It rankles when non-Asian actors are cast as Asians, yet you needn’t be Scottish to play Macbeth. How to reconcile these two ideas? David Henry Hwang takes up the question with wit, warmth and insight. Perhaps best known for his play M Butterfly, he co-wrote the musical Aida and is a staff writer on … Continue reading »

An actor and director – his staging of Dominique Morriseau’s “Skeleton Crew” is about to open at the Atlantic Theater – he rejects petty domestic drama, asserting that no writer who’s endured oppression would create such a scenario: “That’s why you never see a brother writing a play about falling in love with a goat … Continue reading »

  His  plays, including Lend Me a Tenor, have been performed in 30 countries and 20 languages. When we spoke at Princeton’s McCarter Theater, he asserted that comedy is as important and serious as drama, which gave me a chance to quote Coleridge – “The true comic is the blossom of the nettle.” – something … Continue reading »

The former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he also has a celebrated career in the commercial theater, having staged both Cats and Les Mis. We spoke in a dressing room at Theatre for a New Audience, right after he led a rehearsal of Pericles, where he asserted that Shakespeare is like Picasso in … Continue reading »

 Actor Jessica Hecht has appeared on Broadway in Julius Caesar, Harvey and A View From the Bridge, for which she received a Tony nomination. Among her Off-Broadway work, Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl, whose other plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House; and Passion Play – productions swiftly followed by … Continue reading »

 She is in her 25th season as artistic director of the McCarter Theatre, and her work has been seen, well, everywhere. In 2012, she directed A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway. Among her own plays: Still Life and Having Our Say. We convened at the Princeton Public Library along with our musical guest, fiddle player … Continue reading »

 This splendid actor is perhaps best known for her performances in Wit and Angels in America and now has recurring roles on The Affair, The Americans, and House of Cards. We spoke at the National Black Theater, an event produced with Epic Theater Ensemble, featuring original music from the cast of Shakespeare Remix: Hamlet & … Continue reading »

 The Tony-winning director of Raisin in the Sun, he was the artistic director of Atlanta’s Alliance Theater and has directed at Washington’s Arena Stage, Boston’s Huntington and Chicago’s Goodman. Among his film and TV credits are a remake of Steel Magnolias and a musical built on the work of Tupac Skakur. I’m almost certain these are two … Continue reading »

  The lead theater critic of the Times talks about the fantasy metropolis he’s searched for since he arrived in New York and offers his thoughts on innovation, grand gestures, and Gloria Vanderbilt.  Person: Gloria Vanderbilt  PLACE: London’s National Theater  THING: a framed hundred dollar bill RANDY’S THING: his first Emmy     Continue reading »

No one moves more gracefully between Hollywood and New York. Out west, she wrote for NYPD Blue, among many TV shows, before creating her own, Smash. Back east, her plays include Mauritius, Seminar, and the Pulitzer finalist Omnium Gatherum. She won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, which isn’t really between Hollywood … Continue reading »

 A director who’s received pretty much every award going, Jack O’Brien is celebrated for his productions of big musicals like Hairspray, big brainiacs like Tom Stoppard, and big Shakespeare. His Macbeth with Ethan Hawke is currently at Lincoln Center. Jack Be Nimble, his memoir of working with Ellis Raab, was published last spring. He really … Continue reading »