Originally published by American Theatre Magazine on June 5, 2024
Once begun, the play took just two weeks to write. But in many ways it had been decades in the making. So had the collaboration.
Paula Vogel and Tina Landau have known one another since the 1990s, the same decade Vogel’s late brother Carl and a version of herself first appeared onstage in her play The Baltimore Waltz. Later that…
Originally published by HowlRound on June 6, 2023.
Katie Finneran in The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse at Second Stage Theater. Directed by Rachel Chavkin. Scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez. Costume design by Lux Haac. Lighting design by Jeanette Oui-Suk Yew. Sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman. Video/projection design by David Bengali. Photo by Joan Marcus.
This year, Larissa FastHorse…
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-mefti-14fbe78
We’re kicking off a podcast series called “OutThink the Classics,” part of my own personal quest to contextualize classic pop culture for modern families.
Our first series is “Exploring Evil,” where we will explore the concept of evil in classical kids’ stories. We start this journey with the Wicked Witch of the West– can’t you just hear her…
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cc9fe-14f86ad
OutThink the Classics is a new podcast where my guests and I will activate your brain, and give you the historical and cultural context to decide which stories in pop culture have a place in your life today.
Join us for our first series called Exploring Evil: I’ll talk with experts in mythology, therapy, psychology, and more to show you how…
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I got to work on this play with the amazing Calley Anderson. If you didn’t get to see it, here are some video excerpts, feat. student actors at the University of Memphis.
A dialogue
originally published by the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism Spring 2022
In this introduction to a dialogue with Lauren Gunderson, the author argues that the disparity between critical responses and audience responses to some of Gunderson’s plays can be understood as the product of a devaluation of her use of surprise to evoke an emotional reaction from audiences. Despite the…
Theatres Find an Inclusive Model Spurs More Diversity and Innovation
Published by Southern Theatre Magazine Winter 2023
Theatres across the country are rethinking their organizational structures in light of the forced changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for change from We See You White American Theatre (WSYWAT), and a recognition of the lack of diversity in theatre programming…
Police and Former Prisoners Use Playback Theatre to Build Trust in their Community.
Originally published by Southern Theatre Magazine Fall 2021.
At a time when George Floyd has become a household name and police-community relations are strained across the country, a program in Memphis called Performing the Peace – which uses theatre to bridge the divide – may serve as a model for other cities.…
Using Critical Fabulation in History-Based Playwriting
Originally published by HowlRound on March 3, 2021
When the pandemic hit last March, the University of Memphis, as with most theatres and universities, went online for the rest of the semester, and our spring musical—one week into rehearsal—was canceled. Our chair, feeling deeply the loss to our students, wanted to provide them with a special experience when we came back in the fall. The idea…
Forget the Times: Stream This Feminist Playwright’s New Work Now
Gathering us together virtually through her play, The Catastrophist, Lauren Gunderson invites us to celebrate and mourn with her as we have not been allowed to do together for so long.
Virologist Nathan Wolfe has hunted viruses from the jungles of Cameroon to the basement of the CDC. Lauren Gunderson’s play, The Catastrophist, tells his story. (The Marin Theater)
Originally published by Ms.…
