Docbloc Projects, an organization founded by Performance Studies alum Ash Marinaccio (MA '08) received its nonprofit status. Docbloc was founded as a public-facing extension of Dr. Marinaccio’s doctoral research in applied theatre at the CUNY Graduate Center. Rooted in Marinaccio’s work as a documentarian, storyteller, artist, activist, and educator, Docbloc emerged from a desire to unite theatre makers, journalists, photographers, filmmakers, and other nonfiction creators in collaborative explorations of the critical issues shaping contemporary life. From the outset, Docbloc has been dedicated to expanding the possibilities of nonfiction performance and using documentary storytelling as a form of resistance, collective memory, and community transformation.
Docbloc’s mission and methodology draw inspiration from traditions of political theatre, community-based storytelling, and documentary journalism. The organization was built on Marinaccio’s long-held belief that scholarship and practice should inform one another, and that theatre has a unique capacity to illuminate lived experience while challenging dominant narratives. After completing her PhD, Marinaccio continued developing Docbloc into a cultural organization centered on long-form documentary theatre and public-facing nonfiction artmaking.
Since its inception, Docbloc has grown through partnerships with universities, arts institutions, community centers, and activist networks. These collaborations have included public programming, documentary theatre development, applied theatre workshops, and multidisciplinary storytelling projects with partners such as The Eagle Project (NY), ASHTAR Theatre (Palestine), En Garde Arts, The Civilians, Radical Evolution, Stoop Stories, Donkeysaddle Projects (Seattle), Rattlestick Theatre, The People’s Forum, HB Studios, The Tank, and the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival.
Docbloc has developed projects with Pace University, Queens College, Hunter College, Purchase College, HowlRound Theatre Commons at Emerson College, and the Carter Burden Older Adult Luncheon Program. The organization has been recognized through competitive residencies, including The Civilians R&D Group, Social Practice CUNY, The Bechdel Project, and The Tank.
Docbloc's Mission: Docbloc brings together theatre makers, photographers, filmmakers, artists, journalists, and creatives working across nonfiction forms for live performance investigations into the critical topics that define our times. We are multi-disciplinary artists and builders creating nonfiction theatre, visual art, and media projects. Our theatrically imaginative performances focus on real people and community-specific historical events. We use documentary storytelling as a tool for resistance, collective memory, and societal transformation.