Perspectives on Performance with Ariana Smart Truman

On Producing Independent Theater

NOTE: This event has been rescheduled from February 24th to March 3rd due to the winter storm.

Join TDM and Ariana Smart Truman for a conversation on the evolution of the theatrical producer and the emergence of the Creative Producer within devised and ensemble-created performance. This presentation will examine how producing has moved from a primarily managerial or interpretive role, traditionally centered on realizing a playwright’s work, and often carrying an expectation of providing funding, to an artistically collaborative practice that develops alongside the creation of original performance.

About Ariana Smart Truman

Ariana Smart Truman is a nonprofit executive, creative producer, and arts educator with more than three decades of experience developing equity-driven performance and education programs. She is the Co-Founder and Director of The Wooster Group Summer Institute, a tuition-free, three-week multidisciplinary program for New York City public-school youth, now in its third decade. From 2008–2020, she served as Producing Director of Elevator Repair Service Theater (ERS), overseeing the creation and world-wide touring of original work. During her tenure, ERS received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence and the Edwin Booth Award. ERS’s landmark production Gatz received numerous awards and nominations, including a Lucille Lortel Award, and was described by The New York Times as “the most remarkable achievement in theater of the decade.” As an independent producer, she has supported new work by artists and ensembles including Anna Kohler, Yehuda Duenyas, Mike Iveson, David Levine, and Catapult Opera. She is a frequent invited guest lecturer on creative producing and arts leadership.