Jenn Haltman, Becca Schneider, & Charise Greene of “Cannibal Galaxy: a love story”

Posted on June 13, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Cannibal Galaxy: a love story playwright Charise Greene, along with the duo behind the producing company Between Two Boroughs—the show’s director, Jenn Haltman, and Becca Schneider, who plays “Claire”—discuss impossibility in the theater, finding communal experiences in the wake of trauma, “the relationship between violence, science, and spirituality in our country,” embracing the structural elements of a space, galactic cannibalism, magical realism, irrevocable change, and where creativity and violence collide.

“…I always ask the question, ‘why does this have to be a play?’…for me, impossible plays are an opportunity to welcome collaboration…Becca’s ‘Claire’ coughing up peach pits, or ash, is going to be very different than another actress, and I want Becca’s version of that, and Jenn’s version of the larger picture…to me, it’s a leap of exciting theatricality that is the reason why I go to the theater.”

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Kristy Dodson, Michael Aguirre, Reyna de Courcy, Samuel Im, & ToniAnne DiFilippo of “The Hollower”

Posted on June 6, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Kristy Dodson, director of New Light Theater Project‘s production of Liza Birkenmeier’s The Hollower, along with co-producer Michael Aguirre and cast members Reyna de Courcy, Samuel Im, & ToniAnne DiFilippo, discuss script development, finding truth in the absurd, finding personal connections to your character (and having your character written to you), taking risks with form, and “how misogyny is passed down by women.”

“…I think the text is so brilliant, and this has been such a supportive and creative and inspiring process, that it’s this weird combination of the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and being like rolling down a hill.”

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Heather Cohn, John Lenartz, Alisha Speilmann, Emily Hartford, Greg Oliver Bodine, Corey Allen, & Morgan McGuire of “The Sea Concerto”

Posted on May 16, 2018 by robby

Listen in as the cast & one of the directors of Flux Theatre Ensemble’s world premiere production of August Schulenburg’s The Sea Concerto—performers Morgan McGuire, Corey Allen, Greg Oliver Bodine, John Lenartz, Emily Hartford, and John Lenartz, with co-director Heather Cohn—discuss the importance of ensemble work, working from the outside in, familial and artistic legacies, finding a way into some very different & difficult characters, returning to past works, what can happen when your “scene partner” doesn’t show up until opening night, and why we make art.

“…I think what’s really interesting about this play…is that it asks the question, and answers the question, at the same time…and they’re constantly resonating throughout the play…”

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Craig Smith & Elise Stone of “Judas”

Posted on May 10, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Phoenix Theatre Ensemble Artistic Director Craig Smith, who directs & plays “Pontius Pilate” in the company’s new production of Robert Patrick’s Judas, along with fellow cast-member Elise Stone (“Mary”), discuss giving equal weight to both sides, the drama of philosophical arguments, the challenge of living a good life, “blasphemy,” libertarianism and faith, communication breakdowns between mothers and sons, what happens when we see our heroes as humans, and how to answer the big question: “what are we supposed to do?”

“…I think that’s a dilemma for anyone who’s trying to live some kind of ethical, humane life in a really messed up world. And the world is really messed up for Judas, and the world is really messed up for all of us right now. So when I listen to Judas’s struggle, I feel like it’s so human. There’s all these wonderful words, and all this wonderful language…and then there’s this real human-ness…”

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Rob Neill, Ayun Halliday, Eevin Hartsough, & Daniel Mirsky of “Wind-Up Variations”

Posted on April 26, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Wind-Up Variations creator/writer/director Rob Neill, along with performer Ayun Halliday, Eevin Hartsough, and Daniel Mirsky, discuss the Neo-Futurist aesthetic, following a monkey across a waste-land, dialogue-mining, finding your mechanical avatar, inviting the audience, and having a plan through the chaos of live performance.

“…that’s an opportunity, and not everybody will take it. And that’s part of the magic; ‘let’s see what happens next…'”

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Nick Benacerraf, Jess Chayes, Stephen Aubrey, and Jax Jackson of “SEAGULLMACHINE”

Posted on April 20, 2018 by robby

Listen in as collaborators on The Assembly’s SEAGULLMACHINE—conceiver/co-director Nick Benacerraf, co-director Jess Chayes, dramaturg Steven Aubrey, and performer Jax Jackson—discuss layering multiple theatrical sources, permission to find points of resonance, turning on a dime, the company’s development process, finding new roles through that process, bringing an audience into a world “oozing word-slime,” different versions of ourselves, and the question of whether or not theatre can produce change.

“…every night, by a certain time in the play, it feels like we’re also just people, human beings in a room with our audience. And that has been one of the most special experiences of it, to me…”

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Ran Xia, Nicholas Orvis, Andrea Lopez, and Max Henry of “Echo”

Posted on April 16, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Echo creator & sound sculptor Ran Xia, along with director Nicholas Orvis and performers Andrea Lopez & Max Henry, discuss inspiration from books about harmonicas, moving from sound collage to stage play, improvising to audio, physicality with constantly changing things, handling nakedly honest material, timelessness vs. time specificity, and the importance of simply listening.

“…when I was editing them, it’s like, I could cry, like every second, every other track, because everybody was just so open, and very real. You get real very fast…”

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Elizabeth Hess, Katie Palmer, and Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed of “Love Trade”

Posted on April 3, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Love Trade writer/director/performer Elizabeth Hess, along with collaborators/performers Katie Palmer and Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed, discuss their collaborative process, feminist revenge fantasies, integrating and playing with the audience, fetishization of race, balloons, lived text, and performance poetry.

“…it’s a very hybrid approach to performance, and I am a magpie. I am thrilled that Lucas is foremost a musician…Katie is also herself an artistic director, and she’s got an incredibly strong dance background. I beg, borrow, and steal from that […] create [your] own hybrid approach that really resonates with [your] own voice and vision…”

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Jessica Burr of “Platonov, or, A Play with No Name”

Posted on March 8, 2018 by robby

Listen in as Blessed Unrest Artistic Director and director of Platanov, or, A Play with No Name, Jessica Burr, discusses the company’s staging process for the round, adapting early Chekhov, finding the humanity in “dreadful” people, putting the audience in the world of the characters, sleepless nights thanks to blocking, and the similarities between this 140-year-old play and our current world.

“…I guess for me, ultimately, I don’t go to the theatre to see Platonov, or to see Hamlet. I go to the theatre to see actors, to see human beings being exposed…that’s really what I want to see. Of course it’s story, it’s narrative, it’s context, but it’s really about the humans, we put these humans in this situation, and we watch and see what they do. And hopefully we learn from them.”

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Emma Miller, Abby Awe, Julia Greer, & Eva Ravenal of “Athena”

Posted on February 23, 2018 by robby

Listen in as director Emma Miller and the full cast of Athena—Abby Awe, Julia Greer, and Eva Ravenal—discuss learning how to fence for the show, script development in the room, “navigating how to be a person,” shocking rarity, working from the inside out, tapping into the extremities of being a teenager, and the simply radical.

“…we are enthusiastic about plays that take seriously what it feels like to grow up in a female body. I think this play takes really seriously what it feels like to make friends, and what it feels like to navigate the world as a young woman…”

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Tag Archives: Directors

Jenn Haltman, Becca Schneider, & Charise Greene of “Cannibal Galaxy: a love story”

Kristy Dodson, Michael Aguirre, Reyna de Courcy, Samuel Im, & ToniAnne DiFilippo of “The Hollower”

Heather Cohn, John Lenartz, Alisha Speilmann, Emily Hartford, Greg Oliver Bodine, Corey Allen, & Morgan McGuire of “The Sea Concerto”

Craig Smith & Elise Stone of “Judas”

Rob Neill, Ayun Halliday, Eevin Hartsough, & Daniel Mirsky of “Wind-Up Variations”

Nick Benacerraf, Jess Chayes, Stephen Aubrey, and Jax Jackson of “SEAGULLMACHINE”

Ran Xia, Nicholas Orvis, Andrea Lopez, and Max Henry of “Echo”

Elizabeth Hess, Katie Palmer, and Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed of “Love Trade”

Jessica Burr of “Platonov, or, A Play with No Name”

Emma Miller, Abby Awe, Julia Greer, & Eva Ravenal of “Athena”