Cezar Williams & Danielle Covington of The Fire This Time Festival

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”

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”

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”

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”

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

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”

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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Heather E. Cunningham & Sara Thigpen of “On the Verge”

Retro Productions presents Eric Overmyer's ON THE VERGE at The Gene Frankel Theater, directed by Sara ThigpenListen in as Retro Productions Artistic Director Heather E. Cunningham, who also plays Fanny in the cast, along with director Sara Thigpen, discuss looking at the past through the lens of theatre and theatre through the lens of history, enthusiasm to jump in and play, suggestions vs. specificity, getting back to the live space post-COVID, and how it seems like everything comes back around again, in their production of Eric Overmyer’s On the Verge.

“…I love what it says about America, what it says about our history. The language is beautiful…”

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Alec Duffy & Lori Elizabeth Parquet of “White on White”

Hoi Polloi presents WHITE ON WHITE, written by Robert Quillen Camp, co-directed by Alec Duffy & Lori Elizabeth Parquet, at JACK BrooklynListen in as White on White co-directors Alec Duffy & Lori Elizabeth Parquet discuss the Hoi Polloi process, developing and discovering a play with the playwright, avoiding spoilers, how to examine whiteness in a theatrical context, troubling the waters, taking theatre to an extreme place, and asking questions that we’re all “answering for ourselves, all the time.”

“…this is difficult stuff to talk about intellectually, let alone theatrically…to really tell the truth about what whiteness is. Because I feel like one of the tools of whiteness is to be vague about it, to be obscure about it, to not be straightforward about it…so that it can continue to exist…”

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Kirk Gostkowski & Deven Anderson of “Garbageman”

The Chain Theatre presents Keith Huff's GARBAGEMAN, directed by Greg Cicchino, featuring Kirk Gostkowski and Deven AndersonListen in as Garbageman performers Kirk Gostkowski and Deven Anderson discuss seeing the familiar onstage, truth in absurdity, the benefits of repartee, how the audience interacts with juxtaposed seriousness and silliness, how a difficult piece morphs and changes over time, and searching for the American dream.

“…the bottom line with this piece is, I feel like this topic needs to be discussed. And people are afraid to discuss it. Because what does it mean? What does it mean about our humanity, what does it mean about our families, and our neighbors, and people that we know in our society…and we can’t just sweep it under the rug. The only way things gets better is if we discuss it…It’s about humanity, ultimately…”

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