fragments inspired by stage and screen
general essay on or examination of aspect(s) of theatre (and movies) including performers and artists of many types rather than reviews of a particular production.
[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 […]
Funny Girl is late 20th-century show built on the bones of the singular performer Barbra Streisand. This musical with a grand set list that has moved into the Great […]
[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, […]
[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 […]
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 […]
Public performances in calendar year 2017, live or filmed, were many and thrilling, with new talents and old familiars, in large venues and intimate spaces. By my rough count, during […]
I am one voice among two dozen signatories to this piece that addresses selected critical response to several New York shows in the 2016-2017 season, and raises some questions about […]
[article as originally published in The Brooklyn Rail, June 2017, posted May 28, 2017.] This June, the Women in Theatre Festival (with its creatively capitalized WiTFESTNYC tag) will unfurl its […]
[I am one voice among many in this article originally published by “Exeunt Staff” in Exeunt Magazine, April 10, 2017.] As yet another white man is hired to the most prestigious job in US theatre criticism, Exeunt’s New York writers ask when the conversation will really change. After theater critic Charles Isherwood was fired, the New York Times announced […]
[article as originally published in The Clyde Fitch Report, March 12, 2017.] It is fashionable to debate the importance of cultural criticism. The debate questions what criticism is and who is […]
[article as originally published in TDF Stages, March 1, 2017.] A new play takes on William Kunstler — Playwright Jeffrey Sweet was inspired by a shock of hair and a lanky swagger. […]
[article as originally published in The Clyde Fitch Report, February 28, 2017.] Poetry, design concepts, political themes and strong female characters distinguish the work of playwright and activist Catherine Filloux. […]
[article as originally published in The Clyde Fitch Report, February 12, 2017.] It is fashionable to debate the importance of cultural criticism. The debate questions what criticism is, who is and […]
[article as originally published in The Clyde Fitch Report, January 24, 2017.] [feature image caption: Mariah MacCarthy. Photo: Kacey Stamats.] Edgy and sweet, tenacious and joyous, raucous and calm, crude and […]
[I am one voice among many in this piece that asked NYC based Exeunt contributors to nominate one (or in some cases two) productions that haunted us, rather than our […]
After six annual marathons captured in “what Martha has seen” lists of theater and film adventuring (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), I’ve learned a few things. I’ve learned that […]
