Blog

Children in Kabul using the masks they made

Arts in Education: Mobile Mini Circus for Children in Afghanistan has returned

Since I visited this incredible program in 2013, they were forced to shut down and seek safety when the Taliban again grew powerful and violent in the Autumn of 2022. Now, once again (as of January 2023), they have 27 teams in 11 provinces, serving children of all ages and genders, with a social circus program that also provides food and other instruction. You can learn more about them on their Facebook page (they post most often on Facebook). Support by sharing or donating if you can. — I am walking down the dirt road, my headscarf up over my

Read More »
A group of students planning out their project

How does the collaboration circle work

As I write this, I pause to quickly grab a pencil and jot down one more thing on my “Bring” list, so I don’t forget when I leave for a foreign country at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. I have more anxiety than I typically do — normally I am happiest and most content moving through space (or preparing to), and love my collaborative-creative projects best of all. So what, I asked myself, was I worried about this time? I had done quite a bit of social, cultural, and language preparation, spent time with friends and colleagues from this country to

Read More »
Holly Adams in her studio recording an audiobook

“On the Spectrum” and On the Stage

My wonderful and amazing students from “A Class Act” with The Magic Paintbrush Project performed on April 27th (a play they wrote!) and hit the ball out of the park. They were amazing, they were incredible, they brought the house down. And every single one of them has a disability. I wrote about them last fall, when we were just beginning our process (see “Life is Washable”), but as a result of the show, folks have been asking about children, challenges, and performance, especially children who are on the Asperger-Autism spectrum. I last posted some specific observations and activities about working

Read More »
Sky Chief masks, "Raven..."

Arts impacting life: 3 glimpses

These past weeks have held plentiful reminders of the horrendous things we do to each other as people and societies. In the face of large darknesses, we often forget that ignorance and intolerance are bred and cultivated in much smaller arenas long before they grow into mass malignancy. I myself have found it difficult to find anything to write about of late, and I am one of the most pragmatically action-oriented people I know. With this in mind, I have decided to devote this blog and the next to arts-based projects that are creating opportunities for connection and knowledge. The

Read More »
"On the Road" from the Bond Street Theatre

From Kabul: Women Speak Out Through Theatre

I write this on my last day in Kabul, where for the past 10 days I have had the honor and joy of working with the Afghan Mobile Mini Children’s Circus and being a supporting team member for Eva Vander Giessen in Afghan Friends Network meetings. I have been able to wear bright clothes, walk by myself to the circus in the morning, and eat at restaurants where men and women are allowed to dine together (although they are uncommon, and are generally referred to as “restaurants for foreigners,” even if mostly Afghans are there). Girls go to school in

Read More »
Barbara Adams doing a yoga pose in a garden

Where does my love of art come from? My mom

Many people have asked me about my own history as a teaching artist, when I began, who shaped my initial thinking, and my first forays into this dynamic field. Without question, my practice continues to change and grow as I strive to learn from colleagues, mentors, writings by teaching artists, and workshops. However, my core frame, my nutrient-rich context into which the seeds of all things are sown, is a gift from my mother, Barbara Lucia Adams. Let me quote her. “I had a passion for theatre, but more importantly, I saw what it could do. I could see theatre

Read More »
Holly and JR in Melodrama and Murder by Mystery & Adventure Agency

A Mini-history on the Mis-Maligned Melodrama

You must pay the rent! I can’t pay the rent! I’ll pay the rent. My hero! I admit I LOVE melodrama — the true stuff, the new stuff, and the mustachioed tongue-in-cheek stuff. That being said, I weep copious tears, gnash my teeth, and rend my garments when folks use “melodrama” in solely disparaging ways. In truth, melodrama grew from the dance hall, cheap entertainment (thrills, chills, and crazy love stories!), into a means to forward a progressive social agenda and large-scale cultural and system reform. WHHHHAAAAAT?!?!?! NO!!! Yes, my friends, yes. The history of melodrama In Victorian England, if

Read More »
Marie Sirakos, artist and playwright

Performance and Community: interview with Marie Sirakos

I am just finishing up being directed by the great Marie Sirakos in a performance of the internationally acclaimed children’s book, “My Father’s Dragon,” in celebration of the author’s 90th birthday. Marie is a playwright and community events organizer whose work includes a piece called Empty Chairs, an art-installation, community driven work about loss and suicide. Marie is a personal hero of mine, and it is an honor to interview her for this week’s blog. Q. Hi, Marie! It’s a pleasure to have you here! A subject dear to my heart is the interrelationship between Performance and Community. You have been

Read More »
A girl wearing a headdress mask

Arts and Empowerment

Playwrighting is about creating a means for people to empower themselves, grow, explore, find joy, and reach out to a larger community through theatre. Without even meaning to, the best and best intentioned of us shape content, form, and process direction to our understanding and comfort level. This process is one more attempt to get away from “colonialism” style thinking (Marino, 1997) where the facilitator or director reproduces the imbalance of power as well as his or her own belief system in the very group that is supposed to be expressing themselves. Since we want to encourage responsible citizenry and

Read More »
by 3rd graders about Chaos Theory and Fractals

Playwrighting and Playbuilding: How to bring the arts to life

Playwrighting: from the words “play” and “wright”. Play: (2) brisk, lively activity involving change, variation, transition, or alternation: dynamic action; (3) the representation or exhibition of some action or story on the stage or in some other medium. Wright: (1) to create, shape or a person who does so, usually in wood in combination (shipwright); (2) to work into shape by artistry or effort; (3) to fashion with particular adherence to form or style. The arts are in effect the Rosetta Stone for transition, possessing both ontological and technical knowing. They also require a process approach that really works only when

Read More »
Skip to content