Pangea 3000 isn't alone in looking towards the future.

Theatre Communications Group's 2008 National Conference will focus on the role of the theater as a source of community enrichment. You can read the full press release here, but the audacious assertion of TCG's vision for the theater is summarized thusly:

As theatre professionals and supporters, we know that theatre is vital to our communities, important to our education, and relevant to our lives. We know that some of the most complicated issues we face in our daily lives are investigated onstage, in the rehearsal room and at the writer’s desk.

Imagine a time when communities know that they can turn to the theatre for help understanding a complicated situation. How many of our community members see the relevance of theatre to their daily lives? How do theatres and artists share the power of this work in our communities, our country and around the world? What steps do we need to take in order to leverage the power of theatre in visionary and vital ways?

The notion of theatre's relevance in the current cultural climate is always a provocative question, but its capacity to drive dialogue at a policy level is even more intriguing. With that in mind, TCG asked several regional theatre producing organizations to make 3-minute videos about how they see themselves contributing to the art form's potential for the future, as well as to speculate about what that future might look like.

This being the New Roots Project, we'll showcase the response of New York's own Lark Play Development Center here, but all eight videos are worth watching.

Speaking of changing perceptions, you're hopefully, by this point, familiar with the PIT as a venue for high-quality improv and sketch comedy. They also occasionally offer interesting theatrical fare, such as their upcoming production of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter. Pinter is, of course, a controversial writer, but if you like his work, the opportunity to see it for $10 is hard to pass up. Personally, I adore Pinter's trademark sparseness and opacity of circumstance, and the PIT's relatively simple staging area will be an exciting venue to see these characteristics on display.