Scrutinizing Gift Horses

By Dr. Cashmere

Playbill has the lowdown on Arena Stage's new $1.1 million American Voices New Play Institute. Promising programs include three-year "living wage" residencies for playwrights (!) and annual producing fellowships focusing on new work.

Who could argue with that?

Even so, some of Arena's language about the initiative seems pitched to foundations more than the theatre community (e.g. "The Institute is 'a full-spectrum laboratory for testing and disseminating promising advances in the field; an incubator for practices, programs, and processes.'")

Let's hope the focus will be on empowering theatre artists and mounting new work rather than philosophizing.