Thanks to a planning grant from the Philadelphia Theater Initiative (part of The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage), First Person Arts has commissioned San Francisco playwright/performer Dan Hoyle (pictured at left) to develop a new journalistic theater work about the news — how it is reported, who disseminates it, and how it impacts our lives. Hoyle will conduct interviews with personnel from a variety of news organizations in the United States and India. The resulting play will take audiences behind the scenes and explore how and by whom the news is reported, and how evolving practices and technology impact what we come to know. Hoyle says, “In my play, I want to ask: How do we embrace the tremendous possibilities of digital media while keeping high-quality journalism sustainable, rigorous, and widely read?”

Philadelphia audiences last saw Hoyle when he presented his hit play The Real Americans at the 2010 First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art. Hoyle’s unique style of journalistic theater has received rave reviews across the United States, leading The New York Times to call him “a first-rate reporter and actor.” Watch the trailer for The Real Americans here.

This project represents First Person Arts’ first commissioned work for theater.

The News in the news!
In the Wall Street Journal. Click here.
In the Philadelphia Inquirer. Click here.
On WHYY. Click here.

The commission of The News is made possible by the Philadelphia Theater Initiative (part of The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage).