Sharrell D. Luckett is an award-winning artist, author, and professor who was introduced to me by my longtime friend and frequent collaborator Adam Fitzgerald. With just a glance at her work, I knew she would be a fantastic guest for the podcast. Digging more deeply, I discovered a magnificent poet, musician, and speaker whose work explores issues of race, performance, gender, weight and self-esteem. In today’s conversation we explore her book, Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches, through her own experience as a student and educator. I feel so honored to have been able to talk with Dr. Luckett this week! Sharrell D. Luckett, Ph.D. is an award-winning director, celebrated author, and distinguished professor whose work introduced and defined the field of Black Acting Methods. Luckett is the author or editor/co-editor of five books that span the disciplines of theatre, black studies, performance studies, and fat studies: Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches; Young Gifted and Fat: An Autoethnography of Size, Sexuality, and Privilege; African American Arts: Activism, Aesthetics, and Futurity; Tarell Alvin McCraney: Theater, Performance, and Collaboration; and Transweight: Poems From an Undercover Fat Girl.  Luckett holds a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is the Director of the Helen Weinberger Center for Drama and Playwriting and a professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Cincinnati, where she also serves as affiliate faculty in the departments of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is the founding Executive Director of the Black Acting Methods Studio. Music: I Should Have Been A Mother****ing Black Mamba – Numinous (Joseph C. Phillips Jr., Composer)Don’t  – Numinous (Joseph C. Phillips Jr., Composer) Follow Sharrell D. Luckett on InstagramFollow Black Acting Methods on Instagram and Facebook. Order the Acting Theorists poster we discussed in the episode here. This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will be an exclusive conversation, (and recipes!) with Eric!  Learn more right here! If you’d like to check out my other work, order The Animal Book directly from me here and get a free download of the album!Here are some other places you can find the book.Find The Animal Album streaming and downloadable here.Here’s some more merch and music. Thinking of starting your own podcast? Do it! I’m a big fan of Blubrry for podcast distribution and you can get a month free by signing up for Blubrry Podcast Hosting here, or Blubrry Professional Statistics here. Use the code “mikeypod” with your order for your free month!