We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Qutaishat a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Adam, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I think the most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far has been my podcast, Vigil. I’ve been making music and theatre professionally since I was 18 years old. And I’ve been making audio fiction for 5 years. But I had never had much success at finding an audience. I worked hard and built several shows from the ground up for theatre companies, pour hours and hours into crafting scripts, casting actors, designing audio, and more. I felt good about what was produced, but I wasn’t receiving support for my work, even when drawing the attention of podcast networks. My last major effort was cut short by the Covid-19 quarantine. I wanted to use that time to create something for my community and build it from the ground up. My vision. No input from companies, producers, networks, just me. I would coordinate the writing, directing, marketing, distribution, editing, production, design, everything. It was a massive undertaking, but a labor of love. I decided I wanted to work exclusively with other performers of color on the piece. Some old favorites, some brand new to me. But I wanted to work with talented BBIPOC performers in the Midwest on an audio fiction podcast, the very people I’ve been told throughout my career don’t exist. I committed to a collaborative writing process and paid each performer above SAG/AFTRA rates for audio recording. I committed to doing things right, to the best of my ability. I don’t know that I’ve worked so hard on anything in my life. Especially since I also ended up playing the main character. But I’m so proud of the story we’ve begun to tell. I’m thrilled that we’ve found an audience for this piece of audio theatre uplifting diverse voices. We even found a podcast network in Fable & Folly that represents our work and helps us grow. We get fan mail from people excited about what’s to come in the future and to me, that’s ultimately what makes this so meaningful. When I did things on my terms, we found our greatest success. And while I know correlation is not causation, I cannot help but think that it wasn’t about finding our voice as artist, but about others finding our artistic voice. I am so proud that we got our voices out there.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a multidisciplinary theater and music artist, educator, and advocate. I work mostly in the worlds of theatre and audio fiction. My podcast, Vigil, is currently on the Fable & Folly Podcast Network and is preparing for season 2. I have produced and been involved in dozens of audio fiction projects across various networks, genres, shows, and roles. As a theatre artist I played Camal in the regional theatre premiere of The Band’s Visit at Theatre Squared, music directed the Midwest premiere of the opera Svadba-Wedding with Milwaukee Opera Theatre, wrote music and lyrics for the musical children’s book Finding Me, the mini-opera The Meaning of Christmas (part of the Decameron Opera Project), and Co-Wrote the musical Micro with Heidi Joosten currently preparing for its world premiere. And those are just the highlights. I’ve been a professional performing artist for 15 years in an eclectic collection of mediums. All the while I have been pushing for equity and diversity in our collective artmaking. I advocate for platforming underrepresented voices, diversity in all creative rooms, and spaces that are accessible, safe, anti-racist, LGBTQAI+ friendly, and welcoming to voices and bodies that may otherwise struggle to find space in the theatrical and audio worlds.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think the biggest lesson I had to unlearn was that as a leader I needed to have all the answers. I was brought up to believe that good leaders had the vision, the knowledge, and the expertise to answer every question and have authority in every situation. That leaders never apologize, never say “I don’t know,” and never show weakness.

I’ve learned that the opposite often proves to be true. Modelling genuine apologies helps people see that you’re human, fallible, and willing to right relationships when you make errors. And it helps them believe that they are enough as they are. Saying “I don’t know” helps demonstrate honest, opens the door to collaboration, and helps present a flexible, growth oriented environment. And weakness, vulnerability is the place where we can get in touch with art that moves people. Strength without balance is authoritarian, uncollaborative, and unforgiving. Vulnerability allows us to come as we are, meet each other where we’re at, and develop a collective understanding of working in community. To me, this is where art making starts, but I needed to relearn all of that in order to start becoming the artist I am today.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think it’s sharing stories with audiences. Connecting to people and helping them feel seen, helping them see something they wouldn’t otherwise see, helping people feel joy, feel empathy, feel something. Human connection in the form of art making and storytelling is one of our more abstract forms of existence. But the alchemical, magical, transcendent results of collaboration, creativity, craft, and appreciation is one of the highest forms of experience. Getting to share that with people, impacting their days, weeks, and lives, that’s something that gets me up in the morning. And to be able to share that experience with collaborators who share my drive to improve the communities in which we build these pieces of art. To be their audiences, and to have them be mine, and then get to share it with the broader audience of the world, it doesn’t get better than that, in my opinion.

Contact Info:

• Website: adamqutaishat.com
• Instagram: @adamqutaishat
• Other: You can learn more about Vigil at vigilpod.com

Image Credits
1: Sara Bill Photography 2: Music Theatre of Madison 3: Marcus Beyer 4 & 5: Jes Sudbrink Photography