EMACT takes special pleasure in bestowing Lifetime Achievement Awards on individuals who have contributed in an exceptional manner to our theater community over the years. If there is someone in your organization that your Board feels merits this honor, please submit a 500-1000 word narrative regarding the nominee and their contributions to: Celia Couture at [email protected].
The deadline is March 15.

However we mark this year's season, EMACT as always would like to pay tribute to the members of our Theatre Community that have passed away during the year.
​Please send information for anyone from your group that should be included in this tribute to Celia Couture. Please include a photo, the Company name, and the date they passed away. Thank you in advance for your help. 

As President of EMACT, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council, for his excellent and timely EMACT workshop last week, Part One of "Foundations for Building a Race Equity Plan." His critical insight as a local cultural leader and person of color is incredibly relevant to all of us who strive to create inclusive and equitable theatre.

I am greatly looking forward to Part Two of Michael's workshop, scheduled for Thurs May 13 from 6-8pm, and I hope you will join Michael, me, and your fellow theatre creators at that session. Though attendance at Part One is helpful, it's not necessary that you attended in order to attend Part Two. So, I hope to see some new folks there as well as all those who contributed to our discussion on the 22nd.

We have much work to do to create a truly equitable community theatre space that is welcoming to all, and I hope you'll join us in this important endeavor.

Here's the link if you need to register: ​https://www.eventbrite.com/e/foundations-for-building-a-race-equity-plan-part-2-tickets-153236593777

EMACT is excited to lend support to our long-standing member group The Lexington Players as they represent Massachusetts community theater on the world stage at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the Mondial du Theatre 2021 competition in Monaco in August, with their NETC and AACT award-winning production of Who Will Sing for Lena? Mondial is the premier festival in the world celebrating amateur and community theatre, and the Lexington Players' production has been selected to represent the United States, competing against productions from 14 other countries.

Directed by Sal Jones and featuring Jes Washington, Janice Liddell’s Who Will Sing for Lena? tells the story of Lena Baker, a Black maid in Cuthbert, GA who was convicted of the capital murder of her white employer, Ernest Knight, who local papers reported held Lena as a “slave woman.” She argued self-defense, but was executed by the state of Georgia in 1945 during a decades-long period of state suppression of civil rights of Black citizens by the white-dominated society. In 2005, sixty years after her execution, the state of Georgia granted Baker a full and unconditional pardon.

To support the Lexington Players with their travel and production expenses for this incredible opportunity, EMACT will match dollar-for-dollar all donations up to $5,000. If we exceed our fundraising goal, all funds in excess will be earmarked to support member groups' festival entries in the future.

If you can, please consider supporting this effort, which raises the visibility of our community, our art, and of creators of color in the United States. Don't wait - our campaign will close on June 30! 

Congratulations to the Lexington Players for this exceptional honor!

DONATE HERE

Join us for our next in our series of roundtable discussions. We are getting closer and closer to being able to reopen our theaters! Let's discuss our reopening plans, developing best practices, and how the Massachusetts reopening guidelines apply.

Audience: We encourage attendance by members of your theater’s Board of Directors and others in leadership positions.
Admission: Free for all EMACT members, Past, Present, and Future!

Some of the topics we’ll discuss:
- What are your theater’s reopening plans?
- Developing reopening best practices
- Massachusetts Reopening Guidelines

REGISTER NOW

Join us for another roundtable discussion about reopening our theaters in a Covid-19 world.  Share and review strategies, and get resources the EMACT Covid-19 Task force has identified to help inform our member groups on moving forward. 

Date: January 23
Time: 10AM-Noon
Admission: Free for all EMACT members, Past, Present, and Future!
REGISTER NOW!

We have been so impressed by the the resiliency & spirit of the theater community in this difficult year - from radio plays to staged readings, our members have found myriad ways to stay creative and buoy the arts and our community! To recognize these efforts, EMACT is excited to announce a new category of annual DASH recognition awards – Excellence in Virtual Programming.

This will be a non-competitive category with no scoring (similar to the Consultant’s Choice Awards), and will recognize excellence in shows and productions performed in an online medium (virtual/digital/zoom/etc.) 

Check out our Virtual DASH Awards page for all the details and to submit your production! 

Diversity is vital to the future of EMACT. It enhances our sense of community and positively impacts creativity, knowledge, and problem-solving.  

As a community, we know that we have work to do to make EMACT a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization. This is one of our deepest values and highest priorities. The following Diversity Engagement Survey is the beginning of our effort to gauge the needs of membership by gathering baseline data that will inform our efforts to help our member groups create a more diverse and inclusive community.

Your input is essential to our efforts. Please feel free to share the survey and this link with your boards, members, and volunteers. Everyone with a connection to EMACT or one of our past, present, or future member groups is encouraged to participate. 

Please complete the survey by Sunday, November 22.

EMACT will share the results on our social media sites and website. Thank you for your participation.

Take the Survey HERE