the week of august 31 - september 4, 2020
get in loser, we're giving money to dramaturgs
Welcome to Nothing for the Group, the newsletter where one dramaturg rounds up one week in theatre news, reviews, and takes.
This newsletter is free — no gods, no masters, no paywalls — but if you’d like to sustain this project, you can support me on Venmo (@halvorsen) or Paypal.
If you want to say hello, you can email me, tweet @halvorsen, or just reply to this email.
If you’re an artist or administrator in financial need, or if you’d like to directly support theatremakers in your community, here’s a great round-up of local and national grants and resources from Creative Capital.
the dramaturgy microgrant project
This week, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) announced the Dramaturgy Microgrant Project. The fund will support freelance and institutional dramaturgs and literary staff who have lost income during the pandemic.
The project is produced by a veritable dream team of dramaturgs — Kris Karcher, Ramona Rose King, Kelly Miller, Tanya Palmer — and while it’s in direct response to COVID-19, it also reflects the industry-wide devaluation of dramaturgs:
This project came about because we see a need: we see literary and artistic staff members being furloughed or laid off; we see freelance contracts being canceled. But we recognize that this is not new to this year—this is part of a theatre culture that perpetually undervalues dramaturgs and literary staff. We recognize that this dynamic is felt particularly by dramaturgs from historically marginalized groups: dramaturgs of color; queer, trans, and non-binary dramaturgs; and women.
This newsletter exists because I’m a laid off dramaturg who wanted to stay connected to the work as I binge-watch Marvel movies and BoJack Horseman and try not to slide into a deep depression watching my industry collapse. I’m lucky to not be in immediate financial ruin — I have some savings and the very generous donations from all of you are funding my exorbitant COBRA payments — but I’m in the minority. (Did you know that you can’t pay for COBRA with a credit card, and you have to do a bank transfer? Unemployment and American health insurance is a nonstop grift!)
I’ll be donating all of this week’s newsletter donations to the fund:
Venmo: @halvorsen
PayPal: http://paypal.me/halvorsen18
Or you can donate directly here! Donations will be accepted until September 17th.
My fellow dramaturg Anne Morgan sells the project better than I could:
staffing news
Lileana Blain-Cruz is the new Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater. As part of LCT’s artistic staff, Blain-Cruz will work to develop and choose programming, and also direct at least one production a year in either Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theater or Off-Broadway's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. (Get her in that Broadway house STAT.)
Lincoln Center Theater also announced the Beaumont New Play Commission Program, which will develop works specifically for their Broadway house. The inaugural playwrights are Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Lynn Nottage, and Marco Ramirez.
Whitney White and Soyica Colbert are the new Associate Directors at Shakespeare Theatre Company. White and Colbert, the director and dramaturg of STC’s recent production of James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, will work in collaboration with artistic director Simon Godwin and the artistic staff on season planning and artistic development.
my favorite season? awards
The 2020 Henry Hewes Design Award Honors, recognizing artistry on the Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway stages for the 2019–2020 season, were announced. This year's winners are scenic designer Paul Steinberg (Judgment Day, Park Avenue Armory), costume designer Anita Yavich (Soft Power, Public Theater), lighting designer Isabella Byrd (Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Playwrights Horizons), sound designer Justin Ellington (Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Playwrights Horizons), media designer Hannah Wasileski (Fires in the Mirror, Signature Theatre), and hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis (Stew, Page 73 at Walkerspace).
The committee also awarded a special citation to the design team for María Irene Fornés' Fefu and Her Friends for their collaborative work: Adam Rigg, scenic design; Montana Levi Blanco, costume design; Jane Cox, lighting design; Palmer Hefferan, sound design; Cookie Jordan, hair and wig design; and Andrew Diaz, properties design.
2021 season updates
Steppenwolf announced programming for Steppenwolf NOW, the company’s first-ever virtual stage. The line-up includes James Ijames’ What Is Left, Burns (directed by Whitney White); Isaac Gómez’s Wally World (directed by Gómez and Lili-Anne Brown); Rajiv Joseph’s Red Folder (directed by Joseph); Vivian J.O. Barnes’ Duchess! Duchess! Duchess!; Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ Where We Stand (directed by Tamilla Woodard); and Sam Shepard’s Ages of the Moon. The rest of Steppenwolf’s previously announced in-person season remains the same, except Good Night, and Good Luck will move to a future season.
St. Louis Rep announced an adjusted 2020-2021 season, with in-person performances resuming in March 2021. The Rep will present interactive, site-specific, and virtual experiences in the fall, including Monty Cole’s Black Like Me. The in-person season will include Little Shop of Horrors and Lynn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale.
Asolo Rep has also announced updates to its 2021 season, which was initially released in April. The theatre is postponing Billy Elliot to 2021, and canceling Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers.
Primary Stages announced its fall virtual programming. The season includes Charles Busch’s The Tribute Artist, Charlayne Woodard’s The Night Watcher, Nilsa Reyna’s Legends of Texas, Noelle Viñas’ Derecho, and an adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Theresa Rebeck. In November, the theatre will present a series of one-acts by Chesney Snow, Inda Craig-Galván, Kate Hamill, and Susan Soon He Stanton.
National Black Theatre announced their fall programming. The line-up includes the digital series Unbought and Unbossed: Reclaiming Our Vote, Ebony Noelle Golden’s INTER//STELLAR, Jonathan McCrory’s Love is the Message! Joy is the Revival., and Tracey Conyer Lee’s radio play Retreat,
things I read this week & found compelling
Kamilah Forbes’ farewell letter to her friend and classmate Chadwick Boseman, who died last week of colon cancer at age 43. There were so many gorgeous remembrances of Chadwick this week: Soraya Nadia McDonald in The Undefeated, Clint Smith in The Atlantic, and interviews with several of his theatrical collaborators in The Guardian.
Washington City Paper on how local theatres are approaching their uncertain futures (This is your regular reminder to support local journalism! Subscribe to an alt-weekly!)
This isn’t theatre-related, but novelist Jesmyn Ward wrote an absolutely stunning essay about grief, hope, witness, Blackness, and the death of her husband right before the pandemic swept across the country. It knocked me out and I hope you read every single word.
That’s all for this week! Short and sweet. If you’re low risk for COVID-19, it’s not too late to sign up to be a poll worker on Election Day.