"The Space of the Ecstatic:" Eric Ruffin, Director and Educator
01/11/25 • 53 min
Eric Ruffin is a professor of theatre arts at Howard University, focusing on acting and directing. A Howard alum himself, he has helmed productions at Mosaic Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, 1st Stage, African Continuum Theatre Company, Imagination Stage, the Kennedy Center, and more. His 2015 production of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity with Theater Alliance won three Helen Hayes Awards. A gregarious and charming interlocutor, Eric discusses the importance of Howard to the American entertainment industry, how love and transcendence should be central to the theatrical experience, and the kind of work we need to make today.
Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district
Eric Ruffin is a professor of theatre arts at Howard University, focusing on acting and directing. A Howard alum himself, he has helmed productions at Mosaic Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, 1st Stage, African Continuum Theatre Company, Imagination Stage, the Kennedy Center, and more. His 2015 production of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity with Theater Alliance won three Helen Hayes Awards. A gregarious and charming interlocutor, Eric discusses the importance of Howard to the American entertainment industry, how love and transcendence should be central to the theatrical experience, and the kind of work we need to make today.
Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district
Previous Episode
"Theater is a Service": Shanara Gabrielle and Theater Alliance
Shanara Gabrielle is a force for good in the DC theater scene. Since planting roots here in 2017, she has worked as an actor, director, and cultural producer across our region, and in July 2024, became the producing artistic director of Theater Alliance, which specializes in socially conscious, thought-provoking work. We discuss how the company is settling into their new venue, the values that underpin theater, the need for theaters to understand and support their community, and how the non-profit model could use a re-thinking.
Learn more about Shanara on her website, shanaragabrielle.com, follow her on Instagram at @shanaragabrielle, and check out Theater Alliance's website, theateralliance.com.
Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district
Next Episode
"Connection Points:" Katherine Harroff & Kristen Jackson, Community Engagement
When waacking and disco and crafting come up in one conversation, it must be about something deep and powerful and transformative like community engagement. Katherine Harroff (Director of Engagement and Associate Director of Public Programming with the Folger Shakespeare Library) and Kristen Jackson (Associate Artistic Director and Director of Connectivity at Woolly Mammoth) join forces to speak about the joy and necessity of creating spaces of communal recognition and growth, how an engagement ethos can infuse an entire organization, and how to both plan ahead and remain flexible in this important work.
Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district
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