CMU School of Drama


Friday, February 26, 2021

Natalie Ibu: “I think the sector has been too seduced by the idea of new and young and sexy”

Exeunt Magazine: “Oh Rosemary, we’ve got a problem on our hands!” exclaims Natalie Ibu, interrupting herself mid-way through chatting about her new role as Artistic Director of Northern Stage. The situation? Obi Puff Puff, an adorable white Maltese dog who’s the star of Ibu’s social media feed and who I instantly asked to meet at the start of the interview, has helped himself to an entire bag of treats intended to be kept out of his reach.

1 comment:

Victor Gutierrez said...

This artistic director sounds amazing. She has such great ideas about theater and what it should be. I didn’t know what to expect from this article. The quote got my attention as a cynic who likes shaking his fist at the cloud, but it was just so refreshing to hear someone say such smart things about so many different topics. I love all the ways they have planned a pandemic season from digital work to outdoor work, while still keeping live indoor theater as a planned part 3, never forgetting their roots. I know everyone is tired of zoom theater, and I truly hate the brady bunch format. I consume so much online digital content from twitch streams to podcasts, and I don’t know how we as an industry choose the worst format for online theater. That being said, I do hope more people follow Ibu’s plan for continuing digital programming in the future. It can do a lot of great work to make theater accessible and bring in new audience members.