Category Archives: Artistic Directors

Sara Fellini, Adam Belvo, & Nicholas Thomas of “A Man Among Ye”

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Spit & Vigor presents A MAN AMONG YE by Sara Fellini, directed by Sara Fellini and Nicholas Thomas, at The Players TheatreListen in as writer/director/performer Sara Fellini, along with fellow actors Nicholas Thomas (co-director) and Adam Belvo (fight choreographer), discuss adding more balloons, doing the research, breast reveals, rowing in the same direction with your crew, the light with all the knowledge, lambs with faces, interesting translations, Tarantino’ing it, earning your rail jump, leaning into the “mistakes,” awesome wigs, and, of course, lady pirates.

“There’s so much value to it…if you’ve made the set yourself, if you’ve sewn your costume, you’re gonna care about it, you’re gonna know it more. You’re gonna love it. There’s nothing better, as an actor, than saying, ‘I made this’…”

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Nia Akilah Robinson & Julia Greer of “Push Party”

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TheaterLab and The Hearth present PUSH PARTY written by Nia Akilah Robinson, directed by Chesray DolphaListen in as Push Party playwright Nia Akilah Robinson, along with Producing Artistic Director of The Hearth Julia Greer, discuss just what a “push party” is, high school drama, naming characters, showing unspoken love, enmeshment, making peace with what’s passed down to us, showing up, and how friendship remains.

“…something that The Hearth was born out of is, wanting to make plays for people that may be going to school…that maybe don’t see themselves in a play. How could you pick up this play, and do it with your friends, and it would be accessible to you…”

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Melissa Ingle, Emily Conlon, and Sevrin Willinder of “Shakespeare Translate: The Complete Works”

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Devon Loves ME! productions presents SHAKESPEARE TRANSLATE THE COMPLETE WORKS as part of the Down to Clown Festival at The Vino Theater, BrooklynListen in as performers Sevrin Willinder and Emily Conlon and director Melissa Ingle, of Shakespeare Translate: The Complete Works, discuss translation order, opening up and exploring the box, post-COVID theatre, playing with the audience, the show’s resident ShakesPEER expert, connecting, and why liveness is so integral to being human.

“…it’s such a funny idea…but it proves the fallacy of technology, how it’s letting us down in some ways. But we still get to bring it into the room, and engage with it, and have fun with the miscommunications, which is very Shakespearean…”

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Cezar Williams & Danielle Covington of The Fire This Time Festival

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FRIGID New York presents the 2024 Fire This Time Festival, directed by Cezar Williams, at The Wild ProjectListen in as The Fire This Time Artistic Director & the plays’ director Cezar Williams, along with producer & performer Danielle Covington, discuss highlighting the small moments, finding compassion, developing playwrights, and what’s new this time with The Fire This Time.

“I always say that The Fire This Time Festival feels like a family reunion, and it feels like we just added a ton of new people to the family…”

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Tjaša Ferme, Nasay Ano, Melody Munitz, Arianne Banda, & Thammie Quach of “BIOADAPTED”

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Transforma Theatre Inc presents BIOADAPTED, created and directed by Tjaša Ferme, written by James Yu, Alexis Roblan, & Tjaša Ferme with transcripts and interviews, presented at CultureLab LICListen in as BIOADAPTED creator & director Tjaša Ferme, along with performers Nasay Ano, Melody Munitz, Arianne Banda, & Thammie Quach, discuss the benefits of a long development process, collaborating with AI, learning as an actor just what all these concepts mean, how to welcome an audience of theatre-people into a show about those same difficult tech concepts, the deep space/slow time benefit of a residency, mosaics, and show as meatball.

