"The war is coming, dude.” So says a central character in one of the most talked about plays of the year. Is she right? Could be, who knows. But if a civil war returns, Will Arbery is undoubtedly the right playwright to spin our basest impulses into high art. In this “backdrop eavesdrop,” Kevin and Will speak one-on-one only days after Will’s play Heroes of the Fourth Turning landed on a heap of ’top 10’ lists in 2019. They talk empathy, writing anxiety, and the obstacles in offering a political play in hyper-political times.

A highly acclaimed production of Heroes of the Fourth Turning directed by Danya Taymor was presented at Playwrights Horizons in the Fall of 2019. It was chosen as a New York Times Critics Pick and was named to its Top Ten of 2019 list.

Read the New York Times review by Jesse Green: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/theater/heroes-of-the-fourth-turning-review.html

Read the five star review by Helen Shaw in Time Out New York: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/heroes-of-the-fourth-turning

Follow Will Arbery on Twitter at @willarbery and on Instagram at @warbery.

Connect with us

Follow Kevin Bleyer and Nella Vera on Twitter: @kevinbleyer / @spinstripes

The Backdrop on Twitter and Instagram: @backdroppodcast

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Email us with story ideas or feedback: BackdropPodcast@gmail.com

Credits

The Backdrop is hosted by Kevin Bleyer and produced by Nella Vera.

The Backdrop artwork is by Philip Romano.

Special thanks to Eva Dickerman.