Theater Masters and the Aspen Institute present “Playwrights as Voices of Our Cultural Moment”
The Aspen Institute is pleased to partner with Theater Masters to welcome award-winning playwright, director, and screenwriter David Auburn (Proof, The Girl in the Park, and The Lake House) and Director of Corporate Communications at Samuel French Abbie Van Nostrand in conversation with moderator and Theater Masters Founder Julia Hansen. The program will also feature emerging playwrights from the top MFA programs in the country, and will take place on Saturday, February 10, 2018 from 5:00-6:30 pm in the Koch Building on the Institute’s Aspen Meadows campus.
Clifford Odets’ 1935 play “Waiting for Lefty” made history when the final scene stirred the audience to stand up and yell “STRIKE!” Odets was able to tap into the political fervor of his time. What tactics do playwrights use to inspire people to action? What are the responsibilities of both individual artists, and institutions, in times of national discord? Lastly, how has social media altered the way we engage with the national conversation, and what can theater do to support and/or counteract this type of political participation?
This event is free and open to the public.