I have long had an interest in arts groups using transitioning commercial and retail spaces to alleviate space crunch. On hearing that Matt Cosper and his Charlotte-based ensemble XOXO are taking part in such a venture I asked him to write a little about the process and after it was...
There is a mental habit formed early in the development of the modern American psyche: the immediate and perpetual recentering of yourself as the underdog. Our prevailing American narrative is one of rising above great (or more usually impossible) odds to achieve our heart’s one true desire. In the narrative the underdog...
I’m fascinated by observing chefs interacting with food. Unlike most folks who create they can’t avoid their work outside their “studio”, they need to eat after all. They are cursed to combine all the creativity of a visual artist with the what-about-me demands of an IT person visiting their family…...
I’m in Kannsas City for a TCG gathering about audience engagement that has sort of morphed into a gathering about working across institutional lines. Now this is a topic I’m thoroughly interested in, but not quite what I expected. It’ll probably be great, but one thing I’d been hoping to...
Let’s see if I have this straight. Women write about bias–unconscious or not–in an industry, they set up a group to support fellow women in said industry, men immediately comment on social media about how this isn’t really a problem, maybe these women are biased, because it damn well isn’t...
Actors are not alone in needing to manage nerves, but compared to most professions, yours is unique in terms of how frequently you are placed in nerve inducing situations in order to get the job. Think of the engineers, nurses, teachers, etc. you know, and then of the frequency they...
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...
The 2014-15 theatre season is underway, causing me, desperately, to try not to fret over photos of strangers in first table reads as they begin to train their instruments to say those words (repetitively) throughout the rehearsal process and within eight shows a week (plus student matinees). I see actors...