The very first Tyrone puppet built for Hand to God was constructed by Steven Boyer, the first actor to have a hand at playing troubled protagonist, Jason. Playwright Robert Askins was born in Cypress, TX, the setting for the play. In 2016, Hand to God became the most produced new play in America. The Boston Globe described playwright Askins as a writer who “wraps his … Continue reading Did You Know?
By Melanie Slusar Every year, FST presents one outstanding intern with the annual Daniel R. Mandelker and Marlene N. Harris Scholarship Award. The scholarship honor is given in recognition of the intern’s talent, drive, and achievement. The person is chosen because they embody the core values and mission of FST, and act as a model for others through their natural leadership. This year, the award … Continue reading FST Presents the Annual Daniel R. Mandelker and Marlene N. Harris Scholarship Award
by Mary Donofrio Despite their fruitful collaboration, Gilbert and Sullivan often quarreled when developing a new piece. Sullivan often found Gilbert’s plots to be repetitive and unrealistic, and felt his artistic growth as a composer was being stifled. Sullivan requested to leave their partnership several times, and produced extensive solo work. During their feuds, their producer, Richard D’Oyly Carte, was able to keep the public … Continue reading Art Isn’t Easy
Barbara Smith, aging reporter for the Herald-Tribune and one of our panelists from the April 10th panel on Older Than Dirt, wrote a column response to topics discussed in our latest panel at FST discussing the dying process. http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20170418/new-wrinkles-in-end-need-for-plain-words-and-straight-talk Continue reading New Wrinkles: Panel Reflection
The Exonerated is such a power story because wrongful imprisonment and the death penalty are topics we are still fighting against in our government today. The video below from The New York Times shows an anti-death penalty rally in Little Rock, Arkansas. This fully immersive video from The Daily 360 takes you into the demonstration to hear speech from exonerees Damien Echols and Paris L. Powell. Continue reading In Arkansas, the Exonerated Speak Up
By Jordan Nickels | Are we raising racists? This is the question proposed in the New York Times article posted by Jennifer Harvey that has received a lot of attention lately. She discusses explaining historical figures to her child, like George Washington, who was a respected president, but also owned slaves. Jennifer gets to the point that parents need to start having more specific conversations … Continue reading Are We Raising Racists?
Our Forum Partners METV have entered a new documentary into the 2017 Sarasota Film Festival about the history of immigration in the United States: ————————————————————————– Manatee Educational Television (METV) and BTN Films are proud to announce that their new documentary, American Dreams…Stories of Immigration, has been selected as an Official Entry of the 2017 Sarasota Film Festival. American Dreams will premier as part of the Sarasota Film … Continue reading American Dreams…Stories of Immigration
By Jordan Nickels | In 2005, The Exonerated helped opened the Stage III series at Florida Studio Theatre, as a part of our commitment to producing contemporary work that challenges our audience. What better play to reintroduce Stage III this year, than a play about the corruption in our American penal system and innocence of many death row inmates. But when did this play come to … Continue reading Behind Bars: Writing The Exonerated
By Jordan Nickels | Theatergoers know about playwright Kimber Lee’s poetic play brownsville song (b-side for tray), showing how the family copes with the death of 18 year-old Tray Thompson. But what many don’t know is this play is based on a true story of 20 year-old Tray Franklin Grant, an aspiring boxer from Brownsville, Brooklyn. Kimber Lee, who is also from Brooklyn, heard about Tray through … Continue reading Center Stage to Center Ring: The Real Tray
By Jordan Nickels | Theatre has always been a great form of entertainment and a community voice, opening up a dialogue about certain issues. Florida Studio Theatre has always made it a primary goal to “creating the best in contemporary theatre at an affordable price.” However, FST continues to find ways to make the arts more accessible to an even broader audience. Pay What You Can … Continue reading What is Pay What You Can Night?
