Tag Archives: Playwrights

Maurice Decaul, Alex Mallory, and the cast of “Dijla Wal Furat: Between the Tigris and the Euphrates”

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Poetic Theater Productions presents Dijla Wal Furat: Between the Tigris and the Euphrates, by Maurice Decaul, irected by Alex MalloryPoetic License is back—GSAS! was there for the first installment way back in 2012, and though sadly I’ve missed the last two, Poetic Theater Productions‘ Alex Mallory and Jeffrey Karafin are now presenting their fourth year of new poetic theater.

One of the two full-length plays anchoring this year’s festival is Dijla Wal Furat: Between the Tigris and the Euphrates, directed by Mallory and written by Maurice Decaul, who has the unique perspective to write about the early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, because he was actually there, serving in the Marine Corps. The play follows four distinct perspectives over a couple weeks in 2003, weaving a tale that shows not just the hell of war, but also the humanity of each person involved.

The festival only has a couple more days from the posting of this episode, so head on over to the Poetic Theater Productions’ website to check out what you can still see; it’ll be worth it.

And, be sure to listen in to this episode as Alex, Maurice, and cast members Ali Andre Ali, Katie Zaffrann, Victory Chappotin, Nabil Viñas, Ankur Rathee, Fahim Hamid, and Perri Yaniv discuss drawing upon personal experience, drawing a diverse audience, learning about and seeing the Iraqi perspective, and bringing humanity to all sides of a conflict.

“For me, the reason I act in anything is to try to bring humanity to a story, and I feel like war is the kind of thing that happens when you forget about the humanity of people. So it’s an honor to be able to get onstage and help tell a story that’s written by a Marine, and tell these stories that we won’t hear, we won’t see the humanity of unless we get it on a stage…”

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Matthew Freeman, playwright of “The Listeners”

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The Brick Theater presents The Listeners, by Matthew FreemanWhen you walk in to The Brick to see Matthew Freeman‘s play The Listeners, directed by Michael Gardner, you’re seeing the back of scenic flats—you might think you came in the stage door.

But you didn’t. Follow those flats around, and you won’t get to your seat “in front of” the set. Your seat is right there at the back of those flats; you’re intentionally on the outside, looking in on a lovely set through a small slit in the wall (or through a one-way mirror, if you’re lucky).

It’s a unique way to see a unique play, and, as the title would suggest, this restriction on your sight highlights the sounds. Listening to those sounds, along with your own private window into the world, you follow the story of a man and a woman who’ve arrived to a house, and the people who were already there—and all the while, time seems to be running out, for something, as an unknowable sound bears down on the people in the box you’re peering into.

This is quite a different show from what we discussed last time Matt was on the podcast, but he’s just as awesome to talk to as last time. Listen in as he discusses the translation from improvisation to page to stage, the sound of his play, creating nameless fear, and letting your influences be what you are.

“It wears all its influences on its sleeve; I think if you just don’t fight that stuff…the piece of it that is uniquely me will come through anyway…” Continue reading →

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Nolan Kennedy, Scarlet Maressa Rivera, & Welland H. Scripps of “Gifts”

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Letter of Marque presents Gifts, written and directed by Nolan KennedyRemember O. Henry’s lovely tale The Gift of the Magi, about the poor young couple at Christmastime, who each sacrifice their most precious possession to buy something special for the other’s most precious possession, so in the end they’re both left with a nice accessory for something they no longer have?

Letter of Marque‘s Nolan Kennedy decided to follow that couple, here played by his fellow LOM co-founders Scarlet Maressa Rivera and Welland H. Scripps, into the future, from year to year, as their relationship grows and changes, exploring the meaning of giving, receiving, and what they each really want.

And you can see this lovely, theatrical holiday gem for free, because it’s Letter of Marque, and that’s how they do.

Listen in as Nolan, Scarlet & Welland discuss how & why they built upon O. Henry’s classic, how & why live music and theatrical snow-fall was brought in to the show, and how & why they don’t charge admission.

