I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Arena Stage two weeks ago to be part of one of the most important national new play convenings in recent history. In 2011, the very act of discussing new work means you’ve got to be rabidly thorough about inviting in as many...
development
On the Life-cycle of the Theatre Lover Your patrons are all very old. They’re all going to die. What on earth will you do? Oh, dear. You’d better invest all your time and money into getting young people to come to the theatre, or in a few years, you’ll be...
Currently the South Florida Theatre League is participating in a program called Capacity Building Miami. My board president, myself, and the board presidents, artistic directors and managing directors of about fifty Miami based arts organizations have signed on for a two year mentorship program with the Kennedy Center. I’ve been gushing...
So apparently the following is too “abusive” or “off topic” for the NY TIMES to post on its Arts Beat page. One thing you can’t do in posts, I guess, is criticize the critics. But because this conversation means a lot to me, and because I’ve been in it for...
Indulge me in a little rhetorical drama, I have, on occasion, so indulged many of you. The USA needs theatre. We are a potentially free and democratic people, but when the citizens become disenchanted and politically disengaged, we disenfranchise ourselves and cede leadership to those who can tolerate swimming in...
And there are those times that we treat it, the theatre, the thing that we all love so much that we sacrifice sleep and money and relationships with other human beings for it; there are times we treat it like a patient with an illness we cannot identify but we...
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...
Your real job is relationships. No new surprise there. You build relationships through shared meaning and narrative. Still, no great revelation. Meaning is through shared language. What are you creating to bring new language to the collective discussion? Dr. Seuss (a master in the use of language) put it best...