AT25: An Eye on the Future
Leigh Silverman, director, New York City
I'm a person who needs a plan. I'm a planner. I can't relax without a plan. I wake up in the morning and begin to plan. So as I've considered this question of what lies in store for us in the next 25 years, I feel...anxiety—followed by a desire for a really good plan! Because this is a tough moment. Every day brings new proof that the resources we've built our lives and work on—all of them, economic, environmental, institutional—are disappearing. (And even in the best of times, I often wonder how any of us find the stamina to do what we do.) My plan? Tap into a skill so basic and fundamental we often overlook its full potential—collaboration. I think we need to broaden our definition of whom we collaborate with and how. This is already starting to happen as we (both as a country and as a theatre community) are coming to realize that we no longer have the luxury to operate in a vacuum, spinning in autonomous orbits. Interconnectedness looks increasingly interesting.
There's the practical part of it, of course: A trend is already starting toward the sharing of resources, including productions, buildings and staff. But I'm also thinking about collaboration in the bigger sense, of unexpected relationships that forge new ways to create art as well as new paradigms for the business of theatre. Directing can be difficult work because even in the good times jobs and resources are scarce—and sometimes, like now, they're even scarcer. But the process of collaborating with playwrights and translating their ideas to an audience sustains me. I concentrate on new plays because it allows me to engage with writers who are grappling with the mysteries and challenges of existence, with originality, audacity, humor and profundity. So my personal plan, and my recommendation to you, is to find the people who keep you creatively churning and excited. Keep them close; see what their ideas are. Gather your collective resources. And then, together, make a new plan.