We are honored to partner with The Ahimsa Collective as community care consultants to provide holistic support for both artists and audience members as they engage with powerful stories that uncover unspoken truths on long silenced topics such as suicide, racialized violence, child abuse, grief, and survivorship. We believe that stories have the power to transform our worlds, and also believe that transformation increases when we are able to dialogue and engage deeply with the storytelling. Our partnership with Ahimsa Collective is allowing us to do that in a deeper, more sustainable way. Join us on Saturday, September 19th at 6pm (before the Suicide Cowboys reading) for a pre-show panel discussion with The Ahimsa Collective about this innovative partnership.

What support from The Ahimsa Collective looks like for audiences: 

• Facilitators onsite at each performance to engage in conversation around the plays 
• Curating post-show engagement activities to honor and celebrate our experiences of the plays 
• Create an audience resource guide in Festival program & materials in lobby
• Facilitate a space of connection and reflection for Engaging in Art that Inspires Emotion on Sunday 9/26 at 4pm (learn more on events page).

What support from The Ahimsa Collective looks like for artists: 

• Individual Sessions (as requested) 
• Optional workshop for artists on self-care in creative processes

About The Ahimsa Collective

The Ahimsa Collective strives to support healing, build safety, and challenge punitive practices. We work directly in our locality and support justice-based movements through training and technical assistance, opportunities to convene, and grantmaking to organizations doing similar work nationwide.  

We have four projects that attempt to build alternatives to harmful systems: People First Reentry, Life Comes From It, Healing Pathways, and Santa Cruz Healing and Justice Center. Our projects are a small expression of the world we want to create.

 Learn more here: https://www.ahimsacollective.net/

Why The Ahimsa Collective is partnering on BAPF:

The Ahimsa Collective sees individual and collective healing as part of a wider movement to transform how our society deals with serious harm. We support those impacted by harm through restorative processes including dialogues, groups, and workshops and we integrate various modalities to hold and transform the impacts of harm. We have witnessed the power of truthtelling, story, and artistic expression to support healing when harm happens. We believe that art can be a container to engage with and navigate the impacts of harm. In honor of this understanding, we are collaborating with the Bay Area Playwrights Festival to support artists and audience members with intentional engagement around emotional responses related to the powerful themes of the plays in the festival such as suicide, racialized violence, child abuse, grief, and survivorship. We intend to offer resources and emotional support to drop in and explore these challenging topics in healing and restorative ways. It’s an honor to be a part of this unprecedented partnership and we are incredibly excited about this unique and meaningful collaboration. 

Partnership Leads:

Sandra Rodriguez (she/her): Director of Healing Pathways

Amore Alvarenga (they/them): Healing Pathways Program Manager