This past weekend on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Scott Simon talked with David Marcus, a senior contributor to The Federalist and the artistic director of a theater company in New York City, about defunding the National Endowment for the Arts. Go ahead and listen. I’ll wait. And if you’re angry by...
After careful consideration and conversation, it’s time. The 2amt hashtag is shifting to #2thtr. This week’s events and hashtag fever have been catalysts, but we’ve been moving towards a second act for a while now. Some of those plans and ideas have been percolating for a while–stay tuned–and some spring...
Earlier this month, the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) held its 25th annual conference, hosted by the gracious staff at San Francisco Shakespeare Festival; the event was comprised of both a practicum component as well as a more traditional conference, filled with panels, plenaries and keynotes. A Kind of History Sidney Berger, then...
As a developing company creating and producing work off-center from standard theatrical fare in the Washington area, dog & pony dc (d&pdc) has found the Capital Fringe Festival a vital developmental partner. Producing shows through and in conjunction with Cap Fringe enabled our 4 ½ year old company to experiment...
When I read Howard’s HowlRound article “What’s Wrong with Canadian Theatre” I chuckled to myself. Name five Canadian playwrights? I immediately rattled off five Vancouver playwrights, three of which had shows or workshops produced in the last 12 months that I had been a part of. But if my friends...
I’m currently writing a play called The Secret of the Biological Clock, about a former girl detective who is turning 37 and wants to solve the mystery of what makes a family. I have spent the past two months flipping out about stage directions. Stage directions. The play itself is...
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...
There is a lot of conversation within the #2amt community about new models for making art, never being dark, and working collaboratively. Progress Lab in Vancouver is a prime example of all of these things done well. Progress Lab 1422 is home to four of Vancouver’s most interesting companies –...