New WORLD Theater (originally Third World Theater) was a nationally recognized company in-residence in the Fine Arts Center at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. Founded in 1979 by Roberta Uno, New WORLD Theater was dedicated to producing, presenting, and supporting works by artists of color. In addition to this artistic focus, New WORLD Theater's programming involved community engagement, scholarship, and education outreach. The program ended in 2009.

Leadership and initiatives

New WORLD Theater had three Artistic Directors: Roberta Uno (1979–2002), Talvin Wilks (2002–2004), and Andrea Assaf (2004–09). The mission of New WORLD Theater was to promote cultural equity and a

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

vision of a "new world" – one that embraced diverse cultural backgrounds, interdisciplinary approaches, and widespread geographic roots. New WORLD Theater's programming included original productions and presented plays. The company also hosted performance residencies wherein artists created new works, made classroom and community appearances, provided classes, gave lectures and demonstrations, lead workshops, and hosted post-show talk-backs. Many of New WORLD Theater's signature projects involved professional artists and processes of extended community engagement.

Original play development

In 1996, New WORLD Theater launched "New Works for a New World," a summer rehearsal residency focused on developing original and in-progress works by playwrights of color. Resident artists included Guillermo Gomez Pena, Roberto Sifuentes, lê thi diem thúy,

Chitra Divakaruni Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (born Chitralekha Banerjee, 1956) is an Indian-born American author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Her short story collection, ''Arrang ...

Laurie Carlos Laurie Dorothea Carlos (née Smith; January 25, 1949 – December 29, 2016) was an American actress and avant-garde performance artist, playwright and theater director. She was also known for her work mentoring emerging artists in the theater. ...

Marc Bamuthi Joseph Marc Bamuthi Joseph (born 1975) is a spoken-word poet, dancer, playwright, and actor who frequently directs stand-alone hip-hop theater plays. Early life Joseph was born to Haitian immigrant parents and grew up in Laurelton, Queens, New Yor ...

, Dawn Akemi Saito, Coatlicue Colorado/the Colorado Sisters, Marlies Yearby, Sekou Sundiata, Alberto "Beto" Araiza, Aisha Rahman,

Suheir Hammad Suheir Hammad (born October 25, 1973) is an American poet, author, actress, performer, and political activist. Biography She was born in Amman, Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, N ...

Rha Goddess RHA is an acronym that may refer to: * Rolled homogeneous armour * Regional health authority (disambiguation) * Religious Heritage of America * Residence hall association * Rice husk ash, a by-product from rice culture used as cement admixture ...

, Rokafella, Kwikstep, D'Lo,

Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas is an American playwright and director. He first studied playwriting with Octavio Solis, Cherríe Moraga and María Irene Fornés. His numerous awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and ...

Alice Tuan Alice Tuan is an Asian American playwright, teacher and performer. Education Tuan earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UCLA. In 1997, she earned a MFA in creative writing from Brown University. Awards In the year 2000, Los Angeles ...

Mildred Ruiz-Sapp Mildred Ruiz-Sapp is an American actress. Born and raised on New York's Lower East Side (Alphabet City), she co-founded THE POINT Community Development Corporation (Hunts Point) in 1993 and Universes (poetic theatre ensemble) (1996), both in col ...

, and

Steven Sapp Steven Sapp (born and raised in the South Bronx, New York) co-founded The POINT Community Development Corporation (Hunts Point) in 1993 and Universes (poetic theatre ensemble) in 1995, both in collaboration with Mildred Ruiz-Sapp. Theater credit ...

Project 2050

Inaugurated in July 2000, ''Project 2050'' was a multi-year youth arts initiative built on the

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

projection that people of color would become the majority in the United States by 2050. The program brought together professional artists, youth communities from

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

, scholars, and

community activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

s to engage civic dialogue and create original performances based on selected themes. Over a two-week period, youth participated in a series of daily workshops led by artists that include playwrighting,

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

, drumming, beatboxing,

lyricism Lyricism is a quality that expresses deep feelings or emotions in an inspired work of art. Often used to describe the capability of a Lyricist. Description Lyricism is when art is expressed in a beautiful or imaginative way, or when it has an ...

, singing,

song writing A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, stepping, and

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

. Youth also attended daily "Knowledge for Power" sessions with scholars, and the program culminated in a performance. Artist participants included Universes,

Willie Perdomo Willie Perdomo is a Puerto Rican poet and children's book author. He is the author of ''The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon'' (Penguin Poets, 2014), a National Book Critics Circle Awards finalist, ''Where a Nickel Costs a Dime'' ( W. W. Norto ...

Regie Cabico Regie Cabico is a Filipino American poet and spoken word artist. He has been featured on two seasons of ''Def Poetry Jam'' on HBO (produced by Russell Simmons) and has been called the Lady Gaga of spoken word. He is an "out and proud" gay man. ...

, Rokafella and Kwikstep, Dipankar Mukherjee, Baba Israel, Rha Goddess,

Kamilah Forbes Kamilah Forbes is an American curator, producer, and director. She created and directed the Hip Hop Theater Festival from 2000 to 2016. She has held directing roles for television and theater productions such as ''Holler if Ya Hear Me'', ''The Wi ...

, Magdalena Gomez,

, and Garland Farwell. Scholar/activist participants included

Vijay Prashad Vijay Prashad is an Indian Marxist historian and commentator. He is an executive-director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, and a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financi ...

, Khatharya Um,

Frances Crowe Frances Crowe (née Hyde; March 15, 1919 – August 27, 2019) was an American peace activist and pacifist from the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. Early life Frances Hyde was born in Carthage, Missouri on March 15, 1919. Growing up, she ...

James Loewen James William Loewen (February 6, 1942August 19, 2021) was an American sociologist, historian, and author. He was best known for his 1995 book, ''Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wron ...

, Augstin Lao Montes, Daniel Banks, and

Jacqui Alexander M. Jacqui Alexander is an Afro-Caribbean writer, teacher, and activist. She is both a Professor Emeritus at the Women and Gender Studies Department of the University of Toronto as well as the creator and director of the Tobago Centre "for the stud ...

Conferences and convenings

Begun in 1998, ''Intersection'' was a biennial conference and festival that showcases new work by artists of color and involves a gathering of artists, educators, organizers, activists, practitioners, and presenters. The last conference took place in 2008.

Suspension of operations/Archive initiative

In July 2009, the Fine Arts Center suspended New WORLD Theater's operations, citing economic challenges, although new grants were in place from the Nathan Cummings,

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, and Surdna Foundations. Following a period of community protests and the absence of a planning process, the Nathan Cummings and Surdna Foundations grants were recalled. Remaining Ford Foundation funding was used to archive the theater's thirty-year history. New WORLD Theater's material archives are currently housed at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In October 2010, the Nathan Cummings Foundation gathered many of NWT's former staff, artists, arts administrators, partners, and others in New York for a brainstorming session. The focus of the gathering was to preserve and activate New WORLD Theater's history. the major outcome is a two-year project between UMass Fine Arts Center and the

Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics Diana Taylor (born 1950) is an American academic. She is a professor of Performance Studies and Spanish at New York University' s Tisch School of the Arts and the founding director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. She is a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(HEMI) that will: (1) historically preserve and make publicly accessible a curated selection of significant videos from NWT through the Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library (HIDVL); (2) digitize images, programs, ephemera, and other relevant materials to be permanently available online in a trilingual NWT Online Profile on HI's website.

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in Massachusetts Organizations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Amherst