Power 15
Power 15 is a new, limited podcast series conceived during the 2020 quarantine due to COVID-19. We were inspired to highlight the wonderful people who have mentored, supported and encouraged our work — from artists, theater professionals and creatives to the village of others who have helped Shakespeare in Detroit sustain over the years through their advice, generosity and belief in our mission.
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We hope that anyone who watches/listens to these brief episodes, for busy professionals, will be inspired to hold onto their dreams, cling to their creativity and hope that we will all be okay. As Shakespeare wrote: "we know what we are, but know not what we may be."
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Stay tuned for a new episode, only ten (10) planned episodes, every week through June 2020.
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Subscribe to our YouTube page HERE to ensure you don't miss any digital content from Shakespeare in Detroit. We may not be onstage during this time but you can definitely catch lots of new, exciting work from us online.
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Episode 1 | Emilio Rodriguez's plays have been produced from Ann Arbor, Mich. to Portland, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Minneapolis and Puerto Vallarata. His play Swimming While Drowning, a fictional account of two gay teens living in an LGBT homeless shelter, received the Victor Bumbalo/Robert Chesley LGBT Playwriting Award and was nominated for a Portland Area Theatre Drammy Award. Emilio was the 2019 Guest Playwright for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Midwest Region and the 2017 Guest Playwright for Theatre Kalamazoo as well as 2018 recipient of the Kresge Artists in Detroit Fellowship. Emilio is also the artistic director and co-founder of Black and Brown Theatre, a Detroit area theatre devoted to creating professional opportunities for theatre artists of color and their communities.
Episode 2 | Ron Simons is the CEO and President of SimonSays Entertainment. He is a four-time Tony® Award-winning producer, making him the highest African-American Tony® Award-winning producer of all time. He is an entertainment veteran strategist, producer, speaker and actor, advises from story development and script review to creative direction, fundraising and decision-making processes that make projects thrive. His most recent projects include the critically-acclaimed Ain't Too Proud (The Life and Times of The Temptations) and the upcoming Blue. Learn more by visiting https://bluetheplay.com/
Episode 3 | Cynthia Rider became the eighth Managing Director at Hartford Stage in 2019, joining recently-appointed Artistic Director Melia Bensussen. It will be the first time in the theater’s 55-year history that two women will jointly assume the co-leadership roles.
Rider became the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s (OSF) third executive director in 2013. Prior to joining OSF, she spent nine years at Kansas City Repertory Theatre as Managing Director and, earlier, as Associate Director for Advancement and Administration. Her experience also includes six years as Executive Director of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey.
Episode 4 | Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays and graphic novels. Her latest novel, The Testaments, is a co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. It is the long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, now an award-winning TV series. Her other works of fiction include Cat's Eye, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and Hag-Seed. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award and the Los Angeles Times Innovator's Award.