Humana Theater Festival Report

HUMANA
The 41st annual
Humana Festival of
ew American Plays at
the Actor’s Theatre of
Louisville started with
“crying it out” and
ended with the
assertion that “we’re
going to be okay.”
Those bookend titles
accurately
ncompassed the wide
range of funny,
poignant and hardhitting
plays seen at
the festival this year.
With the impending
demise of the National
ndowment for the Arts
potentially leading to
the defunding of
multitudes of artistic
nstitutions, there was a
loaded call to – as
Molly Smith Metzler
said — “ask the big
questions” at this
year’s festival.
THEATER FESTIVAL
REPORT
Santa Barbara’s Kate
Bergstrom Saw Many
New Plays in
Louisville
Artistic director Les Waters
and
Associate Director Meredith
McDonough
Along with their savvy
team of associates,
compiled an eclectic,
moving collection of
commissions and new
works to be performed in
rep on their three stages.
Humana, according to
Waters, is “always
evolving according to the
shows we have the
passion to do each
year…what interests me
when they are all put
together is how people
will detect something
that wasn’t there
necessarily consciously.”
Staples of the season
include an ensemble
showcase of the
nineteen apprentice
actors and a talk with a
leading national figure in
the theatre. This year
that role went to none
other than the demi-god
Taylor Mac.