Teacakes & Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists Island Shakespeare Festival

Triggering Love - featuring Robert O'Hara (he/him)
Featuring award winning playwright and Tony Award nominated theater director Robert O'Hara | he/him
This creative conversation kicks off with frank discussions of the practical and physical: this industry is tough, success is not promised, and backstage Broadway is far from glamorous. In short, it's a job! Robert and Will connect on the value of voicing the risks to young artists early - "It's a profession, not a hobby." This leads to an interrogation of trigger warnings in general and specifically with regards to Robert's hotly publicized direction of Jeremy O. Harris' SLAVE PLAY on Broadway. Will takes the opportunity to ask Robert about the difference of developing new work when directing MACBETH at The Denver Center. Robert suggests approaching all projects like new plays, a project that has never appeared before, by bringing a personal perspective to every choice that is made. Only by making informed, personal choices can audiences learn who you are and clarify your artistic voice. After a rigorous discussion of reality, Robert's brave tarot pull explores how to shepherd grace personally and professionally.
In Teacakes and Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists, host Will Wilhelm (they/them) welcomes an artistic crush for an intimate chat and a reading. Each episode features a new queer guest discussing art, life in our industry, and their dreams and intentions while the world of performance waits in the wings. Together, they hold space to summon more inclusive, exciting, and queer-friendly ways to create. As the candle burns low,  Will offers their guest a unique tarot reading to give them greater insight on a personal journey. It's one part cocktail party and one part slumber party that will leave you stirred but never shaken. 
Teacakes & Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists is produced by Island Shakespeare Festival as part of the Shakespeare Playground Series. The series presents socially distanced programming that upholds ISF’s mission of accessible Shakespeare that embraces intersectional storytelling and artistic excellence. Find out more at islandshakespearefest.org!
Co-Created by Will Wilhelm (they/them) and Erin Murray (she/her)Graphic Design by Ray Kathryn Morgen (they/them)Theme Song: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen, licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.Audio & Mixing: Nigel Saskrotch (they/them)

Protecting Softness - featuring Jéhan Òsanyin (they/them)
Featuring theater director, actor, playwright, storyteller, and lead facilitator of earthseed Jéhan Òsanyin | they/them
Our evening begins as Will invites Jéhan to illuminate the audience about their company, earthseed, which is committed to decolonizing theater through examining the wilderness as the quintessential scene partner and inspiration. This leads to a fruitful discussion about what theatre artists too often fight to control when preparing to perform and what they unknowingly yield when sitting in community. Will then seizes the opportunity to ask Jéhan about their one-person show, "Yankee Pickney," as Will prepares for their own one-person show, "Gender Play, or what you Will." Besides one-person show development, the two discover a shared mischievous delight in titling their gender defiance - Jéhan enjoys "Gender Vacillator" whereas Will prefers "Gender Traitor." Jéhan speaks openly about the heartbreak and new resolve they have felt in equal parts while creating Art in a capitalistic American society especially in the wake of the pandemic. As the cards of chance flip, we hear a valuable conversation around relishing rest and peace after a lifetime of holding labor in high regard.
In Teacakes and Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists, host Will Wilhelm (they/them) welcomes an artistic crush for an intimate chat and a reading. Each episode features a new queer guest discussing art, life in our industry, and their dreams and intentions while the world of performance waits in the wings. Together, they hold space to summon more inclusive, exciting, and queer-friendly ways to create. As the candle burns low,  Will offers their guest a unique tarot reading to give them greater insight on a personal journey. It's one part cocktail party and one part slumber party that will leave you stirred but never shaken. 
Teacakes & Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists is produced by Island Shakespeare Festival as part of the Shakespeare Playground Series. The series presents socially distanced programming that upholds ISF’s mission of accessible Shakespeare that embraces intersectional storytelling and artistic excellence. Find out more at islandshakespearefest.org!
Co-Created by Will Wilhelm (they/them) and Erin Murray (she/her)Graphic Design by Ray Kathryn Morgen (they/them)Theme Song: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen, licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.Audio & Mixing: Nigel Saskrotch (they/them)

De(a)ftly Queer - featuring Joshua Castille (he/him)

Featuring Deaf performance artist and actor Joshua Castille | he/him
Get ready for an effervescent exchange as Josh shares his experience as a queer and Deaf actor who has done it all from the Broadway stage to the Hollywood screen. Jokes and anecdotes bubble throughout the interview as Will learns more about the Deaf community culture and how it mirrors and deviates from queer community culture. Josh tells stories about his process when part of a large cast of Deaf actors like Deaf West's Spring Awakening and as the only Deaf actor in ACT Seattle's Tribes before delving deeper into the embrace he receives from fellow queer actors. All seriousness aside, Will and Josh then reveal their lesser known skills and niche interests as a reminder that people contain multitudes beyond their artistry and identities. In the reading, we look to the future (with a cameo by Lisa Frank's tarot) by sourcing inner strength and trusting ourselves when faced with other's expectations. Check out the video of this sparkling dialogue at www.gender-play.com!
In Teacakes and Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists, host Will Wilhelm (they/them) welcomes an artistic crush for an intimate chat and a reading. Each episode features a new queer guest discussing art, life in our industry, and their dreams and intentions while the world of performance waits in the wings. Together, they hold space to summon more inclusive, exciting, and queer-friendly ways to create. As the candle burns low,  Will offers their guest a unique tarot reading to give them greater insight on a personal journey. It's one part cocktail party and one part slumber party that will leave you stirred but never shaken. 
Teacakes & Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists is produced by Island Shakespeare Festival as part of the Shakespeare Playground Series. The series presents socially distanced programming that upholds ISF’s mission of accessible Shakespeare that embraces intersectional storytelling and artistic excellence. Find out more at islandshakespearefest.org!
Co-Created by Will Wilhelm (they/them) and Erin Murray (she/her)Graphic Design by Ray Kathryn Morgen (they/them)Theme Song: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen, licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.Audio & Mixing: Nigel Saskrotch (they/them)

Celebrating Curiosity - featuring Michael J. Bobbitt (he/him)
Featuring theater director, choreographer, playwright and Executive Director of Mass Cultural Council Michael J. Bobbitt | he/him
The subject of structure, from institutions to boards to families, appears throughout this week's sparkling conversation. Will kicks off by asking Michael how his intersectionality across race, artistry, and sexuality informs the organizational reforms and redesigns he now leads as an artist turned executive administrator. Michael explains that he is learning to trust his artistic curiosity when approaching hard questions and inherited systems within art institutions. He continues by outlining how Theatre will need young people with new ideas and a friendly embrace to technology in order to welcome audiences back instead of waiting to go back to normal - or, as he points out, "theater of the late-1900s." In the tarot reading, Michael generously shares his hopes and dreams for his son in this tender conversation with the cards. When it comes to structure, the melodious dialogue between Will and Michael sustains a rejection of rigidity in favor of astute suppleness.
In Teacakes and Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists, host Will Wilhelm (they/them) welcomes an artistic crush for an intimate chat and a reading. Each episode features a new queer guest discussing art, life in our industry, and their dreams and intentions while the world of performance waits in the wings. Together, they hold space to summon more inclusive, exciting, and queer-friendly ways to create. As the candle burns low,  Will offers their guest a unique tarot reading to give them greater insight on a personal journey. It's one part cocktail party and one part slumber party that will leave you stirred but never shaken. 
Teacakes & Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists is produced by Island Shakespeare Festival as part of the Shakespeare Playground Series. The series presents socially distanced programming that upholds ISF’s mission of accessible Shakespeare that embraces intersectional storytelling and artistic excellence. Find out more at islandshakespearefest.org!
Co-Created by Will Wilhelm (they/them) and Erin Murray (she/her)Graphic Design by Ray Kathryn Morgen (they/them)Theme Song: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen, licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.Audio & Mixing: Nigel Saskrotch (they/them)

Featuring Artist, Activist, Scholar, Birder, and Author P. Carl | he/him :
Will dives into conversation with P. Carl through the desire to know about the origins of Howlround Theatre Commons - an online forum and non-profit that seeks to support developing theatre practitioners and facilitate dialogue between artists and administratives within the performing arts field. Then, P Carl discusses the satisfactions and struggles with transitioning as a mature adult and writing his book "Becoming a Man." The pair unite on their shared interest in solo performance before Will gives him a tarot reading focused on grieving the past, accepting the present and looking towards a bright future.
In Teacakes and Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists, host Will Wilhelm (they/them) welcomes an artistic crush for an intimate chat and a reading. Each episode features a new queer guest discussing art, life in our industry, and their dreams and intentions while the world of performance waits in the wings. Together, they hold space to summon more inclusive, exciting, and queer-friendly ways to create. As the candle burns low,  Will offers their guest a unique tarot reading to give them greater insight on a personal journey. It's one part cocktail party and one part slumber party that will leave you stirred but never shaken. 
Teacakes & Tarot: Conversations with Queer Futurists is produced by Island Shakespeare Festival as part of the Shakespeare Playground Series. The series presents socially distanced programming that upholds ISF’s mission of accessible Shakespeare that embraces intersectional storytelling and artistic excellence. Find out more at islandshakespearefest.org!
Co-Created by Will Wilhelm (they/them) and Erin Murray (she/her)Graphic Design by Ray Kathryn Morgen (they/them)Theme Song: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen, licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.Audio & Mixing: Nigel Saskrotch (they/them)

Featuring Artistic Director of National Queer Theatre Adam Odessa-Rubin | he/him : Will and Adam discuss the origins of NQT and America's only theatre festival dedicated to new plays by LGBTQ artists from countries that criminalize queer and trans people. Nobody's gonna break NQT's stride as this summer's festival will go forward as planned only outside on the bustling streets of New York! After grabbing the deets to our new NYC summer plans happening June 22-26, Will reads Adam a special three-card tarot spread that reminds us all to celebrate our own origin stories and how far we've come. Head to NationalQueerTheatre.org for festival and ticket info. As Will wishes listeners a prideful hot grrl summer, we share info about our next T&T episode!