Ayad Akhtar, Whose ‘The Who & the What’ & ‘Invisible Hand’ Wowed MTC Audiences, to Lead PEN America

Marin Theatre Company has long cultivated theatrical talent and relationships far beyond its immediate purview in Mill Valley.

​MTC Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis and his team got another reminder of that fact this week when playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar, whose plays Invisible Hand and The Who & the What wowed audiences in 2016 and 2019, respectively, was named the next president of PEN America, the renowned nonprofit literary and human rights organization, according to the New York Times.

Akhtar won the Pulitzer for his play “Disgraced” in 2013, and is publishing a highly anticipated new novel, “Homeland Elegies,” on Sept. 15. He will officially take over the president’s role at PEN America on Dec. 2, the Times reported.

Akhtar also just “Homeland Elegies,” “a beautiful novel about an American son and his immigrant father that has echoes of “The Great Gatsby” and that circles, with pointed intellect, the possibilities and limitations of American life.

​Here’s an update from Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis about new board arrivals, plans for indoor, outdoor and digital performances, and the upcoming season.

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