fragments inspired by stage and screen
Lover of ghost lights, movies, stories of creative lives, magic of live performance, storytelling in song.
[Feature by Martha Wade Steketee posted at American Theatre Critics Association January 14, 2022.] Terry Teachout, a drama critic and cultural columnist at the Wall Street Journal two decades, died […]
[Interview posted as part of a monthly interview series by the American Theatre Critics Association January 6, 2022.] Martha Wade Steketee New York, New YorkPrimary Outlet: urbanexcavations Basics first: where do […]
In 2021 — our year of continued recovery from a viral pandemic, from a devastating presidential term, from professional and social recalibrations — theater professionals including dramaturgs and critics have […]
[Interview by Martha Wade Steketee published as part of an occasional series by the American Theatre Critics Association December 21, 2021.] Journalist Lindsay Christians, whose professional home base is Madison, […]
On June 10, 2021, a new theater research consortium released a resource and collaboration hub to address equity and accountability in theatrical productions. The Counting Together website brings these resources […]
The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, one of my professional “home bases,” has run an essay and convening project during the first year of the pandemic. Dramaturging the […]
As a kind of year’s end and year’s beginning, I crafted a summary of the work accomplished by and through the people of the American Theatre Critics Association in 2020. […]
This theatrical season will always have an asterisk. The COVID-19 pandemic closed down Broadway theaters as of March 12, 2020, with an uncertain re-opening date, and Off and Off Off […]
American Theatre Critics Association’s 2020 Conference: The Next Normal What good is sitting alone in your room — when through the magic of Zoom, you can join fellow arts journalists […]
[Full article published in UrbanExcavations May 26, 2020, by Martha Wade Steketee.] Isabella Byrd has chased the light in her stage designs around the country in recent years, several of […]
[Full article published in UrbanExcavations May 22, 2020, by Martha Wade Steketee.] I spoke with lighting designer Isabella Byrd several times in 2019, hoping to publish our interviews in several […]
Two critics, a philanthropist, and four playwrights enter a bar. No, two critics and four playwrights enter a theater. No, critics and playwrights film themselves separately and create a video […]
[A full listing of the 2019-2020 Drama Desk nominations appears here and here (as PDF) — the product of 11 months of effort, given with love for the art form […]
[Originally posted at RDU On Stage April 12, 2020. Martha Wade Steketee and Lauren Van Hemert in conversation.] My colleague Lauren Van Hemert has an active theater web site and […]
[Full article published in Dramatics Magazine April 6, 2020. By Martha Wade Steketee and Anita Martin.] SOUND DESIGNER Palmer Hefferan has noticed that, when watching a theatrical production, people have a […]
On the occasion of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday a decade ago, I called upon a list of songs published on the occasion of his 70th that he said he wished […]
urban excavations 