Daniella Topol has always had a curiosity about making theatre from multiple vantage points. It鈥檚 the reason she鈥檚 made a career out of balancing directing and artistic management鈥攁nd the key to both, she says, is finding empathy in the process. 鈥淭heatre asks for a kind of intimacy and empathy that I鈥檝e always deeply loved,鈥� says Topol. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 always know it to be empathy, but that鈥檚 what I now understand it to be.鈥� And for the last two years in her role as artistic director of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, that idea has taken on entirely new meaning.
Founded in 1994 by Gary Bonasorte and David Van Asselt (whom Topol succeeded), Rattlestick鈥檚 mission is grounded in not only producing new work that inspires empathy, but in offering it to artists in ways that promote boldness and ambition. 鈥淭he DNA of the theatre is one of courage and innovation,鈥� says Topol. 鈥淚 want to continue to stay fearless and tenacious in supporting artists with big vision.鈥� Artists like Diana Oh, who first came through Rattlestick鈥檚 New Songs Now concert series, and whose genre-bending mainstage show My Lingerie Play received critical acclaim last year; or alumni playwright Samuel D. Hunter, whose two-play project Lewiston & Clarkson Rattlestick will produce next season as a large-scale double bill.
Throughout the theatre鈥檚 history, Rattlestick has launched the careers of playwrights Annie Baker, Adam Rapp, Martyna Majok, and Lucy Thurber, among others. The organization also continues to nurture and support its apprentice company of young theatremakers, as well as provide artists with opportunities to share space and create. Topol has long been passionate about new work development and she鈥檚 adamant that this continue to be a part of the theatre鈥檚 鈥渧ibrant, artistic heartbeat.鈥�
As Rattlestick approaches its 25th anniversary, Topol鈥檚 vision for the company is to expand on the radical empathy it offers its artists by further being in conversation with the community鈥攕pecifically its immediate West Village neighborhood. Under her leadership, the theatre is developing a new theatrical piece, written by Cusi Cram and directed by Topol, which will celebrate the life and legacy of the now-closed St. Vincent鈥檚 Hospital, ground zero during New York City鈥檚 AIDS crisis. Rattlestick has partnered with community centers, a nearby church, and local artist and advocacy groups in the development of the play, set to debut in a workshop production this summer.
Leaning in to new partnerships, says Topol, is towards the ultimate goal of making theatre 鈥渕ore and more vital to the conversation.鈥� For the artistic director, theatre has always been, and remains, essential; and never has this been clearer than in her position as leader of Rattlestick. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about the process of the audience meeting the work and finding a conversation around the work that makes them look at the world differently.鈥�
