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Twelve Esteemed and Emerging Playwrights Meet in Princeton This June For McCarter’s 17th Annual Retreat
It’s that time of year again! For the 17th summer, McCarter is inviting a select group of artists – playwrights, composers, directors - to Princeton for eight to ten days of uninterrupted time to work, research, and renew at the Palmer House, Princeton University’s historic guesthouse.
The Sallie B. Goodman Artists’ Retreat provides artists with the opportunity to enjoy space and time to focus on any creative exploration of their choosing, with no mandate. This year’s retreat takes place from June 6 – June 13.
The fluid and relaxed nature of the Retreat fosters a restorative, supportive, and meaningful environment for busy writers juggling production commitments, deadlines, and freelance schedules. Connecting with colleagues over intimate dinners and outdoor activities—along with personal writing time in a spectacular setting—has proven to be creatively inspiring and rejuvenating.
The annual Retreat in June is a centerpiece of McCarter’s LAB, a platform and creative incubator devoted to ongoing theatrical development and artist cultivation.
Past retreat artists and works developed in residence include: Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays; Sarah Ruhl’s Clean House; Danai Gurira’s The Convert; Christopher Durang’s Miss Witherspoon; Will Power’s Fetch Clay, Make Man; Beth Henley’s Ridiculous Fraud; Lydia Diamond’s Stick Fly; and Take Flight by John Weidman, David Shire, and Richard Maltby, Jr.
Who knows, the next great American play might be started right here in Princeton. It wouldn’t be the first time! Here’s a little more about this year’s visiting artists.
About the 2018 Retreat Artists
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About Sallie Brophy Goodman
The Artists’ Retreat is named for Sallie Brophy Goodman, a friend and supporter of McCarter Theatre Center for 40 years before her death in 2007. Goodman graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 1950, and her arrival in New York coincided with the ''golden age'' of American television. She worked with actors ranging from Jack Lemmon to Cliff Robertson, and directors from Sidney Lumet to Arthur Penn. Among the many segments she did were those on The US Steel Hour, The Dick Powell Show, Kraft Theater, Ben Casey, Medic, and The Fugitive. On Broadway, she appeared in The Second Threshold and played Wendy, grown-up, in the 1954 Broadway musical Peter Pan with Mary Martin. In 1958 she starred in her own series, Buckskin, a Western. She had a featured role in the 1961 film, The Children's Hour, with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, which won 5 Academy Awards. She also appeared in the film, Storm Center with Bette Davis. She married Jerry Goodman in 1961, and when the couple moved to Princeton in 1965, she directed student productions at Theatre Intime on the Princeton University campus. She taught theater and acting for 20 years at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. The Sallie B. Goodman Artists’ Retreat honors her legacy by supporting theater artists who choose to practice their craft in a not-for-profit environment.