Jordan Seavey, co-creator & co-playwright of “Help Me to Make It”

Posted on July 19, 2013 by robby

Collaboration Town returns to the podcast for their third episode (check out the The Deepest Play Ever and All Girls podcasts for interviews with Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell & Lee Sunday Evans, also co-creators on this project), with the workshop production of their new (apropos of their name) collaboratively-created show, Help Me to Make It, part of the 2013 Ice Factory Festival ahead of its full production in April 2014.

Listen in as co-creator & co-playwright Jordan Seavey talks about how to get from 12 hours of written material down to a one-act workshop performance (hint: “killing textual babies”), the relationship between his life as a playwright and his life as a performer, and how Collaboration Town defines their namesake—collaboration.

“We have that kind of tension, as well, that siblings have, and we have that kind of forthrightness…where we can say, ‘this is really what I want,’…we’re very blunt, in a loving way…”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Lawrence Lesher, director, and Todd Michael, playwright, of “Vice Girl Confidential”

Posted on May 15, 2013 by robby

Grayce Productions presents "Vice Girl Confidential," by Todd Michael, directed by Lawrence Lesher A powerful crime boss. A crusading District Attorney. A tough-as-nails madame. The corruption of a small-town girl. Stool pigeons. Vice. Drag. Dames.

With a play entitled Vice Girl Confidential, you should expect these elements.

Gracye Productions gives you the goods with the re-mounting of their Fringe Festival hit, now directed by Lawrence Lesher, with a revised script by Todd Michael (who also plays the aforementioned madame, Stella Fontaine).

Listen in as Lawrence & Todd discuss the importance of timing in physical humour, how Vice Girl Confidential changed over time, and the fun challenge of hiding the risque elements of a play (in a world where sex & violence are usually out in front). Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., playwright, and Ryan Victor Pierce, actor/producer, of “Wood Bones”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by robby

The Eagle Project presents "Wood Bones" by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.

When I asked playwright William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. to describe what his new play is about, as you’ll hear at the start of this episode, he responded that it’s about the spirit of the land, that the earth (and structures, like the “wood bones” that give the play it’s title) has spiritual energy created by what happens to the land.

Told through a series of flashbacks throughout the 20th century in and around the house with the street address of 121, Wood Bones tells the stories that give the house its spiritual energy, and gives that energy a physical presence (literally — the spirit of the house is a character onstage).

Listen in as William, along with Eagle Project founder & Artistic Director (and actor in the show) Ryan Victor Pierce, discuss making theatre inclusive, the spiritual energy of the land, and accepting that you don’t know — but you have the opportunity to learn.

“Everything is alive.”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

August Schulenburg, playwright, and Kelly O’Donnell, director, of “Honey Fist”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by robby

Flux Theatre Ensemble presents "Honey Fist" I love seeing people I recognize onstage.

And though I’m not from Marble Head, outside of Boston (pronounced “Mahble Head, outside of Bahston”), playwright August Schulenburg has written some beautifully complex, and very familiar, characters in his funny, tragic, compelling new play, Honey Fist.

Listen in as Gus and director Kelly O’Donnell discuss where Gus’s “most autobiographical play” (that’s not autobiographical) came from, the late-night last-minute carving of bongs, and why Honey Fist is running in rep with Sans Merci (hear the Sans Merci podcast here — and, listen to Gus & Kelly’s first outing on the podcast, about Adam Szymkowicz’s play Hearts Like Fists, here).

“Wha, you think you’re bettah than me?”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Ming Peiffer, playwright, and Kat Yen, director, of “Advance Guard”

Posted on May 13, 2013 by robby

Spookfish Theatre Company presents "Advance Guard" The term “avant-garde” gets thrown around a lot, but as you’ll hear playwright Ming Peiffer recount in this episode, it started as a military term before it was used to describe the artists changing forms, and pushing art forward.

And as you’ll hear director Kat Yen discuss, the co-Artistic Directors of Spookfish Theatre Company felt that the plays they’ve been seeing of late aren’t original, or pushing theatre forward.

That frustration is where the play, and the central conflict of, Advance Guard comes from.

Listen in as Ming & Kat discuss rebelling against post-impressionism & what other people want to see, the madness leading up to opening night, and why be an artist.

“What the hell are we doing here?”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Jeremy J. Kamps, playwright, Danny Sharron, director, and Lillian Rodriguez, actress, of “What It Means to Disappear Here”

Posted on May 8, 2013 by robby

Ugly Rhino's "What It Means to Disappear Here" For the second episode in a row, GSAS! heads to the nation of Colombia (via the magic of theatre, of course), this time with Ugly Rhino’s What It Means to Disappear Here.

Initially set in a café in Cartagena (where the audience sits, along with the actors), What It Means… is the story of Yulieth, a young Colombian woman who is meeting Mitch for the first time — the norteamericano man who wants to buy her as his wife. Through a series of flashbacks-and-forwards, along with some brilliant use of radio broadcasts, the audience follow the paths that brought Yulieth & Mitch to that initial meeting, and its aftermath.

