About
About me; or: What I'm about
My name is Max Andrew McCreary and I am a hearing-disabled and queer multi-discipline theatre artist dedicated to the exploration of artful communication, visual dynamism, and the language of empathy. As a director, dramaturg, and playwright I create rich, vibrant worlds for the stage, build cohesive ensembles, and facilitate an open and generative collaborative process on all fronts.
I grew up all across the country (Dallas, TX; Santa Fe, NM; Indianapolis, IN) and since high school have lived for significant periods in Atlanta, GA, Cleveland, OH, and Boston, MA. I received my BA in Playwriting from Emory University, where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with High Honors in Playwriting. My senior thesis play, Phantasmagoria, was awarded the 2018 Artistine Mann Award for Playwriting. At Emory I was also a member of the Stipe Society of Creative Scholars, Phi Beta Kappa, and Alpha Psi Omega. Most of my recent work has been with Cleveland Play House, training under their artistic department and assisting directors here at the regional level. I have found a profound love for literary management and dramaturgy, and am a proud member of LMDA.
Currently, I am the artistic director of Indy Bard Fest, and am in the midst of preparing for our upcoming festival while supporting our landmark production of Angels in America at Butler University, where we are presenting both Millennium Approaches and Perestroika. I am also the Director of Audience Engagement and IndyFringe where I work full-time, creating new resources for artists in our community and connecting local businesses to the performing arts.
Right now, intellectually, I’m particularly engaged with the conversation about ethnocentrism and heterocentrism in Theatre. White colonialism is fairly pervasive in the performing arts, and it’s about time that artists and administrators of privilege start taking steps to help fix that. I don’t pretend to have all (or any) of the answers, but a very wise woman once told me that the first job of a director is to identify the problem and from there, you and your collaborators can work together to solve it.
I also strongly believe that other artists are never my competition, but my community, and I have had the privilege of working with some pretty spectacular artists in my early career. Out of love for them, here is some information about some artists who have been especially influential in my career thus far (I’ll keep this list cycling through, especially as I meet new and wonderful collaborators).