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Joan Lipkin
Joan Lipkin is the founding artistic director of That UPPITY Theatre Company in St. Louis, Missouri, where she founded the nationally-acclaimed Alternate Currents/Direct Currents Series, the multi-cultural poetry performance group, After Rodney, The DisAbility Project, Meet Me In St. Louie, Louie, and Democracy On Stage.

A strong proponent of collaboration, she also co-founded Women CenterStage! with the Center of Contemporary Art (COCA), and The Nadadada Festival at the Forum for Contemporary Art.  She currently serves on the faculty of the Community Arts Training Institute.

A playwright, fiction writer, director, teacher, activist and social critic, her award-winning work has been featured on network television, National Public Radio, the BBC and the Associated Press, as well as in academic journals and mainstream publications. She was an official delegate from the United States at the International Conference of Women Playwrights in both Australia and Ireland. Other recent honors include working with Joseph Chaikin as an Artistic Associate at the Atlantic Center for the Arts on a collaborative theatre piece about disability and the selection of her play, “Stories from Generation X (Y,Z…)” for the Seattle Fringe Theater Festival.

Lipkin’s work has been presented in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Asia and throughout the United States in a variety of settings ranging from conferences and college campuses to traditional theatrical venues.

Out & About with Joan
As Joan's art is deeply linked to activism, she frequently gives talks and/or workshops to classes, and civic and formal organizations.
Partner organizations often participate during performances.
Joan has ...
- Lectured at the International Queerness and Disability Conference at San Francisco State University

- Given a lecture at the Society for Disability Studies, Oakland California

- Been on a panel called "Trust Building Exercises for Ensemble Work with Specialized Populations" at the Theatre and Social Change Conference in San Diego

- Been on a panel called "All Girl Action: Crip Queer Women in Performance" at the First International Queer Disability Conference at San Francisco State University

- Been on panel called "Culturally Suspicious:  Disability Identified Performance" for the Society for Disability Studies, Oakland, California

- Been the keynote speaker at the Susan G. Komen Lunch for breast cancer survivors and created an original piece of theatre for the event called "The Real Deal"

- Participated in a week-long residency at Davidson College in Charlotte, NC, leading students in an exploration of issues surrounding the culture of disability.

- Participated in the Arts 2000 Forecast hosted by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

- Participated in a delegation of disability activists invited to meet and discuss issues with Vice President Al Gore when he visited St. Louis in 2000.

- Emceed at the Sheldon Concert Hall for CHARIS, for House of Representatives candidate Jeanette Mott-Oxford at the Ethical Society, and for the Gateway Men's Chorus Cole Porter concert at the Center of Contemporary Arts.

- Given a talk for the opening fall session of the Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) on the history of That UPPITY Theatre Company and the role of performance in gay and lesbian representation.

- Participated in a panel discussion on art and community for the annual meeting of the Missouri Citizens for the Arts.

- Addressed the Introduction to the Theatre class at St. Louis University on the role of minority theatres in diversifying the culture landscape.

Joan is available to talk and or lead workshops on a variety of topics, including the role of arts and community, gay and lesbian theatre, contemporary performance techniques, censorship, and disability and performance.

While honorariums are appreciated and generally go back into the theatre to support the work of the company, she also does some pro bono work in service to the community.

To inquire into having Joan work with your group, class, or organization, please contact her via e-mail, at [email protected].

 

For more information about That Uppity Theatre Company, please e-mail us at [email protected]

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That Uppity Theatre Company 2002