Listen in as playwright Jeremy J. Kamps, director Danny Sharron, and actress Lillian Rodriguez discuss eavesdropping on a marriage deal and writing a play about it, focusing on the human story, and what makes somebody care.

“What is the role of theatre…in a drama bringing forth political issues…what is our role in the off-off-Broadway world, bringing a play like this?”

“To me, it is the role.”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Johnna Adams, playwright, and Heather Cohn, director, of “Sans Merci”

Posted on May 2, 2013 by robby

Flux Theatre Ensemble presents "Sans Merci," by Johnna Adams, directed by Heather Cohn

When the mother of your lover shows up unannounced on your doorstep, it’s kind of shocking.

When she’s looking for answers about her daughter’s final days, which she shared with you, the shock is much more dramatic.

That’s the situation in which the characters in Johnna Adams‘s Sans Merci find themselves. Directed in its world premiere by Heather Cohn and produced by Flux Theatre Ensemble (in rep with another new play, Honey Fist — watch for a GSAS! podcast on that one soon), Sans Merci is a play about poetry, activism, and, as Flux asks, “who owns the stories of the dead?”

Listen in as Johnna and Heather discuss grief, haunting, activism, and theatre that can make everybody feel something.

“A lot of chocolate, and a lot of kleenex.”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Robert Honeywell, playwright, and Leah Bonvissuto, director, of “Mass”

Posted on April 26, 2013 by robby

"Mass" by Robert Honeywell, photos by Joe Kolbow Van Gogh. Gauguin. Duchamp.

Add to that list Pablo. Not Picasso. Just Pablo.

If that makes no sense to you, then you need to travel from New York to Vancouver to Shanghai along with Robert Honeywell‘s new musical Mass, as it follows the story of the troubled young artist Mary, her girlfriend Françoise (who becomes the aforementioned Pablo, an internationally-celebrated artist), and Mary’s art-dealer sister Kate, exploring the limits of art, commerce, love, and family.

Listen in as Robert and director Leah Bonvissuto discuss breaking the boundaries of art, the arc of study needed to write a musical about the art-world, and the struggle between different visions of what art can be — including the art of theatre.

“Art, love, & blood.”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Vickie Ramirez, playwright, and Richard C. Aven, director, of “Smoke”

Posted on April 15, 2013 by robby

Since its inception five years ago, Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group has been making a name for itself as a company exploring the American identity through theatre, championing new plays from up-and-coming playwrights.

In the company’s first solo, fully-produced play (outside of Muzungu, their collaboration with my company, Co-Op Theatre East), MPTG has brought Vickie Ramirez‘s Smoke to the Studio Theater at Pershing Square Signature Center, directed by the company’s associate artistic director, Richard C. Aven.

As you’ll hear in the interview, the plot of Smoke doesn’t distill down easily into a sound-byte, but suffice it to say that the play is an exploration of who belongs where, and how, and why, told through a tale of family and community tensions (along with a bit of mysticism) on a Haundenosaunee Reservation in upstate New York. And as with any good play, there are no easy answers; only big, complicated questions to wrestle with.

Listen in as Vickie & Richard discuss creating an inclusive cultural piece, identity, and “mystical native stuff.” Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Lynn Rosen, playwright, and Shana Gold, director, of “Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero is Born”

Posted on April 15, 2013 by robby

Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero is Born

…who’d have thought that, even with this being the 58th (!) episode of Go See a Show! (seriously, I think this is the longest commitment I’ve ever made, except to my girlfriend), I’d have two episodes that touch on Dungeons & Dragons?

Ripped from the headlines (seriously), Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero is Born is playwright Lynn Rosen‘s reimagined story of two young lovers who bond over D&D, rob an armored car, and subsequently inspire a cult-like following among the working-poor. The production, directed by Shana Gold, uses a wonderfully-Brechtian emcee narrator character to guide the audience through the tale, and is a super-fun piece of theatre.

Listen in as Lynn & Shana, with some guest shouts from Assistant Director Casey Cleverly (no stranger to the podcast!), discuss building a script from a truly true story, solving the unexpected problems of a new play, and playing D&D for research. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Go See a Show!

The off-off-Broadway podcast

Category Archives: Playwrights

Jordan Seavey, co-creator & co-playwright of “Help Me to Make It”

Lawrence Lesher, director, and Todd Michael, playwright, of “Vice Girl Confidential”

William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., playwright, and Ryan Victor Pierce, actor/producer, of “Wood Bones”

August Schulenburg, playwright, and Kelly O’Donnell, director, of “Honey Fist”

Ming Peiffer, playwright, and Kat Yen, director, of “Advance Guard”

Jeremy J. Kamps, playwright, Danny Sharron, director, and Lillian Rodriguez, actress, of “What It Means to Disappear Here”

Johnna Adams, playwright, and Heather Cohn, director, of “Sans Merci”

Robert Honeywell, playwright, and Leah Bonvissuto, director, of “Mass”

Vickie Ramirez, playwright, and Richard C. Aven, director, of “Smoke”

Lynn Rosen, playwright, and Shana Gold, director, of “Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero is Born”