We were lucky to catch up with Cynthia Levin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cynthia, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

From an early age, one of my projects has been the fight against capital punishment after watching the movie, I Want To Live. Around 17 years ago, I directed The Exonerated, by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen, about 6 wrongfully convicted inmates. I found 3 recently exonerated men in Kansas City to join me and the cast to talk about their experience. It was obviously an incredible and heartbreaking journey and helped us greatly in creating the truth about what these characters had gone through. At our “talkbacks” with the audience after the performances, I invited these men onstage with us to tell their stories. As I was taking questions from our patrons, one woman said, “I believed in the death penalty when I came in, and now, I’m not so sure”. This is why I do what I do – this potential for people to see a different perspective and change their minds about something they believed to be true.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Growing up in Washington, DC in the 60’s, I learned to fight for social justice and the ability to change the world. I started my life as a musician and my guitar and I frequently led marches to protest the war in Vietnam. My grandmother taught me the value of sharing whatever privilege I might have and to always offer opportunity to those who might not have it. This philosophy helped shape my life. I want to tell the stories that need to be told, stories that give voice to a marginalized and diverse community.

When I joined the Unicorn Theatre in 1979 (known then as Theatre Workshop), I knew I had found an artistic home. In 1983, I became the Artistic Director and shifted the Unicorn focus in a contemporary direction, producing predominately new plays and world premieres. My hope is that every time you come to the Unicorn, you discover something about yourself you did not know before you walked in.

When I am not at the Theatre, I am walking my dogs, spending time in the garden or renovating old houses.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The Unicorn has always looked for new plays and playwrights. This was difficult in the past as there was no one resource available to find unproduced/unpublished new work. Twenty years ago, I helped create the National New Play Network (NNPN) with 10 other theater leaders across the country who were also developing and producing new work. We started to share scripts and resources to help initiate the next generation of great plays in American theater. This organization has grown to over 120 member theaters from Florida to Alaska who all share that same commitment. We created a program called the Rolling World Premiere where 3 member theaters work together and each produces their own production working alongside the playwright within a 12 month period. This way the playwright is able to work on their 3 different “world premieres” with a varied directors, casts and geographical locations. It has allowed these writers an opportunity to receive further development in order to finalize a draft which is ready for additional productions and publication.
We also created the New Play Exchange (NPX) where plays and playwrights are on file and theaters are able to research their next, new play. There are thousands of plays on this website. Just go to nnpn.org or newplayexchange.org. I wish I had this resource 40 years ago!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We have had to pivot so many times in the last 5 decades. Working in live performance, that is what you need to know how to do. Anything can happen during a performance which calls for troubleshooting and fixing it on the fly. You need to be prepared, confidant and often have to move quickly. This has also prepared me for whatever emergencies occur daily including the running of the business. There have been funding cuts, recessions, pandemics, staff shortages and ice storms. I learned how to make hard decisions when we didn’t have much money and innovative ways when we did. There is no doubt that Covid caused a “pivot or close” situation. While many venues stayed shuttered, the Unicorn staff remained busy. We stayed in touch with our audience through monthly video chats and invested in green screens, audio and video equipment and began creating virtual productions with our actors from their homes. We had to learn an entirely new craft! And we kept people employed throughout 2020/21. This was incredibly difficult while also navigating all the health concerns and loss of revenue. But I do not believe in doing nothing. You always have to keep moving forward. Learning new and different ways to do things is part of the business. It’s part of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.unicorntheatre.org
• Instagram: @unicorntheatre
• Facebook: Unicorn Theatre
• Youtube: Unicorn Theatre KC

Image Credits
Unicorn Theatre Cynthia Levin VIETGONE BOND