Nsenga K Burton, PhD (she/her) is an award-winning writer, entrepreneur, and thought leader, as well as founding editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire news site. She is the guest editor for the Theatre Futures series, supported by the Ford Foundation. While collaborating with the essayists, Burton says that she has been struck by the “profound sense of urgency, awareness, love, and responsibility for the direction of the next generation of theatre communities. They see where it’s headed and have thought long and hard about course-correcting for a more creative, diverse, and inclusive tomorrow.”

Stuart Miller (he/him) is a journalist in Brooklyn who has been writing about theatre (and many other things) for 35 years. His story on summer theatre in the post-Covid-lockdown world explores many different ways theatres are struggling to survive, also the many ways they’re adapting. “I was constantly surprised by the different issues that have arisen—like the fact that a summer theatre that relies on college students for stage building and technical work would be suffering because the pandemic deprived a new generation of the opportunity to learn,” Miller says. “But I was also continually impressed by the dedication to persevere and the willingness to try new things to create a better and more sustainable theatre experience.”