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Have I mentioned how much I adore my job? This theatre? Our mission? All the unbelievably cool stuff we do?

Oh.

I have?

Well, there’s not enough positivity floating around in this world, so you get to hear it again!

We do some pretty awesome stuff here. For real.

This season we’re on the front lines of developing and producing a whole lot of rockin’ regional and world premieres of fabulous new plays by excellent playwrights that already are, or are going to be, important pieces of theatre all across the nation within a year or two (keep your eyes peeled), and we’re also on the front lines of some pretty magnificent audience engagement programs for our patrons that really invite them into our creative process here at Geva and encourage them to take ownership of this theatre and all the artistry and other neat things that happen here. Theatre is connection. Theatre is community.

And to do both of these things, that means we need to get to know and work with these playwrights. Welcome them to Geva. Welcome them to Rochester. Show them all the great things about our city (of which there are many), do readings and workshops of their works for our patrons, get them out and about, invite them to be involved with the community, our staff, our patrons (including students), and make them honorary fellow Rochestarians. They get to know Rochester; Rochester gets to know them. Involve the playwright and patron directly in the creative process. Develop stellar new theatre. Produce stellar new theatre. Invite everyone along for the ride so they can see and be a part of and understand what we do from the inside out. Send stellar new theatre out into the world. Theatre is community.

So over the past few months we’ve had several of our playwrights visit us to do some readings and hang out with our staff and patrons at some of our favorite spots around Rochester. Last year we hosted Karen Zacarias (The Book Club Play). And this year we’re hosting Eric Coble (Stranded on Earth, The Velocity of Autumn), Mat Smart (13th of Paris, Tinker to Evers to Chance), Greg Kotis (Urinetown, All Your Questions Answered), John Cariani (Almost Maine, Last Gas, Love/Sick), and Deb Zoe Laufer (Sirens, End Days, Leveling Up, Informed Consent).

Aside from all the brilliant reasons why I love this (education, connection, community, creating powerful art, etc. etc.), I also love this because it means that I also get to hang out and engage with our patrons and our playwrights. Which is rad. Really.

Last spring I went to lunch with Karen Zacarias and a patron and we all had a wonderful time over delicious Italian food and enjoyed awesome conversation about books and theatre and our hobbies and why we love them. I feel a deeper connection to Karen as a playwright and to her plays, and I still see that patron at the theatre every now and then, who I really enjoyed getting to know, and it’s great to catch up with her and say hello. It’s nice to know our patrons by name.

Last week I went to Deb Laufer’s Author’s Voice reading event at the theatre, where she read scenes from three of her plays – Sirens, End Days, and Informed Consent – between a series of informal questions designed for us to get to know her, her works, her process, and her inspirations a little better.

The next day I went to lunch with both Greg Kotis and Deb Laufer, along with a fellow new staff member and two patrons. And we all had a ball. Seriously. We dined on delicious Mexican food (um, stuffed avocados are pure heaven, btw, and you should add them to your dinner menu immediately), and talked about animals, food, world travel, and theatre…four things I adore and could talk about for days. It was awesome and I learned so many interesting and fun things about both of our playwrights – as people and playwrights – and I learned a lot of neat things about our patrons as well. It was so wonderful! Really, one should never miss out on an opportunity to get to know someone (anyone! even a stranger) a little better. It’s makes the world a smaller place. Never stop learning. Never stop growing.

After lunch we stopped in at the Rochester Museum and Science Center to take a look around since science plays such a pivotal role in some of Deb’s plays, including Informed Consent – which we are premiering in the spring. We took turns on the earthquake simulator and hovercraft, goofed around in the beaver den and glacial cave, and played with some weather and energy related interactive exhibits. Also a ton of fun.

And now I feel like I know these guys just a little bit better. I’ve seen a few small glimpses of what makes them tick. I understand their sense of humor, see how some of the things they enjoy and their life experiences have influenced their plays, and I understand better than I did before what their process is like and what a playwright does, before, during and after their plays are written. The same with our patrons. I see them as open-hearted world travelers and passionate marathon lovers and intelligent, funny people who also happen to love the arts, coming to the theatre, and want to be a part of what we do here. And hopefully they all see me as a unique individual who is passionate about the theatre and all the many things I do as well. And we can all see and think of each other in a way that we never thought to before, and we can use that knowledge as we go forward.

And, together, when the playwright knows the patrons they’re writing for, and the patrons appreciate their playwright’s inspirations, and the staff understands both the patron and playwright, and the patron and playwright know the staffs’ personalities and passions for the work we do, beautiful things can happen. We’re all a part of this together. So why not get to know each other and be a part of this process together? Theatre is connection.

So, have I mentioned how much I adore my job? This theatre? Our mission? All the unbelievably cool stuff we do?