Taylor Talks with Maiko Kikuchi and Spencer Lott at HERE on Tuesday 1 June 2021
Channel: HowlRound Theatre Commons
Date: 2021-06-01

HERE presents Taylor Talks: Episode 10 with Maiko Kikuchi and Spencer Lott livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 1 June 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Join Taylor Mac for a glimpse into the creative process and gain insight into exciting new multidisciplinary work coming out of the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP). Taylor’s guests span the disciplines of theatre, music, dance, opera, media arts, and more. They speak candidly about their experiences creating fresh, innovative performances in the midst of a global pandemic and racial reckoning.

Maiko Kikuchi is a Brooklyn based artist, who received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Musashino Art University, Japan in 2008, and her M.F.A. in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in 2012. She has extensive multifaceted professional experience in the areas of illustration, painting, drawing, collages, sculpture, animation, and puppetry/performance. Her recent self direction object theatre piece Daydream Tutorial has shown at LaMaMa as part of their 57th Puppet Festival program and theatres across NYC including St. Ann’s Warehouse, Japan Society, Dixon Place, FiveMyles, JACK, Wild Project, among others. As a visual artist, Kikuchi has been committed to different musicians/bands and created their music videos. Her art works has been exhibited at Ca’d’ Oro Gallery, HERE, Parasol Project, Jamestown Art Center (RI), Gallery HANA (Tokyo), Clown Heights Film Festival. She is currently an Artist in Residence at HERE, collaborating with artist/writer Spencer Lott.

Spencer Lott is a maker, writer and puppeteer based in Brooklyn. His puppetry credits include A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (starring Tom Hanks), Sesame Street, The Relationtrip (Hulu/SXSW 2017), and more. He has been the recipient of multiple Jim Henson Foundation Grants for his original work. His plays include Campfire (Trusty Sidekick Theater Company at Lincoln Center), Blossom (“vivid”, “lovely, aching scenes…” – Village Voice) and The House of Atreus (Multicultural Theater Initiative). Lott was the first recipient of the Jim Henson Foundation Puppetry Residency at the O’Neill Theater Center with collaborator Liz Hara. He has been a Works in Progress Artist at the Children’s Museum of the Arts, a Guest Artist for Theater Development Fund’s Stage Door program, and is a member of the teaching artist ensemble at BAM and the New Victory Theater. He is the Associate Artistic Director of Trusty Sidekick Theater Company (NYC).

Taylor Mac (who uses “judy” – lowercase sic – as a gender pronoun) is a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, director and producer. Plays include: Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (Broadway), A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (shown in its 24-hour entirety at St. Ann’s Warehouse, The Curran Theater, the Ace Theater, the Melbourne Festival, upcoming at the Berliner Festspiele), Hir (Magic Theater, Playwrights Horizon, Steppenwolf and over sixty professional productions), The Walk Across America for Mother Earth (La Mama with the Talking Band), The Lily’s Revenge (HERE, Magic Theater, American Repertory Theater), The Young Ladies Of (HERE, Playmakers Repertory, Manchester’s Library Theater), Red Tide Blooming (PS 122), and The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac (highlights include: The Public Theater, The Sydney Opera House, and Edinburgh Fringe Festival).