Article January 14, 2008 Issue

REMOVING THE BARRIERS TO CREATIVITY

Kim Shippey with contributions from PRESTON WHITEWAY

The Sentinel's Kim Shippey profiles PRESTON WHITEWAY, Executive Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. They spoke before and after two evening performances last summer at the O'Neill, and, in the fall, in a window seat at a pizza parlor made famous by Julia Roberts in the 1988 movie Mystic Pizza.

On a sunlit June evening, Preston Whiteway looks out from the windows of his office toward Long Island Sound. People have gathered to picnic on the lawns before they take their seats in The Barn, which houses two stages, or on the bleachers at two outdoor theater spaces.

"Throughout our summer program," says Preston, "I just can't help thinking about the people of all ages blending, interacting, inspiring, helping one another to remove barriers to creativity. No limits to the breadth or height of their vision. So many artists, especially young artists, showing adventurousness and imagination as they go about developing their work under the supervision of seasoned professionals."

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