Mark Levy & Sarah Detrik of “CC: You in Hell!”

FRIGID New York and Hub Theatricals present CC: YOU IN HELL!, written by Mark Levy, directed by Janet Bentley, in the 2019 FRIGID Festival at The Kraine TheaterListen in as CC: You in Hell! playwright/producer/actor Mark Levy, along with fellow performer Sarah Detrik, discuss a love for 90s horror, uniting the theatre and comedy scenes, ensemble work, creating your style, putting horror onstage, finding collaborators with a different view of the world from your own, warm hugs, and the magic of the indie theatre community coming together.

“…it is a horror comedy set very much now, but it feels like it’s from the late ’90s…it’s a very nerdy, theatre-movie-nerd play…”

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Manning Jordan, Alice Cash, Ashley Underwood, and Ellie MacPherson of “Dooley”

DOOLEY by Manning Jordan, directed by Alice Cash, at FRIGID 2018Listen in as playwright/performer Manning Jordan, director Alice Cash, and performers Ashley Underwood & Ellie MacPherson of Dooley, performed as part of FRIGID 2018, discuss inspiration from disturbing 1960s board games, plunging psychological depths, collaboratively re-writing, re-naming in the interest of financial considerations, “sneaking around outside of classrooms” to meet your new collaborators, the benefits of inconsistent performance times, and sharing your most vulnerable self onstage.

“…my friends wouldn’t play it, they said ‘it’s all too heavy, we don’t want to get into it.’ So then I went home, and I wrote the play as if we had played it…”

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Andrea Alton, Mark Finley, & Allen Warnock of “Molly’s World”

MOLLY'S WORLD at FRIGID 2018, written and performed by Andrea Alton, directed by Mark FinleyListen in as Molly “Equality” Dykeman herself, Andrea Alton, along with her director, Mark Finley, & “Jerry from Task Rabbit,” Allen Warnock, of the new Molly show in FRIGID 2018, Molly’s World, discuss responding to the moment, working with a director when the show is grounded in improvisation, finding the gold between the islands, allowing for audience engagement, internal logic, “Molly-heads,” and having the freedom to say whatever you want, however you want.

“…I like that Molly can say whatever she wants, and she always comes from a lovable place. She’s this total misfit, and I like that she has the freedom, and she’s just trying to get through the day as best she can. I kind of enjoy her freedom, and her cluelessness…”

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Tessa Flannery & Rebecca Cunningham of “Tentacles”

Voyage Theater Company presents TENTACLES, written by Tessa Flannery, directed by Rebecca Cunningham, at the 2018 FRIGID FestivalListen in as Tessa Flannery, playwright/performer of the new play Tentacles in the 2018 FRIGID Festival, along with her director, Rebecca Cunningham, discuss naming your characters after your actors, keeping calm in the face of technical difficulties, “on-brand failure,” and how to layer difficult social issues into your show about hentai.

“…I love working on shows that have strong women as the leads, but I also really love when they’re flawed, and the character Tessa is not perfect, and is certainly privileged and is coming at it from that perspective, and so we throw that at her…”

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Melissa Moschitto & Mariah Freda of “Artemisia’s Intent”

The Anthropologists present ARTEMISIA'S INTENT, devised by the company, performed by Mariah Freda, script and direction by Melissa Moschitto, presented as part of FRIGID NEW YORK 2018Listen in as performer Mariah Freda & director/”script assembler” Melissa Moschitto of The Anthropologists‘ new show Artemisia’s Intent discuss the company’s approach to devising, the well-meaning wish of “break a frame,” skirts from tablecloths, working from found texts, activating original art, and the resonance of 17th Century baroque painting with #MeToo.

“…pressing up these two points in time, with 400 years in between them, there’s actually still a lot with us, and we’re trying to point that out, and be, like, ‘now what?’ Let’s move forward from that…”

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Genny Yosco, Zachary Millard, and Chris Weigandt of “A Fifth Dimension”

Sour Grapes Productions presents A FIFTH DIMENSION, An Unauthorized Twilight Zone Parody, written by Genny Yosco, presented as part of FRIGID Festival 2017Listen in as playwright, director, and performer Genny Yosco of A Fifth Dimension: An Unauthorized Twilight Zone Parody, along with fellow actors Zachary Millard and Chris Weigandt, discuss overacting the overacted, casting young actors, making your own opportunities, producing out of bitterness and hatred, and finding the horrifying contemporary relevance of your parody show.

“…it really took on a life of its own…each show that we do, we add our own lifeblood to it, it’s new every time…”

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The Playwrights & Directors of “The Refugee Plays”

THE REFUGEE PLAYS in The Frigid Festival 2017Listen in as playwrights Charles Gershman (also the Artistic Director of the producing company, Snowy Owl), Callie KimballCarlos Castro, and Sean E. Cunningham, as well as directors Rachel Dart, Logan Reed, and Dan Dinero, discuss the influence of current events, tragedy in timeless stories, superficial logic, how the outside world seeps into the rehearsal room, ethical casting, how to unite a series of short plays, and what theatre is supposed to do in difficult times.

“…I don’t think any of us want to have to write plays about topics like these, but things are pretty bad right now, and so I think we all responded to the sort of global call to draw attention to an issue that we think is important right now…”

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Katharine McLeod, writer/performer of “My High-Heeled Life: Or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Love My Stilettos”

Katharine McLeod in "My High-Heeled Life: Or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Love My Stilettos"You probably remember that old saying, “The clothes make the man.”

And while you might want to dispute it, or actively fight it (my stint as a goody-two-shoes honors student male with long hair in high school was my small form of personal resistance), it wouldn’t be an idiom if a good number of people along the way didn’t find some ring of truth to it.

The performativity of what we prefer to wear—in her case, specifically, stilettos—intrigued actress Katherine McLeod to the point she had to write a show about it, appropriately titled My High-Heeled Life: Or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Love My Stilettos, which is currently running as part of the Frigid New York festival at Under St. Marks.

Listen in as Katharine and I discuss shoes as battleground, the long (and proper) title of her piece, and not having to apologize for those things that bring you joy.

“…what assumptions do you make about me based on what I wear? And, should I stop because you’re making those assumptions? Or, should I push back, and show my true colors, should I show all parts of me…”

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