Ithaca College

Kathleen Mulligan partnered with U.S. theatre artists David Studwell and Linda Alper and Theatre Wallay (Islamabad, Pakistan) to tour their originally devised piece On Common Ground to The Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland, OR) and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

On Common Ground is a multi-stage project funded by a $347,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy-Islamabad seeking to explore the effects of violence and other forces on public space. Beginning in October 2016, theatre artists David Studwell (actor and director, Ithaca, NY) and Linda Alper (actor and playwright, Portland, OR) worked with the Theatre Wallay company in Islamabad to conceive the original piece On Common Ground. Kathleen Mulligan (Theatre) joined the Theatre Wallay company in Islamabad in June 2017 to continue directing and vocal coaching the piece before its premier in Islamabad in late June. Soon after, the Theatre Wallay company joined Mulligan, Studwell, and Alper in Oregon for a two week tour to The Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland and the Tony-Award-Winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Over 3000 people attended the five public performances. Two Ithaca College students: Rachel Canter, Assistant Producer (Theatre) and Juliana Ardila, Videographer (Park) joined the tour in Oregon.

Two members of the Pakistani company, along with Alper, will travel to Ithaca College in fall 2017 for a three-week residency. Ithaca College students will work with the Pakistani team to create additional material looking at the subject of public space from a U.S. perspective. This additional material will be added to the original piece On Common Ground for a tour of four Pakistani cities: Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore in spring 2018.