Longshadr’s programs and productions are all community-developed.
We start by identifying a community and their stakeholders. We then engage in a series of interviews and group dialogues that influence the themes, characters, and conflicts within each show. These shows are then produced for the public and contain engagement programs such as talk-backs, “Bar Chats”, dramaturgical resource sharing, and site-specific trips.
Programs that have been successfully developed through this project include:
+ RADIOMAN, a monologue-play documenting a local craftsman’s journey as a Vietnam soldier to running a millworks for other veterans and displaced communities. Developed from firsthand interviews with veterans from every major American war and their family members, this show illustrated the community-specific themes of PTSD, depression, patriotism, and the family commitments behind every soldier. This piece was co-produced with Dell’Arte Inc. and Blue Ox Millworks and ran with several extensions due to popular demand.
+ MADSUMMER, a raucous musical comedy that highlights the often forgotten elderly community in Humboldt County through a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, taking place in a senior center. This show derived from aging community members’ stories in Humboldt County (ages 55 to 90) and centers the themes of finding love later in life, solitude, government’s role in “other-ing”, and capitalistic ventures targeted at taking advantage of this community.