EPIC: Festival
December 16th, 2024
The Huntington Theatre
Monday, December 16, 2024, 7 pm
The Huntington Theatre 264 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115
The Huntington’s Education Department believes in the power of theatre to serve as a medium for social justice and to amplify voices of community members. EPIC: Empowered Performers in Conversation, provides a forum in which participants cultivate their own creative power and use artistic expression to explore and discuss issues of importance to them. Join us to celebrate a night of new theatre!
Join us for this free event, all are welcome! Tickets are required for this event.
About the EPIC: Festival Participating Groups
EPIC: Youth
EPIC: Youth is an in-school residency program serving students at Avon Middle High School. Students have the opportunity to explore playwriting, acting, and directing with the goal of creating their own performance pieces. Education staff guide students through research, discussion, writing exercises, ensemble building, actor training and eventually, the creation of an original devised production.
Kalee Burrows
Teaching Artist and Manager of Curriculum and Instruction
Kalee Burrows
Kalee Burrows (she/her) is a queer theatre artist, writer, and educator in Boston, MA. She teaches and works with young people and adults in schools, studios, and theatre spaces across the globe. These participating organizations include The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, The Huntington, Boston Lyric Opera, SpeakEasy Stage Company, The Boston Center for the Arts, The Hanover Theatre & Conservatory, Company One, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, The New Art Center, and Little Theatre of Fall River. Officially recognized as a Certified Artist by the City of Boston, Kalee is a skilled practitioner in devised theatre and arts education.
EPIC: Elders
EPIC: Elders is a community-based program serving senior citizens in Arlington with the Support of the Town Council on Aging. Participants with an interest in theatre arts will explore the fundamentals of theatre, the devising process and performance.
Frances Hellums
Teaching Artist and Education Associate
Frances Hellums
Frances Hellums (she/her) Regional (acting): The Tempest (Theater in the Open); And Your Little Dog Too (Apollinaire Theatre). University (acting): Sunlight Interior, Appropriate, My Fair Lady (Boston University). Dramaturgy: Hack (SheNYC). Directing: The Lady with the Lap Dog, Sometime When Everything Has Changed (Boston University). Education: BFA Theatre Arts Performance with concentrations in directing and musical theatre (Boston University). franceshellums.com @fbhellums
EPIC: Activism
In this adult Huntington Academy course, participants devise an original piece of theatre using techniques taught by industry professionals. With a focus on social activism, participants will create characters, text and the world of the play inspired by contemporary events. Using external stimulus as inspiration, they will devise their own characters, text, and blocking as an ensemble. Theatre exercises will be used to encourage collaboration, risk-taking and creative expression.
Oliver Rizzo
Teaching Artist
Oliver Rizzo
Oliver Rizzo (he/him) returns to The Education Department having recently been our Stage Manager for this summer’s production of Two Gentlemen Verona. Oliver Rizzo is a trans theatre artist & activist based in Boston and a graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in Theatre Education & Performance. With a Theatre Education Area Department Award upon graduation a year ago, he works as a freelance actor, teaching artist, stage manager, and stage electrician. He is currently working with The Huntington and The Park School as a theatre educator, working with students in grades 6-12.