Babies and Mops

The new issue of American Theatre just hit newsstands and (partly) the Web. The Arena Stage's Molly Smith is the cover story, there's a new Fugard script in there, and lots of good stuff for your perusal. Among the things you can find online is my piece on the recent TCG Conference in Chicago; one thing you can only find in the print edition is my feature on theater for babies (yes, it does exist! just not as much in the States as in Europe but we're coming along--well, that's my story, anyway). A favorite quote from the latter story, from Swedish psychoanalyst/playwright Ann-Sofie Barany, who wrote the play Babydrama for 6- to 12-month-year-olds:

They want this--they need this. I’ve said it many times before: I think theatre is the best way of telling babies about life. Because theatre, when it’s really done in an exact way, it’s like a condensation of reality. There’s not a lot of noise going on; there’s not a lot of focuses; it’s super-clear.

All true.