The Shrill Collective

Shrill, a fiction podcast? Why does this matter?

Those who know us may have noticed that we've been quiet for a while. That's because we've spent the past year relearning and reevaluating our role in the artistic community. And we feel that our most important job is to facilitate the creation of works that employ and pay artists for their craft. During the pandemic, countless people turned to the arts for distraction, healing, and connection– but artists themselves struggled with an abrupt and seemingly endless loss of work and income. So, while we don't know what the future holds, we've decided to pour all of our resources into creating work that maximizes opportunities for artists and that can be enjoyed by the largest possible audience, regardless of pandemic status. 

Our Fractured Atlas fundraising campaign for THE RAT KING is now live and ongoing. Visit the link in our bio to find out more about the project and how you can support its production. If you’re unable to donate to our campaign, help us spread the word by sharing this post so we can continue to create a space for artists and new works to thrive. ||

SHRILL ON STAGE

Today we’re taking a walk down memory lane celebrating and sharing with you a community of some of the most incredible and shrillest artists we’ve had the honor of working with over the past few seasons on our original productions.

THE 2ND ANNUAL SHRILLFEST - Over 2 seasons, our annual SHRILLFEST featured 11 new works — one acts, short plays, and a staged reading of a musical. One weekend packed with thrilling new theatre and the collaborative result of many playwrights, composers, directors, and actors.

TRIFLES - Our most recent in-person production (January 2020) was a reimagined iteration of Susan Glaspell’s early feminist one-act “Trifles.” Expanded with new, original monologues written by director Ash Croce, and elevated with early 20th century music, curated and music directed by Chelsea Feltman , “Trifles” invited Shrill audiences to a site-specific experience (a historic church in Brooklyn) and emotional journey. Shrill workshopped this production in July 2017 and considers it a cherished, labor of love to have seen it to full production.

A PERIOD PIECE - Written by Megan Hoche (Bussiere) and directed by Lynda DeFuria, this world premiere production of “A Period Piece” had a lot of heart. We also very famously turned a garden trough into the most inventive set piece — a comfy couch turned bath tub. Since its production, “A Period Piece” has been published and is available for sale on Next Stage Press.

THE JERSEY DEVIL DOESN’T EXIST - Written by Jess Honovich and directed and sound designed by Kristina Cole, this was a theatrical experience for all the senses. With an eerie and chilling sound design filling a pitch black theatre, our audiences were transported to a world where (maybe) real monsters exist.

Whether on the stage or in this new podcast drama medium, Shrill intends to continue amplify the voices of new writers and artists. We look forward to a very shrill future.

👗 COSTUME DESIGN (TRIFLES, A PERIOD PIECE, JERSEY DEVIL) :
📸TRIFLES, A PERIOD PIECE:
📸SHRILLFEST:
📸 JERSEY DEVIL: Christina Dobre

WHO IS SHRILL? Great question!

If you’re new to our feed, we’re The Shrill Collective. Founded in 2017, we're a women-led independent theater company dedicated to incubating new works, challenging the cis-male-dominated canon, and using theater to benefit community organizations. 

In the last nearly 5 years, we’ve partnered and donated to organizations such as Girls Write Now, Lower Eastside Girls Club, Reproductive Health Access Project (to name a few). We’ve produced brand new full-length plays, as well as short plays, and workshops of new works (even a musical)! We’ll be sharing more of our productions with you this week.

Basically, we’re passionate about creating a space for artists to thrive. Will you help us continue to do so?

Learn more about our latest project, “The Rat King” by Laurie Savage, and how to donate to produce this fiction podcast via the link in our bio.

The Rat King is a serialized, thriller, fiction podcast that weaves magical realism with urban mythology. As Daphne attempts to disentangle herself from her stalker, she must confront the infestations along her path. Help us fund this original audio drama by Laurie Savage, produced by The Shrill Collective.

In lieu of Zoom readings and virtual events, we've spent the last 10 months quietly commissioning and developing an original thriller fiction podcast, The Rat King, by Brooklyn playwright Laurie Savage. The drama will be released as a seven-episode limited podcast. We believe in creating quality content for our listeners and paying all of our collaborators fairly, and we need your help. 

We need to raise $5,000 to cover The Rat King's production costs. That includes paying the cast and creative team and securing any space, equipment, or software our actors may need for recording. The Shrill Collective keeps zero profit. We are in this solely as a conduit for this story and these artists to be heard. 

For more details and how to donate, visit the link in our bio. ||

HELP SHRILL PRODUCE, “THE RAT KING,” AN ORIGINAL FICTION PODCAST.

For those who don't know us, we're a women-led independent theater company dedicated to incubating new works, challenging the cis-male-dominated canon, and using theater to benefit community organizations.

In lieu of Zoom readings and virtual events, we've spent the last 10 months quietly commissioning and developing an original thriller fiction podcast, “The Rat King,” by Brooklyn playwright Laurie Savage. The drama will be released as a seven-episode limited podcast. We believe in creating quality content for our listeners and paying all of our collaborators fairly, and we need your help.

