Atw - Downstage Center

As she celebrates her 20th season as artistic director of Princeton's McCarter Theatre, Emily Mann recalls the factors she considered when taking on the job; counsel she received at the time from directors Peter Hall and Mark Lamos; how she has evolved the McCarter audience in the direction of the work that most appeals to her; and her unique role as artistic director, director and playwright - including whether each of those roles ever gets in the way of the others. She also talks about making her way in the theatre as a female director and playwright coming up in the 1970s; her breakthrough as the first woman to direct on the mainstage of the Guthrie Theatre during Alvin Epstein's brief tenure leading the company; the development of her own playwriting style of documentary theatre through such acclaimed plays as "Still Life" and "Execution of Justice"; sharing a toast with Harold Pinter just after President Obama's election; working with Edward Albee on several plays, notably his newest, "Me Myself & I"; an