the week of august 18-24, 2023
no vacation for The Discourse™
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icymi
This month’s Bills, Bills, Bills from an NYC theatremaker turned Midwest professor dropped last week. If you’re a freelancer curious about the mechanics and financial benefits of setting up an LLC, this one’s for you:
Annalisa Dias’ guest essay Decomposition Instead of Collapse was co-released with Rescripted on August 4th. (This has become the most-read post in Nothing for the Group’s three-year history!)
If you’ve sent me an email in the last two weeks, I promise I am not ignoring you (unless I am) and will respond soon-ish but in the meantime here’s a puffin from my 800-mile road trip around West Iceland:
productions
The world premiere of Annie Baker’s Infinite Life starts previews August 18th. James Macdonald directs the National Theatre co-production of the “surprisingly funny inquiry into the complexity of suffering, and what it means to desire in a body that’s failing you.”
Daniel K. Isaac’s ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME runs August 23 - September 18 at Ma-Yi Theatre Company. The new play “uses traditional Korean fables to examine the thorny legacies of war and trauma” and is directed by Ralph B. Peña.
The world premiere of Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical starts performances August 25th at ACT in San Francisco. Kamilah Forbes directs the new work about Don Cornelius’ iconic, joyous 1970s television show centering Black music and dance; the musical features a book by Dominique Morisseau and choreography by Camille A. Brown. (I also highly recommend reading Hanif Abdurraqib’s essay on Soul Train in his book A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance — I think about the gorgeous, heart-soaring final paragraph at least once a week.)
Correction: After I sent this email, it was kindly pointed out to me that ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME premiered in 2022, not 2023. (The classic combination of tracking spreadsheet error and post-vacation brain.) Consider this a signal boost for Ma-Yi’s work in general!
2023-24 season updates
Ars Nova announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes over 50 events — starting with Sammy Miller & The Congregation in concert (in-person and online) — and two world premieres: nicHi douglas’ (pray) (co-pro with National Black Theatre) and James Harrison Monaco’s Travels (directed by Andrew Scoville).
National Black Theatre announced its upcoming season, which is titled Defiance of Our Bloom. Productions includes the world premiere of nicHi douglas’ (pray) (co-pro with Ars Nova), Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious (directed by Kenny Leon), Oya Mae Dxtchxss-Davis' Packages O’ the Things We Deliver, Kristin Adele Calhoun's Bloodwork (directed by vickie washington), and a one-night-only performance of The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout at the Kennedy Center.
Ensemble Studio Theatre announced its 2023-24 season. The NYC theatre will produce Brittany K. Allen's Redwood (directed by Mikhaela Mahony) and Nelson Diaz-Marcano’s Las Borinqueñas (directed by Rebecca Aparicio).
TheaterWorks Hartford announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner, and Alan Stevens Hewitt’s musical Lizzie (directed by Lainie Sakakura); Lindsay Joelle’s The Garbologists (directed by Rob Ruggiero); Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City (co-directed by Jacob G. Padrón & Pedro Bermúdez); and David Cale’s Sandra (directed by Jared Mezzocchi).
The world premiere of Taylor Mac and Jason Robert Brown’s new musical Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will run next June at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Rob Ashford will direct the adaptation of John Berendt’s best-selling novel about a wealthy antiques dealer’s sensational arrest and four trials for murder in 1980s Savannah.
this week in our ongoing existential crisis
Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR has suspended its 2023-24 season. The company cited funding shortfalls, including losing $250,000 in proposed recovery funds after the Oregon Legislature failed to pass House Bill 2459. The company was about to start rehearsals for Dillon Christopher Chitto’s Pueblo Revolt. (The other plays in the scheduled line-up, which was announced in June, were Katori Hall’s The Hot Wing King, Blossom Johnson’s A Boarding School Play, and the world premiere of Diana Burbano’s Sapience.)
what i read last/this week when i wasn’t reading many books* on vacation
*(I haven’t finished Birnam Wood, no spoilers!)
I really did my best to dip out of The Discourse™ last week. It’s exhausting out there! One of the most potent and hopeful takeaways of Annalisa’s essay for me was the call for “a solidarity economy of ideas” and the resistance to one-size-fits-all solutions because the American theatre and its artists are not a monolith.
In that spirit, I enjoyed Kate McGee’s recently published list of 45 “humble suggestions” to fix the American theatre. A galvanizing read of actionable ideas: Leadership and board term limits! Capping executive pay so the artistic director doesn’t make ten times more than the staff carpenter! Reconceiving theatres as actual third spaces instead of whatever vague promises you made about “creating a gathering place for the community” during your renovation capital campaign! Putting artists on staff and encouraging the creative practices of your administrative staff! (Kate was a recent artist-in-residence in Soho Rep’s Project Number One Initiative, a successful model for employing freelance artists at institutions.)
I love that puffin photo!