Meeting Playwright Stephen Gracia and Director Michael LoPorto was a great experience. Both Mr. Gracia and Mr. LoPorto have full time jobs which they balance alongside their creative roles. This was very different to many of our other guests who had their artistic jobs as their full time jobs. Ms. Jenny West, however, did have a flexible book keeping job that helped her continue her artistic endeavors. This was interesting because they said without the pressure of earning money, there is little compromise in the production – rather it is pure expression. I have to say that I agreed with Mr. LoPorto’s opinion of when something becomes art. Art is a form of expression and does not need to be shared for it to be recognized as art (sorry Lisa!) I was also intrigued in hearing their opinion on the current state of productions and how they didn’t consider it theatre but rather some other form of art since a large part of the experience in theatre included the interaction and energy of the audience. Further, I came to learn about the loss or rather transfer of control when productions in theatre occur. Mr. Gracia often transfers control of his written play to the director whose role is to transform the vision, but as Mr. LoPorto said as the night of the show emerges, he slowly loses control as well and can only sit and watch the production at the end without interfering. Therefore, although a seemingly perfect play can be written, a perfect production is highly unlikely due the the many variables that may affect it. This was something we also heard about from Mr. Geoffrey Doig-Marx as he said that no two productions are the same and often times things go wrong which was one of the reasons he left productions and began choreographing. Hearing about their perspectives concerning art and theatre was definitely enlightening and entertaining as well!!