#CHARLOTTESVILLE receives standing ovation at the Theatre School at DePaul

Priyanka performs #CHARLOTTESVILLE alongside Roger Guenveur Smith’s Otto Frank at a special Performance Symposium at DePaul University.

Priyanka Shetty with Professor David Chack at the post-show conversation after her performance.

Priyanka's solo play #CHARLOTTESVILLE, was featured along with legendary solo performer Roger Guenvere Smith’s Otto Frank at a special Performance Symposium at DePaul University. To deepen audience understanding of both plays, this 3-day symposium also included a talk with Professor Pamela S. Nadell to explore the deep roots of the racist ideology that led to the explosion of antisemitism at the heart of both stories.

#Charlottesville received a standing ovation and the post-show discussion was moderated by The Theatre School’s David Chack​, a professor of Jewish and Holocaust theatre and Identity Theatre at The Theatre School at DePaul University.

The event also included class visits where Roger Guenvere Smith expressed his admiration for Priyanka’s talent and referred to her as a peer in their shared mission of creating socially relevant art. He also recognized her as an artist of this generation carrying forward the legacy of Anna Deavere Smith. Professor David Chack wrote “#CHARLOTTESVILLE is more than theatre or performance. In Judaism we say that the world stands on Deep Learning (Torah), on Service that is akin to active prayer (Avodah) and on acts of Loving Kindness (G'milut Chesed). Your piece was all three.” Adding that the piece helps in understanding how racisms manifest, and the narratives can be challenged in the world we live in.