Innovation in five acts : strategies for theatre and performance

Editor Caridad Svich has gathered forty-one essays from admired theater professionals that comprise a volume of inspiring and innovative techniques for creating theater. Inside are words of wisdom and advice from experienced playwrights, directors, performers, teachers, dramaturgs, artistic directors and founders—each sharing the creative challenges and triumphs of developing original works for today's stages."In this edited collection, more than forty practitioners and scholars voice their whimsical, fiery, deeply impassioned, political, funny, sometimes elegiac and stinging words prompted by a call to write about "artistic innovation."With intelligence, thoughtfulness, rigor and wit, author after author offer their considered take on the subject, unlocking new perspectives, unearthing old ones, and in general, doing what artists do best when they are walking on ground they trust and among colleagues who are not sitting before them in continual and sometimes stultifying judgment--and that is, open our eyes, hearts and minds again."- Caridad Svich, from the Introduction Prologue. At play in the commonwealth / Caridad Svich -- Act one: Focus. Innovation in 17 (with a knowing nod to Bill Drummond) / Stephen Wrentmore -- Whither innovation? / Arthur Bartow -- Theatrical innovation: whose job it is? / Howard Shalwitz -- Innovation and catastrophe / John Biguenet -- Pull focus / Jeff McMahon -- On the virtues of 'open source' innovation in the arts / Duška Radosavljević -- Arts entrepreneurship: you are closer than you think / Jim Hart and Gary D. Beckman -- Agents of change / Dominic D'Andrea -- Act two: Being with. What can we do? / Andy Smith -- Considering imagination / Katie Pearl -- Towards a slow theatre / Lisa Schlesinger -- Cooking oil / Deborah Asiimwe and Emily Mendelsohn -- Backward country / Elaine Avila -- The audience: friend, foe or innocent bystander? / Leila Buck -- Bills, e-motions, manifestos / Saviana Stanescu -- Eliot forgot the reluctant vampires / Ian Rowlands -- Fornes and artistic mentorship / Anne García-Romero -- Aligning a vision / Caridad Svich -- Act three: Task. Innovation in writing / Octavio Solis -- Write it yourself! / Oliver Mayer -- On eco-theater / Jeremy Pickard -- Artistry and innovation / Heather Woodbury -- Concurrencies / Aaron Landsman -- Taking control of the narrative / E.M. Lewis -- If someone calls my name / Zac Kline -- Violence and theatre-making / John Moletress -- Beyond the 'dead playwright' approach / Mariana Carreño King -- Act four: At play. An educated gamble / Daniel Gallant -- The essentiality of innovation / Daniel Brunet -- Against mastery / David Herskovits -- Innovation/Collaboration / Michael John Garcés -- Doing the work / Rachel Jendrzejewski -- Yay, innovation! Wait, innovation? / Chris Wells -- Vernacular theatre and the great feast / Catherine Love -- Two launch pads / Pedro de Senna -- The act of introducing something new / Kali Quinn -- 'Tis new to thee / Mark Schultz -- Act five: Let's. Geographies of language / John Jesurun in an interview with Caridad Svich -- Writing as global engagement / Ayad Akhtar in interview with Caridad Svich -- A book group for theatre / Maddy Costa -- Let's / Julie Felise Dubiner -- Epilogue. Who gets to play? / August Schulenburg. Editor Caridad Svich has gathered forty-one essays from admired theaterprofessionalsthatcomprise a volume of inspiring and innovative techniques for creating theater. Inside are words of wisdom and advice from experienced playwrights, directors, performers, teachers, dramaturgs, artistic directors and founderseach sharing the creative challenges and triumphs of developing original works for today's stages. "In this edited collection, more than forty practitioners and scholars voice their whimsical, fiery, deeply impassioned, political, funny, sometimes elegiac and stinging words prompted by a call to write about "artistic innovation." With intelligence, thoughtfulness, rigor and wit, author after author offer their considered take on the subject, unlocking new perspectives, unearthing old ones, and in general, doing what artists do best when they are walking on ground they trust and among colleagues who are not sitting before them in continual and sometimes stultifying judgment--and that is, open our eyes, hearts and minds again." - Caridad Svich, from the Introduction Contributors Ayad Akhtar; Deborah Asiimwe; Elaine Avila; Arthur Bartow; Gary D. Beckman; John Biguenet; Daniel Brunet; Leila Buck; Maddy Costa; Dominic D'Andrea; Pedro de Senna; Julie Felise Dubiner; Daniel Gallant; Michael John Garces; Anne Garcia-Romero; Jim Hart; David Herskovits; Rachel Jendrzejewski; John Jesurun; Mariana Carreno King; Zac Kline; Aaron Landsman; E.M. Lewis; Catherine Love; Oliver Mayer; Jeff McMahon; Emily Mendelsohn; John Moletress; Kali Quinn; Katie Pearl; Jeremy Pickard; Duska Radosavljevic; Ian Rowlands; Lisa Schlesinger; Howard Shalwitz; August Schulenburg; Mark Schultz; Andy Smith; Octavio Solis; Saviana Stanescu; Caridad Svich; Chris Wells; Heather Woodbury; Stephen Wrentmore

Editor Caridad Svich has gathered forty-three essays from admired theater professionals that comprise a volume of inspiring and innovative techniques for creating theater. Inside are words of wisdom and advice from experienced playwrights, directors, performers, teachers, dramaturgs, artistic directors and founders—each sharing the creative challenges and triumphs of developing original works for today's stages, wherever they might be.

Caridad Svich received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theater, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for her play GUAPA, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits, based on the Isabel Allende novel. Editor Caridad Svich has gathered forty-three essays from admired theater professionals that comprise a volume of inspiring and innovative techniques for creating theater. Inside are words of wisdom and advice from experienced playwrights, directors, performers, teachers, dramaturgs, artistic directors and founders—each sharing the creative challenges and triumphs of developing original works for today's stages, wherever they might be.**Caridad Svich** received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theater, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for her play __GUAPA__, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play __The House of the Spirits__, based on the Isabel Allende novel. Editor Caridad Svich has gathered forty-three essays from admired theater professionals that comprise a volume of inspiring and innovative techniques for creating theater. Inside are words of wisdom and advice from experienced playwrights, directors, performers, teachers, dramaturgs, artistic directors and founders—each sharing the creative challenges and triumphs of developing original works for today's stages, wherever they might be. Caridad Svich received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theater, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for her play GUAPA , and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits , based on the Isabel Allende novel. Theatre Leaders And Creators Weigh In On Theatrical Innovation In This Exciting Collection Of Essays. Curated And Edited By Playwright Caridad Svich, The Essays In This Collection Reflect The Creative Challenges And Triumphs Of Playwrights, Directors, Performers, Teachers, Dramaturgs, Artistic Directors And Founders.