Friday Phone Call # 3
Lydia Diamond of Steppenwolf
I spoke with Lydia right at the start of rehearsals for Stick Fly, her first play produced on Broadway. I first met Lydia at the meeting in Chicago that Steppenwolf hosted for my "Gates of Opportunity" research. I also had the great pleasure of working with her on the production of Stick Fly that formed the seeds for what’s happening now with Alicia Keys. The play has since opened, and is still running. We talk here about her reaction to the start of rehearsals, her sense of privilege and responsibility as an artist with the sorts of opportunities she’s had, and the conversation around race in the American theater.
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The Washington Post article we're talking about was written by Peter Marks and focused on the legacy of Alice Childress, author of the play TROUBLE IN MIND that was to be the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. He was writing about the history of that play in light of the fact that both Stick Fly and The Mountain Top were going to be playing on Broadway at the same time.