In early 2012, three writers were selected by three outside adjudicators to be Van Lier Fellows: Jackie Sibblies Drury, Brian Otaño and Charise Castro Smith. In conjunction with the upcoming Van Lier Festival, in a series of brief segments, Van Lier Coordinator Kristoffer Diaz engages the Fellows in conversation about influences, dream collaborators and the plays on which they are currently working. This is part two of three.Read More
In early 2012, three writers were selected by three outside adjudicators to be Van Lier Fellows: Jackie Sibblies Drury, Brian Otaño and Charise Castro Smith. In conjunction with the upcoming Van Lier Festival, in a series of brief segments, Van Lier Coordinator Kristoffer Diaz engages the Fellows in conversation about influences, dream collaborators and the plays on which they are currently working. This is part two of three.Read More
In early 2012, three writers were selected by three outside adjudicators to be Van Lier Fellows: Jackie Sibblies Drury, Brian Otaño and Charise Castro Smith. In conjunction with the upcoming Van Lier Festival, in a series of brief segments, Van Lier Coordinator Kristoffer Diaz engages the Fellows in conversation about influences, dream collaborators and the plays on which they are currently working. This is part one of three.Read More
In this six-minute segment, Rogelio Martinez, New Dramatists alumnus, and former Princess Grace Award winner, and Matthew Paul Olmos, winner of the 2012 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting, discuss Matthew's award-winning play, "so go the ghosts of mexico", part one of a trilogy, writing process, influences and where they stand on the question, is theatre dead?Read More
In the aftermath of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., playwright Caridad Svich put out a call to theater artists to submit short plays related to the intensifying debate over gun control. The instructions were rather demanding—not only did the pieces have to be between three and seven minutes long, but they had to be completed and submitted in less than 10 days. "This all happened fairly fast," she said.Read More
During both 9/11 and the Marathon bombings I have been surrounded by children. In 2001, I was a nanny to four in Newton, and right now I’m a parent to two in Waltham. So after both of these tragedies — and after Newtown, Conn., too — my reaction to the violence has been to focus inward, to maintain calm, to keep up the routine of daily life.Read More
New Dramatists proudly announces that we will honor entertainment lawyer and New Dramatists Chairman of the Board Seth Gelblum with our 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 64th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Tuesday, May 21 at the New York Marriott Marquis. Among those performing tributes will be Tony Award nominee Keith Carradine (Hands on a Hardbody, The Will Rogers Follies) and Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change; Jelly’s Last Jam). The event co-chairs are Roger Berlind, Roy Furman, and Barry and Fran Weissler.Read More
I take my title today from that great triumvirate of American philosophers: Moe, Larry, and Curly, known in poststructuralist circles as Les Trois Stooges. With unerring precision they captured the complicated essence of American life—and by extension American theatrical life—in their expert revision of the motto of Alexandre Dumas’ three Musketeers: “One for all and all for one.” To which the incisive Curly added, “And every man for himself.” Yes that’s my subject, the one and the all, for each other and for themselves. In the spirit of the Stooges, I will digress whenever possible, including now, before I get to the point.Read More
Experimental theater too often gets a bad rap for being dour—weirdness and seriousness in equal measure. But what about humor? That factor may help explain why the plays of Sibyl Kempson, who can be both seriously weird and seriously funny, have gained such a following.Read More
In the theater, as New Dramatists artistic director Todd London reminds us, the difference between critics and artists is the power of Yes. A critic is the spirit that says No. An artist is the spirit that says Yes.Read More