Nick Thomas, Adam Belvo, & Azumi Tsutsui of “Anonymous”

Spit & Vigor presents ANONYMOUS by Nick Thomas at Tiny Baby BlackboxListen in as Anonymous playwright & director Nick Thomas, along with performers Adam Belvo (Michael) and Azumi Tsutsui (Diana), discuss sharing a character, letting the story pour out, the relief of the audience, “embedded” theatre, “rehearsal with a bunch of strangers,” going “full Australian business-bro,” finding a character that’s far from you, taking us back to the (awesome) 1990s, and the potential of anonymity.

“…it has a different feeling of freshness. Like, I can feel the people sitting beside me, and they don’t know what’s going on, but hearing the story for the first time…I can feel, people are feeling it…”

Continue reading

Kimille Howard & Cezar Williams of The Fire This Time Festival 2025

Season 16 of The Fire This Time Festival, 2025, featuring works by FELISPEAKS, Brittany Fisher, TyLie Shider, Garrett Turner, Jeanette W. Hill, & D.L. Patrick, directed by Kimille Howard, at The Wild ProjectListen in as the Director of the shows in this year’s The Fire This Time Festival, Kimille Howard, along with Producing Artistic Director Cezar Williams, discuss finding balance, discovering musical talent, bringing together black voices in the theatre, finding new collaborators, figuring out the big game of scheduling Tetris, leaning into the practicalities, and making magic.

“…it’s a theatrical event…to amplify the career of black playwrights…we pull together an incredible team of artist…and it’s always a good time.”

Continue reading

Kallan Dana, Julia Greer, and Sarah Blush of “Racecar Racecar Racecar”

The Hearth presents RACECAR RACECAR RACECAR, written by Kallan Dana, directed by Sarah BlushListen in as Racecar Racecar Racecar playwright Kallan Dana, director Sarah Blush, and producer/performer Julia Greer, discuss the open road of a script, symmetry & palindromic structures, complicated father relationships, creating breaks, emergency relocations, and taking road trips with your collaborators.

“…I’m a person who tries to talk and talk until I can get to what I mean, and I’m always failing. The words are always failing you. And so I think that feels like a really emotionally true thing for me, and that was part of the fun for generating the language in this play…”

Continue reading

Coral Cohen, Cosette Pin, Sam Hood Adrian, & James Clements of “Third Law”

What Will the Neighbors Say? presents THIRD LAW at Culture Lab LICListen in as members of the team that devised What Will the Neighbors Say?‘s Third Law—director Coral Cohen, designer Cosette Pin, and performers Sam Hood Adrian and James Clements—discuss their devising process, exploring audience agency, Kandinsky, testing your show with live participants, taking risks, and where theatre meets gaming.

“…it’s unlike any game that you have played. You are controlling physical bodies all around you, like real life VR…like reality, but you’re making a play right in front of you.”

Continue reading

Luis Feliciano, Kristen Hoffman, Penelope Deen, & Padraig Bond of “The Climate Fables: Debating Extinction & The Trash Garden”

Torch Ensemble presents The Climate Fables: Debating Extinction & The Trash Garden at New York City FringeListen in as Luis Feliciano, Kristen Hoffman, Penelope Deen, & Padraig Bond of Torch Ensemble’s The Climate Fables: Debating Extinction & The Trash Garden, winner of “Best Play” in the New York City Fringe, discuss playing with trash, constant improvisation, clowning, casting the audience, ouija boards, bringing play to tragedy, and making a connection.

“…for me as an actor, I really feel like this play is so much about, ‘what do you do when the world is ending?’ You just play some games with your friends, and hope you stay ok…”

Continue reading

Dorothea Gloria, Joe Staton, Natasha Jain, Francesca Bolam, Kevin Rios, Jandel Camilo, Mila Besson, Nicholas Bompart, and Pablo Gatto of The Immigrant Short Play Festival

RiffRaff NYC presents Immigrants in New York at The Court Square TheaterListen in as Dorothea Gloria, Joe Staton, Natasha Jain, Francesca Bolam, Kevin Rios, Jandel Camilo, Mila Besson, Nicholas Bompart, and Pablo Gatto of RiffRaff NYC‘s Immigrants in New York short play festival discuss mother-daughter relationships, unpacking baggage, why clowns, the superpowers bestowed by costumes, personifying statues, and wearing masks over masks.

“…I wanted to show their lives, their dreams, their feelings…for me, it was important to show these professions, also…sometimes we take for granted, there are people who do it for passion, and some of them, they do it because they need to bring in money…”

Continue reading

Olivia Webb, Garrett Miller, & Albrim Gjonbalaj of “Twelfth Night”

Twelfth Night, written by William Shakespeare, directed by Pete McElligott, at the Court Square Theater, Long Island City, QueensListen in as producer/performer Olivia Webb, along with fellow actors Garrett Miller & Albrim Gjonbalaj from their new production of Twelfth Night, discuss finding freedom on the stage, overcoming the fear of Shakespeare, making a play come to life by “just saying it,” love for your director and cast, Queens bakery recommendations, last-minute genius discoveries, and why you should always be up for seeing a Shakespeare, again.

“I thought, ‘I really wanna do this…it kept on being moments of, ‘oh, this is actually happening’…and then it was truly real. […] You can set it at any time, any place, anywhere. You don’t need a massive budget. When they’re a huge budget, fun, great. But it doesn’t need it, so why have it? Just enjoy the process…”

Continue reading

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…”

Continue reading

Jess Wood, Lisa Graham Parson, Henry Temple, & Laura Fois Bosley of “The Best Punk Band in Conway, Missouri”

UP Theater Company presents THE BEST PUNK BAND IN CONWAY, MISSOURI by Kirby Fields, directed by Rachael MurrayListen in as performers Jess Wood, Lisa Graham Parson, and Henry Temple of The Best Punk Band in Conway, Missouri: An Oral History of Presley Cox and the Fallout Five, along with UP Theater Company’s Managing Director Laura Fois Bosley, discuss old punks looking back on impetuous youth, casting unique actors & discovering your multiple characters, growing up where you don’t fit in, playing in indie theatre “punk rock camp,” calling your cast-mates poseurs, and “being the person you want to be where you are.”

“…I don’t think you have to be from a small town to feel like you don’t fit in.”

“It’s never too late to enjoy yourself, to follow your dreams, to have fun: to find your tribe.”

Continue reading

Amy Michelle & Zaven Ovian of “Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight”

Duende Productions presents Emilie written by Lauren Gunderson directed by Kathy Gail MacGowan Listen in as Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight actor/producer Amy Michelle, along with fellow cast member Zaven Ovian, discuss physics, inviting the audience in, those plays that follow you around until you put them up, staging opportunities, deep research, love for stage managers, differentiating your multiple character assignments, and exploring “purpose & passion.”

“…the question that Emilie asks at the top of the play, ‘What do we mean?,’ I think is much more existential than ‘what do you mean by that?’ I think it’s actually, ‘what do WE mean? What is our meaning? What does our existence mean?’…I think a lot of people are asking that question since the pandemic…”

Continue reading