On York Street New Leadership for New Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre welcomes its new Literary Manager, Amy Boratko ’06. The position was created this year to support the Yale Center for New Theatre, established in 2008 by a $2.85 million gift from the Robina Foundation. With a staggering 17 Amy Boratko ’06 new projects currently under commission and unprecedented funding in place to develop them, Boratko brings the extra elbow grease needed to help Dean/Artistic Director James Bundy ’95 and Associate Artistic Director Jennifer Kiger
transform this new material into groundbreaking plays and productions. “We needed more boots on the ground scouting new talent, more people supporting this program,” reflects Boratko. Boratko and husband Alex Speiser moved to New Haven in 2003. After graduating from the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Department, she spent two seasons in the fellowship position she inaugurated—Artistic Coordinator for Yale Repertory Theatre— where she assisted in season planning, script reading, and the nitty-gritty of line producing. She describes the job as a “crash course in the dramaturg as artistic producer…really fleshing out what that is.” On a given day in her new, expanded role, Boratko might find herself doing anything from arranging a studio recording of a musical-in-progress, to planning a workshop
in New York City, to advising commissioned playwrights—from brand-new writers to established theatre luminaries—on evolving drafts. Eclecticism is built into the job description: “Our mission is to develop according to the needs of our playwrights,” Amy says. “So at this point, we don’t have a set structure of how we develop new plays. Instead, we listen to our artists and do whatever we can to give them exactly what they need.” Although the development track at the Center is highly individualized, Boratko ultimately has her eye on building a holistic learning community, where “commissioned writers can all feed off each other’s creativity and feed off the creativity of the school…making connections between Yale Center for New Theatre, Yale School of Drama, and Yale Rep.” Anne Erbe ’11
Off York Street Memory Lane, Plus Samovar: A Three Sisters Cast Remembers Its Alma Mater Filling out the cast of a major new production of Three Sisters, which opened February 2009 at the Classical Theatre of Harlem, were a surprising number of Yale School of Drama alumni: Reg E. Cathey ’81 (Chebutykin), Phillip Christian ’94 (Solyony), Billy Eugene Jones ’03 (as Andrey), Sabrina LeBeauf ’83 (Olga), Roger Guenveur Smith ’83 (Vershinin), Amanda Mason Warren ’08 (Masha), as well as Carmen de Lavallade (Former Faculty) as Anfisa. After the closing performance, four of these performers gathered in the lobby, where reminiscences about their days at Yale flowed like tea in Moscow. Representing over three decades of Drama School history, their conversation revealed just how dynamic that history is, each generation setting the standards for those that follow. Smith began by telling de Lavallade, whose celebrated career includes not only her years with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and the Metropolitan Opera, but also with Yale Repertory Theatre, “I had a poster of you in Midsummer Night’s Dream before I even dreamed of going to Yale.” De Lavallade, who was a choreographer, faculty member, and performer-in-residence at Yale in the 1970s, spoke fondly of that production before sharing her own stories. Christian chimed in, remembering, as a student, watching Reg Cathey in Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World on the Yale Repertory Theatre stage.
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Warren, the newest member of the alumni family, acknowledged feeling deeply privileged at the company she was keeping. As Masha, Warren may not have made it to Moscow, but the success of the cast in Three Sisters bodes well for the continuing future of School of Drama actors. Jason Fitzgerald ’08
Roger Guenveur Smith ’83, Carmen de Lavallade (Former Faculty), Amanda Warren ’08 and Phillip Christian ’94. Photo by Jason Fitzgerald ’08.