How two veterans of New York’s 1960s-’70s avant-garde theatre made edgy, alternative theatre in a conservative state, and what enduring lessons their example may hold out for others.

The marvelously talented Dallas playwright Jonathan Norton, whose play penny candy has just been published, talks about his city, his writing, and the busy intersection of the two in the latest issue of American Theatre.

When Steven Spielberg asked Kushner, America’s most important living playwright, to take on WEST SIDE STORY, he thought, “He’s lost his mind.” But he dared.

The composer and lyricist, who died at 92, was a trailblazer in virtually every field she touched.
Theater in Manhattan was bristling with Black voices in the early 1970s, but these tended to be heard in smaller spaces like the New Federal Theater, the Negro Ensemble Company and the Urban Arts Corps. Micki Grant’s “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” spent time in such theaters before winding its way to Broadway in 1972, making it the first time a woman had written the book, music and lyrics to a Broadway musical.
The result — four Tony Award nominations, a run of…

“With its themes of white privilege and black rage, Kermit Frazier’s KERNEL OF SANITY resonates powerfully today. That’s why Paula Vogel is giving it a boost.”
A 1978 Play Plucked From the Slush Pile Gets a Timely New Reading – The New York Times