Documentary Theatre

Anthony Dvarskas discusses the process of researching and creating America is Hard to See, a documentary theatre piece detailing the lives of a small community of sex offenders, and the town that had to adjust to their new neighbors.

Jonathan Mandell takes on two recent plays based on real events, considering productions of Ferguson and The Siege.

Holly L. Derr looks at ethnodrama and Her Opponent, a restaging of excerpts of the 2016 presidential debates with gender-reversed casting.

Yuko Kurahashi talks about the Collidescope 3.0 project, which uses movement, video projections, and soundscape to explore black and white relations in American history.

Director Alex Hare discusses using a town hall format for Chains Don’t Rattle Themselves, a song cycle performance about incarceration and how it affects individuals and their families.

Jonathan Mandell reviews Anna Deavere Smith’s latest solo performance piece, which presents seventeen real-life characters to establish a connection between school failure, the prison system, and police killings.

Amy Brady interviews Michael Arve about Dangerous Theatre, a piece he’s directing based on Hallie Flanagan’s 1938 testimony to the Special Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities.

Susan J. Terrio reflects on Marissa Chibas Preston’s new play, Shelter, about journey of unaccompanied minors from Mexico to the US, directed by Martin Acosta.

David Dudley on The Goodman Theatre production of José Rivera’s Another Word for Beauty, directed by Steve Cosson in Chicago, Illinois.

Melissa Bergstrom and Kate Marple share their process of creating the documentary theatre piece Big Work.

Charlotte Meehan and Adara Meyers sit down with playwrights Deborah Lake Fortson and Amy Merrill, director Robbie McCauley, and law enforcement and community stakeholders to talk about youth sex trafficking and The BODY & SOLD Project.

José Torres-Tama writes about the development of Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers, a sci-fi Latino noir performance about the Latino immigration experience.

Christopher Goodson on Rose Cano’s adaptation, Don Quixote: Homeless in Seattle, produced by eSe Teatro in Seattle, Washington.

Neal Reynolds on American Theatre Company’s Youth Ensemble production of Greensboro: A Requiem by Emily Mann in Chicago, Illinois.

Emma Wiseman on three “East Side Stories,” verbatim monologues at the Metropolitan Playhouse.