Dorchester Weather is a theatre ensemble rooted in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. We are a collective of artists, neighbors, friends, and organizers who come together through dialogue and storytelling to advocate for better, more sustainable lives in the places we live. Our work uses playmaking as a tool of healing, collective dreaming and community care. Through collaboration, we build shared visions for mutual thriving, sparking hope for the futures we imagine.

Core ensemble members include: Jaronzie Harris, Aisha Revolus, Saranya Saranthanan, and Jonah Toussaint.

Dorchester Weather (DW) envisions a racially just neighborhood where Black, Brown, immigrant, and working-class people can not only stay, but thrive, free from the environmental burdens, displacement, and overdevelopment disproportionately placed on their communities. At the heart of this vision is narrative power: the ability of residents to name their reality, imagine alternatives, and shape the stories that guide public decision-making.

DW aims to leverage their artistic practice of satirical, ensemble-devised storytelling and the creation of fantastic, theatrical worlds to inspire people to see new possibilities within their contexts. Their work invites residents to move from reacting to outside-driven proposals for development in their neighborhood toward envisioning what they want to build together.

DW believes that art can reframe how civic planning conversations happen, not by replacing technical processes, but by shaping the conditions under which they unfold. Their work helps communities see beyond immediate constraints and engage complex systems critically, relationally, and collectively. In this way, their artistic practice does not run parallel to planning and advocacy; it can facilitate more accountable, people-centered engagement.

They imagine neighborhoods with abundant green space held in collective stewardship and public sites that function as places of rest, gathering, and celebration. They are working towards a future where environmental justice communities have the power to shape decisions about major infrastructure, hold developers accountable to the interests of residents, and where neighbors move forward together with shared vision for their neighborhood. 

This year, Dorchester Weather is prioritizing leveraging their artistic practice to offer a compelling, shared vision for the lot and neighborhood, one that helps residents, organizers, and decision-makers see beyond the current conditions and imagine possibilities for a just, and more equitable future. This summer, Dorchester Weather is preparing to prototype a full-scale outdoor production of The Lot Next Door, presented over three days on the city-owned lot at the center of their work.

Their prototype includes:

Theatrical Performances & World-Building
They will continue developing Dorchester Weather’s satirical, ensemble-devised storytelling in a full outdoor production of The Lot Next Door through a fictional world called Nubianchester that closely parallels Dorchester but dramatizes present-day bureaucracy of development, climate stress, and displacement while opening space for new possibilities.

Art as Civic Critique and Visioning
Rather than serving primarily as facilitators of technical processes, they will create an artistic intervention that frames those conversations, offering narratives, scenes, and performances that help people connect with what’s happening and that invites residents, partners, and policymakers into dialogue about the values, desires, and dreams they collectively want for their neighborhood. They intend to help people reconnect to their imagination and their capacity to act. They aim to touch hearts and souls while offering tools for critical reflection, joy, parody, and celebration.

Partnership Development
Recognizing that long-term change requires broad ownership, the RIRJ fellowship supports Dorchester Weather in deepening partnerships with residents, organizations and collaborators who can carry forward complementary aspects of the work, such as research, policy engagement, and long-term stewardship of the space. The fellowship supports them in cultivating a community that extends beyond their ensemble, strengthening buy-in, shared responsibility, and continuity beyond the production of The Lot Next Door.

Activating the Lot
The lot continues to remain central to their work, not only as the contested site of the play where they are staging a production, but as a canvas for experimentation and possibility. They plan to invite artistic partners to host smaller-scale activations on the lot that allow neighbors to see how the lot can function as a place for rest, imagination, connection, celebration, and shared ownership.

• Devised theatre and collaborative playmaking

• Site-specific performance and neighborhood-based storytelling

• Public workshops and design charrettes rooted in creative participation

• Satire and fictional world building 

• Facilitating community dialogue through performance, food, and public gatherings 

• Education and advocacy through creative participation in neighborhood processes

• Community-based research including resident interviews and neighborhood archives 

• Public art and performance in outdoor, public spaces

• Partnership-based stewardship of public space