2021: excavation review
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 […]
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 […]
The Asterisked 2019-2020 Season: Drama Desk Nominations in the Time of the Virus
[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 […]
RDU On Stage: Live Chat with Martha Wade Steketee and Lauren Van Hemert
[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 […]
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 […]
2019: excavation review
I lived thousands of hours in roving artistic communities that move from theater to reading room to cabaret venue in the course of 2019. By my rough count, during 2019 […]
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 […]
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 […]
2017: excavation review
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 […]
A Collective Call Against Critical Bias
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 […]
2016: excavation review themes
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 […]
2016: excavation review
[featured image caption: Times Square. Screen capture from opening sequence of Babes on Broadway (1941).] Public performances in calendar year 2016, live or filmed, were many and thrilling. I viewed new […]
2014: excavation review themes
Chance Magazine issue 3 subscriber cover title line. Issues 3 and 4 of Chance were completed, printed, and delivered to subscribers and newsstands in 2014. I have now accumulated four […]
2014: excavation review
1951 session with Florence Vandamm (far right) and on stage (L-R) John Emery + Katharine Cornell + Brian Aherne in “The Constant Wife” — part of the 2013-2014 NYPL exhibit […]
urban excavations 