Articles by this author

This is Reading: Photo & Video Essay

It’s always fascinating to be a small piece of an enormous work, such as This is Reading. For months, you hear bits and bobs about the grand scheme but focus only on your tiny piece. This past weekend, we saw it all come together at Franklin Street Station.

Sheila Callaghan’s Non-Play “(NOT) WATER” Dives Deep

“I can only speak to European countries I’ve been in where they don’t make the same demands on the storytelling of their theater, of their plays that we do in the U.S., and I’ve found this to be the case with a lot of my work that is more traditional. People feel safer in it.” — Sheila Callaghan

Leigh Fondakowski Talks the Importance of Interview-Based Theater

“I think we’ve lost the ability to just be human with each other…and we’ve lost a way of even talking about what’s going on in our country that needs fixing as a collective body. And so that’s part of the reason why I think this kind of work is still important.” — Leigh Fondakowski

Betty Shamieh on “The Strangest” and Theater’s Survival

“We have so much good T.V. out there that if you’re not telling something that is uniquely theatrical, there’s no real reason to work in the theater. We can watch eight episodes of your favorite Netflix show, so I think if theater is going to survive, it’s going to have to be more of what it is.” – Betty Shamieh

Elastic City Wraps Up Its Great Participatory Walk Experiment

“I’ve never wanted Elastic City to institutionalize in a way where we’re beholden to anyone — I see it like a small record label or an indie press— it’s always been a project with a focus to produce rigorous work and get it out there directly to the public.” – Todd Shalom, Elastic City artistic director

Extended Play Hangout: Tourettes Hero

A wonderful video chat in Google Hangouts with Jessica Thom about Tourette’s syndrome, with which she lives, her character Tourettes Hero, and the play she created with Jess Mabel Jones.