Docbloc was created as part of founder Ash Marinaccio’s Ph.D. dissertation research in the Theatre and Performance program at the CUNY Graduate Center. As a documentarian, storyteller, artist, activist, and educator, Ash believes in placing scholarship into practice and creating work that engages the public and works to shift the status quo.
Docbloc was founded to bring artists working across nonfiction forms together for conversations and collaborations in live performance. Docbloc believes in the power of storytelling to transform individuals, communities, and societies. We believe that the future of nonfiction theatre lies in collaboration and in those who are represented in projects having ownership over their stories. Docbloc operates as both an artistic collective and an independent publishing platform.
Docbloc is committed to local and global collaborations across land and virtual borders. In its first years, Docbloc partnered with Rattlestick Theatre (New York), ASHTAR Theatre (Palestine), Eagle Project (New York), Queens College, Purchase College, NYU's Verbatim Performance Lab, Pace University Performing Arts, CUNY Graduate Center's Public Lab, and HB Studios.
Participants warm up for "The College Monologues" (2024) at The People's Forum. This project brought students from Queens College and Purchase College together to address critical social issues impacting their lives and campuses and create theatre.