Joan Lipkin is
the Producing Artistic Director of That Uppity Theatre Company
in St. Louis, Missouri where she founded the nationally acclaimed
Alternate Currents/Direct Currents Series, The DisAbility Project,
the Louies and Apple Pie. A strong proponent of
collaboration, she also co-founded Women CenterStage! with the
Center of Creative Arts, the Nadadada Festival at The Contemporary
Art Museum St. Louis, Democracy on Stage with the American Civil
Liberties Union, and the Mid-Sized Arts Cooperative.
A playwright, director, activist, educator, and social critic,
her award-winning work has been featured on network television,
National Public Radio, the BBC and the Associated Press. Her
work has been published and presented throughout the United States,
Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Europe, Australia and Asia. She
was an Artist-in-Residence at Washington University for five
years and served on the faculty of the Community Arts Training
Institute for three years.
Joan specializes in creating original work with underrepresented
populations including people with disabilities, women with cancer,
LGBT youth and adults, seniors, adolescent girls and youth at
risk.
She has received commissions from numerous organizations including
the Foster Care Coalition of St. Louis (“Will the Real Foster
Parent Please Stand Up?”) the Susan G. Komen Foundation (“The
Real Deal”), SSM Healthcare (“Diverse Works”), Provident Counseling
(“Hello, Is Anybody There?”), the ACLU-Eastern Missouri (“Democracy
on Stage”), the Federal Reserve Board of Greater St. Louis (
“Ten Percent: Sexual Orientation and Homophobia in the Workplace”)
the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (“The Sage Cycle”) and One
Mississippi (“H20”).
She has served on advisory committees for the International
Women Playwrights Festival, Theatre Nausicaa (Paris), and Fragments
and Monuments Theatre Company (London). In St. Louis, Lipkin
has served on committees for the Susan G. Komen Foundation-St.
Louis, VSA arts, PROMO, Center for Creative Arts, Contemporary
Art Museum St. Louis, Edison Theatre, Gateway Men’s Chorus, Missouri
Arts Council and Pride Partnership. Currently, she is on the
executive board of the national Women and Theatre Program.
She has adjudicated or been the respondent for several competitions
including the National Women Playwrights’ Competition, North
American Junior Colleges Playwrights’ Competition, Society of
Arts and Letters Comedic Acting Award, Jane Chambers Award and
the Visionary Awards.
She has lectured and presented widely including at Davidson
College, New York University, the University of London, Southwestern
University, University of Texas – Austin, Washington and Lee,
Missouri School for the Blind, Women in Theatre, Association
for Theatre in Higher Education, International Playback Symposium,
International Society for Disability Studies, Pedagogy and Theatre
of the Oppressed, and Creating Change.
Some of her honors include the Outstanding Alumna Award from
Webster University, a Woman of Worth Award from the Gateway
Older Women's League, a Visionary Award from Grand Center, the
Special Recognition Award from the Recreational Council of Greater
St. Louis, Special Recognition from Arts for Life, Frederick
A. Laas Award from the Missouri Citizens for the Arts, the James
F. Hornback Ethical Humanist of the Year, a Healthcare Hero Finalist,
and the Missouri Arts Award, the state’s highest honor to individuals
and institutions that have made profound and lasting contributions
to the cultural and artistic landscape of Missouri.
Her company has also received numerous honors including the
John Van Voris Award for Community Service, What’s Right with
the Region Award for Improving Racial Equality and Social Justice
from Focus St. Louis, the Community Enhancement Award from the
Governor’s Council on Disabilities and the Midwest Gala Human
Rights Campaign Organization Equality Award.
Her work is published in Upstaging Big Daddy: Directing Theater
as if Race and Gender Matter (University of Michigan), Contemporary
Feminist Theatres: To Each Her Own (Routledge), Amazon All Stars
(Applause), Monologues By Women, For Women (Heinemann), More
Monologues By Women, For Women (Heinemann), Sexuality in Performance
(Faber & Faber), Nice Jewish Girls: Growing Up in America
(Plume/Penguin), Mythic Women/Real Women: New Plays and Performance
Pieces (Faber & Faber) Women’s Comedy: Cross-Cultural Perspectives
on Gender and Humor (Polity),Outstanding Monologues and Scenes
from the 90’s (Meriwether Publishing), 60 Seconds to Shine: 221
One-Minute Monologues for Men (Smith & Kraus), 60 Seconds
to Shine: 221 One-Minute Monologues for Women (Smith & Kraus),
One on One: The Best Women’s Monologues for the 21st Century
(Applause), One on One: The Best Men’s Monologues for the 21st
Century (Applause), Radical Acts (Aunt Lute), Body In Performance
(Routledge) and 2005-2006 Best American Short Plays (Applause).
