Melissa Moschitto & Mariah Freda of “Artemisia’s Intent”

Posted on February 15, 2018 by robby

Listen in as performer Mariah Freda & director/”script assembler” Melissa Moschitto of The Anthropologists‘ new show Artemisia’s Intent discuss the company’s approach to devising, the well-meaning wish of “break a frame,” skirts from tablecloths, working from found texts, activating original art, and the resonance of 17th Century baroque painting with #MeToo.

“…pressing up these two points in time, with 400 years in between them, there’s actually still a lot with us, and we’re trying to point that out, and be, like, ‘now what?’ Let’s move forward from that…”

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Alexander V. Thompson, Brad Raimondo, Greg Carere, Simon Winheld, & Rosie Sowa of “Pete Rex”

Posted on February 13, 2018 by robby

Listen in as the team behind the world premiere of Pete Rex—playwright Alexander V. Thompson, director Brad Raimondo, and performers Greg Carere, Simon Winheld, and Rosie Sowa—discuss the uses & dangers of fantasy, making your hometown a central character in your script, eerie resonance with the political moment, fun actor challenges, familiarity with the characters and situations onstage, loving someone while hating their inaction, crossing Ionesco with Albee, and, of course, dinosaurs.

“…this place that had been something, and turned into kind of a ‘non-place’ through the loss of industry, and the loss of jobs, and the economy. And we were all, ‘that feels like it should be in here now’…I think that’s something that we really want people to take away…the experience of these places…that have gone from thriving, to nowhere, and what that does to people…”

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Lynnea Benson, Marcus Watson, Amy Frances Quint, Erick Gonzalez, Kyle Primack, and Kevin Hauver of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Posted on February 6, 2018 by robby

Listen in as director Lynnea Benson and performers Marcus Watson, Amy Frances Quint, Erick Gonzalez, Kyle Primack, and Kevin Hauver of Frog & Peach Theatre Company‘s new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, discuss why the company returned to the forest outside of Athens, bucket-list roles, the politics of Midsummer, playing different roles in the same play after six years, trusting collaborators to push you in new and exciting directions, and how to not only give the audience what they want, but what you think they might need.

“…we wanted something that could also reach out to families with children, and younger people, people who think they know Midsummer but maybe don’t know it the Frog & Peach way. Also, we never miss an opportunity with the present company to do a comedy…”

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Larry Phillips, Ben Liebert, and Peter Buck Dettmann of “Koalas are Dicks”

Posted on February 5, 2018 by robby

Listen in as actor Peter Buck Dettmann (“Brody”), director Ben Liebert, and playwright/actor Larry Phillips (“Davey”) of Koalas are Dicks discuss turning a six-foot man into a koala, finding sight gags, inspiration from Charlie Sheen, writing to your actor’s Aussie accent, finding a balance between groan-worthy and intellectual humor, and using abstraction through the absurd to get closer to the ridiculous & terrible truth.

“…there’s a lovely irony that the koala is the only one who seems to understand how worthless what they’re doing is…it is very liberating, that fantasy element…being a six-foot-tall dude playing a tiny koala, if the audience follows you on that, they’re with you…”

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Brett Evan Solomon, Kelsey Lurie, and Gabriel Vasquez of “SOMEONEPLEASELISTENANDUNDERSTAND (they’re wiretapping our brains)”

Posted on January 25, 2018 by robby

Listen in as writer & performer Brett Evan Solomon, director & performer Kelsey Lurie, and performer Gabriel Vasquez of SOMEONEPLEASELISTENANDUNDERSTAND (they’re wiretapping our brains) discuss collaborative creation, mediatization, putting a podcast into the live theatre realm, “abstracting feelings,” how technology and the people around you can shape identity, surveillance, and developing a shared language with your close collaborators.

“…that screen is not a threat to me as a performer; that’s my friend…”

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Jamal Abdunnasir, Lauren Larocca, and Peregrine Teng Heard of “Sheila”

Posted on January 22, 2018 by robby

Listen in as three of the five company members of The Associates—director Jamal Abdunnasir, and performers Lauren Larocca & Peregrine Teng Heard—discuss their new collectively-devised “waking nightmare” Sheila, exploring the intersection of the mundane with the grotesque, the role of improvisation in their process, how they work with non-Associate associates, and why the company likes to make things just a little bit scary.

