Responding to The Migration Series: Annalisa Dias

Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Annalisa Dias: I did theatre in middle school and high school. I had an English teacher who suggested I try participating in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre (PPT)’s annual Shakespeare monologue contest in 8th grade, so I did that, and then very quickly got hooked and participated in basically every education program that PPT offered for the next five years.

Responding to The Migration Series: Jacqueline E. Lawton

Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Jacqueline E. Lawton: My mother introduced me to the theatre through her love of MGM musicals. I was immediately transfixed. The first play that I saw live was a theatre for young audiences touring production of Jack and Beanstalk.

On Stage with The Migration Series

In conjunction with the recent exhibition People on the Move: Beauty and Struggle in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, the Phillips commissioned five local playwrights to create one-act plays in response to five specific panels in The Migration Series. The plays were presented twice as staged readings last fall, and on June 26th, 2017, the staged readings were recorded in the galleries alongside the artwork with the original cast and director.