Honoring a Playwright in a Playwright's Town

I'm attending the 27th annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas, this week. This is my 17th trip to Independence. My first festival was in 1991 when the honoree was Edward Albee. Since then I've met such people as Robert Anderson, Neil Simon, Peter Shaffer, Wendy Wasserstein, Arthur Miller, Jerry Lawrence, August Wilson, Stephen Sondheim, Tina Howe, John Guare, and countless other people who've made a lasting impression on me. And it was at last year's festival that I met Rachel Charlop-Powers who became the driving force behind the premiere last winter of Can't Live Without You.

This year's honoree is Christopher Durang, who, as the author of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, has the honor -- along with Melissa -- of incurring the wrath of Bill Donahue.

I'm blogging about it over at Bark Bark Woof Woof, including some background on the festival and the little town that has been celebrating the life and work of a playwright in his hometown. The only other town that does that is Stratford-upon-Avon.