The Antiracist Theatre with Nicole Brewer and Ann James

The Drama Book Shop presents, in association with Jay Michaels Global Communications, The Antiracist Theatre with Nicole Brewer and Ann James- A Talkback, signing and live podcast recording.

About the Book

In The Antiracist Theatre, Nicole Brewer, theater director and acting faculty at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and originator of the Antiracist Theatre model, offers a bold and deeply practical framework for transforming collaborative processes from the inside out. Rooted in transformative justice core principles of harm reduction, harm prevention, and relationship repair, this book invites readers to develop their own antiracist theatre ethos and reimagine what collaboration, accountability, and care feels like in artistic spaces.

Part memoir, part self exploration, and loaded with practical tools The AntiRacist Theatre guides readers toward greater awareness of position, power, and privilege while disrupting the systems and behaviors that perpetuate harm throughout the performing arts.

Written with honesty, rigor, warmth, and humor, The Antiracist Theatre lovingly welcomes readers into deeper responsibility and care for how people move through processes. Rather than offering quick fixes, Brewer presents her framework as a healing technology and ongoing, collective commitment to building healthier, more liberatory creative spaces.

For artists, educators, students, administrators, and anyone invested in the future of performance, The Antiracist Theatre is both an invitation and a call to action because the work of liberation belongs to all of us.

About the Author

Nicole Brewer is a theater director whose work has been seen at theaters such as Long Wharf Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, and Folger Theatre. She is an educator with more than 18 years of teaching experience. Brewer is notably known as the originator of the internationally recognized Antiracist Theatre (ART) model. A leading voice in the movement to transform theater culture through accountability, care, and liberation-centered practices, Brewer serves as acting faculty at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.

For more than sixteen years, Brewer has developed and facilitated anti-racist and anti-oppressive training methodologies that challenge harmful industry norms and reimagine what collaborative artistic processes can be. Her work has been featured at conferences and institutions across the United States, Canada, and the UK, including workshops with Shakespeare's Globe and the University of Cambridge.

A dynamic speaker known for blending rigor, humor, honesty, and deep compassion, Brewer has taught at Howard University, her alma mater, the National Theater Institute, and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, among others. Her widely discussed essay, “Why Equity Diversity and Inclusion Are Obsolete,” was named one of the most-read articles of 2019 by American Theatre.

In her debut book, The Antiracist Theatre, Nicole Brewer invites readers to consider the cost of business as usual and reclaim their power to challenge and shift extractive, exclusionary, and exploitative processes. Brewer creates space for readers to reimagine how creative spaces can function in healthier, more humane, and accountable ways. The book offers practical tools for building healthier creative environments where everyone can thrive.

About the Moderator

Ann James (Intimacy/Sensitivity Specialist) made her debut as the first Black Intimacy Coordinator on Broadway for PASS OVER. Broadway credits include: CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL, HADESTOWN, PROOF, ROCKY HORROR SHOW, RAGTIME, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, SUNSET BOULEVARD, A WONDERFUL WORLD, EUREKA DAY, SH*T. MEET. FAN., JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN, THE OUTSIDERS, LEMPICKA, ILLINOISE, HAMILTON, PARADE, SWEENEY TODD, HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL, JELLY'S LAST JAM. Off-Broadway: WORKING GIRL, ANTIQUITIES, THREE SUMMERS OF LINCOLN, THE GREAT PRIVATION, VELOUR! A DRAG SPECTACULAR!, CATS THE JELLICLE BALL, THE HIPPEST TRIP, SUNSET BABY, ORLANDO, JONAH, WHITE GIRL IN DANGER, HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF, THE COMEUPPANCE, EVANSTON SALT COSTS CLIMBING, MY BROKEN LANGUAGE, THE HALF-GOD OF RAINFALL, HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES, LIFE AND TRUST, THE LONELY FEW. Tours: STEREOPHONIC, PARADE, HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES, HAMILTON Worldwide. James’ company, Intimacy Coordinators of Color was awarded a 2024 Special Citation from the OBIE Awards and The American Theatre Wing. James recently launched Ann James and Associates for Certified Sensitivity Specialists as well as other valued artistic and corporate partnerships.

About the event

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