Just as Westworld’s co-creator Lisa Joy is revealing how much (or little) the actors in her sweeping HBO drama know about where their characters are headed, the power in the Hollywood soundstage where she and five other showrunners are gathered on this early April afternoon goes out. Queen Sugar showrunner Ava DuVernay, 44, leaps out of her chair, while the others — Noah Hawley, 50; Ryan Murphy, 52; Jenji Kohan, 47; and David E. Kelley, 61 — sit frozen in silence as a string of nearby lightbulbs shatter.
Left to their own devices, the six present, among the most talented figures in the art of dramatic storytelling, could craft some harrowing, twisty, culturally resonant narrative about what has just happened. But before they can put their heads together, the group…