Big Bad Theatre Week

"I'm here and you're not." - Jon Jory

My Days in HumanaLand

Pre Show

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Some Humana Links

The "Every Humana Play Ever" List

2005 Humana Coverage
(for Theatre Summit)

Official Humana Blog

Published Anthologies

Courier-Journal Coverage

Humana Lists

Jon Jory's list of "what else about this off-gated, mistake prone, stubborn survivor of a theatrical critter inclined it to make it an indelible mark on the late twentieth century American theatre (and beyond):"
  • It has an amusement-park-ride nature, and nobody (and I mean no sane anybody) sees seven to te plays in three days as a matter of simple, common sense. It's a theatergoing Everest.

  • Groups of plays create a synergy that no single play can provide. This is the secret lure of the Shakespeare Festival, only here we aren't marveling at the breadth of a single mind but unraveling an identifying the animating threads of our American culture.

  • It's the perfect professional convention, low on speakers, high on entertainment, with a bar on the premises in an odd geographical cranny.

  • It offers the "Aha!" experience, which has gotten hard to come by in our lightning-quick media culture, and a delicious one-upmanship on those who didn't make the trip.

  • It's extremely comforting to see so many theatre people from around the world in one place at one time - sort of like a gathering of the triceratops. People in our profession very seldom get to feel the reassuring buzz of strength in numbers.

  • Cheering. Most of us haven't rooted for anything since middle school and have completely forgotten how good that feels. Plus, who could be jealous of playwrights, the poor sods.

  • Selling and buying. The urgency and competitive hubbub of the bazaar. Taking meetings. Feeling like a player. Hey, it's an illusion in this business, where there's seldom money at stake, but it still has the tacky glamour of the nickel slots.

  • Exclusivity. I'm here and you're not. What's not to like about that? Pluus, so many have come for so long that it's like the annual meeting at the Elks Club.

  • Weird place. A German critic wrote that my father came down the river on a raft and started the theatre. I mean, it's exotic - "You went where to what??"

  • The pleasure of feeling amazed by good work. It's like finding out at the wedding that your cousin-once-removed can really sing.
    Top Ten Humana Shows I've Seens in Louisville
    (SITI shows excluded.)
    1. Touch
    2. Finer Noble Gases
    3. Big Love
    4. The Faculty Room
    5. Omnium-Gatherum
    6. Sovereignty
    7. Ruby Sunrise
    8. Tape
    9. After Ashley
    10. The Shaker Chair
    Most Hated Humana Shows I've Seen in Louisville
    1. Rembrandt's Gift
    2. Intern shows!!!
    3. Ten Minute Plays!!!
    4. The Scene
    5. Tallgrass Gothic
    6. Memory House
    7. Orange Lemon Egg Canary
    8. Kid Simple
    9. Limonade Tous Les Jours
    10. The Lively Lad
    My Schedule for this year.
    3.28.06
    2:30pm Six Years
    7:30pm Act a Lady

    3.29.06
    1:30pm Low's Journey
    7:00pm Hotel Cassiopeia

    3.31.06
    7:30pm The Scene
    10:30pm Neon Mirage (maybe)

    4.01.06
    5pm Hotel Cassiopeia
    9pm Ten Minute Plays

    4.02.06
    12:30pm Natural Selection
    4pm Hotel Cassiopeia
    8pm Hotel Cassiopeia

    • What up in Louisville?