Mike Davis, a journalist covering theatre in Chicago for WBEZ, has covered music, visual arts, dance, and theatre over the last 10 years. Davis was in Seattle covering the arts for KUOW when ACT Theatre’s entire board resigned in response to a Michael Bobbitt op-ed in American Theatre saying that boards are broken and need to be fixed. In his report for us, checking in with ACT and other boards around the country, Davis said he got the sense boards want to do better, despite mounting financial challenges—though changes can still feel incremental. “It’s clear they can all talk the talk,” Davis said. “They have moved away from being elitist social clubs for rich folks with time on their hands, so I give them credit. But is it enough? Let’s check in in another five years.”

Kitty Drexel, a queer, disabled theatre journalist and performer based in Boston, reports in this issue on the Trinity Rep production Someone Will Remember Us, which earlier this year revisited the company’s 2006 play Boots on the Ground, but with a fresh angle: Whereas the previous play recounted the stories of Rhode Island-area Iraq war veterans fresh off tours of duty, the new show incorporated the voices of Iraqi survivors of the war now based in the U.S. Said Drexel, “This article felt like a collaboration with their community, because Trinity Rep and the show’s creative team were so devoted to uplifting voices from within their community and creating art that speaks to that community.” Citing efforts to cast locally and their work with community partners like Operation Stand Down Rhode Island and the Refugee Dream Center, she added, “Trinity Rep is all in.”