Interview with Indecent director, Gabrielle Kurlander
Living Theatre Artistic Director, Brad Burgess, and company members Jerry Goralnick and Emma Sue Harris are currently in Sedona, AZ rehearsing for an upcoming production of INDECENT by Paula Vogel, directed by Gabrielle Kurlander and produced by Emerson Theatre Collaborative. We asked Gabrielle Kurlander to tell us more about Performance Lab and her work with the All Stars and her process directing Indecent:
Tell me about Performance Lab -how is this endeavor growing out of your work with All Stars Project & the Castillo Theatre?
I founded the Performance Lab in 2022 as a platform through which All Stars Project could partner with theatre artists, organizations and cultural enclaves across the country to showcase and produce cultural events and bridge building activities which explore human relations and social conflict through the lens of performance - on the stage and in life.
The initiative builds on the All Stars Project’s and Castillo Theatre’s 40 year tradition of producing political, historical, Black and multi-cultural theatre. Performance has been part of All Stars’ lifeblood since the beginning, and it is my hope that the Performance Lab will allow us to be maximally innovative as we creatively challenge how we see each other and our world. We are creating a national platform for those who believe that performance can and must play a critical role in building the bridges necessary for moving our country toward a shared community and humanity. This is the role culture plays, and I am excited to be leading this new dynamic cultural platform at All Stars Project.
I love directing and creating theatre with organizations that share the same drive to use performance as a vehicle to challenge how we view each other and our world. I’m proud that through the Performance Lab we can provide artistic and financial support to theaters which are underfunded.
Our first collaboration was with Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Dallas, where I directed the 1619 Project, One-Act Festival earlier this year. The seven short plays were inspired by The 1619 Project, a publishing initiative at the New York Times created by Nikole Hannah- Jones. We were honored that Ms. Hannah-Jones was able to attend a performance where she participated in a talkback with a long-time friend of the All Stars, Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammed, who also served as the production’s dramaturg.
Performance Lab is currently partnering with the Emerson Theater Collective, a non-profit organization whose mission is to “serve youth, under-represented communities and artists with an emphasis on diversity, by producing innovative and thought-provoking theater both in southeastern Connecticut and Sedona, AZ.” I am directing the Paula Vogel play Indecent – which recounts the controversy surrounding the play God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, which was produced on Broadway in 1923, and for which the producer and cast were arrested and convicted on the grounds of obscenity. It has been a wonderful opportunity to bring together a highly talented cast of actors and a creative team that I have worked with at Castillo, including The Living Theater Artistic Director and ASP friend and supporter Brad Burgess.
In 2024, I will be directing a workshop production of This time by Brian Dang at the Undermain Theatre in Dallas. Undermain are a company of artists “seeking to inspire, educate and challenge audiences and artists through its production of innovative theater with particular interest in poetic and language-driven work.”
What interests you about doing this work outside of NYC? The Castillo was a Manhattan venue, Sedona will be a very different experience; why choose to work in Sedona when you could work in Manhattan?
Theater plays a particular role in exposing people to different cultures, histories and new ways of thinking. Theatre also allows the audience to take a glimpse at things that may not otherwise have access to. That’s why I am proud to be working with Emerson Theatre Collective on their production of Indecent – a play about antisemitism in a place like Sedona that doesn’t have a large Jewish community.
Gabrielle Kurlander is a nonprofit entrepreneur, theatre director and actor with decades of experience in all aspects of performance and theatrical production. Productions directed by Gabrielle have earned six AUDELCO Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, including Best Director. She worked for over 30 years as a member of the Castillo Theatre in New York City, acting in and directing political, avant-garde and multi-cultural plays andmusicals. Her many directing credits include Castillo’s Sally and Tom (The American Way), New Federal Theatre’s production of Dr. Du Bois and Miss Ovington and the 1619 Project, One-Act Festival at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center. This fall she is directing Indecent at Emerson Theater Collective in Sedona, Arizona. Next spring, she will direct This time at Undermain Theatre in Dallas. Gabrielle is the founding CEO of the All Stars Project, where she leads Performance Lab. All Stars Project uses an innovative performance approach to provide afterschool development opportunities for young people growing up in poor and underserved communities and builds bridges between diverse communities. Gabrielle sits on the boards of The Arts Community Alliance (TACA) and the All Stars Project.