Ithaca College

Associate Professor Kathleen Mulligan (Theatre Arts), along with partners in the “On Common Ground” project, presented at the Fulbright Association’s annual conference, ”Fulbright: Now More Than Ever” in Washington D.C. and advocated for Fulbright on Capitol Hill.

Mulligan, along with director David Studwell, playwright Linda Alper, and Theatre Wallay (Pakistan) artists Imran Iftikhar and Rabia Pasha presented a panel entitled “Finding Common Ground Through the Art of Theatre” on Monday, November 6. Alper, Mulligan, and Studwell then participated in the association’s advocacy day for Fulbright on Capitol Hill. As N.Y. residents, Mulligan and Studwell met with staff members at the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand and Congressman Tom Reed.

 “On Common Ground”, a collaboration between Ithaca College and Pakistan’s Theatre Wallay, is an ongoing project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy, Islamabad, that explores the effects of violence on public space. Beginning in October 2016, U.S. and Pakistani artists worked together to create an original theatre piece based on Pakistani artists’ experiences and perceptions of public space. U.S. team members Kathleen Mulligan, David Studwell, and Linda Alper traveled to Islamabad throughout spring 2017, preparing for the first performance of On Common Ground in Islamabad in June. The production then toured to Oregon, performing to capacity audiences at The Artists’ Repertory Theatre (Portland) and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

In the next stage, two actors from Islamabad, Rabia Pasha and Imran Iftikhar, spent three weeks in residency in the Department of Theatre Arts at Ithaca College. The actors, along with the U.S. team, worked with Ithaca College students to create additional material on the theme from a U.S. perspective. Some of the scripted material will be included in Theatre Wallay’s tour of On Common Ground throughout Pakistan in spring 2018.