Category Archives: In Memoriam

Picture Perfect: Martha Swope, an Icon Who Captured Icons Onstage

Thanks to rigorous planning and impeccable timing, no one ever looked bad in a Martha Swope photo.

It’s small comfort, but in many ways this late actor/herbalist/yoga teacher gave us tools to deal with our wrenching loss.

Like Bob Dylan’s songs, Fo’s plays gave voice to his times and continue to live most fully in the moment of performance.

PlayMakers’ communications director had both particular tastes and a welcoming curiosity.

An enthusiast marked by youthful vigor and guilelessness, the Taper founder made great theatre in L.A. because he cared. He made us care too.

He made everything he directed an event, marrying youthful confidence with learned humility.

Lured to L.A. at the beginning of the regional theatre movement, he stayed and changed both.

Emily Mann, Bill Pullman, Will Eno, and Gregory Boyd recall a playwright they respected, occasionally feared, and deeply loved.

He loved to visit my graduate theatre class, always unannounced, and scatter pearls of wisdom. My students took notes.

He kept returning to his work with more to say and more ways to say it; we keep returning to his work because we can feel the love.