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Fall Season Preview: Remembering the Past to ⁤Face the⁣ Future

I can still⁣ recall the first few⁤ times my kids started to begin sentences with the phrase, “Remember when…?” It began as early as age⁤ 5 or 6.It was bittersweet and ‍bracing to realize that ⁣these newish creatures had entered the stream ⁢of time alongside the rest of us, with much water ahead but⁢ also a wake forming behind.

What kind of world are they, and we, heading into? And can past lessons give us tools to face ⁢what’s coming for us? As we survey a national landscape riven⁢ with the kind of⁣ division and fear that opportunistic authoritarians are all too eager ⁣to exploit, we might do well to remember that their ⁤terrors and tactics are not new. neither ⁣are the strategies that⁤ artists and activists have used for generations to repel the forces of ‍darkness and ignorance-indeed,their fearless imaginations have frequently enough created ⁤the light that leads us out of cocoons of isolation,not to mention prison cells.

This⁣ Fall Season Preview issue of American Theatre is focused on what we can take from the struggles of the past to equip us⁣ for the struggles of a present which demands ‍our active⁤ vigilance and resistance. Dezi Tibbs’s cover story⁢ celebrates ⁣the intergenerational path of trans, nonbinary, and ⁤gender nonconforming performers⁢ thru ⁢an industry⁢ that has only recently begun to acknowledge the full range of⁤ their⁢ expression and artistry.Gabriela Furtado Coutinho’s remarkable narrative nonfiction piece imagines its way into three historic examples of artists using their craft to resist and transcend oppression.Ashley Lee’s in-depth account of East West Players’⁤ revival of Yankee Dawg You Die at⁣ East West Players can’t help but illuminate how far Asian American depiction has-and hasn’t-come since Philip Kan Gotanda first wrote it in 1988. And Nathan Pugh’s first-person account of his resignation from the ‍Kennedy center⁤ sounds a timely ⁢alarm ⁣about the dangers facing legacy arts institutions in the ⁣Trump 2.0⁢ era.

This issue’s Top 10 Most Produced Plays and Top 20 Most Produced Playwrights offer⁣ a snapshot of the theatrical landscape, revealing trends and highlighting the voices shaping ‍contemporary american theatre.