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In The Intersection

Whistler in the Dark Closes After Nine Seasons

February 17, 2014

Boston theatre staple Whistler in the Dark closes its doors after nine seasons of shows. Artistic Director Meg Taintor wrote a letter to those who’ve supported the theatre company since 2005. Here is her letter:

Dear Friends,
We’ve been singing the beautiful Irish folk tune The Parting Glass at rehearsals for Far Away and it has taken on a certain extra amount of poignancy for me.
In the late summer of 2005, three college friends came together to dream up the idea that would become Whistler in the Dark Theatre. The dream was to gather together an ensemble of artists who were interested in growing together over time and producing challenging texts that celebrated a poetic exploration of life.
Over the years, the company has shifted and re-arranged itself organically, with new collaborators joining us each season even as old partners-in-crime move on to other ventures in other places. And as the ensemble has grown and evolved, so has our community of audience members. It has been a joy to work and grow with our audience, and to always know that whatever challenges we put forward with the work we produce, there is a vibrant community ready to watch and respond and challenge us right back.
It is with gratitude to this amazing community of collaborators and audiences that I announce that after our upcoming production of Far Away – after nine season, 25 productions and hundreds of artistic collaborations – Whistler in the Dark will be disbanding and closing our doors. The artists who have made Whistler their home continue to work, both in Boston and other cities around the country, but this phase in our lives in ending.
We are in a very special place right now – a place that few companies get to inhabit. While we look towards the future and see the closing of the company, we still have three months of work – months filled with our most challenging production to date as well as a series of radio plays performed live – and so we are in this unique moment of getting to be both generative and nostalgic at the same time.
Please join us in celebrating all the work that has gone before – and all of the memories you have of our time together – and then join us in the theatre for this one last production. Following the close ofFar Away, we plan to host a wake of sorts – a celebration where we gather our community to tell stories, and to relive the good, the bad and the truly transformative. I’ll keep you posted on plans for this as they solidify.
Thank you for your belief in and support of our company. It has been a true joy to create work together over the past nine years.
Good night and joy be with you all…
Meg Taintor
Artistic Director

Boston Globe: Op-Ed Letter

January 21, 2014

This op-ed in the Boston Globe calls for expanded buildings for Boston Arts Academy under the leadership of a superintendent who supports arts education in schools. Read the op-ed here. Full text is below:

THE NEW Walsh administration and the School Committee desperately need to hire a school superintendent who is a strong advocate for the arts as essential to the educational success of young people. One very visible way for the city to show its commitment to the arts would be to fully endorse an expanded new facility for the Boston Arts Academy, the city’s high-performing public school for the arts that has excelled in spite of its dilapidated facilities.

For over a decade, advocates for arts education, including parents, teachers, administrators, and the presidents of the six major arts colleges in Boston, have worked hard to fulfill a vision of a school for the arts that rivals those in major cities across the nation and is worthy of Boston as a cultural and educational center. Now is the time to make it happen.

Kay Sloan

President emerita

Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Boston

 

American Theatre Magazine: The Technical Answer

January 20, 2014

An American Theatre Magazine article, The Technical Answer, talks about the advances in technology in theatre and how (or if) we are training the next generation of theatre makers in this new technology. Jared Mezzocchi (Astro Boy and the God of Comics) is interviewed in the article and talks about the multimedia class he teaches at the University of Maryland. Read the article here.

IBTimes: Unpaid Internships Offering Few Benefits

December 11, 2013

In this International Business Times article, the successful NYC production of Sleep No More comes under fire for its lack of compensation both monetarily and educationally for its unpaid interns. Read the article here.

Drama Lit Blog: Paying Actors for Promotion

December 16, 2013

In this posting from the Drama Lit Blog associated with BU’s dramatic literature courses, one student describes a theatre model that would entice actors to promote their shows in exchange for a percentage of the profits. Read the posting here.

HowlRound: Talkbacks and an Artist’s Safety

December 16, 2013

On HowlRound, playwright Lauren Gunderson discusses the violent nature of a recent comment at an audience talkback after one of her play’s performances and how we need to protect our artists. Read the article here.

Broadwayworld.com: Keen Company Announces First Playwrights Lab

December 16, 2013

Company One alum playwright Qui Nguyen (She Kills Monsters) has been announced as one of the inaugural members of Keen Company’s Keen Playwrights Lab for the 2013-2014 season. All playwrights will conceive one full-length play that falls in line with Keen Company’s mission. Read the article here.

HowlRound: The Unsustainable State of Art

December 17, 2013

In this essay on HowlRound by A. Nora Long, associate artistic director of Lyric Stage Company, she talks about how the world thrives when art and culture are given importance and the consequences of treating art as a “hobby” instead of a job with “prestige” and financial benefits. Read her essay here.

Southern California’s Theatres Convene

December 19, 2013

On December 16, artistic directors from theatre companies in Southern California met to discuss the director’s role in diversity in the theatre and what can be done to make SoCal’s theatres more inclusive. Here’s the announcement.

You can watch the panel here: Livestream.

Finally, this blogger, The Fairy Princess, gives her opinions on what the artistic directors said at the panel about the struggle for diversity including a call for action and less talking. You can read her thoughts here.

PBS Documentary Video

December 24, 2013

This PBS documentary features playwrights Tarell McCraney (The Brother/Sister Plays) and Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) amidst their process to create the next “great American play.” This video can be streamed until Jan. 14. Watch the documentary here.

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