Sarah Kahrl

Sarah Kahrl is the director of the Kenyon Institute, a program inspiring adults to become more creative and proficient writers in their professional fields. She is also vice president for college relations, overseeing external affairs and fundraising at Kenyon College, recently completing its successful $240 million campaign. She previously served as vice president for advancement at CAPA, a multi-state presenter which manages New Haven’s storied Shubert Theatre. A Smith College graduate in theatre and English literature, Sarah began her career as assistant to artistic director Tina Packer at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts, later working at Arena Stage, Hartford Stage Company, and the Kennedy Center.

Writing In the Middle of Nowhere

Essay

Writing In the Middle of Nowhere

23 January 2014

Artistic director and playwright Wendy MacLeod and I wondered aloud: what would happen if, right then, that playwright was placed in a remote community of writers for two weeks, at Ohio’s quiet and serenely beautiful Kenyon College? And what if that playwright could work with the commissioning theater’s literary manager as an advising voice and with all the tools at hand—actors to read, writers to hear, and, at the end, a fully staged reading? And no ticket sales. No critics.