On TAP: A Theatre and Performance Studies Podcast

Pannill, Miriam, and Brian welcome Helen Shaw, chief theatre critic for the New York Times, for a conversation about theatre criticism, journalism, and pedagogy.

Pannill, Brian, and Shayoni discuss Wallace Shawn's new play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days, currently playing at the Greenwich House Theatre, Milo Rau's talk, "The Second Coming," and innovations in live performance supertitles and other technologies that join accessibility and artistry.

On this episode, On TAP emeritae Sarah Bay-Cheng and Kareem Khubchandani join Pannill to discuss Annie Dorsen's essay on generative AI as theatre, Chris Grobe's new essay in Critical Inquiry on imitations of robots or "botface," and the looksmaxxing phenomenon.

Pannill welcomes Branislav Jakovljevic of Stanford University and Kimberly Jannarone of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale to talk about the points of contact between their two new books. Branislav Jakovljevic's book is entitled The Performance Apparatus: On Ideological Production of Behaviors, and Kimberly Jannarone's book is entitled Mass Performance: Systems and Citizens. Both are publish...

Pannill, Miriam, and Harvey discuss Carla Neuss's Theatre Journal article on gender reveals, James Bundy's retirement from leading the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, and the PBS stream of The Public Theater's free production of Twelfth Night in Central Park.

On this episode, Pannill, Brian, and Leticia discuss Patrick McKelvey's new article about seeing-eye-dogs and disability performance, the resurgence of clowns on stage, including Courtney Pauroso's streaming show, Vanessa 5000, and the prospect of AI "actors."

We welcome special guests Jacob Gallagher-Ross of University of Toronto and Caden Manson of Big Art Group to talk about "interface theatre," an emerging genre of works that examine the way contemporary life is mediated by apps, devices, and data. Shayoni, Miriam, and Pannill then take stock of the political attacks on higher education and freedom of expression in recent months. Intro music: Sunday...

Pannill and Harvey welcome Jill Dolan, Annan Professor of English and Professor of Theater in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, to talk about theater and performance studies scholars in university administration, and the challenges of the current political moment.

Recorded live at the María Irene Fornés Institute Symposium at Princeton University's Lewis Arts Complex. Brian and Pannill welcome Anne García-Romero to talk about María Irene Fornés in Context, a new book soon to be published by Cambridge University Press; Jaqueline Flores discusses the Latinx Theatre Commons, of which the Fornés Institute is a major initiative; Gwendolyn Alker discusses biograp...

Pannill, Jordan, and Leticia discuss Rhaisa Williams' new article about Mamie Till Bradley's NAACP tour and "grief capital," the second Trump administration's efforts to reshape federal arts funding, and the documentary film about Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music.

A special edition of the podcast on Dance Data and Dramaturgy. Pannill, Brian, and Shayoni welcome Harmony Bench and Kate Elswit to talk about their data visualizations that are part of the Edges of Ailey exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Katherine Profeta to talk about her collaborations with Ralph Lemon, who is currently the subject of a major exhibition, Ceremonies Out of th...

Pannill, Jordan, and Shayoni discuss Joshua Chambers-Letson's recent essay on the "studies protocols" of performance studies, performing arts in carceral institutions, and 11Reflections: San Francisco, a devised piece reflecting on the experience of Arab-American identity in post 9/11 America.

Recorded in-person at ASTR 2024 in Seattle, Washington, Sarah Bay-Cheng, Pannill Camp, and Harvey Young discuss what a second Trump term might mean for arts and academia, the final edition of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, and a recording of the classic Split Britches piece, Belle Reprieve.

Pannill, Miriam and Brian discuss Shane Boyle's book, The Arts of Logistics: Artistic Production in Supply Chain Capitalism, then are joined by Doug Eacho of University of Toronto to talk about reading Marx's Capital with performance in mind. Finally, we talk about Theater in Quarantine's remote theater production, Nosferatu.

Pannill, Brian, and Shayoni discuss the concept paper for Archiving Latine theater published by the Latinx Theater Commons on Howlround, recent stories about academic department closings, and the continuing efforts to regulate political expression on campuses.

Back from summer hiatus, Pannill and the Daughters of Lorraine, a.k.a Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley discuss Diana Taylor's new article on digital presence, Raygun's controversial performance in the Olympic breaking competition, and the unionization of off-Broadway theater.

Pannill, Brian, and Shayoni discuss Alisa Zhulina's new book, Theater of Capital, the Wilma Theatre's production of My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion by Sasha Denisova, and the 10th anniversary convening of the Latinx Theatre Commons.

Pannill, Leticia, and Miriam discuss Suhaila Meera's article about "Little Amal," the large scale puppet drawing attention to the plight of displaced children, the trend toward earlier curtain times for theatre, and Faye Driscoll's dance performance work, including Thank You for Coming and Come On In.

Pannill and Brian discuss Eric Mayer-Garcia's recent article, "Theorizing Performance Archives through the Critic's Labor," Alexis Soloski's novel Here in the Dark, and the 2024 musical film Mean Girls.

Pannill, Miriam, and Shayoni discuss Rustom Bharucha's recent book, The Second Wave, about cultural responses to the pandemic, speech and protest on campus regarding the war in Israel and Gaza, and the essay Decomposition Instead of Collapse - Dear Theatre, Be Like Soil.

Recorded in Providence, Rhode Island, site of ASTR 2023, Sarah, Harvey and Pannill discuss “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Commodification,” a forthcoming essay by Annie Dorsen and Sam Gill, the current moment in conservative cultural politics and what it means for theatre makers and scholars in the US, and the legacy of Matthew Perry.

Pannill and Brian welcome Sean Metzger and Laura Edmondson, outgoing and incoming editors of Theatre Journal, to discuss the 75th anniversary of the journal, and the forthcoming special issue commemorating that milestone. We discuss some of the pieces in the anniversary issue, the 1980s as a watershed era for the field, and what we hope the future will bring.

Sarah returns and we welcome Sydney Skybetter to tell us about his soon-to-be-revealed podcast, Dances with Robots (check it out at www.danceswithrobots.org), and other matters choreorobotic. We also discuss Anna Watkins Fisher's book, The Play in the System, and revisit the 2014 sci-fi film, Ex Machina.

On this episode, Pannill, Jordan, Leticia, and Miriam talk about Kevin Landis' new book, One Public, about the Oskar Eustis era at The Public Theater, financial difficulties at the Dallas Theater Center, and the recent Guggenheim Fellowships awarded to theatre and performance scholars.

Pannill and Brian welcome Shayoni Mitra to the roster of On TAP regular co-hosts! We talk about Vaibhav Saria's book, Hijras, Brothers, Lovers, the bans on drag performance in US state legislatures, and the wins for Asian-American performers at the Academy Awards.