“…I think what we’ve found out about ourselves is that we write almost as much as we create in the room, that we all find a lot of value in putting down proposals on paper. Jamal happens to work a lot in stage directions, and I happen to work a lot in action, and then there’s dialogue people…the important thing is for everyone to be able to jump into all these characters…”

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Jessica Burr & Nancy McArthur of “The Snow Queen”

Posted on January 11, 2018 by robby

Listen in as director Jessica Burr and performer Nancy McArthur (“Gerda”) of Blessed Unrest‘s original adaptation of The Snow Queen discuss how the company came to create a show geared toward young people, working with 10-year-old collaborators in the rehearsal room, “dulling as we age,” Blessed Unrest’s devising techniques, the importance of having your designers involved all through the process, workshops on devising & physical theatre (2/13–3/6), and why kids can be the perfect audience for abstract storytelling.

“…for me, it’s the story of a really courageous young girl, who displays her power in a way that is actually very feminine…she isn’t violent, she doesn’t have to fight for what she wants, in fact she’s really smart…”

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Giverny Petitmermet, Rachel Dart, Elizabeth May, Taylor Beidler, and Alex Guhde of “The Trojan Women”

Posted on November 8, 2017 by robby

Listen in as The New Collectives Artistic Director & performer Giverny Petitmermet, director Rachel Dart, sound designer Elizabeth May, dramaturg Taylor Beidler, and assistant director Alex Guhde discuss bringing The Trojan Women to the present day, “folk songs from countries you’ve never been to,” why you should have a dramaturg & an assistant director on your show, “feeling your feelings,” finding the intersection between art and activism, where you’ll see Bob Fosse in this show, and how theatre can be the catalyst to a live conversation about what really matters.

“We do The Trojan Women in 2017 because the sad fact is that women who are displaced by war and conflict…continues to be relevant each and every day…”

“This really feels like the moment all the things that The New Collectives do comes to a head…”

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Heather Cohn, Corey Allen, Alisha Spielmann, & Isaiah Tanenbaum of “Am I Dead? The Untrue Narrative of Anatomical Lewis, The Slave”

Posted on October 16, 2017 by robby

Listen in as director Heather Cohn of Am I Dead? The Untrue Narrative of Anatomical Lewis, The Slave, along with actors Corey Allen, Alisha Spielmann, and Isaiah Tanenbaum, discuss feeling free to laugh through a very dark comedy, learning your Egyptian myths, the history and legacy of violence against black bodies, developing a play with the playwright, what we can learn as people through the artistic process, first noticing the costume changes of your cast-mates during a performance (“subtle, yet effective!”), the effects of an individual audience’s energy, and the necessity of having sticky, difficult conversations in the theatre.

“…I think what Kevin gives us the canvas to discuss is the ways that denial functions for a variety of people…how they choose to view their own reality, accept it or deny it […] and I think the audience is forced to decide, ‘which approach do I take?’…”

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Christie Perfetti Williams & Charmaine Broad of “The Werewolf of Washington Heights”

Posted on October 13, 2017 by robby

Listen in as The Werewolf of Washington Heights playwright Christie Perfetti Williams and director Charmaine Broad discuss adapting your own work to the stage, why you should put “awesome, talented, and kind” people in your cast, the importance of putting women onstage (and in the producer’s chair), doing your job vs. doing what’s right for the world, swapping the genders of your characters, what’s next for Carnival Girls, and what happens to a family when tragedy strikes in a dystopian near-future U.S.A.

“…Imogene says, ‘we all, all of us as humans just want to be heard, our stories want to be told.’ I think that goes across the board, for every person on the planet, we just want to know […] that our voices have been heard. And I think for women, we haven’t been. So this play was hopefully a small little piece of what’s missing in the puzzle…”

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Category Archives: Directors

Melissa Moschitto & Mariah Freda of “Artemisia’s Intent”

Alexander V. Thompson, Brad Raimondo, Greg Carere, Simon Winheld, & Rosie Sowa of “Pete Rex”

Lynnea Benson, Marcus Watson, Amy Frances Quint, Erick Gonzalez, Kyle Primack, and Kevin Hauver of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Larry Phillips, Ben Liebert, and Peter Buck Dettmann of “Koalas are Dicks”

Brett Evan Solomon, Kelsey Lurie, and Gabriel Vasquez of “SOMEONEPLEASELISTENANDUNDERSTAND (they’re wiretapping our brains)”

Jamal Abdunnasir, Lauren Larocca, and Peregrine Teng Heard of “Sheila”

Jessica Burr & Nancy McArthur of “The Snow Queen”

Giverny Petitmermet, Rachel Dart, Elizabeth May, Taylor Beidler, and Alex Guhde of “The Trojan Women”

Heather Cohn, Corey Allen, Alisha Spielmann, & Isaiah Tanenbaum of “Am I Dead? The Untrue Narrative of Anatomical Lewis, The Slave”

Christie Perfetti Williams & Charmaine Broad of “The Werewolf of Washington Heights”