Why We’re Translating Shakespeare
Though our ‘Play on!’ commissioning project has met with some vocal disapproval, the work is grounded in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s core values—and our love for the Bard.
Category Archives: Opinion
How to Write Sci-Fi for the Stage, in 7 Easy Steps
Can plays compete with mass entertainment in spinning tales of aliens, robots, and monsters? Seems to be working for some of us.
Striking Distance: The Violence We See, and Don’t See, Onstage
From the Greeks to ‘Disgraced,’ direct violence has been a theatrical staple. Structural violence, though harder to stage, is also the stuff of drama.
What Lies Beneath: The Truth About Unconscious Bias
Do men write better plays than women? We think we know that’s not true. So why does the disparity persist?
The Other Canon: 10 Centuries of Plays by Women
Obviously, theatre’s gender gap has a long history. Less obvious: so do plays by women.
Keep Your Hands Off of My Kimono, White People
Appropriation is about more than facepaint; it’s about pretending that minority cultures are metaphors or fantasy worlds or backdrops for white narratives.
Lend Me Another Tenor (or Two)
I never thought I’d write a sequel, but then I had an idea—and now I have ‘A Comedy of Tenors,’ in which Tito and company get an encore.
Water, Holy and Otherwise: Double Edge Dives In
The farm-based Massachusetts company draws upon the life of lead actor Carlos Uriona for ‘Once a Blue Moon.’
In ‘Bent’ and ‘Girlfriend,’ Love Beats the Odds
The resonances between 2 gay-themed plays presented by Center Theatre Group show how far we’ve come, and at what cost.
4 Ways Theatre Critics Can Be a Little Bit Less Racist
Sometimes theatre journalists write insensitive things. We all have unconscious biases, after all—but we can do better.
