I’m the Director of the EST/Sloan Project and EST’s Director of Play Development. It’s an amazing job: nurturing plays from the earliest idea to a final draft, nurturing a community that comes together to support each other’s work over years and decades. It's a joy to be in the room for the first reading of a play; it’s also thrilling to watch a playwright write their second, third and fourth plays, developing their voice over time. At EST they get the chance to do that.

Michael Walek and I both came to EST in 2008, when I joined the staff and he joined Youngblood. By the time he wrote Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother? in 2017, we'd begun collaborating in readings and Youngblood Brunch plays. We dove into the world of Jane Goodall with actors Michael met through EST who understood his sharp humor and stylistic irreverence. We were incredibly lucky that Kristin Griffith, a consummate EST actor, joined us to play Jane’s mother Vanne from the first reading, through multiple workshops, all the way into production seven years later.

The artistic relationships we both formed through EST – with Kristin, with the community, with each other – grew and deepened during EST’s long commitment to developing the script. That commitment led not only to a breakthrough play for Michael, but to artistic partnerships that we’ll carry forward for the rest of our lives. That’s what EST does, what it’s always done, since 1968.

The EST/Sloan Project is a cornerstone of this work, commissioning plays that use stories of science to explore our understanding of what it means to be human. EST/Sloan plays such as Photograph 51, Isaac’s Eye, and what you are now unearth hidden facets of history, probe the origin stories of scientific giants, and ask urgent questions about science and contemporary life. These plays and the hundreds of others fostered here constitute a theatre sub-genre unto itself, a lasting contribution to American playwriting.

The time and care that takes is extraordinary – the deep engagement that EST offers to promising plays and artists, supporting their vision, helping it become potent and effective on its terms. On every project, EST helps artists think more deeply, improve the work, and develop our own craft. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation provides tremendous support to make this happen, but EST’s work is only possible thanks to the generous help of our full community of artists, audiences, and donors.

I hope you will consider supporting EST’s mission with a donation as we reach the end of our season. Your support makes all the difference.

Many theaters put up great plays, but EST does that while also nurturing artists and the community. That is something special that we’re excited to continue into next season and many more in the future.

Linsay Firman

Director of Play Development, Director of the EST/Sloan Project,
Director of Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother, & EST Member Artist

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