Mackenzie Menter, Anna Cain, & Victoria Teague of “Miranda from Stormville”

IRT presents Random Access Theatre's production of MIRANDA FROM STORMVILLE, written by Adam Bertocci, directed by Jennifer SandellaListen in as Miranda from Stormville dramaturg Victoria Teague and performers Mackenzie Menter & Anna Cain discuss their Shakespeare-nerd status, trying to escape your circumstances, breaking the fourth wall, “surreal comedic Shakespearean fever-dreams,” tracing classic characters, New Jersey, creating a sense of community between audience and performers, and how their play is its own thing, separate and apart from The Tempest.

“…the way to make it relatable is to make those characters real, versus an archetype…”
“…it is definitely…a meditation on The Tempest, more than an adaptation…”

Continue reading

Jake Lipman & Jessica Ammirati of “Relentlessly Pleasant”

Tongue in Cheek Theater Productions presents RELENTLESSLY PLEASANT, written and directed by Jake LipmanGSAS! podcast correspondent Tara Gadomski attended the first performance of Tongue in Cheek Theater Productions‘ world premiere Relentlessly Pleasant, and hosted an interview/talkback with the audience, featuring writer/director Jake Lipman and dramaturg Jessica Ammirati. Listen in as they discuss “what it’s like to work in corporate America as a woman,” #MeToo, how sexuality is always at play, writing from real scenarios, working with a dramaturg to shape a script, hearing your script through different voices, and digging deeper below the surface.

“…nothing is black and white in this. It really is all these shades of gray…”

Continue reading

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

La Mama E.T.C., in association with The Assembly, presents SEAGULLMACHINE, created by The Assembly, conceived by Nick Benacerraf, co-directed by Jess Chayes & Nick BenacerrafListen 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…”

Continue reading

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

The New Collectives present Euripides' THE TROJAN WOMEN, A New Version by Brendan Kennelly, directed by Rachel DartListen 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…”

Continue reading

Ross Williams of NYSX’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” plus talkback with Shane Breaux and Dr. Jaime Wright

New York Shakespeare Exchange presents MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHINGListen in as New York Shakespeare Exchange Artistic Director and director of Much Ado About Nothing, Ross Williams, discusses finding resonance with the “fake news” of today in Shakespeare, getting rid of unnecessary jokes, blending characters (and why you might want to), achieving a sense of inclusion with your audience, and getting around having all those pesky messengers in Much Ado.

…and, after the brief interview with Ross, stay tuned for a recording of the post-show talkback between him, Dr. Jaime Wright, Associate Professor at St. Johns University, and the show’s dramaturg Shane Breaux.

“…Shakespeare was all about the exchange between the audience and the players, and I think all too often, Shakespeare done contemporarily is done with our contemporary understanding of the fourth wall…what I really like to encourage is a sense of exchange between the audience and the actors…”

Continue reading

Emily Louise Perkins, Ben Beckley, Jess Chayes, Stephen Aubrey, and Nick Benacerraf of “I Will Look Forward to This Later”

The Assembly presents I Will Look Forward to This LaterEpisodes featuring The Assembly have been some of my favorite episodes of this podcast.

Add this one to that list.

The company’s new show, I Will Look Forward to This Later, is currently running at The New Ohio. Make sure you get over to check it out, and definitely take a listen to this episode either on your way there, or on your way back. And, even better, hang out and chat with the company after the show, and dig into these issues with them yourself. They’d like to chat with you.

But at the very least, listen in to this episode as several Assembly members—director Jess Chayes, actor Ben Beckley, actor/writer Emily Louise Perkins, dramaturg Stephen Aubrey, and production designer Nick Benacerraf—discuss the Assembly process, inspiration from kabuki, choices/actions/consequences, conversations with your collaborators, your audience, & Judith Malina, and loss, legacy, & time.

“I think it’s important that we are in the process of figuring things out, that we don’t know the answers…and we’re excited about that.” Continue reading

Tara Ahmadinejad and Elliot B. Quick of Piehole’s “Old Paper Houses”

Piehole presents Old Paper Houses, directed by Tara AhmadinejadI’m not particularly stoic, but having grown up in the Northeast, I start to get a little annoyed when all the usual complaints about snow and cold start piling up during the winter—it’s winter, it’s supposed to be snowy and cold.

But, with this winter season having felt particularly rough on New York (at least, if you can believe all those Facebook posts and Gothamist articles…hey, at least we didn’t have it as bad as Boston, right?), it was likely the perfect season for Piehole‘s Old Paper Houses, which grew from the ensemble’s frustration with winter a couple years back, then passed through poetry about New England, transcendentalist communes, Nathaniel Hawthorne, nostalgia…and more.

Sound wild? It is, in the best of ways.

Listen in as director Tara Ahmadinejad and dramaturg (and returning podcast guest) Elliot B. Quick discuss collective creation in Piehole, dioramas, starting a book club to figure out what you want to do next, shifting perspectives, and physical research to get the appropriate action of shoveling show onstage.

(and seriously, there’s more entertainment awaiting you after the show, so be sure to budget some time to stick around and hang!)

“The piece is a meditation on New England, and utopian longing, and the weather, and it cycles through these different perspectives…”

“…it started from us being artists in New York in a winter two years ago, and feeling a lot of utopian longing…”

Continue reading