RISE Series E3: Jacquelyn Jordan (Dramatists Guild Foundation)
The Women & Theatre RISE Series presents mini-interviews conducted at the Inaugural RISE Summit with network partners of RISE Theatre, all of which are organizations working to increase equity in the theatre industry. In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with Jacquelyn Jordan from the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Scroll down for episode notes and transcript!
Episode Notes
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Guest: Jacquelyn Jordan, Dramatists Guild Foundation
Music: Chloe Geller
Listen to all published episodes of the Women & Theatre RISE Series here.
Many thanks to RISE Theatre, Maestra Music, Playbill, and all the amazing organizations working to increase equity in theatre!
Episode Resources:
Dramatists Guild Foundation website
About Dramatists Guild Foundation:
Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) is a national charity that fuels the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF fosters playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at all stages of their careers. DGF sponsors educational programs; provides awards, grants, and stipends; offers free space to create new works; and gives emergency aid to writers in need of immediate support. In 2024, DGF received a 2024 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre for their life-changing support of theater writers. By supporting and nurturing the creators of today, we protect the stories of tomorrow.
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Episode Transcript
(Music)
Hayley: Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to the Women & Theatre RISE Series! We’re your hosts, Hayley Goldenberg…
Amy: …and Amy Andrews! On this series, we share mini-interviews conducted at the Inaugural RISE Summit with network partner organizations of RISE Theatre.
Hayley: We’re thrilled to uplift these amazing organizations that are working to make the theatre industry a more equitable space.
Amy: Today, we’re excited to share our interview with Jacquelyn Jordan of the Dramatists Guild Foundation.
(Music)
Hayley: Hello, beautiful people! We are here with Jacquie Jordan from the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Jacquie, thank you so much for being here today.
Jacquelyn: Thank you! Thank you for having me.
Hayley: Of course! Could you please share your pronouns and tell us a little bit about the Dramatists Guild Foundation?
Jacquelyn: Sure! My name, again, is Jacquelyn (Jacquie) Jordan, my pronouns are she/her/hers. And the Dramatists Guild Foundation is a national charity that fuels the future of American theatre by supporting writers and composers at all stages of their careers. Through our educational programs, awards, grants, and free space, we give the opportunity to emerging writers to do whatever it is they need to do. We also provide emergency aid to writers who need immediate support. That’s really what we do, we support writers. Period.
Hayley: Love it!
Amy: Love that! We are both proud members of the Dramatists Guild, and we very much appreciate all you do.
Jacquelyn: Yes, absolutely.
Amy: Jacquie, could you tell us about something you’re working on right now that’s lighting you up?
Jacquelyn: Yes, so I am super, super excited about our Catalyst Fellowship. It is in its second year, and our Fellows have done and continue to do incredible and amazing innovative work. It’s timely work for the theatre, so we feel like it’s super, super important. And we have eleven Fellows, because we have a team, so it’s eleven Fellows total. And the Fellowship is an opportunity for dramatists of the global ethnic majority who are interested in radically imagining solutions to equity, social justice, and change in the theatre community.
Amy: Fantastic!
Hayley: Beautiful. Jacquie, could you share what you think is the biggest challenge that’s facing the theatre industry right now?
Jacquelyn: This is such an amazing question. (laughter) It’s a wonderful question because oftentimes we don’t ask that question, right?
Hayley: Right, yeah.
Jacquelyn: And so I think the biggest thing is honesty. I think as an industry, we have to be honest about ourselves, about who we are. We don’t know what we don’t know, and so when we begin to ask the questions, especially to marginalized groups, I think that it gives us the opportunity to do more listening versus talking. And once we have those listening sessions, we can begin to have honest conversations about what needs to change.
We gotta spend time with folks, we really do. I think as writers - I’m a writer myself - we do a lot of active listening, right? We listen to the folks in our head, we listen to the people in the street, we observe. And I think oftentimes we don’t feel heard. And so it’s super important, when we go into these spaces in the industry, that we just have honest conversations, and I think we have to be fearless in that pursuit of honesty.
Hayley: I really love that.
Amy: Oh, I love that! Fearless in our pursuit of honesty. I love that. Very cool. Jacquie, what is one small step listeners can take to make our industry a more equitable space?
Jacquelyn: So I think the first thing is to acknowledge where we have caused harm. I think all of us have caused harm, intentionally or unintentionally. And so I think it’s important to, again, just have an honest look at that. Look at those areas where we have caused harm. Ask questions, active listening. Are we listening to the people that we want to support? At the Dramatists Guild Foundation, it is so important for us to listen to writers. So whether it’s changing our rehearsal spaces or doing something different with the writing rooms, we listen to our writers and their needs.
Choose to be accountable. I feel like this is such a choice, right? You can choose to just say, “No, I’m not gonna deal with that.” Or you can hold yourself accountable, and it’s always a choice for us.
And then finally, just do better. I think there are ways… (laughter)
Hayley/Amy: Just do better!
Jacquelyn: We can all just do better. You’ve gotta have balance between having the conversations and actually having action and doing the things that matter.
Amy: Yeah.
Jacquelyn: And if we don’t know, let’s pay the folks in the field that do know. And so we’ve gotta bring in experts to kind of manage the issues that we have amongst our organizations and in theatre. Let’s do that. And let’s pay people. Equitably!
Amy: Please, let’s pay people!
Jacquelyn: And make sure that we are paying them, again, fairly.
And then finally, just be fearless in your pursuit. If justice - if social justice is your thing, environmental justice, climate change, economic justice - if those are your things, be fearless in that pursuit. And just don’t be afraid. I mean, yes, you might not get the job, right? You might get blackballed. But also, just be fearless in that pursuit because your time does come.
Hayley: Amazing.
Amy: Love that so much, yes!
Hayley: Jacquie, can you please share where listeners can find you and the Dramatists Guild Foundation on the internet?
Jacquelyn: Sure! So I am the Community Engagement and Impact Manager at the Dramatists Guild Foundation. You can email me at jacquie@dgf.org, and that is our website, dgf.org. You can go on there, you can apply for emergency grants, you can find more information about our programs and also our mission.
Hayley: Fabulous.
Amy: Fantastic. Thank you so much for all you do, Jacquie.
Jacquelyn: Thank you!
Amy: And thank you all for listening to our conversation with Jacquie Jordan from the Dramatists Guild Foundation!
(Music)
Amy: Women & Theatre is a proud network partner of RISE Theatre.
Hayley: Thank you so much to RISE, Maestra, Playbill, and RISE Program Manager Victoria Detres for collaborating with us on this series. Thank you for listening to the Women & Theatre Podcast. We’re your hosts, Hayley Goldenberg…
Amy: …and Amy Andrews! If you like what you heard, subscribe and give us a 5-star review wherever you listen.
Hayley: You can also follow us on social @womenandtheatreproject to make sure you never miss an episode.
Amy: The music for this show was written by talented Women & Theatre community member Chloe Geller.
Hayley: Thanks again for listening, everyone. See you next time!
Amy: Bye!
