PUblications
I use my published writing to make my methodology visible and process transparent as a means of serving colleagues approaching similar investigations. I pair academic writing with writing for the field through platforms like the virtual theatre commons HowlRound to extend my reach into many corners of our industry. Below are featured three pieces published between 2019-2024, with additional articles below.
In 2024 I co-authored with Michelle Memran the chapter ‘Queer Aging: María Irene Fornés’ for the book Fornés in Context, edited by Anne Garcia-Romero and Brian Herrera, published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge England. The chapter resulted from a faculty fellowship at Wesleyan University’s Center for the Humanities during which I studied outtakes from The Rest I Make Up (Memran’s documentary on which I was a producer) alongside Fornés’s ephemeral archive, with the goal of bringing Fornés’s late-life vibrancy and wisdom to a wide audience.
This is a fantastic and essential book for Fornés enthusiasts, filled with great essays by Fornés scholars, her students, colleagues, and friends. You can purchase it here.
In 2022 I co-authored an article with theater and performance studies scholar Jack I. Pryor (Penn State, Abington), examining the impact my Zoom production of The Method Gun had on its quarantined audience. Entitled “Total Dramaturgical Collapse: American Theatre in Pandemic Time,” the piece was published in the journal Theatre Topics.
In Sep 2019, PearlDamour’s book Milton, A Performance and Community Engagement Experiment was published by 53rd State Press. Intended as a tool for other artists interested in undertaking civically engaged work, it includes micro essays about process, descriptions of our extended community engagements, transparent examples of funding strategies, photos, and the script of the show (including comparison sections from three Milton productions). Working with 53rd State Press, which favors work that expands notions of the theatrical in performance in print, allowed us to translate not only the substance of the project but also its spirit. The Milton book has been used as a resource by educators nationwide.
This book is great for anyone interested in collaborating on theater-making with civic groups. You can get a copy at 53rd State Press.
Additional Publications
Pearl, Katie et al. Milton: A Performance and Community Engagement Experiment in Svich, Caridad Audience (R)evolution, Dispatches from the Field. TCG Press, NYC, NY, 2016
Pearl, Katie. Considering Imagination in Svich, Caridad Innovation in Five Acts. TCG Press, NYC, NY, 2015
Pearl, Katie. ‘Conversation Constellations’ in After the Show: A Play Based on Actual Events. Editors Robert Quillen Camp and Gavin Kroeber. In Theater, 44, (3): 51-52, 2014
Writing for the Field
(NOT) Water: Sheila Callaghan, Daniella Topol, and the Slow-Building Wave of Collaboration, Brooklyn Rail, June 2017
We are the Climate, HowlRound Theatre Commons, Theatre in the Age of Climate Change series. Ed. Chantal Bilodeau, April 16, 2017
The Rest I Make Up: María Irene Fornés, Brooklyn Rail, Oct 2016
Creativity, Aging, and Alzheimer’s, with film director Michelle Memran, HowlRound Theatre Commons, April 23, 2016