MARYANN GREEN

Multi-talented teacher finds creative happy place

Maryann Green is a theater teacher, director, producer and occasional performer. All of those talents help her excel at advancing Tucson’s theater scene, particularly at its burgeoning fringe.

For Green, freewheeling fringe theater and other unconventional efforts that give artists and audiences opportunities to connect during live performances are the basis of her creative happy place.

Creating Spaces

Green is executive director of the Tucson Fringe Festival (celebrating its ninth annual event this month), organizer of the Beer with the Bard pub crawl and producer of Live Theatre Workshop’s Etcetera series, featuring late-night avantgarde works. All of this is in addition to being a longtime theater teacher at Rincon and University high schools and part of Female StoryTellers.

“What I have decided I do best is create space for other people to do what they do best,” Green says. “That falls into everything that I’m doing. For my teaching, I’m giving my students the freedom to express themselves and learn about themselves and to explore identities and relationships. With [the fringe festival and Etcetera], I’m giving artists space to create things that nobody else is giving them space to do.”

Expanding Opportunities

Green came to Tucson 1996 for the narrow purpose of earning a University of Arizona degree to teach theater. By chance and to her delight, Tucson served up fringe and a whole new world she loves exploring. She doesn’t know what’s next, but she’ll continue to take her chances with the Old Pueblo.

“Tucson has been very good to me, giving me opportunities to do what I love to do,” Green says. “I’m just going to let Tucson show me what to do next.”

Do you know an Arts Hero? Someone who works tirelessly to strengthen, improve and enhance the arts in our community?

Nominate him or her at onmediaaz.com

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