. Five artists have been commissioned to create original pieces that celebrate and reflect their own lived experiences as part of communities that have not consistently been centered by live theater in America. Each are our Rebecca Luker Fellows this year – and together their original work creates our first ever Luker Fellows Showcase.

 

 

The Original Work in This Year’s Showcase

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From Liz Culver
QUEER JOY (AND NOTHING BUT)
This piece, as the title suggests, centers around nothing but queer joy. Joy with no caveats. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Liz has found that this is one element that can be dishearteningly hard to find in mainstream theater, particularly concerning characters that aren’t cis white males. While we should explore our history and the struggles we’ve overcome, sometimes we just need to be people and enjoy our lives. (Briana Hernandez and Quinn Gamon appear as well.)

From Caetano de Sá
THE EMOTIONS OF WANTING
Caetano de Sá explores how the strength of the emotional journey transcends language and text using both English and Portuguese.

From Quinn Gamon
INTERSECTIONALITY: A CROSS OVER OF BLACK AND QUEER ARTISTS
As a non-binary performer, Quinn Gamon will be presenting works that represent the queer black experience.

From Briana Hernandez
PASSING THE TORCH
Briana Hernandez will sing through the music of artists that made her feel seen heard as a Mexican-American in the hopes of inspiring other people to do the same.

From Ashley Williams
THE FULL FIGURED AND FABULOUS: WHERE EVERY BODY SHINES
Ashley Williams presents a vibrant cabaret that shines a spotlight on the incredible talent and artistry of plus size women in theatre, celebrating their performance, voices, and unwavering spirit.

Tags: Luker Fellowship