NEW YORK CITY: American Theatre magazine has announced a series of panel discussions that will be presented in partnership with New York’s Signature Theatre. The events will cover subject matters relevant to theatre audiences and practitioners, and will be free and open to the public.

The first discussion, titled “Best Practices” and inspired by the theme of our November issue, will be held at Signature Theatre’s Irene Diamond Stage at 4 p.m. on Nov. 17. The panel will look beyond arguments about diversity to practical strategies for putting it into practice from those who’ve done so in their work, including Bill Rauch, outgoing artistic director of Oregon Shakespeare Festival, incoming artistic director of the New York’s Ronald O. Perelman Center; Ralph Peña, artistic director of Ma-Yi Theatre Company; Jacob Padròn, founder and artistic director of the Sol Project; and Erica Jensen, partner with Calleri Casting. American Theatre senior editor Diep Tran will moderate.

RSVP to the Nov. 17 panel here.

In February (date TBA), the American Theatre staff will convene a panel around the current state of American plays. What are the trends in content and form that we are seeing? How has the role of the audience evolved? Where do we think the genre is headed next?

The following panel, which will be held in April (date TBA), will be focused on the new age of musicals. How has the genre changed, and where is the new work being developed?

Stay tuned for more details.