Crisp Air, Captivating Stories

Hello from Alternative Theater Ensemble! As we enter fully into the autumn, we welcome a season of gratitude and gentleness. Despite the seasonal transition into a period of harvest and rest, autumn always feels like the start of a new year—a new school year, a new theatrical season, a time for learning and beginning new projects. As ATE continues our transition into new models of leadership, we are excited to share some new beginnings on our horizon.

Announcing the 2025 Indigenous Performing Arts Resident: Drew Woodson

Alternative Theater Ensemble is proud to announce Drew Woodson as the recipient of the 2025 Indigenous Performing Arts Residency! 

The Indigenous Performing Arts Residency is an initiative from UC Berkeley, bringing theater companies in partnership for three years with Berkeley’s Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and Arts Research Center to support emerging Indigenous playwrights. This year, ATE has invited Drew to develop a yet-to-be-announced original work, culminating in a staged reading at UC Berkeley’s ARC in April.

Drew Woodson is a Western Shoshone playwright based in New York City. He has had his work read in multiple theaters across New York, including Rattlestick Theater where he was asked to open the first annual Northeastern Native Arts Festival with his play “Your Friend, Jay Silverheels.” For this same work, Drew was named Yale's Young Indigenous Playwright of 2021. More recently, Drew completed a two month artists residency on Governors Island for AICH, and completed a workshop of a new work “From Above” under the direction of Madeline Sayet. As a writer, Drew seeks to tell stories where Native people are allowed to take up space, be complicated, and ultimately be more than a storytelling device. Drew is an MFA Graduate from the Dramatic Writing department at NYU.

ATE is proud to be UC Berkeley’s inaugural partner theater company for the Indigenous Performing Arts Residency, and last year produced a staged reading of Blossom Johnson’s Diné Nishłį (i am a sacred being) or, A Boarding School Play. 

Upcoming Programming: Queer Events at the Berkeley Public Library!

Alternative Theater Ensemble has been partnering with Berkeley Public Library-West Branch to co-produce queer events at the library. These events are free and community-centered. They are intentionally low stakes and low stress options to get to know people and socialize without pressure. We want to address the loneliness epidemic of our current times that is further perpetuated by systemic queermisia. 

Our first event was LGBTQ+ Speed Connecting, in which participants got to meet new people quickly without the pre-romantic presumptions that many queer social events have. Our next events make up a series called “Seeking Joy Together” in which participants will be able to connect via games, nature, and food. We are excited to be building community with the combined creativity from our theater background and social awareness of BPL’s librarians! 

Ensemble Happenings

Elio Amador is performing in Arsenic and Old Lace with Center Repertory Company! Tickets for the closing weekend performances are available here. Stephi Wild for BroadwayWorld writes, “Newly engaged theater critic Mortimer discovers his two elderly Aunts are harboring some killer secrets, just as his estranged brother descends upon the family home, upending everything he thought to be true in his life. To save his family, his fiancé, and his own sanity, Mortimer must learn to navigate a new world gone mad… all while trying to make the 8 o’clock curtain. Deliciously macabre, classically winsome, and queerishly delightful, get ready for a new vision for one of theater’s most enduring comedies.”

Tanis Parenteau’s short form series Jason won Best Web Series at Imagine This Women’s Film Festival in NYC in late September. In addition, Tanis produced and stars in the short film Glen Reige 20 WP, written and directed by former ATE collaborator Vickie Ramirez, which is screening at Red Nation International Film Festival in LA on November 13. 

Leah Sanginiti will facilitate theater workshops in Lishan, Taiwan this October! Inspired by Pablo Neruda’s Book of Questions, Leah will collaborate with members of the Tayal community to create inquiry-based theater addressing issues of globalization, climate change, and the rise of artificial intelligence. This work serves as part of a larger project in partnership with ATE and other local and international organizations. If you are interested in learning more about this project or bringing a workshop to your community, send an email to [email protected].

Eric Avery was awarded a 2024 MAP Fund Grant for their project The Pla[y/n] for Reparation$, a multidisciplinary immersive performance that aims to heighten participants’ understanding of intersectional healing/repair and to build practical skills in advancing this notion through role play and experiential learning.