The Ghostlight Stage Company Presents: Dramaturgy, Intimacy Direction, and Cultural Sensitivity
Dramaturgy, Intimacy Direction, and Cultural Sensitivity are all crucial elements needed to ensure that a play is not only artistically compelling, but also ethically and culturally responsible, all while creating a safe and respectful space for both those creating and experiencing the work. In this workshop we will discuss how all three components inform how the play affects everyone involved, and in what way. This includes:
- how Intimacy Direction advocates for the casts emotional safety
- how Cultural Sensitivity advocates for an inclusive environment where all participants feel seen and respected
- how Dramaturgy advocates for the play’s messaging to be coherent and impactful for the actors, crew and audience members.
- how all three components ensure that the production is both effective and respectful to it’s cast, audience and cultural context.
About the teaching artist: Torie Wiggins (she/her) is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Dramatic Performance, and has been performing professionally for over 15 years. She has co-adapted and performed a one woman show, Your Negro Tour Guide, at various venues across the country. Her voice-over work includes spots for Burger King, The Home Depot, Estee Lauder, Boeing, the Women's Entertainment Channel, and most recently, President Elect Joe Biden's campaign. Her film work includes A Christmas Melody, starring and directed by Mariah Carey; The Old Man and the Gun with Robert Redford and Danny Glover and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron. Cincinnati credits include Collapse, Afghan Women Writer’s Project, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Pluto, Harry and the Thief (Know Theatre of Cincinnati); The Mountaintop, Cinderella, Violet and His Eye is on The Sparrow (Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati); Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 by Anna Deveare Smith (Diogenes Theatre Co); Mame, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Crowns (Human Race Theatre Co.) and Oliver Twist, A Raisin in the Sun and Fences (Cincinnati Shakespeare Co.) She appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird with both Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Her directing credits include We Are Proud to Present…and Good Kids at Miami University Department of Theatre, Dreamgirls and Proof at The Carnegie Theater, and Blues for an Alabama Sky at Falcon Theatre. She currently serves as Artistic Associate for Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati.
The 2025 Shining a Light Workshop and Lecture Series is supported by the generosity of tens of thousands of contributors to the annual ArtsWave Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This series is specifically funded by the 2025 Young Professionals Grant.