Her work and the work of her company have been featured in New
Theatre Quarterly (Great Britain), Contemporary Theatre Review
(Great Britain), American Theatre, The Drama Review, National
Women Studies Journal, Australian Feminist Studies, The Dramatists
Guild Quarterly, Southern Poverty Law Center Journal, Curtain
Call, In Theater, Playbill, Theatre and Social Change, Theatre.com,
Intermission, The Purple Circuit, and St. Louis Magazine, among
other publications.
She is a member of the Missouri Citizens for the Arts, Arts
Round Table, Dramatists Guild, Women and Theatre Program, Association
for Theatre in Higher Education, Theatre and Social Change Forum,
Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, American Association of
People with Disabilities, Association for Theatre and Accessibility,
Society for Disability Studies and PEN.
Her plays include:
“Some of My
Best Friends Are…”
“He’s Having Her
Baby”(co-written with Tom Clear)
“Love and Other Four-Letter Words”
“Small Domestic Acts”
“Will the Real Foster Parent Please Stand Up?”
“One Sunday Morning”
“The 1960’s: The Times They Were a Changin”
“The Date”
“Stories from Generation X (Y,
Z…)”
"The Girl Who Lost Her Voice"
"Crab cakes"
Some of My Best Friends Are... A
gay and lesbian review for people of all preferences Music
and lyrics by Tom Clear
Written upon the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the popularly-recognized
beginning of the American Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement,
this play drew culturally diverse, sold-out crowds for three
and a half months when it first opened at the St. Marcus Theatre
in St. Louis.
Voted Best Play of the Year by the Riverfront Times and Spotlight
Magazine, "Friends" has been produced
in St. Louis, Seattle, Ann Arbor, Phoenix, Buffalo and Canada.
A lively, satirical piece with comic scenes and musical numbers,
it offers something for everyone. Well, maybe not Jesse Helms!
Highlights include the saga of a heterosexual couple making
their way through a gay world, a boot camp run by a drag queen
to instruct biological females on the tactics of femininity,
and fantasies of a recovering disco-holic.
The show calls for minimal set and costuming. It has been done
with casts ranging from four men and four women, to three men
and three women, with cross-gendered casting. One of the male
actors should be African-American. Although the play has been
done with prerecorded synthesized music, we recommend a live
pianist.
"Some very good jokes and an enjoyable evening of contemporary
theatre in a style we see all too rarely... Lipkin doesn't
allow any particular sexual preference to take itself too seriously;
there are spoofs in all directions. Clear's music and lyrics
are a splendid addition."- Joe Pollack, St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
"A sprightly, intelligent and very funny review...the
only bad thing about Some of My Best Friends Are... is that
there isn't more theatre like it. Keep Lipkin's name in mind
and get to her work. She's the real article."- Harry
Weber, The Riverfront Times
"Hilarious ... you don't have to be gay to enjoy Some
of My Best Friends Are... The only thing you have to be is
someone who likes to laugh."- Terry L. Murphy, Niagara
Gazette
"A satirical review for people of all preferences.
It's light, but not without calories."- Martin F.
Kohn, Detroit Free Press
He's Having Her Baby
"bright, inventive and well staged satire" -
Robert Boyd, KWMU "a delightful concept" -
Joe Pollack, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
He's Having Her Baby is a gender-reversed, pro-choice musical
comedy about Joey, a 15-year old boy from a broken home who becomes
pregnant his first time out with Liz, the captain of the field
hockey team. Through ignorance and circumstances other than choice,
a baby boy is born.
The play then deals with the aftermath of young, single, impoverished
parenthood as Joey tries to contend with child care, social isolation,
and sexual harassment on the job. When he finally meets a possible
mate, and accidentally becomes pregnant again, he makes a different
decision this time.
Through gender reversal and musical comedy, the show creates
an entire universe and demonstrates the importance of reproductive
freedom. The play calls for three men, three women and a piano
accompanist. It may be performed on either an imaginative unit
set, or in a black box setting with colorful, oversized props.
The action is continuous and should be performed at a breakneck
speed in broad comedy style as all the actors except the main
character play a variety of roles.
