OTP CLUBS
A conversation series
In parallel and in conversation with Oakland Theater Project’s 2026 Season: The Land of the Free, the OTP Book Club and Film Club are back!
Both are a chance to immerse yourself in deep thought, conversation, and community.
Click here to learn more about OTP’s 2026 Season
Space for both clubs is limited! Sign up below to reserve your spot.
BOOK CLUB 2026
In conjunction with Oakland Theater Project’s 2026 Season: The Land of the Free, this in-person book club invites readers into a year of meaningful conversation, community, and imagination as we read and reflect together on freedom.
The book club will be facilitated by Natalie Pasquinelli. Participation is $25 and open to all; attendees will need to purchase or borrow their own copies of the books. Discussions take place on the Mondays listed below from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $25 for the year
Dates & Times: See below
Location: Oakland Theater Project (1501 MLK Jr Way, Oakland, CA 94612)
2026 Book List:
On Freedom (2024) by Timothy Snyder
Defining freedom
Monday, March 23
6–7:30 p.m.
Persepolis (2003) by Marjane Satrapi
Coming-of-age, repression, visions of “freedom”, exile
Monday, April 27
6–7:30 p.m.
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (1974) by Ursula K. Le Guin
Envisioning other worlds, how is freedom structured?
Monday, June 22
6–7:30 p.m.
Work Won’t Love You Back (2021) by Sarah Jaffe
Rethinking work as freedom and meaning, building collective movements
Monday, July 27
6–7:30 p.m.
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments (2019) by Saidiya Hartman & “Uses of the Erotic” (1978) by Audre Lorde (short essay)
Experiments in freedom, unruliness, finding life force
Monday, August 24
6–7:30 p.m.
My Tender Matador (2001) by Pedro Lemebel
Revolution, forbidden love, queer desire, resistance
Monday, September 28
6–7:30 p.m.
There, There (2018) by Tommy Orange
The significance of place, identity, community, Oakland
Monday, October 26
6–7:30 p.m.
Orbital (2024) by Samantha Harvey
Fragility of our planet, of humanity, of life
Monday, November 16
6–7:30 p.m.
About the Facilitator
Natalie Pasquinelli (she/her) is a PhD candidate in Sociology at UC Berkeley and an actor living in Oakland, California. After a hiatus from theater, she was a 2025 Acting Fellow at Oakland Theater Project and performed in OTP’s production of The Courtroom as Richard Hanus. As a scholar of work and gender, she studies the politics of what does and doesn't count as “work,” how remote work shapes our experience of time and space, and pedagogy. She has taught many discussion seminars for introductory sociology courses at Cal and plans to teach her own seminar in 2026.
FILM CLUB 2026
Join us for 7 films over 7 months, each exploring themes related to freedom.
You’re invited to join us for on-site screenings at Oakland Theater Project. Each film will be followed by an in-person discussion, facilitated by Judas Ātman.
Cost: $25 for the year
Dates & Times: See below
Location: Oakland Theater Project (1501 MLK Jr Way, Oakland, CA 94612)
Film Lineup & Discussion Dates:
The Killing Floor (1984) dir. Bill Duke
paired with The Mountaintop by Katori Hall
Sunday, March 15 at 5 p.m.
État de Siège (State of Siege) (1972) dir. Costa-Gavras
paired with Assassins by Stephen Sondheim
Sunday, April 26 at 5 p.m.
La mala educación (Bad Education) (2004) dir. Pedro Almodóvar
paired with The House of Bernarda Alba by Frederico Garcia Lorca
Extra Credit: Bones of Contention dir. Andrea Weiss
Sunday, May 31 at 5 p.m.
Bottoms (2023) dir. Emma Seligman
paired with The Fre by Taylor Mac
Sunday, July 26 at 5 p.m.
Love Lies Bleeding dir. Rose Glass
paired with Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams
Sunday, August 30 at 5 p.m.
Ran (1985) dir. Akira Kurosawa
paired with King Lear by William Shakespeare
Sunday, October 25 at 5 p.m.
Salt of the Earth (1954) dir. Herbert J. Biberman
paired with She Se Puede (A Chorus of Huertas) by Lisa Ramirez
Sunday, December 13 at 5 p.m.
About the Facilitator
Judas Ātman (they/he) is a butch and transgender artist based in Oakland. Their artistic practice is based in hybridity, including but not limited to creative writing, directing, performance, and queer archiving. He writes at the intersections of queerness and mythology, as the two converge and diverge within archives in forming intergenerational ideologies. They graduated from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Drama and is currently an MFA candidate for Creative Writing at SFSU. He also serves as Co-Editor in Chief at Fourteen Hills Magazine: The SFSU Review. They are a recipient of the Daniel Langton Poetry Prize.