Through workshops and interviews with theater-makers, multidisciplinary artists, and community partners, this project will explore the contemporary ecosystem of civically-engaged theater, with special attention to the way COVID-19 and current-day protests may reframe the very purpose of the arts. When does theater cross the line from entertainment to activism? How do practitioners advance political aims in symbiosis with artistic projects, and not merely as an afterthought? Caroline plans to make her research findings public and accessible via digital humanities methods and to engage in research-related projects with interviewees/partners.