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With an extensive, exquisite career in the theatre, 91看片网 alumnus听Taylor听Mac听(鈥�96) loves to pull at traditional techniques and turn them on their head. Recipient of the听MacArthur Fellowship (the 鈥淕enius Grant鈥� as it's known informally), winner of the Drama League Award, the Guggenheim Award, the International Ibsen Award, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist,听Machas worked in theaters across the globe, from New York to Los Angeles and Sydney to Stockholm, all with a uniquely听Mac听style.听

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Mac's determination to create theatre goes beyond a desire to merely entertain; judy (lowercase sic, which听Mac听uses as a gender pronoun) creates theatre intended to challenge audiences. After graduating from The 91看片网,听Mac听penned several plays as a young actor in New York. In 2002听The Face of Liberalismmade its premiere at the Slide Bar in New York City, debuting听Mac's cabaret-style to New York audiences鈥攁 style judy continues to pioneer.

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Mac听remembers navigating the industry with both confusion and awe during judy鈥檚 first years out of drama school: 鈥淚 discovered this club world that was so fascinating in the sense that there were rules, but they were completely different. You didn鈥檛 have to ask permission to be creative鈥攜ou could just show up and do it.鈥� A 鈥渓iberating鈥� way to view art,听Mac听holds this close and creates work that goes against typical social constructs.

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Premiering in 2016,听Mac听unveiled a 24-hour epic titled听A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. Throughout the day-long journey, audience members are transported decade-by-decade through the history of the United States, from 1776 to the present. Each decade receives one hour, extravagant costuming, and ten songs from the time. The piece has garnered widespread acclaim for its length (a feat unto itself) and frequent audience involvement鈥攁t one point, audience members have an unhinged ping-pong match.听

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鈥淭he show is about different communities that are building themselves because they're being torn apart... the AIDS epidemic鈥攖he queer community built itself because of the epidemic and because of the government and how it was treating queers at the time,鈥� says听Mac.

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In 2013,听Hir听(pronounced 鈥渉ere,鈥� and the preferred gender pronoun of Max, the play's protagonist) debuted at the Magic Theater in San Francisco. A dramedy though听Mac听prefers to think of it as 鈥渁bsurd realism,鈥澨�Hir听is 鈥渁 piece that is addressing homogeneity and heterogeneity, and it is trying to be multiple things in a world that鈥檚 asking it to be one thing.鈥�

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The play follows a straightforward 鈥渒itchen sink鈥� format and is in part based on judy鈥檚 upbringing in Stockton, California. 鈥淲e always think of the prodigal son as the metaphor for America, what if the metaphor for America was the transgender kid.鈥澨齅ac听begs the question: 鈥淲hat does that do to our understanding of the United States?鈥澨齏ith over 70 productions and as the recipient of the Sydney Theatre Award for Best New Play in 2017,听Hir听has become an important piece of contemporary theatre. The play is analyzed in drama classes around the country signaling its presumed importance in shaping the future of the American Theatre.

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It wasn't until 2019 that听Mac's work made it to The Great White Way.听Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus听made its premiere at the Booth Theatre on April 21st of that year, with Nathan Lane in the titular role. The curtain rises on Gary, a janitor tasked with cleaning up the mounds of corpses left at the conclusion of听Titus Andronicus, one of Shakespeare鈥檚 most gruesome plays. In the midst of this brutality,听Macwasn鈥檛 afraid to indulge in some over-the-top comedy, with a particularly jarring stage direction reading: 鈥淭here is at least 1,000 corpses on the stage,鈥� that opens the play. With its thousand corpses, the play was uplifted by creative sets and staging, costumes and makeup, all that set the show apart from others on Broadway. While Gary cleans up the lifeless, mangled remains of Romans, he questions the purpose of his own life. The play received seven Tony Award nominations.

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It seems fitting for听Mac, who has a taste for cabaret-style theatre, would have developed a holiday show. Titled听Holiday Sauce,听Mac听put the show online and appropriately titled it听Holiday Sauce鈥�Pandemic!听during the coronavirus pandemic that swept across the globe. Unable to follow an in-person touring schedule, the production was broadcast internationally just in time for the holidays.听

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Last spring听Mac听performed听Whitman in the Woods, a project that explores one of America's most prolific writers, Walt Whitman. The project marks the debut of听Mac听as the first artist-in-residence for ALL ARTS, a new position for the multimedia platform with a 鈥渄evotion to numerous artistic genres.鈥�

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With听Whitman in the Woods,听Mac听performs several of Whitman's poems outdoors and in drag, with judy's flair for the theatrical. The piece is intended to be light, comedic, and brings a queer lens (one that is often overlooked) to the poet's work. Of this,听Mac听says 鈥淟ike many others, my introduction to Whitman happened indoors and in an academic, humorless, and heterosexual lens. Whitman was so clearly in love with the outside world and with men, and he had a unique sense of humor. This is our way of finding the fairy in Whitman, by which I mean, the queer and the wood spirit. I sing America indeed.鈥�

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For this project,听Mac听collaborated with Noah Greenberg, a cinematographer making his directorial debut with 鈥淲hitman in the Woods.鈥� The project was produced with Pomegranate Arts.

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Mac鈥檚 inclination to bring a queer lens to historical LGBTQ+ figures continues with听The Hang. Described as a 鈥渞itual celebration of queerness, questions, and the eternity of a moment,鈥澨�The Hang听is 鈥渞ooted in the jazz tradition and operatic form, it imagines the final hours of the life of Socrates.鈥�

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Read more about听Mac鈥檚 career听.