I’m  Kathi Kaity … I am the artistic director of The Right Brain Project Theatre … So … I grew up in the suburbs of Boston … on the north shore … There’s the big cape in Massachusetts which is Cape Cod … and there’s this little tiny one … and I grew up at the tip of that … It’s called Gloucester … or “Glah-stah” if you’re from the Boston area … It’s where the Perfect Storm happened … It’s a little Island town … Growing up there? … It was the best … I was spoiled rotten growing up … You could go in any direction and there was a beach … or you could have the sun rise over the beach … or the sunsets … The oldest artist colony in the US was founded on the island … I was very much spoiled rotten as far as that goes … I grew up in a household where all the women in my family have always been … well … we say theatrical … others may say dramatic … I remember being four and five years old … and having my grandmother put on the record Chicago … and other musicals … but … Chicago was always my favorite … I think I was four or five when I put on my first show … It was singing along to that along with Sweet Charities “Big Spender” with a feather boa … which I’m sure my dad wasn’t very happy about (laughter) … I think that led into me writing short stories … and longer books when I started elementary school … By the time I got into middle school I knew it was something I wanted to do … Being around narrative is really the big thread that goes through all of the projects I’ve done … whether the medium changes or not … So … during middle … and high school … I got involved in theater … more so in a structured way … doing performances as well as starting to dabble behind the scene … with directing … and also writing performance pieces … devising … And then continuing on through college … I shifted my focus more … to being behind the scene … with directing … But I think it really started by writing as a kid … and wanting to just be in control of a story line … As far as my friendship with Porcelain … We found out years and years later … after looking at our parents photos … that we had first met in a ballet class … when we were three or four years old … We have a picture of it that we turned into a magnet which is now on our fridge … But in high school … we reconnected … if you will … and became really close … I think the first thing that really bonded us together was realizing … though mutual friends … at a hangout … that we were both obsessed with David Bowie … and that was really the catalyst of us becoming really close … She became an honorary member of my college when I went away to school … This is how codependent we’ve been in the past (laughter) … I was gone for three days before she showed up at my dorm … and stayed for the weekend … And then after college … We had a year back on the Island … We worked every shift at a coffee shop together … And we decided to move out to Chicago together … The two off us packed up a fifteen foot U-Haul … and drove all the way out … just the two of us … We had gone to the same high school … We went to the same middle school as well … But we were working in different mediums at that time … There … I was more acting and performing … She was actually working more so in photography … Most of my projects in high school were just straight performances on stage … Our junior and senior years … we started devising more productions ourselves … which had to do with … the writing process … and directing … and I kind of got a taste of it … The senior year of high school I directed my first full length production … And I kinda got the bug … Hey … it’s really nice to be able to act and control my own character … but it’s even better to be able to control everything … But then … of course … you learn a little bit more … and it becomes less so about control … and more so about facilitating other artists work … I knew that I was going to be studying theater in college … I was initially looking at Emerson … or more of a conservatory program … But then I stumble upon Hampshire College … which is out in western Mass … where you create your own thesis project … It’s set up a lot more like a graduate program then it is as an undergraduate … which is really nice … because it allowed me to not only do theater … but also continue my love of story telling … study literature … social justice … I got to spend my abroad program in Cuba … which was incredible … It really allowed me to learn the ropes of how to become a performance practitioner … as opposed to just finding one thing that I really wanted to focus upon … For myself … and my own journey … it’s been really wonderful getting to have my hand in a little bit of everything … and learn that my message can be transmitted throughout multiple mediums … especially collaboratively … and getting to work and pick the brains of other artists … And … Hampshire College … It is a very silly place (laughter) … So within Hampshire … they set it up that there are no majors … and there are also no grades … So you basically create your own thesis … and then instead of getting grades for classes … which you piecemeal together to create your own concentration … you get narrative evaluations from your teachers … So it was very important … and I learned very early on … that you have to be your own advocate … Which was really really helpful for me to see … If I want to be working collaboratively … it’s not just with other artists … but now it’s with my professors … and harnessing a relationship with them where it was symbiotic … I’m learning something from them … they’re using things that I’m taking