2003 Symposium: New Writers, New Worlds

At its 2003 Directing Symposium, SDCF hosted a panel moderated by Mary Catherine Burke and featuring directors Christopher Ashley, Jo Bonney, Susan Einhorn, Leah Gardiner, David Warren and Les Waters and playwrights Jorge Cortiñas and David Henry Hwang to discuss expanding diversity among writers, directors and subject matter of new plays. The discussion encompasses the artist's responsibility to creating diversity in theater, the producer's responsibility to take on diverse projects, and the difficulty of taking pieces out of development and into production in commercial or not-for-profit venues. The panelists aim to answer the question of how we are working to change the demographics of theater, and what still needs to be done. The conversation provides an assortment of important perspectives on one of today's hot-button topics and is a reminder of the need for social, cultural and political diversity in the theatrical craft.