I’m still out in Saginaw, Michigan, enjoying the shows at The American College Theater Festival’s Region Three annual gathering. It’s both nostalgic and refreshingly new to be with a large group of young people exploring theater’s past and trying to move an art form in to the future—while at the same time, trying to figure out who they are as individuals. It makes me feel old and young all at the same time.

I went to school for theater in this general region, so maybe seeing college kids taking a swing at the classics while trying to assert themselves, resonates in particular with me. There’s a large part of who I am that is still the lost, idealistic child I was all those years ago. I hope that will be true for all the students here—except for the lost part. I mean, it’s always best to be a little lost. I guess I think the best way to live a life is to engage the past, stretch your understanding of the present and dream about the future—and to dismiss all rules, but only after you’ve learned them. Skepticism and idealism are perfect life companions.