SET THE SCENE

BRADEN ABRAHAM recently moved to Chicago to take the artistic helm at Writers Theatre, Glencoe’s nationally recognized cultural destination for intimate and engaging theatre. He comes to Writers from Seattle Rep, one of the largest resident theatres in the Pacific Northwest, where he advanced the organization as a director and producer, including the development and premiere of many new plays. During his 20-year tenure, he directed six premieres, 20 total productions, and developed many new works through Seattle Rep’s New Play Program. Several projects evolving from this program went on to acclaimed runs at Seattle Rep and around the country, including Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s Come From Away, Cheryl L. West’s Shout Sister Shout!, Erica Schmidt’s Mac Beth, and Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice. Most recently, Abraham initiated 20×30: Reimagining the Anthropocene to commission 20 new plays by the year 2030, and New Directions, a unique commissioning program designed to support generative work from directors. Abraham is excited to join Writers Theatre where he plans to build on the theatre’s mission to center great writing through the work of visionary artists, forward its devotion to education programs, bring new voices to the stage, and build partnerships across the community. Abraham steps away from rehearsals to share how he stays on trend.

ON HIS NIGHTSTAND

“I read a lot of plays, and this is an incredible time for new writing. There is a ridiculous amount of talent out there. Some new scripts are sent to me by colleagues, other plays I seek out from writers I know or hear about, and then there are the plays that resurface, and for whatever reason I go back to. I find if you’re open, sometimes plays find you in uncanny ways. I like to drop into a bookstore (and I’m discovering there are some great ones here), or even scan my shelves at home and just see what play catches my eye, open it and read the first ten pages and see what happens. Rediscovering a play can be as thrilling as reading it for the first time. Lately, I’ve been drawn to memoirs and biographies of artists and thinkers whose work crosses disciplines. I recently finished a couple of incredible books recommended to me by friends. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf—a mesmerizing biography of Alexander von Humbolt, detailing his adventures in South America and Russia, and his profound impact on how we perceive the interconnectedness of the biosphere. Boyd Varty’s The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life is an entertaining, pithy, and wise meditation on life lessons learned from the art of tracking lions on an animal refuge his family founded in South Africa. I also just read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami’s memoir connecting his running and writing lives. On my road trip to Chicago from Seattle, I listened to Bono read his new book Surrender. He has walked the knife edge between art and activism throughout his career. Also, I grew up in the ‘80s and early ‘90s and wore out my cassette tapes of The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. U2 is one of those bands ingrained in my adolescent consciousness.”

IN HIS EARBUDS

“I’m enjoying The Way Out is In, a podcast exploring different aspects of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings through interviews about daily life inside the Plum Village monastic community. I started listening to The History of English Podcast. It’s super nerdy, but I find it fascinating. Design Matters is one I go back to now and then. Regarding music, I’m happy to be in Wilco’s hometown, one of my favorite bands. I saw The Smile recently— Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s new side project. The concert blew me away. They are absolute masters. I have a 12-year-old daughter, so we listen to a fair share of pop music at our house: Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles. My daughter is expanding into indie now too, which being the Gen Xer that I am, is more familiar territory. I have not succeeded yet in turning her onto some of my favorite jazz artists: Coleman Hawkins, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, and Sonny Rollins.”

ON HIS MOBILE

“There are a few blogs I occasionally visit. Maria Popova’s The Marginalian is extraordinary and invaluable. I don’t know how she maintains her output, but the number of overlooked literary gems she finds, her deep inquiry into the human endeavor, and her eloquence expressing the quandaries and joys of life, is astonishing.”