Terror and Courage, Hope and Art We can’t claim to engage our communities in important conversations if we run away from them One of the plays to generate the most interest at our recent National Showcase of New Plays was Pluto, by the prolific and supremely-talented Steve Yockey. An alum...
social profit
Heroes. They’re not just for comic books anymore. With the rise of more serious, “realistic” portrayals of comic book heroes has come a trend of real people making themselves into superheroes. This is not a joke, and it’s not the movie Kick-Ass, based on the comic book of the same...
Are you registered to vote in this year’s election? I shouldn’t have to tell you why it’s important, especially this year and especially if you work in the arts. But whichever way you decide to vote, it’s important that you have the chance to do so. 2amt has teamed up...
One of my favorite things about summer in an arts organization is that you get a couple of precious weeks where, in between the planning and the subscription mailings, there’s a little fallow time where you can sometimes rise above the fray and say, HEY. What are other people doing...
I should be writing other things. And I hate to have two posts in a row reacting to Michael Kaiser’s posts at Huffington Post. But here we are. Instead, here are some quick reactions to Kaiser’s latest post about social media directly from Twitter. [View the story “Social Media on...
Somewhat by accident, I stumbled into a weekly twitter conversation about new play development (hashtag #newplay) despite the fact that I am not a playwright. What I am is a university professor who for six of the ten years I spent in academic administration led a large theatre/film school whose...
In the background: A rainy night in New York City in late spring. In the foreground: a live stream broadcast of Thais Flaitt’s Portuguese translation of my play The Way of Water from Cia de M.A.T.I.L.D.E University in Sao Paolo, Brasil. Four professional actors are seated on folding chairs at...
A lot has been said about the Guthrie’s season announcement, and probably a lot more will be. I want to focus on one part of it. But first, I want to say that while I don’t disagree with most of the criticism the Guthrie has worked hard over the last...
I’ve been thinking more and more about my responsibility as an artist. And just typing that feels a little weird—the idea that artists have responsibilities other than to their art. But our work does more than just sit there in our heads. It wanders out of our skulls and into...
So you’re at the Humana Festival of New American Plays and you’ve got a few minutes. You’ve seen the art, you’ve looked at the gifts, you’ve had a bourbon. Maybe you’re in the mood to play a game. Maybe you’re looking for something to engage audiences at your own theatre...