Mentorship, Matchmaking + Advocacy INTRODUCING NEW SDCF DIRECTOR MEGAN CARTER
BY
LAURA PAONE
Dramaturge, producer, and former singer in a rock band are all ways to describe Megan E. Carter, and now a new title can be added to the list: Director of SDC Workshop Foundation. On May 27, it was announced that Carter would take over as Director at the end of June, bringing new leadership for the first time in nearly 10 years. “It’s an honor to be able to continue and build on the exceptional work of the Foundation, and I am eager to focus my energy on elevating the visibility of the craft of directors and choreographers,” says Carter. Before joining SDCF, Carter worked as the Associate Artistic Director of Women’s Project Theater (WP) for seven years, where she collaborated on all aspects of producing and programming. “I was involved in bigger-picture conversations about the theatre: where we were going, who our audience was, telling the story of that theatre—in addition to the day-to-day administration,” she says. Carter was also the resident dramaturge at Women’s Project. “I read scripts, attended a lot of readings and workshops, and spent a great deal of time in the rehearsal room. The job was kind of everything, and, of course, the mission of that theatre is so amazing and important; advocating for women and producing and
46
SDC JOURNAL
| FALL 2014
promoting women theatre artists is something that I wanted to do.” During her tenure with Women’s Project, Carter worked on ten world premieres, six New York premieres, countless readings and workshops, and three site-specific pieces. Created by the WP Lab, a residency for directors, playwrights, and producers, the site-specific pieces were performed at the World Financial Center, where Carter and the team encountered obstacles such as sound pollution from high ceilings and traffic. “Because the World Financial Center is so large and has a variety of foot traffic, part of the challenge—and the fun—was figuring out which spaces really worked for something theatrical to happen,” Carter says. “A piece that was text-heavy and highly narrative wouldn’t be effective, so the directors, playwrights, and producers really had to work together to figure out how to tell the stories they wanted to tell and create physically dynamic pieces that were cohesive.” Ellen Lauren, the CoArtistic Director at SITI Company with whom Carter collaborated as a dramaturge and as an instructor with the SITI Conservatory, recognizes Carter’s ability to solve problems in collaborative endeavors. “Megan Carter’s quiet confidence comes from her intelligence,
her understanding how collision is necessary to create theatre, and her ability to constantly innovate solutions. She has an uncanny ability to perceive and respond to the world with a clarity that sees its finite realities and feels its infinite possibilities,” says Lauren. On top of determining how to respond to the space, the creative team comprised more than 20 people—a crash course in deep collaboration. This sense of collaboration is something to which Carter is accustomed. Although she appreciates many types of theatre, she is most drawn to pieces that highlight the power of teamwork. “I really admire productions that are able to pull together all of the elements— movement, text, sound, lights, objects—in a way that’s completely unified, fully creating a new world on stage,” says Carter. “I love theatre for being the collaborative art form that it is, and I think directors and choreographers lead the way for that to happen.” As the resident dramaturge at WP, Carter worked with a variety of directors, noting the many ways directors have affected her craft. “Daniella Topol is an extraordinary dramaturgical director. She’s lets the text lead, but knows when to ask questions of the playwright. She’s unbelievably rigorous, but also generous.” She continues, “Being in DANIELLA TOPOL since 2007