Ms. Gendered: An Educator's Journey Devising a Children's Play About Gender Identity
Karen M. Dabney
KAREN M. DABNEY, Artistic Director/ Program Manager of UVA Acts at the University of Virginia (formerly Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse), completed her Ph.D. in Theatre at the University of Colorado–Boulder and her MFA in Directing at the New School for Drama in New York City. Research interests include military theater and entertainment, theater for social engagement, pedagogy, and new work development. She recently co-chaired the Pedagogy Symposium and currently serves as co-chair of the Anti-Racism Ad-Hoc Committee for the Mid-America Theatre Conference. Her favorite directing credits include Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists, Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, and Bekah Brunstetter’s sick.
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Abstract
In the era of the coronavirus pandemic, I found myself starting a new teaching position at a state university. Almost immediately, I was leading the devising process for a children’s show titled Squiggles that would be filmed and streamed online. The target age range for our audience was 4-9 years old. Narrowing down an array of social justice issues, the ensemble opted to focus their original production on gender identity. Utilizing assorted generative and improvisatory techniques, we set out to create a show about embracing one’s identity, accepting each other’s differences, and managing heavy and hurtful feelings. Our cast of four explored moment work, image theater, Rasaboxes, short form improv games, and more to develop characters and scenes to illustrate the struggles with mental well-being one goes through when accepting one’s true self. Little did I realize how my own childhood experiences with gender misidentification would inform my directing process.
In the era of the coronavirus pandemic, I found myself starting a new teaching position at a state university. Almost immediately, I was leading the devising process for a children’s show titled Squiggles that would be filmed and streamed online. The target age range for our audience was 4-9 years old. Narrowing down an array of social justice issues, the ensemble opted to focus their original production on gender identity. Utilizing assorted generative and improvisatory techniques, we set out to create a show about embracing one’s identity, accepting each other’s differences, and managing heavy and hurtful feelings. Our cast of four explored moment work, image theater, Rasaboxes, short form improv games, and more to develop characters and scenes to illustrate the struggles with mental well-being one goes through when accepting one’s true self. Little did I realize how my own childhood experiences with gender misidentification would inform my directing process.

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