New Jersey Stage 2017: Issue 2 | Page 19

ity of people in this country actually agree on basic concepts of fairness and kindness . I think what playwrights will do is to bring to life what that looks like in the specific lives of their characters . Or what the lack of these things might look like . Wallnau — They already have been doing so . Nothing has changed . This has been the creative fodder for almost all contemporary playwrights of stature .

What role do you see the arts

as playing in this new era of America ? Wallnau — The arts are the canary in the mines . They tell us what is going to happen and where we are going before we even are aware of where we are . I think the role of the artist is more important now than ever . The only person more important is the audience . Ekstrand — Arts have this amazing capacity to make people both step outside themselves and also look more deeply into