In November, she’ll direct Lloyd Suh’s ”Franklinland,” a father-son rumination on founding father Benjamin Franklin. “I feel really blessed to be able to walk out the door with such generosity still surrounding me.”As producing artistic director, Walton has been the public face of Curious. He has fostered a relationship with the nonprofit theater’s board of directors. He’s been the creative strategist.
Asked what Walton and Covington imparted Curious with, Dixon answers emphatically. “Rigor. There’s a rigor that they require, that they ask, that they present, that they ensure in the space. Dee’s approach to that rigor always comes from embracing, from exploration and curiosity. She’s always looking for the magical, but in alignment to the rigor.”
“Chip has been quite good at coming up with a season that pushes the envelope,” says Jeremy Shamos, one of the company’s most avid supporters, its current board vice president and honorary lifetime president. “What’s funny to me is that the push to do shows with female authors or female directors or BIPOC creators, Chip has been doing that without a gun at his head for years — sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully — but pushing ahead anyway.
“I had never been to Curious,” he begins. “There are a whole bunch of theaters in this town that I’ve never been to, and I’m a snob. I grew up in New York.”