11 - SHANE by Karen Zacarías (Ep. 34)

Melissa was thrilled to chat with Karen Zacarías about her world premiere adaptation of Shane, based on the novel by Jack Schaefer, which is now playing (in August 2023) at the Guthrie Theater.  

In this episode, we discuss:

• How this co-commission and co-production came to be
• The challenges of adapting a Western for the stage
• Creating a more complete and accurate picture of the American West
• Beach Karen!

And more!

Resources Mentioned

Cincinnatti Playhouse in the Park
Guthrie Theater
Shane at the Guthrie

About Our Guest

KAREN ZACARÍAS was recently hailed by American Theater Magazine as one of the most produced playwrights in the US. Her plays include The Copper Children, Destiny of Desire, Native Gardens, The Book Club Play, Legacy of Light, Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana, and the adaptations of Just Like Us, The Age of Innocence, Into the Beautiful North, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent and a bilingual Romeo y Juliet. She has been produced at The Kennedy Center, The Goodman, The Guthrie, Arena Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, GALA Hispanic Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse, Old Globe, The Alliance Theater, Repertorio Español, The Latino Theater Company, Milagro Theater, and many more. She is the author of ten renowned TYA musicals and the librettist of several Ballets. She is one of the inaugural resident playwrights at Arena Stage, a core founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons- a large national organization of artists seeking to update the American narrative with Latinx stories-, and she is the founder of the award-winning Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT), noted as one of the best arts educational programs by the Obama White House. Karen was voted a 2019 Washingtonian of the Year for her arts advocacy by Washingtonian Magazine. She was awarded the 2019 Sine Fellowship at the American University School of Public Policy for connecting art with policy making. She is a recipient of 2019 Lee-Reynolds-Award for “social, cultural, or political change with theater” awarded by the League of Professio

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