Michael Rohd is a theatre-maker, educator, process designer, writer and facilitator. His research and creative practice is focused on civic imagination. He has a 30+ year history of projects across sectors bringing cultural activity to the work of public engagement, community planning and cross-sector coalition building. In 1992 in Washington DC he co-founded Hope Is Vital, an arts & public health program that, over 8 years, helped start up theatre-based public engagement/HIV prevention coalitions in over 80 communities around the US. In 1999, he co-founded Sojourn Theatre and served as artistic director for 20 years, co creating and directing nearly 30 devised often site specific and participatory theatre works. In 2012, he co-founded Center for Performance and Civic Practice, a collective of nine artists/facilitators who  work with organizations and agencies around the country on community research, transformational process and system change. He is currently Civic Collaborations Director for One Nation One Project, a national arts/municipality/public health project & research cohort in partnership with National League of Cities; he is co-designer/co-facilitator for Art-Train, a virtual national technical assistance program in partnership with Springboard for the Arts.  He recently founded the Co-Lab for Civic Imagination at the University of Montana, and he is author of the book Theatre for Community, Conflict and Dialogue.

Key Takeaways

• Groups of people share something, whether that is space, time, values or goals

  
  



• What is the harm of entering a space with the intention of persuading others at all costs?

  
  



• Bringing people together might require different tactics depending on their goals. Reflect and dialogue with community members before jumping in

  
  



• Working with a co-facilitator makes for better processes and better outcomes

  
  



• When things are off, be mindful. Pause and be transparent about what might be going wrong

  
  



• We all need to build our capacity for listening

  
  

Guest’s Media Recommendations:

• The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (book)

  
  



• Can’t Drink Salt Water by Kendra Mylnechuk Potter (play)

  
  

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Find Guest’s work:

• https://howlround.com/commons/michael-rohd

  
  

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For more of Michael’s work, visit our website www.incognitotheplay.com or follow us on Instagram @incognitotheplay

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Thanks to Ned Doheny for providing our podcast music! You can find him and his music on Spotify.

Editing and co-production of this podcast by Emma Yarger.

Email info@incognitotheplay.com with questions or comments about the show!