Special Talkback: The Life of a New Play

Join SpeakEasy for a post-show conversation about new plays in Boston and beyond, featuring the playwright and director of A Future Perfect and special guest Polly K. Carl, the Director of HowlRound and Creative Director of ArtsEmerson. Led by SpeakEasy Artistic Associate Walt McGough, the discussion will explore the various pathways scripts travel from first draft to world premiere, and how organizations both local and national are partnering to create new opportunities for artists and audiences.

Polly Carl is the Director of HowlRound and Creative Director for ArtsEmerson. Her work at HowlRound is focused on promoting practices for 21st Century theater making based on the core principle that theater is for everyone. She is also part of the ArtsEmerson programming team at Emerson College and is developing new works for the stage in that context. She spent two years as Director of Artistic Development at Steppenwolf Theatre and served eleven years at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis seven as Producing Artistic Director. She regularly teaches, writes, consults, and mentors. In addition to continuing to develop and produce new plays, she now devotes significant energy to researching innovative practices for the theater. Her PhD in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society is from the University of Minnesota.