NPR Topics: Performing Arts

• 'The Vibrator Play': Why Yes, It Is About Exactly That

  Any short list of important young American playwrights would have to include Sarah Ruhl, who at age 35 has had work performed at major theaters around the country. She made her Broadway debut Nov. 19, with a period drama called In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play. But as Jeff Lunden reports, it's as much about intimacy and honesty as about sexuality.

• Blanchett's Blanche, A Capital Conversation-Starter

  Washington, D.C. has been talking for weeks about a performance New Yorkers are still waiting to see: Cate Blanchett's Blanche DuBois. Now the Oscar-winning actress and passionate anti-global warming activist sits down for a talk with Diane Rehm.

• One-Woman Show Explores Human Side Of Health Care

  Actress Anna Deavere Smith traveled across the country interviewing people about their thoughts on health care. From an injured bull rider to a medical school dean, she recounts what she heard through monologues in her latest documentary-style theater production, Let Me Down Easy.

• Theater Producer Takes The Stage As New NEA Chair

  Former Broadway producer Rocco Landesman is about to embark on a journey that will take him way off-Broadway: Peoria, Ill. is his first stop on "Art Works," a six-month tour of arts organizations around the country.