Our fundraising campaign via Fractured Atlas for THE RAT KING is now live and ongoing. Visit the link below to find out more about the project and how you can support its production. If you’re unable to donate to our campaign, help us spread the word by sharing this post so we can continue to create a space for artists and new works to thrive.

https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/the-shrill-collective/campaigns/4667

||

Visual Artists: Contemporary female artists who challenge us to see differently

Top Row
Melissa Koby - “Built on Pride” -
Cj Hendry - drawing of paint glob -
Wendy Red Star - “PlentyCoup” -

Bottom Row
Ganesh Chitra Shala - “The Fortune Teller” -
Christi Belcourt - “Aabaakawad Anishinaabewin” -
Carolina Rubio MacWright - “giving away the kidnapped” -

Celebrating Women: Women-Led Production Companies that are inspiring us to create the content we want to see in the world

Top:
Lena Waithe and Hillman Grad Productions - //
Margot Robbie and LuckyChap Entertainment ᴿᴾ - //

Middle:
Rose Byrne and The Dollhouse Pictures - //
Michaela Coel and Falkna Productions - Twitter:

Bottom:
Shonda Rhimes and Shondaland - //
Issa Rae and Issa Rae Presents - //

Celebrating Women: Screenwriters, producers, directors, and showrunners whose voices enrich us

Top row left to right
Chloé Zhao - The Rider, Nomadland
Kalinda Vasquez - Fear The Walking Dead, Star Trek: Discovery, TBR Star Trek Film -

Reed Morano - The Power, The Handmaids Tale, The Rhythm Section -
Lulu Wang - The Farewell -

Bottom row left to right
Lupita Nyong'o - TBR Super Sema -
America Ferrera - I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter -

Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman - TWITTER:
Ava DuVernay - The 13th, LEAP, Selma -

Celebrating Women: The writers whose work expands the canon - and our understanding of humanity

Top row left to right
Isabel Wilkerson – Author of CASTE -
Rachel Ricketts– Author of DO BETTER -
Ling Ma - Author of SEVERANCE - https://lingma.tumblr.com

2nd row left to right
Louise Erdrich – Author of THE ROUND HOUSE and THE NIGHT WATCHMAN
Brené Brown – Author of DARING GREATLY and GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION -
Lauren Hough – Author of LEAVING ISN’T THE HARDEST THING (TBR), Ted Talk: “A Le***an Walks Into a Bar” - TWITTER:

3rd row left to right
Felicia Rose Chavez – Author of THE ANTI-RACIST WRITING WORKSHOP: HOW TO DECOLONIZE THE CREATIVE CLASSROOM - Twitter:
Janet Mock– Author of REDEFINING REALNESS and SURPASSING CERTAINTY -
Layla F. Saad – Author of ME AND WHITE SUPREMACY -

Dearest Shrills and Shrallies,

Needless to say, this last year has been challenging — as an organization, as a group of artists, and just as human beings living in this world. In an effort to readjust to the new normal and reflect on what our values are, we made the decision last spring to turn down our volume.

Although we’ve been quiet, we have been present - present to listening, to healing, to learning and unlearning - and committing to creating a more equitable, intersectional organization.

On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate all the voices and artists whom the patriarchy tries to silence. You are resilient beyond words. We see you and we hear you. We prioritize amplifying your stories and experiences.

As for us, we’ve still got some Shrill magic up our sleeves and we look forward to sharing it with you soon.

Keep making noise.

Overzealous socially distant air hugs and high-fives,
The Shrill Collective

It has taken The Shrill Collective some time to deeply reflect on our role in the current climate. To rush forward with a repost felt satisfying, with an undertone of hashtag activism. After examining our companies choices, it has become clear that we have participated, perpetuated, and benefited from systemic racism. While our intentions may have been good, we excused our blind spots and shortcomings. We justified the meager efforts we made to "authentically" amplify the voices unlike our own. This thinking has helped us perpetuate a toxic work culture within the theatrical community, and has direct opposition to our mission of Crushing the Patriarchy. It is to the detriment of our community that we have continued a legacy of white women undercutting the value of Black voices. is the model of art to action. While it is our goal to march side by side with them in the fight for justice, we cannot transform the land if we do not begin with ourselves. For the next 6-weeks The Shrill Collective will be taking a step back. We are not seeking to be silent, rather, to listen. We will be focusing internally to uncover the deep hold racism has on our hearts and minds. It is not enough for us to simply be "not-racist" we must now unlearn centuries of inherited biases and become anti-racist. While we are gone, we will be utilizing our social media to promote/amplify black voices, BIPOC artists, and causes supporting the anti-racist movement we have the great fortune of living through. Stay Safe. ||

Thank you to our incredible Shrill community for your donations, reposts, shares, and communication. Yesterday YOU donated $634 to various local bail funds via The National Bail Fund Network. REMINDER: Shrill will MATCH donations up to $1,000, so let’s keep spreading the word to meet that goal!

True allyship is a lifelong pursuit. Let’s keep going.

bit.ly/localbailfunds