What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1322770
LARA JO HIGHTOWER NWA Democrat-Gazette I t's a little bit like a fairy tale." Those are the last words you might expect to hear from TheatreSquared co-founder and artistic director Robert Ford — or anyone running an arts organization — at the end of a year like 2020. Broadway is officially shut down until May 2021, and theater companies around the globe have struggled all year to adapt to a world in which gathering in large numbers is dangerous. Yet the 15-year-old regional TheatreSquared closed out the year by making a splash in national news. In October, T2 won a 2020 American Architecture Award for its new state-of-the-art 50,000-square-foot theater complex, which opened in 2018. That honor was quickly followed by accolades for the art that resides inside: The roller coaster ride started in late October, when NPR's "All Things Considered" covered playwright Sarah Gancher's "Russian Troll Farm," T2's collaboration with TheatreWorks Hartford and the Brooklyn-based Civilians. Things ramped up when The New York Times then named the show a Critic's Pick and called it "smart and chewy." Later that month, Elisabeth Vincentelli reviewed the production for The New Yorker. The company thought it had hit peak excitement when The Times called "Russian Troll Farm" a "wicked smart ride" and put it on their "Best Theater of 2020 List." But no, there was more to come: The Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout watched T2's streaming production of Lauren Gunderson's "The Half Life of Marie Curie," and, in a glowing review, noted that he had been "hearing good things about Arkansas' TheatreSquared for some time now." Teachout went on to give rave notes to the two stars of the show, Rebecca Harris and Leontyne Mbele- Mbong, and closes the review by saying, "I plan to keep an eye on TheatreSquared, which is clearly worth its fine reputation" and called T2 an "outstanding drama" company. "It feels so affirming," says T2 Executive Director Martin Miller of the national notice. Martin and Ford joined T2 Director of Marketing and Communications Joanna Sheehan Bell, Associate General Manager Shannon Jones, Director of New Play Development Dexter J. Singleton, and Artistic Associate and Program Director for the LatinX Theatre Project Rebecca Rivas on a Zoom call to reflect on the wild ride the theater company has experienced this year. "For Teachout to describe this as an outstanding drama 11 WHAT'S UP! DECEMBER 27, 2020-JANUARY 2, 2021 See T2 Page 12 TOP 5 Dreams Come True Innovation pays off in T2 national recognition When TheatreSquared's new building won the coveted 2020 American Architecture Award in October, it was just the beginning of an impressive run of national press for the regional theater. (Courtesy photo)