Intimacy Directing for Theatre: Creating a Culture of Consent in the Classroom and Beyond

Intimacy Directing for Theatre provides much needed strategies on how teachers and artists can do intimacy work in the classroom and rehearsal room that is safe and just.

This book puts forth intimacy work that is based on human rights and consent for everyone, fully integrating justice with intimacy directing. It offers practical advice on how instructors can do intimacy work in their courses and productions that is based on consent and racial and gender justice. Each chapter is written by an instructor and professional practitioner who offers their perspective and experience on how to cultivate a space that is safe and intersectional, as well as respectful of students’ race, gender, sexual orientation, and other integral modes of identity. Chapters contain "low stakes" exercises that help to keep the rehearsal room safe, consensual, and inclusive.

Intimacy Directing for Theatre is an excellent resource for Theatre & Performance instructors and practitioners who want to create and sustain a culture of consent in their classrooms and rehearsal rooms.

Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson is an intimacy director, scholar, and award-winning writer from Brooklyn, NY. With an MFA from CalArts and a PhD from UMass Amherst, she uses performance to investigate sexuality, race, and human rights. Her critical and creative work appears in Black Camera, Qualitative Inquiry, Boston University Press, International Review of Qualitative Research, Theatre Topics, Howlround and Research in Drama Education. Dr. Ayshia has directed or intimacy directed productions at The Huntington, Fresh Ink Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre in NYC, Arts at the Armory (Somerville), The Rockwell, and the DC Black Theatre & Arts Festival. She is Assistant Professor of Art and Performance Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, hosts Dr. AyshiaTV (a Youtube channel on radical performance), and is the Founder of AfroGoddess Theatre.