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2020 Barnard Hewitt Award, honorable mentionWashington D.C.'s Arena Stage was the first professional regional theatre in the nation's capital to welcome a racially integrated audience; the first to perform behind the Iron Curtain; and the first to win the Tony Award for best regional theatre. This behind-the-scenes look at one of the leading theatres in the United States shows how key financial and artistic decisions were made, using a range of archival materials such as letters and photographs as well as interviews with artists and administrators. Close-ups of major productions from The Great White Hope to Oklahoma! illustrate how Arena Stage navigated cultural trends.More than a chronicle, America in the Round is a critical history that reveals how far the theatre could go with its budget and racially liberal politics, and how Arena both disputed and duplicated systems of power. With an innovative &quote;in the round&quote; approach, the narrative simulates sitting in different parts of the arena space to see the theatre through different lenses-economics, racial dynamics, and American identity.