PASSION FOR NEW WORK

We are the CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL. We are the theater of today…the theater of the Now. We are producing five new American plays in rotating repertory that are present and immediate. This is who we are, what we are and how we will be remembered by future generations. We are responsible for helping to create the destiny of the American theater. We are paying attention to the world. We are listening to contemporary writers who are attuned to our world and whose stories help us define these tumultuous times.

The artists at the Contemporary American Theater Festival are united by their passion for new work. We are united by newness. We are united by this quote from American playwright Steven Dietz (CATF 2009):

“The theater is not about nostalgia. The theater is not a museum. Plays don’t hang on walls, oblivious to time. The theater is a rehearsal of the present moment.”

Great stories beg to be told. And true artists are compelled to tell them. Playwrights are the theater’s storytellers. Max Baker, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Jennifer Haley, Michele Lowe, J.T. Rogers and Lee Sellars are the storytellers of the 2010 Repertory. Their stories will broaden our minds, engage, provoke, inspire and ultimately connect us.

I have selected five new plays by these six artists… because they have written original stories that embody an independent spirit and a distinctive voice. They believe in the power of story. They believe in the power of sharing the most private of feelings in the most public of spaces–the theater. They are not afraid to confront pain and difference, conflict and joy, in the safe environment of the theater.

We all share a passionate belief that we can grow as a society only if we find the strength to confront and consider ideas and issues that may make us uncomfortable. We share the belief that a community without art has no voice, no memory of our stories and aspirations…a community without art is no community at all.

 I believe that making art…making theater…especially in this moment… is a form of social activism. It is a statement of belief in the power of community.

I have always believed that a contemporary theater must aggressively go to the edges of society and tell the stories that no one else will tell. To involve people at the deepest level…we need stories. Stories fulfill a profound human need to grasp the patterns of living–not merely as an intellectual exercise, but within a very personal, emotional experience. To do this we must engage our audience with the power of story. We must engage their emotions…AND…the key to their hearts is a story.

Please share your ideas and comments with me.

Ed Herendeen