“The capitalization of theatre minimizes the importance of theatre, not only in history, but in what its potential is now. It severely reduces the potential of how theatre can change…”

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Mac Rogers, Kate Middleton, & Sean Williams of “Asymmetric”

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Asymmetric by Mac Rogers at 59E59, directed by Jordana WilliamsSome things just go great together. Turkey & stuffing. Pumpkin pie & whipped cream. Calvin & Hobbes.

Add to that list the theatre companies Gideon & Ground UP, who have teamed up to present Mac Rogers‘s Asymmetric at 59E59.

Listen in as Mac, along with the show’s co-stars Kate Middleton and Sean Williams, Artistic Director of Ground UP and Producer/Founding Member of Gideon, respectively, discuss working with your friends, bringing downtown to 59th Street, inspiration from The Cure, and why we need a spy thriller set in 2015, in 2014.

As with my last interviews with these cats — Mac & Sean’s episode with Rebecca Comtois, for Gideon’s show Ligature Marks, and Kate’s episode with Catya McMullen and Scott Klopfenstein for Ground UP’s Rubber Ducks and Sunsets — this is a great, in-depth interview, so it’s worth the slightly longer run-time. I do hope you’ll take a listen.

“…and it’s incredibly exciting—it’s like you get to have your smartest friend debating himself, and spinning the chess board and playing black as hard as he’s playing white. And that’s really cool…” Continue reading →

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TALKBACK: Astoria Performing Arts Center’s “In the Bones”

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Astoria Performing Arts Center presents In the Bones by Cody DaigleHow are we transformed by the death of a loved one? And, what is left behind?

Those questions seem to be at the heart of Cody Daigle‘s play In the Bones, in which a family navigates the aftermath of a young man’s suicide. Through four scenes, and flashbacks presented through his own cell-phone-shot home videos, Luke’s lover, his sister, his mother, his aunt, and his friend struggle with their responses to the abrupt end of his life after two tours of Afghanistan.

It just so happens that I was at a performance of the play featuring a talkback with the playwright, director, and the entire cast, moderated by APAC’s Executive Director Erin Moore — and because everything was covered that I would have asked in a more traditional GSAS! interview, instead of making everyone repeat themselves, here’s that talkback, in full.

Listen in as the cast & crew of In the Bones discuss inspiration from Spanish Civil War poetry, grief, and struggling with larger world issues in the context of a family story.

“I’m actually a very happy person…”

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Josh Luxenberg, Jon Levin, Erik Lochtefeld, and Eric Wright of “Powerhouse”

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Sinking Ship Productions presents PowerhouseChances are, you’re like me—you won’t immediately recognize the name Raymond Scott, but once you realize who he was, you also realize you’ve had his music stuck in your head at some point in time. Maybe even many points in time.

Director Jon Levin was once on the same page as you & I, casually humming Scott’s iconic melody from Powerhouse, when a friend introduced him to the story of this music pioneer. From there, he and playwright Josh Luxenberg, along with their collaborators in Sinking Ship Ensemble, began to devise this vibrant, imaginative piece of theatre, named for that very composition.

Listen in as Jon & Josh, joined by actors Erik Lochtefeld, who portrays Scott, & Eric Wright, one of the puppet-geniuses behind Puppet Kitchen (who provide, you might have surmised, puppets for the show), discuss faith in the post-atomic future, the difference between what you set out to do and what actually happens, and discovering your play in front of an audience.

“There’s something really compelling to me about the idea of something trying to do one thing, very specifically, and being undermined by a bunch of cartoons.”

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Tyler Grimes, Victoria Flores, Christian Daly, and Chloé Malaisé of “Stripped”

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Distilled Theatre Company presents Stripped by Tyler GrimesBaseball. War. Strippers.

Distilled Theatre Company‘s resident playwright Tyler Grimes locates the cross-points of these disparate elements of Americana in his new play Stripped, presented by Distilled & directed by Victoria Flores.

