“For me, theatre is about scrappiness,” says Lauren Emily Whalen, who writes this issue’s feature on companies across the U.S. doing more with less. A 2018 alum of the National Critics Institute of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Whalen is author of the young adult novel Satellite and works as a critic and Equity Membership Candidate actor. “I found my interviews with these six companies fascinating, as well as their stories of film-studio dumpster diving and reimagining Angels in America as a graphic novel. And as a proud Chicagoan, I’m thrilled to spotlight the work of Free Street Theater and Nothing Without a Company—the Midwest is a very scrappy place!”

“Time is always spoken for when you are hustling as an independent theatremaker,” says Natalia Temesgen, who penned this issue’s report on the theatre scene in Columbus, Ga. Temesgen, an assistant professor in creative writing at Columbus State University, as well as a producer, director, performer, and playwright, knows a thing or two about busy schedules. She continues, “So to spend an hour or more just listening to these artists talk about the work they are doing, hearing them speak about big goals, crippling fears, and the daily grind that keeps them balanced—I feel grateful to have shared that time. It was therapeutic in every instance.”