Notes from the first week of rehearsal

Last week I discussed the careful editing process which Eugene O’Neill practically demands from his theatrical collaborators. Like all of O’Neill’s plays, Strange Interlude is profound and intuitive and also a little over-written. This week, I’ve finished tableworking the play with the actors and we’re on our feet now, continuing to explore.[1] The first week of staging can be a complicated time, and we’ve been taking it slow, learning carefully about the play. We make new discoveries every day. [Read more...]

Arena Stage marketer Chad Bauman accepts new post at Smithsonian

In 2008, arts marketer Chad Bauman was handed one of the toughest marketing jobs in town. Arena Stage would vacate its SE home base for two years, while crews moved in to construct a brand new facility. Arena would have two full seasons in two widely separated venues- Crystal City in Virginia and U Street in DC. [Read more...]

Civilization (all you can eat)

Let me get to the bottom line about Jason Grote’s Civilization (all you can eat), now playing at Woolly Mammoth. I like it a great deal, and I don’t know why. [Read more...]

Into the Dollhouse

Big dreams start small. Just think of that dollhouse you had growing up. Inside that diminutive frame is a multiverse of stories. In a child’s hands, a new version of reality is brought to life every day. For the dolls inside, life must be as disorienting as it is exciting: the days and nights fly by in mere moments, and the play-acted rules of time and space change constantly.  If you were the one in doll clothing — the soft clay of someone else’s dreams — would you see your world as infinitely open, or fatally small? [Read more...]