Recent Essays

The New York Times posed this question on April 29 when the Tony nominations were announced. It’s a problem that’s getting long in the tooth: for years we’ve known that over 60 percent of the ticket buyers and “butts in seats” are women, and yet less than 20 percent of the stories staged are written, directed or designed by them. Hmm.

I’ve been honored to carve out a career in Dallas over the last 30 years producing new and experimental work as the Founder and Artistic Director of Undermain Theatre. Over the past 3 decades I’ve seen Dallas evolve in some remarkable ways, developing into a vibrant home for the arts and culture in ways that I couldn’t have imagined when I was a young director just putting on some plays with my friends in a literal basement off of Main Street.

Dani Snyder-Young writes about the Chicago-based Albany Park Theatre Project, a youth theatre ensemble. She reviews APTP's 2014 remounted production of God's Work, at the Goodman Theatre.

“You did what?” This is the question I’m asked by colleagues in the field when I tell them that I’ve recently moved to Dallas. So, here are the reasons why I moved, and why Dallas is such an exciting place to be when it comes to making theater.

Does my play choose the title, or does that first title inform my play? At fourteen pages in, who knows what will happen to these characters? Who knows what will happen in this world? How do you title your plays?

This week's conversation topic is "Modernizing/Adapting Classic Plays: How & Why Do You Do It?" and will be moderated by Lianna Salva @LiannaSalva—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, May 8 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (Toronto) / 18:00 GMT / 7pm BST (London).

In this installment of the Dallas Series, Jonathan Norton reflects on his experiences and hopes as a playwright living in Dallas.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was an actor’s actor; the best, many said, of his generation. And yet, in the aftermath of his death, you realize that he was just like the rest of us, full of insecurity. Bennett Miller, who directed Hoffman in "Capote", tells of his friend’s fears two weeks before the opening of "The Sea Gull" with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. Hoffman confided that he was nervous and would be found out to be a fraud. A fraud? The best actor of his generation? He told of the exhausting stress caused by the psychophysical commitment it takes to play a role.

A Keynote speech delivered by P. Carl at North Dakota State University “Playing on Common Ground: Theatre and the Complex Communities of the 21st Century.” 

Jonathan Mandell looks at the phenomenon of "snubs" in theatre awards today and throughout history, touching on the complexities of nominating committees.