new plays!

one of my favorite things about actors theatre is that they are a flagship theatre for developing new works. the humana festival of new american plays is the biggest new play festival in the country, and the shows that premiere here almost always go on to other productions. quite a few have been pulitzer prize finalists or winners, including Crimes of the Heart. remember when you saw me do that in high school? it was the one about the three sisters.

at usc and at bada, my training has mostly been based on classic works and basic tenants of theatre. mary joan and all of my other wonderful professors were always pushing us to understand the heart of the play and analyze how our characters fit into that. we were trained to think about the world of the play and the unity of that world and develop our characters within that.

the great thing about the new plays here is that they push a lot of theatrical boundaries--playwrights and artists here think big. but they always hold onto the basic ideas about theatre that i've been taught. this makes a lot of great plays that tell wonderful stories in new and interesting ways.

i'm off to kite runner!

ellen