Intimacy Directing for Theatre

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.

1. Introduction 2. From Director to Director: Why Intimacy Direction Is a Necessity 3. Definitions 4. Intimacy Directing, Race, and Human Rights 5. What the Student of Color Actor Needs in Intimacy Work 6. You Can’t Colorblind Choreograph: The Importance of Cultural Competency in Intimacy Practice 7. Genderqueer Intimacy 8. Consent Culture & Devised Work 9. Staging Violence & Theatrical Intimacy 10. Actor Training and Consent in the Movement Classroom 11. Virtual Intimacy Directing and Consent 12. Do’s and Don’ts of Intimacy and Consent 13. Building a Future of Justice & Consent 14. Bibliography and Resources