Mr. Landesman has responded personally on the NEA blog (did you know the NEA had a blog? I did not.) to the conversation/controversy regarding his statements about the supply and demand of the American theater. Its a great read, I highly recommend it, with much to agree with actually. After...
by Heather Bishop Gathered today at the Vortex Theater in Austin, Texas, members of Austin’s theater community watched final discussions from both ideological and practical perspectives. From Kristoffer Diaz’ points regarding the documentation of diversity efforts in theater and the definition of an American play regardless of accent or region...
FROM SOUTHERN REP, New Orleans, LA A CONVERSATION IN RESPONSE TO NEW PLAY PANEL When you talk about diversity – what does that really mean? If your audience doesn’t reflect that – what is diverse? If you want a diverse audience, are you doing work that would reflect that? Only...
It’s easy to get swamped during the Arena Stage Convenings.There is a lot going on and a lot of theoretical conversation. The hardest workin’ folks in show business are trying to fix some part of show business and let me tell you: it’s invigorating. I’ve been on the ground at...
Passed around Twitter feeds, posted on Facebook walls: last week’s Onion joke article. Funny, but with a twinge of ouch—not because I have ever wanted to tell the story of my life onstage, but because at different times I have written, directed, and produced non-confessional one-actor plays. Doing so, if anyone is...
In a thread arising from a post about whether or not arts organizations should ask artists for donations; I commented that, for an arts service organization, the artist may be the only person with whom the ASO can develop the necessary relationship. Travis Bedard responded with an observation that “ASOs...
There are times I wish I was a social scientist. Nothing answers a question as definitely, for me, as evidence-based reasoning. Unfortunately, when it comes to curtain speeches and their ability to actually convince audience members to silence their cell phones, we largely seem to be working from received wisdom...
I attended an inspiring and provoking event last night, the New York Theatre Experiment’s second “Generations” event, where Michael Mayer, Denis O’Hare, and Annie Baker talked about the future of theater. A lot of juicy topics came up, many of which I think would be fodder for their own panel...
“We regret to inform you that of the 19 nominated plays, none was deemed sufficiently realized by the selection panel to receive the Prize. As a result, the Wasserstein Prize will not be presented in 2010. While the panel thought that many of the scripts showed promise, they felt that...
In the past twelve months, I have been a candidate in several searches for a new artistic director, and in three cases, I have been one of the last two or three standing. These experiences – these cover letters, interviews, meetings, discussions and also the crushing disappointments of that...
