Writing the Truth in a World of Lies

German Playwright Bertolt Brecht Found in His Work—and Characters—a Vehicle For Change

What can we do?

As we stare at a broken world, malignant and sense-deadening, what response—as thinking, feeling people—are we left to have? What action can we take? No matter who we are, it seems that we are stuck, our ability to make positive change stalemated, our governing system overheated thanks to the mounds of sand thrown into its gears over decades by prevaricators and other malefactors. Our hearts break at the seemingly daily list of purposeless tragedies at home and abroad, and our minds struggle with the magnitude of suffering, …

Can Uncle Vanya Work in Four Different Languages? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Can Uncle Vanya Work in Four Different Languages?

The Play Featured in the Oscar-Nominated Japanese Film Drive My Car Offers a Window Into How Drama Brings Us Together

“If you want to work on your art, work on your life.” —Chekhov

Like any great aphorism, the dramatist Anton Chekhov’s advice can be taken many ways. In our 21st century …

Theater Understands Your Holiday Dinner Angst

Family Tables, Real and Imagined, Serve Up 'Birthrights, Grudges, Feuds, Illicit Unions, and Deeply Buried Secrets'

This is the time of year when families come together, crossing county and state lines and national borders, traversing bodies of water and mountain ranges that made cannibals of our …

Why Ghosts Gave Comfort to the Ancient Greeks | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Ghosts Gave Comfort to the Ancient Greeks

Classical Playwrights Used Spirits to Deliver Wisdom and Counsel—Some of It Still Relevant Today

The pandemic struck at a time when people’s confidence in their government was already shaky. Many decried the lack of attention being paid to information about public health and safety, …

Why Not Let the Church You Loathe Save the Theater You Love? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Not Let the Church You Loathe Save the Theater You Love?

Across California, Growing Congregations and Communities Have Bridged Differences to Preserve Historic Movie Palaces

Have a little faith, Californians.

Even if you can’t stand the religion or politics of your local churches, you might find their congregations to be valuable saviors—of your historic and …