Artistic Director’s Welcome
Welcome to the latest edition of the A.R.T. Guide. It has been a joy to be back in the theater with audiences this fall, and I am thrilled to introduce you now to our upcoming programming. This winter, we invite audiences to WILD and Ocean Filibuster: two world premieres that urge us to radically reimagine our relationship with the planet. Inspired by our ongoing collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the A.R.T. continues to make climate a focal point of our work. Both of these productions shine a spotlight on the ways that theater can contribute to this timely conversation.
Opening in December, WILD: A Musical Becoming is a new musical fable about a single mother struggling to hold onto her family farm and connect with her teenage daughter, whose determination to save the planet endows her and her friends with powers they never knew they had. The project’s extraordinary creative team is led by V (formerly Eve Ensler), Justin Tranter, Caroline Pennell, and Idina Menzel. Following O.P.C. in 2014 and In the Body of the World in 2016, V is celebrating her third world premiere at the Loeb Drama Center with this piece. We are thrilled to welcome Idina, Justin, and Caroline to the A.R.T. for the first time, and to welcome back choreographer Chanel DaSilva (Moby-Dick, The Black Clown) for this concert performance. Young voices are at the heart of WILD, and we are excited to be collaborating with the Boston Children’s Chorus (who make a special appearance in the piece) as well as local organizations including the Sunrise Movement, Mass Audubon Youth Climate Leaders Program, Harvard University Office for Sustainability, and Bow Street Ocean Awareness. Read more about these partners—and about the ways that you can get involved in climate advocacy, conservation, and sustainability—in the articles below.
Ocean Filibuster, opening in February, pits the Ocean itself against Mr. Majority on the floor of an imagined Global Senate. Several seasons ago, HUCE Director Dan Schrag approached me about how we might communicate the urgency of the climate crisis to a broader public. With Dan’s support, HUCE has commissioned a series of new works exploring the many different facets of climate change and celebrating resiliency and imagination. This partnership has led to groundbreaking exchange between artists and Harvard scientists. Ocean Filibuster is the work of PearlDamour—the Obie Award-winning duo of artists Katie Pearl and Lisa D’Amour. Read on in this Guide for more about this show, including a conversation with Katie, Lisa, and performer Jenn Kidwell, as well as a video presentation by composer Sxip Shirey.
When I think about the uncertainty and isolation of last year’s holiday season, it makes me happy to know that we will be able to come together and share these works this winter, thanks to health and safety protocols and the immense efforts by everyone in the A.R.T. community—artists, staff, and audiences—to make live theater possible again.
See you at the theater!
Diane Paulus, A.R.T. Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director
WILD: A Musical Becoming
Ocean Filibuster
