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Join Ahmed and Jacole as they bring this interview and discussion series to a close in a final episode featuring Yolanda Franklin, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Freedome Bradley Ballentine, Rich Soublet, and Monique Gaffney.   We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Senior Artistic Advisor at Ford's Theatre, Sheldon Epps, returns to join Ahmed and Jacole on We Are Listening to discuss the last two years at The Ford's Theatre and his upcoming memoir! We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. San Diego Repertory Theatre produces it in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Kenyatta Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

The celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective continues in We Are Listening! In this episode, San Diego Repertory Theatre Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Kenyatta Dents and guest-host, San Diego REP Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager, Kandace Crystal, are joined by actor, writer, director, and passionate developer of new works in the Theatre Arts, Rebecca S’manga Frank. Learn more about Rebecca at https://www.rebeccasmangafrank.com/. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Kenyatta Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Join Ahmed and Jacole for a conversation with cast members Brittney Caldwell, Jerome Beck, and Mikayla Bartholomew from the NNPN Rolling World Premiere, "The Great Khan"   We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

In this episode, Join Ahmed as he looks at the career of Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Esther Rolle and how her fierce advocacy for the depiction of a complete Black family unit led to the success and eventual end of the hit TV series "Good Times".   We Are Listening is a San Diego Repertory Theatre production in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening Archive of videos and podcasts at sdrep.org/listening.

Michael Gene Sullivan is a veteran actor, playwright, director, blogger, and teacher committed to developing theatre of social and economic justice, of political self-determination, and, of course, musical comedy. We Are Listening is a San Diego Repertory Theatre production in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening Archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Join WAL co-host Ahmed Kenyatta Dents for a look at the first known black theatre troupe, "The African Company" later named the "The African Grove Theatre" which had its opening season was in 1821, and a tragic ending in 1823. We Are Listening is a San Diego Repertory Theatre production in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening Archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Gina M. Jackson is Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Cultural Noire Performing Arts Company, a theatre company whose partners have included the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), Project1VOICE (New York City), and Worldbeat Cultural Center (San Diego, CA).  Jackson is also an Arts Commissioner for the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. She has a B.A. in Speech Communication/English and Theatre Performance minors from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; an M.A. in African-American Studies/Literature-Theatre from Clark Atlanta University; and an M.Ed. and Preliminary Administrative Services Credential from National University. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

A special Martin Luther King Jr. Day edition of "We Are Listening"! In the wake of the document "We See You White American Theatre" and the "Racial Reckoning" of 2020, the "Great White Way" and the rest of American theatre and performing arts found themselves as a whole having the long-overdue conversation about race and representation. Even with this, the foundation of this contemporary issue is widely overlooked. Join We Are Listening co-host Ahmed Kenyatta Dents for a look at The Federal Theatre Project, Negro Units & The House Committee of Un-American Activities. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

The Children's Television Work Shop, aka 'Sesame Street' began as an educational experiment n 1969. It has since become an American institution of education and entertainment. Join We Are Listening Co-host, Ahmed Kenyatta Dents in a brief look at the history of Sesame Street, its social justice beginnings, and its use as a "radical therapeutic tool to help minority preschoolers. " We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Should a theater or performing arts company be a social justice organization as well? In this episode of We Are Listening: Notes, join San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience, Ahmed Dents as he looks at the social justice issue that is part of the origin story of one of the most acclaimed playwrights in American history, Lorraine Hansberry. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening

Stephanie Berry is the 2021 recipient of The League of Professional Theatre Women’s Lee Reynolds Award. During the pandemic she was seen in Romeo N Juliet at Pittsburgh Public Theater, For Which It Stands with New York Theatre Workshop, 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues, Having Our Say at New Jersey City Theater. She was seen as Frankenstein at the Classic Stage Company, for all the women who thought they were mad at Soho Repertory and Gloria: A Life at Daryl Roth Theatre. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening

Miki Vale, is an international Hip Hop performing artist and cultural ambassador, Teaching Artist, Old Globe-commissioned playwright, and founder of SoulKiss Theater, an arts education organization for queer Black womxn. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening

Rich Soublet is an award-winning portrait/event photographer and Mentor at Peter Hurley's Headshotcrew. He has produced production photography for The Old Globe's Arts Engagement Program and for all of Poway Onstage's shows for the past 5 years.  He earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts in 2005 from San Diego State University and is a lifelong theatre lover. Ilasiea Gray is a multi-talented actress and proud recipient of a True West Award for her impactful work in the arts and arts education.  We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening

Ricardo Khan is a director, writer, educator, and the Tony Award-winning Artistic Director who co-founded the Crossroads Theatre Company, one of history’s few African American theatres to ever rise to both national and international prominence as a major professional arts institution. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening

MARGO HALL is an award-winning actor, director, activist, educator, and newly appointed Artistic Director of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. She has graced Bay Area stages for 30 years as a performer and director. She recently appeared in the hit film BLINDSPOTTING with our own Oakland native Daveed Diggs and All Day and a Night on Netflix. She was last seen onstage in Exit Strategy at The Aurora Theater. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening

Kelundra Smith is a theater critic and arts journalist based in Atlanta. She is a contributing editor for American Theatre Magazine and reviews theater for ARTS ATL. Her work has also been published in The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Magazine, Food & Wine, and TDF Stages. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Kimberly King is the managing director and dramaturg of TYPA Theatre Co. (Teenage Youth Performing Arts Theatre Co.), an arts educator, a teaching artist at the Old Globe, and a board member for San Diego Junior Theatre. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Jeremy McQueen is an award-winning choreographer, dedicated to story-telling rooted in experience and social engagement. His work aims to create spaces of comfort, solace, and connection through reflection—a sharing of observations of what is going on around him. Born and raised in San Diego, California, McQueen is a graduate of The Ailey School/ Fordham University, B.F.A. in the dance program and has also trained in the schools of American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.

Sam White is the award-winning founder of Shakespeare in Detroit, a non-profit theatre based in Detroit, Michigan. Her credits also include the prestigious 2017 Paul Nicholson Arts Management Fellowship at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We Are Listening is a celebration and discussion of theatre and performing arts life from the Black perspective. It is produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe celebrating and discussing Black theatre artists, creatives, administrators, and workers hosted by Jacole Kitchen, La Jolla Playhouse Director of Arts Engagement and In House Casting, and San Diego REP Director of Venue Experience and Artistic Associate, Ahmed Dents. Get links to the We Are Listening archive at sdrep.org/listening.