"It's fantastic! This show deals with the complexity
surrounding the issue of choice with lightness and humor." -
Marlene Hammerman, President, St. Louis Freedom of Choice Council
"This show provides a creative, humorous, yet poignant
approach to the very sensitive topics of sex and reproduction...I
laugh each time I see it. Yet I can't help crying at the awful
underlying truth -- that without choices, women are powerless." -
Judith Widdicombe, President, Health Policy Institute
"He's Having Her Baby is one of the best things I've
seen in years! And it's a fun and interesting way to discuss
the issue of choice."- Laura Cohen, Director, Missouri
National Abortion Rights Action League
"Outstanding! This show underscores how important it
is for women to have choices. Joey's predicament is so real..." -
Joyce Armstrong, Director, American Civil Liberties Union of
Eastern Missouri
Small Domestic Acts
Small Domestic Acts has been described as Brecht meets Pirandello
meets As the World Turns! It is the story of a working class
heterosexual couple and a lesbian couple who become friends.
As problems become apparent in both relationships, two of the
women turn to each other for friendship and support, and unexpectedly
fall in love. They plan a future that includes having a baby.
Thus, the play is a deconstruction of gender roles and the definition
of family.
Originally produced at the St. Marcus Theatre in St. Louis,
the play has since been published in Amazon All Stars (edited
by Rosemary Keefe Curb, Applause Books), taped by the BBC and
produced on several continents. It seems to be favorite with
college campuses where productions have included McMaster University
in Canada, University of Arizona at Tempe, Goucher College in
Baltimore, and Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, among
others.
The play was presented at the International Women Playwrights'
Festival in Adelaide, Australia and received its British premiere
by Slack Dynamics Theatre Company at Jacksons Lane in London
before touring to the Cottier Theatre in Glasgow. An Italian
production is pending.
"Acclaimed American playwright Joan Lipkin promises
a witty and searing examination of shifting sexual relationships
-- a must see."- Hamstead and Highgate, London
"...unusually intelligent drama ... that hops between
theatrical deconstruction, comedy and sudden, all-too-real
emotional violence, as it explores love, sex, modern relationships
and the rules by which we conduct them. Lipkin doesn't presume
to find ready answers."- Carole Woddis, The Herald
(Scotland)
"...deftly explores Lipkin's favorite themes: universal
sorrows and joys, universal struggles and triumphs...sometimes
funny, sometimes sad, sometimes confrontational -- just like
scenes played out in love relationships every day."-
Patricia Corrigan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"searing and insightful...Lipkin's script is seamless,
with near-constant, edge-of-the-seat momentum and blue-collar
Chicago dialogue that rings true. She's particularly effective
in crafting a tale that transcends the "gay play" genre
to render a universal tale of longing for friendship, family
and understanding."- Edward R. Allen, Chicago Sun
Times
Stories from Generation X (Y, Z...)
Sex in the '90s. Getting a job. Living on the information superhighway.
These are just a few of the issues and concerns explored in "Stories
from Generation X (Y, Z...)"
Written by Joan Lipkin and directed by Annamaria Pileggi, who
were both Artists-in-Residence at Washington University in St.
Louis, at the time, "Stories from Generation X (Y, Z...)" asks
what it means to be a young American coming of age at this moment
in history.
Lipkin and Pileggi developed the play through a semester-long
Performing Arts Department course called "New Performance
Workshop." The play draws upon original
research, personal experience and a variety of contemporary theatrical
techniques, including many concepts that were explored during
workshop exercises.
"With theatre increasingly experiencing competition from
other forms of entertainment, we wanted to explore a work that
had broad appeal but also engaged students, both as performers
and spectators," said Lipkin. "While
acknowledging that certain generational issues apply to many
coming-of-age stories, our piece also asks how we can write and
stage this particular moment in history for young adults. Obviously,
some things are the same as they were for their parents. But
some things, like the AIDS epidemic or the employment picture,
are very, very different."
Some of the characters featured include a recent Chinese immigrant
whose brother was killed in Tiananmen Square, a rising female
executive from a broken family, a rape victim and a young gay
man whose bisexual lover was just diagnosed as HIV positive.
Lipkin and Pileggi describe "Generation X (Y, Z...)" as
an experimental piece that has benefited greatly from the assistance,
the input and the perspectives of a broad range of students and
faculty.
Because of sexual language and graphic violence, "Generation
X (Y, Z...)" is recommended for mature
audiences only.
Following production at Washington University, the play toured
to the Seattle Fringe Festival, where it was a recommended pick.
