Marc Castle, Mark Finley, & Dani Marcus of “Deadly Stages”

Emerging Artists Theatre, in association with No Anita No Productions, presents DEADLY STAGES, written by Marc Castle and Mark Finley, directed by Mark Finley, at Theatre RowListen in Deadly Stages co-authors Mark Finley (who directs) and Marc Castle (who portrays the glamorous Veronica Traymore), along with fellow performer Dani Marcus (Phoebe/Connie), discuss love of old movies, where reality meets camp, red herrings, writing like directors, pulling in new company members, pre-determined tracks, and finally getting a chance to collaborate.

“…I love when theatre doesn’t apologize for itself…”

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Elijah Guo, Dylin Taylor, Marsha Yuan, Misako Yamagishi, & Anthony Naranjo of “Tourist Trap”

The 2024 Chain Theatre One-Act Festival presents TOURIST TRAP, written by Elijah Guo, directed by Dylin TaylorListen in as Tourist Trap writer Elijah Guo, director Dylin Taylor, and performers Marsha Yuan, Misako Yamagishi, & Anthony Naranjo discuss the absurdity of unbelonging, the universality of beans, the authority of tour/play guides, and where physical space meets the ephemeral.

“…we spoke about the idea of how definitions of ‘Asian-ness,’ we didn’t necessary relate to them, or like, resonate with them. But we still identified as Asians, and we’re seen as Asians…so it’s, creating work that we do resonate with, that is Asian. And I don’t know that it’s us trying to be different, we’re trying to expand…”
“I know what it is: we’re Asian. It’s not a non-Asian writing about Asian. So it’s not, like, [insert stereotypical music here]—you don’t hear that in the background. It’s real life stories, real personalities…”

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Andrew Agress, Theo McKenna, Becky Ho, and Stephanie Litchfield of “The Fantastical Fellowship: Final Quest for the Crisis Crystal XXVII!”

FRIGID New York presents "The Fantastical Fellowship: Final Quest for the Crisis Crystal XXVII!" written by Andrew Agress, directed by Phoebe Brooks, at Under St. Mark'sListen in as The Fantastical Fellowship: Final Quest for the Crisis Crystal XXVII!
playwright Andrew Agress, along with performers Theo McKenna, Becky Ho, & Stephanie Litchfield, discuss full-double-cringe, inspiration from COVID boredom, alternate endings, “pleasant hell,” rolling with the (sometimes literal) punches, and where theatre & video games meet.

“…that cross-section of theatre-people discovering games, game-people discovering theatre…”

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Anya-Violette Zhang, Elena Lozonschi, Amy Hart Nguyễn, Lairce Dias, Joe Staton, Roslind Finlay, & Frank Pagliaro of “The Cherry Orchard: A Multilingual Adaptation”

The Cherry Orchard: A Multilingual Adaptation at Under St Marks Theater, written by Anton Chekhov, directed by Frank PagliaroListen in as The Cherry Orchard: A Multilingual Adaptation performers Elena Lozonschi, Anya-Violette Zhang, Amy Hart Nguyễn, Lairce Dias, Joe Staton, along with assistant director/performer Roslind Finlay & director Frank Pagliaro, discuss finding home, creating a multilingual version of a classic text, “a common language,” missing the merge onto the highway, and the importance of listening.

“It’s all about listening. When you listen, you can understand. […] It’s not about the words…”

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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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Kara Feely & Daniel Allen Nelson of “HOUSECONCERT”

Object Collection presents HOUSECONCERTListen in as HOUSECONCERT writer/director/performer/drummer Kara Feely, along with fellow performer / production manager Daniel Allen Nelson, discuss actors playing instruments and musicians doing actions, reacting to the energy of the audience, finding ways to get from one thing to another, how different audiences can interact with the same piece, and “resurrecting the ghosts of past house concerts.”

“…we got our start sort of performing in peoples’ living rooms, and going to house concerts and more informal things. So we had this idea that, coming out of the pandemic when we were all at home all the time…that it would be kind of interesting, instead of inviting people into our home, that we would turn the theater into our home…”

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Duncan Pflaster, Clinton Powell, and Wyn Delano of “Harmony Hall”

Cross-Eyed Bear Productions presents HARMONY HALL, written and directed by Duncan Pflaster, starring Clinton Powell and Wyn Delano, part of the 2023 FRIGID Fringe Festival at UNDER St. Marks, photo by Duncan Pflaster PhotographyListen in as Harmony Hall playwright & director Duncan Pflaster, along with the cast of Wyn Delano and Clinton Powell, discuss inspiration from terrible/wonderful Tennessee Williams adaptations, what is and is not a “pandemic play,” personal connections to the material, grounding your characters, the challenges of putting a show up in a festival, religious trauma, and the joy of working on poetic new work.

“…this is one of those things where we put our hearts and soul into it, all of us, it’s a very meaningful show…something where I think people will get a lot out of it if they see it, but to see it, you gotta do the old-school theatre thing and put your butt in the seat.”

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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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Sara Fellini, Jillian Cicalese, & Caitlin Dullahan-Bates of “Ectoplasm”

Spit & Vigor presents ECTOPLASM, written & directed by Sara Fellini, at The Players Theatre, 2022Listen in as Ectoplasm playwright & director Sara Fellini, along with cast members Jillian Cicalese and Caitlin Dullahan-Bates, discuss “life and death and lust and love,” the stories we tell ourselves as we try to determine the truth, navigating society’s return to live in-person theatre while COVID is still a thing, layers of artifice and reality, and what it means to be making work together again.

“Right now, we don’t need tv. We don’t need movies. We have SO MANY SCREENS…you need a human being in front of you, who might make a mistake…who might do something brilliant and amazing that you would never see, you’d never feel the energy in the room…”

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Andy Boyd, Katie Palmer, and Paul Bedard of “Occupy Prescott”

Theatre in Asylum presents OCCUPY PRESCOTT, written by Andy Boyd, directed by Katie Palmer and Paul Bedard, at Jalopy Tavern, BrooklynListen in as playwright Andy Boyd, along with Theatre in Asylum co-Artistic Directors (and the play’s co-directors) Katie Palmer and Paul Bedard, discuss how it feels to watch a history play about something we all lived through, doing the thing, the value of gathering together, how Occupy issues are still a part of the zeitgeist, producing in a pandemic, finding the corners, and what happens when five very different people get together to try to change the world.

“…one of the things I love about the piece is that it shows the value of gathering together, and it shows the value of trying to do something whether or not you succeed…”

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