from class … and using it in their own space … That was really freeing to be able to do that … Although it definitely made it a lot more difficult a path … because it wasn’t … you know … when you’re going through the class list of … I know I need take x … y … and … z … I’m going to be taking calculus … I’ll take stats after … It’s … Well … I wonder if I should take the Brecht and Beckett class … It’s a little bit more hippy dippy … and self created … So it forced me to think a lot more critically about what I was trying to do … as opposed to trying to graduate … or just get a grade … As far as my studies in Cuba … In order to be part of the Cuban exchange program … at this college … you had too write a thesis for it … for what you wanted to study … I specifically wanted to study how theater … or the arts impacted society … right before … and right after the revolution … So … when I went there … I can’t believe the people I had access to … I worked with the Minister of Entertainment … in Havana … and she took me all around … and I got to meet artists … directors … writers … that had actually been working throughout the revolution … And my thesis project overall became … artists at that time … right before the revolution … who utilized old mythic structure and just retold them … with updated names … through Cuban names … in order to get around political persecution … So I studied the myth of Electra … which was initially … Greek … but they had updated it … so it was Electra Garrigo … You can talk about the government at length … and the need for change … and the necessity for a new generation to take over … and hopefully you won’t get thrown in jail … because … “You can’t blame me … blame the ancient Greeks for that” …   He still got … exiled … But he did his best … Did I feel I was being watched? … Definitely … a little bit … I would notice it when I was going in and out of cities … or towns … But even more so then the watchful eye of the government … I found differences in social culture … The watchful eye of men … within machismo … was a lot more daunting then the eye of the government … They have a thing called piropo culture … which … it’s almost expected that fathers will teach their sons to catcall women on the streets … You’ll see fathers crouching down … and pointing out a lady and … psst … psst … psst … almost like their talking to a cat … It was very frustrating … I don’t think any of the woman that were on the trip with me … walked a single block … without being catcalled at least once … So that was something I hadn’t been expecting … I was expecting more so … feeling the big brother aspect being in Cuba … but that paled in comparison to (laughter) … not even the big brother … but the nosey … pushy … guy down the street that wants to take you out … I was there my first time about three and a half months … that was in 2011 … And then I went back two years ago to do research for a play … and I was there for about two weeks … and that was during Trumps inauguration … (laughter) … Their reaction to that? … a lot of it was initially asking if we were American … to clarify from … Canadian … or from Europe … and once they figured out we were American … then looking around from side to side … and wanting to get closer … and asking very candidly … “Do you like Obama”? … “Do you like Trump”? … Testing the waters of where you fall within that pyridine … Once it was clear …  Oh no … that I don’t subscribe to that … It became very much … Oh … Well now we’re best friends … lets go get a drink together … It definitely was an odd bonding experience … to have … two cultures … come together that for so long have been taught … certain beliefs … about each other … and that there was such comradely and bonding over … a common enemy (laughter) … It was really interesting to be able to go in 2011 … and then back in 2017 … and see how much had changed … within that short period of time … how much capitalism had been breathing down that ninety mile gap … In 2011 … there were fewer people in Cuba who could speak English … Tourism was mostly focused towards Europeans as opposed to Americans and Canadians … The technology had changed quite a lot … When I first went … there were a couple of people that you would see on the street that would have very outdated cell phones … that actually didn’t work … they only had them for vanity … and for playing music … and then going back in 2017 … and seeing all these family going down to the hot spots … where internet was available … to talk to their family that was in Miami … So … that in itself was really interesting to see how it changed in such a short period of time … For me … growing up on an island … around the water … and around a lot of very … tight knit families … predominately Italian and Portuguese … there’s a lot of overlap … where you see the person screaming at their kid … from the second floor window down to the street … I was surprised at how much it reminds me of home … In an odd way … I definitely think that it has factored into the neighborhoods I would seek out when I moved to Chicago … first … Rogers Park … But even more so now … Pilsen feels quintessentially like that … as well as home … There’s that idea of family … and being out on the stoop … at night … It’s a different way of life … So … Back at Hampshire … I made a documentary … a very short documentary while I was in Cuba … about different artists … both those who had been around at the time of the revolution … as well as those who had not … to juxtapose how their viewpoints … as a country … had changed … Then … utilized those … to work on a play … for my senior thesis as well as … my thesis paper … And then … two years ago … I actually brought one of the plays I had initially been working on … Electra Garrigo … and brought it back to Chicago … And we did the first … english … translation of the production in the US … Which was really wonderful to do … and a great learning curve … of checking different translations … cross referencing … working with a different translator as well as our cast … which was 100% Latinx … which was phenomenal … I think it was one of the largest Latinx casts … on the north side … in the last couple of years … Which in itself … was a triumph … being able to create more diversity … especially on the north side in theater … So what type of degree did I end up with? … Well if you ask my dad … he’d call it the BS degree … But yes … it was a Bachelors in the Arts … It’s a long running joke … that many a Hampshire diploma … has been used to roll a joint (laughter) … I moved back to the island after graduating … just to gather my bearings … to figure out what I wanted to do next … Definitely the stir craziness set in very quickly … for me … as well as Porcelain … We knew we wanted to get off the east coast … and look for a city … we wanted a change of pace … Obviously the first round of it was … ok … what can we afford … which cut San Francisco off of the list … as well as a couple of other locations … I actually had friends … from school … who had already moved out to Chicago … I came out to visit them … for two or three days … This was four or five months after college … we were saving money … getting ready to go … I would say within a half hour of landing in Chicago … and getting off the “L” … I just had that gut feeling … Ok … This is where I’m supposed to be … This feels right … Immediately texted Porcelain … letting her know that I had found it … and she actually … did not come out to Chicago … before we moved out here … She went solely on me saying … This is a gut feeling that I think is going to work for us … So … I came back out a couple of months later … looked for an apartment for the two of us … and then a week and a half later … we drove out … After the initial move … no one warns you how difficult it is to make friends … and get involved with things … after school lets out … That in itself was a learning curve … of trying to find your tribe … so to speak … I started off in the city … with my day job … and taking improve classes … because I figured it would be a useful tool for my tool set … both as a director … or writer or performer … I was right about that … but it is definitely not the medium for me … I like things a little … too … wrapped up in a bow … looking pretty … to really subscribe full time to improve … I started off doing that … and a couple of months later … a friend told me … about the Right Brain Project … and I came in initially to that team as their social media and marketing person … And then after a couple of years … our artistic director stepped down … and I stepped up … this was in 2017 … two years ago or so … It’s definitely been an uphill battle … You’re always looking and scrounging for money … and wearing a lot of different hats … you’ll be meeting with perspective board members one day … and sweating it out … and loading in a new set the next day … But … it’s a nice challenge … and it feels really gratifying to be working on something that feels like your own baby … What does the artistic director actually do? … The artistic director … At least as we’ve imagined it … again … I’ve never met a hat that I didn’t like to wear … It comes down to everything from trying to fundraise … or … delegate committees to be fundraising … to helping choose or facilitate the process of choosing our material that we’re going to do … I like to really lean into the collaborative effort … and I’ll make … suggestions to the rest of our team … of about fifteen artists … that I think would be wise for us to explore … But at the end of the day … any of the full length productions … or the themes for our showcases that we put up … are diplomatic efforts … I think that’s really important … especially when you are working with so many volunteers … that they feel that kind of personal investment … that they’re not just showing up to … take tickets … they can also choose what they see the next year on the stage … A play that stands out? … Last year I directed … “Raised in Captivity” … by Nicky Silver … which is this really really wonderful absurdist dramedy … if you will … It’s hilarious … but it’s also one of those shows where you laugh … and then kind of wince that you laughed at it … It has a lot to do with family dynamics … which tend to be a theme in my plays … that I’m drawn to … I made the mistake … I should of known better … during our first read through with the actors … of saying … “This is the kind of a show that you should be able to do in the dark … with no set or costumes … and it should still work like a radio play … The premium is on your voices … and on your performances” … And I really jinxed myself … because the last night of the production … when we were closing … the power went out on the entire city block (laughter) … about five minutes into the show … And there was a pause … when my lead actress noticed that it had gone dark … and I could feel … the same time … sitting in the audience … a trinity of her on stage … with my energy … with my stage managers energy … of “Who’s gunna call it … What are we doing”? … And she took a deep breath in … and let it out … and kept going … And slowly during that scene … people started raising their cell phones … and putting the flashlights on … lighting the show themselves … They did the first … full act … in darkness like that … and we had our intermission … at that point … our stage manager announced that we were going to keep going … because the show must go on … I think it is the most electric audience response … I ever felt … Everybody was so invested … and so excited that they were pushing on … It remained in the dark … until the last five minutes of the show … when the light came on … and it was on the two siblings … sitting on the floor together … It was such a beautiful bookend … to the beginning of the show with them sitting next to each other in a graveyard … and then the end of the show … with them sitting on the floor together … In the light … I jinxed myself … but it was one of the most beautiful … happy accidents I think that I’ve ever seen … It’s why I think theater will never become obsolete … That kind of moment … can’t be recreated in any other medium … Have I observed cultural changes over the past few years? … Absolutely … There is so much more accountability … and obviously there are miles and miles to go … We are by no means finished … But I think that the general conversation has changed a lot … Because I did go to a very liberal … art school … I was used to back then … in my classes … the first day … using your preferred gender pronouns … and telling those as your introduction … I was already well aquatinted with that … Once it started happening more in Chicago … It was really exciting to see that … and feel like we were given more agency … in the rooms … It’s not just assumed … We’re going to do better of making sure that we’re being inclusive … whether it’s race … gender … physical ability … Which is something that’s really important to me personally … In fact the play I’m working on now “Non Fiction” … by a local playwright Jillian Leff … This is the first show that I’ve worked on where I’ve actually gotten to hire an intimacy director … Which is basically a choreographer for intimate moments between actors … The same way that you would want to have a fight choreographer … if you were staging something dangerous … It’s the same way of having someone in the room that creates accountability in vulnerable moments … It’s been really eyeopening … and wonderful … and see the exercises that can be as simple as standing across from each other … and just making unbroken eye contact … for five minutes … and how that can foster comfort before getting into kissing each other … or having someone jump on each others back … It’s been really really eyeopening … As far as social media … Social media … is both very useful and necessary … but also annoying … a little bit obnoxious … But I think really important for artists to get comfortable with … self promotion … It’s something I’ve always struggled with … in the past … I’ve definitely fallen under using monikers … instead of my own name … because it made me feel slightly more comfortable … promoting my own work … “Well … it’s not me … it’s this project … But … I think social media is definitely one of those necessary evils … I’m not one of those people that can post everyday … The Instagram stories … like … “Hey guys … a lot of you have been asking about my skin care routine” … that in itself kind of is cringy for me … But I think being able to have a tool right in your pocket … where you can get the word out … about your next project … or about something that has happened to you that’s impacted you … that might help someone else … That in itself is a really powerful tool … Which platforms? … I’m already past the point where I can understand Twitter … Twitter is … I don’t get it at all … I really like Instagram … having it be a majorly visual platform … as opposed to … obviously you can add captions … That seems a lot more interesting to me then just scrolling through a Twitter feed … I don’t understand all the retweets … the youth culture … like that (laughter) … As far as future thoughts … I definitely want to get more into devising my own work … The last couple of years I’ve been focusing on scripts that have already been written … scripts that are … still fluid … because they’re  always going to be fluid and reimagined on stage … but … already solidified … I’m really interested in starting to create my own world … instead of creating a world within something already existing … Source material though … is still something really interesting to utilize … For instance … one of my baby projects that I want to do is … a reimagining of Mary Chase’s “Harvey” … the play … as well as the movie with Jimmy Stewart … I think it would be really interesting to con-temporize that … with the two siblings … in relations to how technology has … effected us … Maybe the sister is really into Alexa or Siri … while the brother has Harvey … And why are these different … is one better then the other … Is one more socially acceptable then the other … We’ll see how that goes … And … I definitely want to get some traveling accomplished … It’s been a couple of years … either my schedule or my finances won’t allow me to … I really … would love to see Vietnam … Reykjavik has been on my list as well … So … even within the US … I’ve never done a major road trip … So … The Grand Canyon would be a big one … But … I’m definitely someone that thinks that the experiences that you have … are what colors your artistic perspective … I’m looking forward to getting many more wonderful experiences under my belt … that then I can …  somehow utilize … in upcoming work …