Michael Padden
is a director based in New York. He has developed work with Rising Phoenix Rep, Essential Theater Group, Barrow Street Theater, and many others.
Feeding the Lake: Charlotte Miller’s Ugly Little Sister at Strasberg
By Michael Padden“All of writing is a huge lake,” goes a favorite quote of mine by Jean Rhys. “There are great rivers that feed the lake, like Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. And then there are mere trickles, like Jean Rhys. All that matters is feeding the lake. I don't matter. The lake matters. You must keep feeding the lake.” If theater is a lake too, then developing new plays is one of its most vital and important feeders. Once the job of the actor/producer heads of traveling companies, the responsibility for bringing new stories to the stage has shifted dramatically with times and tastes. Playwrights and theater artists have been talking for years about the inherent problems with current new play development.