Listen in as Tyler, Victoria, Christian, and Chloé discuss trauma, naming characters after the narrator’s favorite cartoon, language, and telling stories about the time we’re in now. And yes, there are a few baseball metaphors.

“Baseball is this metaphor for having to own up to things. When the spotlight is on you, it’s on you. More than any other sport, it’s the team sport where the individual can really change something, really affect something.”

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David Haan, playwright of “The President Plays”

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playwright David HaanGSAS! Producer’s Note: playwright David Haan is writing things you should read, produce, and/or go and see.

Case-in-point: his 42-play cycle The President Plays re-imagines the death of every U.S. president from Washington to G.W. Bush, a series so epic that the reading of it had to be spread over three consecutive Tuesdays. The intrepid folks at Blowout Theatre are kindly hosting the readings on off-nights from their new show, Jona Tarlin’s In Antarctica, Where it is Very Warm (which, though the podcast wasn’t able to get out to cover it, looks super-cool, pun intended—remaining dates are Thursday thru Saturday, October 9, 10, & 11, nightly at 8PM!).

There’s only one more night from the posting of this episode to catch the remaining plays in the cycle (Tuesday, October 7 @ 7:30PM!), and it’s well-worth seeing thanks to the wonderful actors you’ll see (including members of Amios and The Assembly), excellent direction from Liz Thaler, and, of course, David’s imaginative, intriguing, insightful scripts.

I sat down with David over a beer after Part II of the cycle last Tuesday — listen in as we discuss getting history wrong, collaboration, our love of Amios, dreams of marathon theatre, and writing the impossible.

“…I’m very interested in the theatre as a collaborative enterprise…it’s kind of a conveyor belt, in which each part is kind of it’s own fully formed thing, but then becomes something greater…”

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Kimball B. Allen & Emma Hassett of “Be Happy Be Mormon”

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Kimball B. Allen's Be Happy Be MormonIt’s time once again for the world’s largest solo theatre festival, United Solo (the last time GSAS! was there was in 2011, for the first iteration of Sylvia Milo’s The Other Mozart!).

This time out, the podcast takes in a very different, very personal show, brought to New York’s off-off-Broadway from Seattle—Be Happy Be Mormon, written and performed by Kimball B. Allen & directed by Emma Hassett. Kimball grew up gay & Mormon in rural Idaho—and given that combination, his life didn’t exactly go according to the plan his parents had in mind for him. A letter his mother wrote to him while he was still a baby provides the spark for this auto-biographical exploration through Kimball’s childhood, to his coming out.

Listen in as Kimball & Emma discuss the boxes that others set up for us check (and what happens when you don’t check off any of them), the changes a director can pull out of a solo performer, dinner-table collaboration, and how you travel across the country to present your solo piece (hint: minimal props).

“I just got to sort of hear the stories, and say, ‘hey, what about this, or what about that?’…it was a great collaboration.”
“Yeah, we can’t wait for the next one!”

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Ari Laura Kreith, J. Stephen Brantley, & Jerreme Rodriguez of “I Like To Be Here…”

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I Like To Be Here: Jackson Heights Revisited, or, This Is A MangoTheatre 167‘s I Like To Be Here: Jackson Heights Revisited, or, This Is A Mango is part four of a trilogy—yes, you read that right—looking at one of the most diverse neighborhoods not just in New York, but in the world. Through inter-connected stories taking place over one night, the play weaves a tapestry of this unique community and its residents.

Director Ari Laura Kreith, playwright J. Stephen Brantley, and actor Jerreme Rodriguez join me on the mic to explain how one play about Ari’s neighborhood turned into four; listen in as they discuss what happens when you write a role that your director decides only you can play, getting inspiration from your neighborhood, and Ari & J. Stephen share their choices for best Indian restaurants (and Indian sweets) in Jackson Heights.

“…about the connections between really different cultures and communities, and what they have in common…with the Jackson Heights trilogy, it’s about all of these different cultures coming together in one place…that’s Queens, right?”

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