“…even if you’re someone who doesn’t know a ton about AI, or what’s inside that black box, or how it’s functioning in society right nows on the levels we can’t always see, I think people have a perception about what it is: maybe it’s creepy, maybe it’s robotic […] we had a lot of conversations about playing into the expectations of what an audience would think an AI would be, and how can we bend those expectations and expand on them…”

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Garrett Miller, Olivia Hewitt, Sabrina Gómez, Phanie Cherres, & Michael James Duran of “The Motherf**ker With the Hat”

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Hats Off Productions presents THE MOTHERFUCKER WITH THE HAT by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Luis-Daniel Morales, at The Chain TheatreListen in as The Motherf**ker With the Hat executive producers Garrett Miller (who also plays “Jackie”) and Olivia Hewitt (who also stage manages the show), along with performers Sabrina Gómez (“Veronica”), Phanie Cherres (“Victoria”), and Michael James Duran (“Ralph D”), discuss self-producing, considering your audience, growth between iterations, seat-filling strategies & guerrilla marketing, taking over postcard stands, and the utmost importance of making sure you’ve got a great show.

“…I think if you’re doing independent theatre, you’re doing it because you really want to do it, and that shows…like, this isn’t as far away as you think. It is accessible. It’s a lot of work…a f*ckton of work. But it’s doable…”

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Katie Palmer, Paul Bedard, & Jessie Atkinson of “The Nobodies Who Were Everybody”

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Theater in Asylum presents THE NOBODIES WHO WERE EVERYBODY, at Jalopy Theatre, BrooklynListen in as The Nobodies Who Were Everybody co-directors (and Theater in Asylum co-artistic directors) Katie Palmer and Paul Bedard, along with performer Jessie Atkinson, discuss the company’s devising process, why an important bit of American Theater history has seemingly been buried, moving from experiments to cabarets to full shows, working in theaters that aren’t “theaters,” on-the-fly rewrites, and how we might give artists, and audiences, what they need.

“Something’s gotta change. It’s a problem, that neither artists have the support they deserve, nor audiences have access to the art they deserve. That is a problem. […] Everyone in this country, artist or not, deserves to be able to put their skills to work, and put their passions to reality, and live a fulfilled life…”

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Lucie Tiberghien, Michelle Veintimilla, and Matthew Rauch of “Tartuffe or The Hypocrite”

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Moliere in the Park presents TARTUFFE, or, The Hypocrite, directed by Lucie Tiberghen, in Brooklyn's Prospect ParkListen in as Molière in the Park founding artistic director Lucie Tiberghien, director of the company’s World English-language Premiere of Molière’s original three-act version of TARTUFFE or The Hypocrite, along with performers Michelle Veintimilla and Matthew Rauch, discuss inviting in the audience, staying focused, feminism in 17th century France, creating space for open theatrical magic, and bringing accessible, free theatre to Brooklyn.

“…really, the idea is to democratize access to theatre, and also play our part in diversifying access. We have this vision that Brooklyn is a place where everyone can benefit equally from access to the arts, and to theatre.”

“It’s been so cool to see people walk by, and see them be intrigued, and then decide to sit and watch…”

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Randi Berry, Robert Lyons, Kristin Marting, & Daniella Topol of The West Village Rehearsal Co-Op

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Robert Lyons, Kristin Marting, Randi Berry, and Daniella Topol of the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op, photo by Jody ChristophersonListen in as Randi Berry, Executive Director of IndieSpace, Robert Lyons, Artistic Director of The New Ohio, Kristin Marting, Founding Artistic Director of HERE, & Daniella Topol, Artistic Director of Rattlestick Theater, discuss the creation of their “super-team,” working with a Community Board, how this space will deepen the work of the participating organizations, securing a 99-year lease, big checks, big scissors, and how to get in on the action and rehearse there with your project.

“…I think a huge thing about this is the 99 year lease, is the fact that this is a solid space for a very long period of time…”

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Diane Davis & Illana Stein of “Complicity”

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Eden Theater Company presents COMPLICITY, written by Diane Davis, directed by Illana Stein, at The New Ohio TheaterListen in as Complicity playwright Diane Davis, along with director Illana Stein, discuss finding a different way to approach a well-known story, the illusion of power, the timeliness of this play about history, holding each other accountable, “heart and humanity,” complexity in complicity, how systems perpetuate themselves, the importance of intimacy direction, and who is responsible when bad things happen.

“…this is the play of women trying to wrestle out their roles in allowing the deconstruction of rights…and the way that assault is perpetuated…We’d like to think it’s gone. The idealist is gonna say, ‘We’ve come so far!’…and yes, we’ve come a long way, but we still don’t have parity…those needles haven’t moved…”

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