Edited by Klein and Eburne, with a preface by Jonathan P. Eburne
“An Alchemy of Living Culture is a vivid chronicle of director Stacy Klein's personal and professional transitions, offering a rare glimpse into the creative processes that shaped her groundbreaking work in theater and cultural activism. Much more than memoir, the book is a guide to finding authenticity and purpose amid the complexities of modern life. As Klein herself writes, ‘Our mission is a journey that holds space for authenticity, interaction, identity, for whoever is seeking creative, emotional, spiritual, and political clarity.’ Written in a direct and personal way, Klein creates an intimate link with the reader as she eloquently describes the forty-year trajectory of her Double Edge Theatre.”
Anne Bogart
“As for a vision of theater that welcomes its sacred responsibility to create its own powerfully imaginative world — “wild, dangerous, and beautiful” — not only theater lovers but artists of all persuasion should pick up An Alchemy of Living Culture: Collected Writing on Double Edge Theatre by the company’s founder and artistic director emerita, Stacy Klein. She started the ensemble in 1982 (I panned its first show in a WBUR review) and moved it in 1992 to a former dairy farm in Ashfield, Massachusetts. The volume collects a generous selection of Klein’s texts, including notes to Double Edge productions, excerpts from letters, artist statements, transcriptions of discussions with students, addresses to workshops, etc. Also included: a helpful timeline listing the company’s decades of productions, and a preface by an academic who argues for Klein’s importance as a theater creator of the first rank, a resourceful leader who also served as “a facilitator of possibilities, as an intermediary, and as a mentor.”
Bill Marx, The Arts Fuse, December 2025
“Stacy Klein’s An Alchemy of Living Culture: Collected Writing on Double Edge Theatre is a masterclass on self-awareness and community building. The book takes writings from director notes, journals, letters and more to share not only the history of Double Edge Theatre but also the personal journey Klein has taken, not only as an artist but also as a community member and activist. Klein speaks to the idea that art can change the world while also reckoning with the nature of the world we live in and the complexities that exist within it. She does this by taking readers through the ongoing lifespan of Double Edge Theatre, several productions and personal explorations. This book is not a ‘how to’ but more of a digest of self-reflecting questions we, as artists, should be asking ourselves in our own work.”
Aubrey Mann, Drama Research, April 2026
