Adrienne Kennedy: A Liberating Beacon
Colleagues and former students of the playwright share how she helped shape their lives and work.
All Stories About Playwriting
Introducing a New/Old Podcast: The Subtext
Introducing a new podcast to American Theatre’s network: the Subtext, where playwright Brian James Polak interviews playwrights about what makes them tick.
Making Plays and Friends at Kenyon Playwrights Conference
Writing is a solitary pursuit, but not for a week each year on this idyllic Midwestern campus.
The Best of Times…
Is the American playwriting glass half full, or half empty? Drink up this special issue before you answer.
The State of the Play: A Critic Addresses the Theatre Nation
There’s no shortage of exciting new writing for the stage. But are we in a Golden Age of playwriting?
Mac Wellman: An Outlier Tracing His Own Orbit
How this dedicated follower of no fashion and avatar of alternatives to the well-made play keeps it weird.
From Gypsy to Librettist, With Severals Stops at Novelist
Tim Federle, author of ‘Better Nate Than Ever,’ talks about his journey from chorus boy to cowriter of the musical ‘Tuck Everlasting.’
If You Are What You Do, I Guess I’m Not a Playwright Anymore
Retiring from a creative calling that never really paid my bills has been much harder than I’d imagined—but it seems to have already happened anyway.
Between the Lines: A Look Back at American Theatre’s Playscripts
The 150 featured plays, by scribes ranging from Emily Mann to Will Eno, represent a stirring spectrum of dramatic voices.
Appointment With Despair: Pages from a Writer’s Notebook
In ‘The Train Driver,’ South Africa’s master dramatist wrestles with the fate of a poor family and what it means to him.