Counting Towards Equity
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 […]
Dramaturging the Phoenix: The Next Normal and the Right Now
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 […]
2020: excavation review
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 […]
ATCA 2020: The Next Normal
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 […]
Isabella Byrd I: Chasing the Light
[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 […]
Women Count V: Women Hired Off-Broadway 2014/15 through 2018/19
[Selection from February 2020 report, published February 26, 2020 on the Women Count report series page.] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: WOMEN COUNT V, 2014/15 THROUGH 2018/19 The Women Count report series collects and […]
2019: excavation review themes
My travels this year were limited compared to travel in prior years: several days in Washington DC (where i lived in the late ’90s and early 2000s), ATCA-related trips to […]
Chairs, Tables, and the American Theatre Critics Association
When I was 10 years old in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, I was in a class at Wealthy Street Elementary School comprised of kids selected for their smarts (maybe) and to […]
Calm and Coiled: Musings on the Lolling styles of Hepburn and Garland
Back in 2010 and 2011 I played with a theme, a meme, of “lolling” through two of my favorite film divas Lolling served as a way for me to select among […]
2018: excavation review themes
I squeezed adventures in Norway, Sweden, the wilds of central Wisconsin, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island into 2018, a year of paring, sifting and sorting of involvement on professional boards […]
2018: excavation review
Live and filmed performances, as well as readings of works in progress, filled my days in calendar year 2018. I usually attend solo, and yet often host my spouse or […]
Women Count IV: Women Hired Off-Broadway 2013-14 — 2017-18
[Selection from November 2018 report, published November 14, 2018 and updated November 26, 2018 on League of Professional Theatre Women’s Women Count project page.] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: WOMEN COUNT IV, 2013-14 THROUGH 2017-18 Since […]
Unpacking the Role of Women in Ibsen’s ‘The Enemy of the People’
[Full article published in The Theatre Times, May 12, 2018.] GOODMAN’S RESIDENT DRAMATURG ON HOW HER WORK GIVES TEXTURE AND SPECIFICITY TO A PRODUCTION. Consider the riddle of Neena Arndt’s work at the Goodman […]
Women Count: Women Hired Off-Broadway 2010-2017
[Selection from February 2018 report, published May 4, 2018 on League of Professional Theatre Women’s Women Count project page.] Women Count: Women Hired Off-Broadway 2010-2017 by Martha Wade Steketee with Judith Binus February 2018 Third in a report series published by League of Professional Theatre Women I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: WOMEN COUNT 2010-2017 Whose plays are being done, who is directing them, […]
When John Lithgow Called, He Said Yes
[Full article published in TDF Stages, January 11, 2018.] How director Daniel Sullivan is helping the actor honor his father Tony-winning director Daniel Sullivan is known for helming complex, multicharacter plays […]
2017: excavation review themes
Simplifying, complicating, simplifying again. This has been a year of expanding and paring involvement on professional boards and projects, resuming old roles and assuming new ones. I continue into 2018 […]
urban excavations 