Humana Festival for New American Plays

I love this time of year. The snow is melting with any luck. There's more sunlight in my day. Best of all, the Humana Festival turns the heads of America towards Louisville and focuses it on new works.

Let us not be mistaken. Actors Theatre of Louisville is not by any stretch of the imagination the only company that is so devoted to new works. I'm a subscriber at two theater companies right here in Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Victory Gardens Theater, that are renown for their devotion to new works. I find gems in all sorts of places like the charming Sansculottes Theater's 13 Dead Husbands.

But when I was still just a pure consumer of new plays many, many years ago in the cultural wasteland of my youth, it was the Humana Festival that I knew by name. Don't be surprised if that's the name most casual consumers also equate with excellence in new works.

I have to admit that part of my love affair with Humana may be the personal connection I feel to them even though I have yet to attend a single festival (which I fully intend to fix by next year, I assure you). I briefly knew Marc Masterson, their artistic director, when he was still one of the most innovative minds in theatre at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. Jennifer Bielstein, the Managing Director, has strong roots to the aforementioned Steppenwolf and so many other theater companies here in Chicago. Neither of them would likely know me by name or face at the moment, but I still love to root for the home-town heroes.

All of that is to say, what comes out of that festival is pure gold, if not commercially then certainly as part of a process that has mitigated a great deal of risk in producing new plays by a long campaign of excellence and good marketing on the festival's part.

The New York Times review of this year's festival gives us all a little peek into what we can hope graces our stages in the coming years. It wasn't the main focus of the article, but I'm probably most looking forward to seeing someone else produce "This Beautiful City" here in Chicago. I'm not a member of the religious right by any stretch of the imagination, but here is a play that dedicates itself to helping me understand a point of view and a lifestyle that is completely foreign to me.

I love that sort of piece that challenges my schemas. Let me understand all of that through an honest heartfelt piece like what is described there. Through understanding comes the potential for dialogue and common ground. Through dialogue and common ground, maybe can find a place for all our diverse cultures in this country with resorting to mass-assimilation.

Many kudos go though to Gina Gionfriddo whose "Becky Shaw" received the grand lion's share of the accolades this year. I highly appreciate any play and playwright that is getting compared favorably to a Chicago-born show like "August: Osage County" by Tracy Letts. (There's Steppenwolf stepping into the picture again...) It's her action twists, turns of phrase, and one-liners/zingers that seem to capture Mr. Isherwood's attention the most and dub it with that highly-sought-after designation as being "Broadway-bound".

So I leave you today with some questions. Let me into your process. I find it fascinating to talk about. It need not be rhetorical. What do you seek for your audience to walk away with? How are you making your message memorable? Are witty one-liners the only way?