The recipient of our 2020 Innovation Grant is Lojo Simon for The KISS Project: Keeping Intimacy Safe on Stage for Young Performers, a guide for theatre educators working with actors ages 10-18.

The history of abuse against women and girls is long and deep, but it wasn’t until Twitter erupted with the hashtag #metoo in the wake of sexual abuse charges against producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017 that the world finally woke up to the need to put consent front and center in our public dialogue. In the years since, many powerful men have been brought down for their unethical and/or illegal sexual behavior. Consent has become the watchword for social and business relationships. Businesses, government and educational institutions have instituted long-overdue policies and procedures designed to protect workers from sexual abuse. Nowhere has this effort been more evident than in theatre, film and television, all of which have developed protocols for safe expression of intimacy on stage and screen. The #metoo movement also has fostered conversations in schools about topics such as abuse and consent. The KISS Project builds upon these existing foundational movements to explore consent-based practices for keeping intimacy safe on stage with young actors. A research-based report, The KISS Project summarizes the current state of consent-based theatre education and explores the potential application of best practices in intimacy choreography in educational settings. You can view the report here.

LOJO SIMON is a polycreative, playwright, dramaturg, teaching artist, Laguna Beach Literary Laureate Emeritus and curator of Bare Bones Theatre new play reading series at Laguna Playhouse, where she is the former Literary Manager. She wrote the book and lyrics for Creede Repertory Theatre’s Young Audience Outreach Tours BEST FOOT FORWARD (2019), SEEDS OF CHANGE (2018), and ALBERT PORTER, BOY EXPLORER (2017). Her family-friendly works NICE & SLOW (Old Miner Playwriting Award, Noorda Center for Children and Youth), HEARTLAND (w/Anita Simons, Dayton Playhouse FutureFest winner, KCACTF Finalist), PLUM LUCK and GORILLA BALLERINA are published by YouthPlays. Other plays include RELIC (Queens Theatre), ADORATION OF DORA (Avant Bard, KOLT Run, Idiom, KCACTF/ATHE David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award), ONE FOOT (Idiom Theatre, Minneapolis Fringe, Salt Lake City Fringe), J’OY VEY (w/Anita Simons, Florida Rep PlayLab, Trinity Street Players), and MI CORAZON (Anna Zornio Award). Short plays include MOSCOW (Sam French OOB Festival, City Theatre National New Play Award, KCACTF Ten Minute Play Award, Best of Tribal Humor Festival, Heideman Award finalist), GINGER AMERICA (WWU British Theatre Tour, Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, T. Schreiber Theatre, Badass Theatre), BATSHIT CRAZY (U. of St. Thomas, City Theatre National New Play Award Finalist), and GIRLFRIENDS (Smith & Kraus). www.lojosimon.com