Kari Barclay

Biography

Kari Barclay is a writer, director, and researcher working at the intersection of performance and politics. They have created productions regionally and in New York at venues including the San Francisco Mime Troupe, MirrorBox Theater, and Manbites Dog. Their original play CAN I HOLD YOU? was the first full-length piece about asexuality performed in the U.S. and enjoyed a sold-out run in San Francisco and workshop in New York. Their newest play STONEWALLIN’ is the winner of the Southern Queer Playwriting Festival and is under a yearlong development process in Richmond, VA.

Kari’s research interests include theater history, queer and trans performance, gender and sexuality studies, applied theater, and asexuality studies. Their book project, Directing Desire, examines the rise of intimacy directing, consent-based approaches to staging sex and sexuality in contemporary theater. Kari has trained with Claire Warden, Tonia Sina, Adam Noble, Chelsea Pace, Laura Rikard, and other artists who choreograph intimacy for Broadway and HBO alike. They integrate this work in theory and practice to advance racial and gender equity in the entertainment industry.

Kari earned their PhD in theater and performance studies at Stanford University in 2021. Their writing has been published in The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Arab Stages, and Theatre Bay Area.