The stuff of dreams

by Leah Hager Cohen

"Leah Hager Cohen entered the world of community theater, where she was fascinated by the magical pageantry and complex camaraderie she found among its small-town adult participants. Looking back on that experience, she writes that it was the first time she had "seen the stuff of dreams come seriously to life."". "Twenty years later, Cohen found her way to a community theater near Boston, Massachusetts, one of the many thousands like it in America, and set out to chronicle what would be an extraordinary year. Arlington Friends of the Drama had just celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary, was embroiled in disputes over structural changes proposed to help it adapt to changing times, and was about to hold auditions for its most controversial production to date, M. Butterfly.". "As members of the theater immerse themselves in the production, we witness Celia, the brilliant, hard-driving director, and her struggles with the stars of the play - Patrick, a shy newcomer to the group who play