Shattered Glass

Rebecca O’Neil started the Shattered Glass Project in Seattle in 2019 to “amplify underheard voices” in the theatre. Specifically voices marginalized on the basis of gender or sex, although intersectionality is an important part of the mission.

In creating Shattered Glass, Rebecca followed in the time-honored tradition of recent graduates starting a company. But in this case she wasn’t a freshly minted acting student. With a few theatre degrees and a good deal of experience under her belt, she had just completed an MFA in Arts Leadership at Seattle University. No surprise, then, that Shattered Glass is a well-run outfit, already receiving community support, and using it to walk the walk with their mission.

Part of this includes an Incubator/Mentor program designed to support emerging playwrights and directors. Recently I had the pleasure of participating in a panel for this group, on the topic of the playwright-director relationship.

Ably guided by Playwright Mentor Rachel Atkins, the panel consisted of playwright Yussef El Guindi, freelance directors Maureen Hawkins and Desdemona Chiang, John Langs (Artistic Director of ACT Theatre), Shermona Mitchell (Co-Artistic Director of Sound Theatre) and myself.

Yussef El Guindi encouraged the cohort to embrace persistence and to knock on doors. John Langs spoke appreciatively of two mentors “who helped and helped.” Maureen Hawkins’s advice was “Say yes to everything!” Shermona Mitchell exhorted everyone to “Ask for what you need” and Desdemona Chiang offered a networking template for moving people, step by step, from the category of “folks I’d like to know” to “fans.”

The group asked some probing questions, and discussion was lively. We talked about the importance of relationships and mutual support in the theatre, and the evening was an example of just that. Kudos to the Shattered Glass Project (www.shatteredglassproject.org), and keep an eye out for the Incubator/Mentor project’s presentations in the spring.