Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Ph.D.

Director, actor and educator Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Ph.D., examines the need for authenticity, the power of African poetic drama and how a single play changed her entire life.

This episode also features guest Desirée Dabney, guest musical theatre artist, actor and CEO of Theatre Diva Productions. 

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About Tawnya Pettiford-Wates
Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Ph.D., is professor of graduate pedagogy in acting and directing at Virginia Commonwealth University and the artistic director of The Conciliation Project, a non-profit social justice theatre company.

Dr. T is a playwright, director, actor, poet, writer/scholar-activist and teacher. She appeared in the Tony Award-winning company of the N.Y. Shakespeare Festival’s production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the rainbow is enuf. She recently directed the regional premiere of Berta, Berta for TNT at The Firehouse Theatre. Other directing projects include Fences (Virginia Repertory Theatre Company), Deep River (Virginia Opera Company) and The Niceties (The Conciliation Lab). Her production of The Top of Bravery, produced by Quill Theatre and Theatre Lab, received an ARTSIE for Best Original Work from the Richmond Theatre Critic’s Circle. In 2022, The Conciliation Project, in association with VCUarts Theatre, produced WHITESPLAINING, an original piece funded by The Carpenter Foundation. The Conciliation Project also led workshops on themes surrounding DEI for the National Education Association's annual national conferences in 2023 and 2024.

Pettiford-Wates is a contributing author to Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches, edited by Sharell Luckett and Tia Shaffer, and continues to be voice talent for many national and regional brands such as Dukes Mayonnaise, Aetna Healthcare, GRTC, Hoyle and HALO. She has been teaching theatre at VCU since 2004. 

About Desirée Dabney
Desirée Dabney is an experienced professional actor, singer, director, producer and theatre educator/activist. Dabney received her B.F.A. in Acting in 2014 from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University. She received her Master of Teaching from the University of Richmond and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Education Curriculum. 

In 2022, she was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Shenandoah University. In 2023, Desirée was honored to be selected in Richmond’s Style Weekly Top 40 Under 40. The same year, she was featured in the Distinguished Black History Tribute on NBC12 that recognized her achievements in theatre education, which included the development of theatre courses for Richmond Public Schools and her selection as the first Black woman to develop theatre curriculum for the Virginia Department of Education. Dabney is also director of the Richmond Critics Award-winning production of How Black Mothers Say I Love You. Her 2023 VCUarts production of Rent was an overwhelming success with nightly sold-out performances. 

Dabney is currently a guest musical theatre artist at the School of the Arts at VCU. She also serves as a Board Member for Fine Arts Education (Theatre)/Virginia Department of Education, the Yes And Theatrical Company Richmond Public Schools Fine Arts Advisory and Elected Board Director Educational Theatre Association. She is a Shuler Awards Adjudicator in Georgia and Owner/Executive Director of Theatre Diva Pro

VCUarts Uncharted is recorded in the Community Media Center in the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU. Music by Felipe Letão.

For more information, visit arts.vcu.edu/uncharted.