American Theatre April 2020

“CAREFUL THE THINGS YOU SAY—CHILDREN WILL LISTEN,” a famously childless songwriter once wrote. But how right, as usual, Stephen Sondheim was. I for one can vouch for the verity of this double-edged truism, as I hear myself repeating hoary exhortations to my young boys I never imagined I’d say, and am often brought up short by the seemingly inverse relationship between the words I think I need them to hear, to which they appear selectively oblivious, and the verbal arrows I throw offhandedly or in the heat of anger, onto which they hang tenaciously. Plus ça change: To this day I too can call to mind my own parents’ and teachers’ criticisms as or more quickly than I can their praise. But parents aren’t the only ones with responsibilities to…

THE ALDRIDGE CANON I just happened to be looking through an old edition of American Theatre, and I ran across this article about Ira Aldridge (“Ascending Mount Aldridge,” March ’14). The article shares a list of plays and resources about the tragedian. However, the article failed to mention the play that I wrote while a doctoral candidate at SIU-Carbondale. SIU is where the Herbert Marshall collection is housed (the collection was mentioned in the article). My play, An Evening With Ira Aldridge, was written after researching the collection. The play is one of three original works in my dissertation, Negritude: Three Plays for the African American Theatre. An Evening With Ira Aldridge premiered at SIUCarbondale as part of its New Play festival in 1997, and the play was read at…

EARLIER THIS YEAR, I REPRESENTED THE U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute at an executive council meeting in Fujairah, one of the seven United Arab Emirates. Our gathering was set on the Gulf of Oman, against the backdrop of Fujairah International Arts Festival (FIAF). Organized by ITI president Mohammed Saif Al Afkham, FIAF includes a monodrama (solo theatre) festival in the small town of Dibba, plus a larger music and theatre series in Fujairah City. Theatres in both locales are surrounded by a pop-up “Heritage Village,” including a marketplace with traditional crafts, foods, costumes, and performances. The traditional intermingled comfortably with the contemporary. One night, a costumed Mickey Mouse wandered the crowd with balloons, delighting the children in attendance. Nearby, a massive mosque amplified an evening call to prayer.…

LAURIE McCANTS HAS NEVER BEEN THE SOLE artistic leader of Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. That’s because, since its founding in 1978, this small, indomitable Pennsylvania theatre has been just what its name indicates: a true ensemble, with decisions made by consensus, and responsibility and pay shared equitably. McCants, whose last day as a member of BTE was Feb. 29, was among the troupe’s founding members. In the 42 years since helping to start the company, she has appeared in countless plays, most recently Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children. I spoke to her recently about her career and the legacy she leaves behind at BTE. ROB WEINERT-KENDT: Congratulations on a good long run. Why leave now? LAURIE McCANTS: Well, I’m 67. Also, there’s a younger contingent of ensemble members, and I feel quite…

200 YEARS AGO (1820) The Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, a Georgian-style building modeled after the Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is destroyed by fire. The company is performing in Baltimore at the time, so there are no injuries or casualties. Though the cause of the blaze is unknown, the use of gas fixtures could have been involved, as historians will consider the theatre the world’s first to employ that technology instead of candlelight or oil lamps. 95 YEARS AGO (1925) Garland Anderson’s Don’t Judge by Appearances is given a reading in New York City with 600 audience members in attendance. The play, written in three weeks while Anderson worked as a switchboard operator and bellhop in San Francisco, will become Broadway’s first three-act play by an African American and…

■ The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia has announced the addition of Leigh Goldenberg as the theatre’s new managing director. The Wilma will also add Morgan Green, James Ijames, and Yury Urnov as new co-artistic directors to serve alongside longtime artistic director Blanka Zizka. The four coartistic directors will collaborate on the next three seasons at the Wilma, with each of the new co-artistic directors having one season at the helm. ■ Theatre Communications Group has welcomed Erica Lauren Ortiz as its new director of marketing. Ortiz joined the organization in January. ■ Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College has announced that playwright and director Idris Goodwin will assume the role of director, effective May 1. Goodwin will succeed current director Erin Hannan. ■ Jon Carr is the new…