Eliza Palter, Paul Rochford, Thammie Laine Quách, Eli Wassertzug, & Ana Prí of “Antigone”

New Relic Theatre presents ANTIGONE, written by Sophocles, adapted and directed by Eliza Palter, featuring composition by Paul RochfordListen in as the adapter/director of New Relic Theatre’s production of Sophocles, Eliza Palter, along with composer Paul Rochford and performers Thammie Laine Quách, Eli Wassertzug, & Ana Prí, discuss Swedish pop musical inspiration, creating otherworldly characters, deep research, discovering levity, and moving Antigone to Viking culture.

“I think there is something so beautiful about making theatre for young people, and showing them that centuries and centuries and centuries ago, humans were just as vivid and complex, queer, complicated, as shameful as we are now. And bringing, especially young audiences, into the theater, and see the sweat on people from times of yore, see them struggle, see them be embarrassed, see them grapple with big ideas…”

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Nicola Korzenko, Cesar J. Rosado, Sheila Vand, Maggie Bofill, Brian Miskell, Knud Adams, Claire Siebers, & Anand Wilder of “Nylon”

Theaterlab presents Blockchain Theater Project’s production of NYLON, written by Sofia Alvarez, directed by Knud AdamsListen in as Nylon director Knud Adams, along with producer Nicola Korzenko, composer Anand Wilder, and cast members Maggie Bofill, Brian Miskell, Cesar J. Rosado, Claire Siebers, & Sheila Vand, speak with GSAS! correspondent Alex Randrup to discuss how best to tease your show, the cages we build for ourselves, “coming up from beneath the role,” the audience as an invisible character, making art on an indie theatre budget, jedi director tricks, demanding a response, making messy decisions and messing up, and balancing *you* with your character.

“…I loved when I first read this play, this idea that, we do create a narrative for our lives, and what happens when you start to confront the cracks in that narrative…?”

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Daniel McCoy, Heidi Handelsman, & David Hilder of “Perfect Teeth” and “Dick Pix”

Richard Pictures presents and TLab Shares hosts, in association with Anne L. Bernstein, two plays by Daniel McCoy, PERFECT TEETH, directed by David Hilder, and DICK PIX, directed by Heidi HandelsmanListen in as playwright Daniel McCoy, and the directors of his plays Perfect Teeth, David Hilder, and Dick Pix, Heidi Handelsman, discuss running in rep two shows that are completely stylistically different, why these plays are right for the current moment, longtime collaborations, “gender spaghetti,” love for your design team, working in oddly perfect spaces, and solving issues with your creative collaborators.

“…there’s just a lot that isn’t talked about as readily or as publicly as it should be, and so that’s one of the things that I hope the play sort of cracks open a little bit…”

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Tim Errickson, Chase Burnett, Brian Morvant, Trace Pope, and Amanda Tudor of “The Reckless Season”

Boomerang Theatre Company presents THE RECKLESS SEASON, written by Lauren Ferebee, directed by Dominic D'AndreaListen in as Boomerang Artistic Director Tim Errickson, along with the full cast of their current production of The Reckless SeasonChase Burnett, Brian Morvant, Trace Pope, and Amanda Tudor—discuss balancing the heavy with the comedic, what the room was like putting this show together, researching what it’s like to be on some crazy drugs, when a character won’t leave a play alone, finding salvation in a video game, and trying to create a family with the very different, very broken people around you.

“…if The Deer Hunter met, like, Silver Linings Playbook…there’s a lot of dark humor in it, there’s an undercurrent of sexuality to it, there’s relationship stuff, there’s brothers against brothers, there’s a lot of comedy…”

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Melissa Moschitto, Malini Singh McDonald, Alex Randrup, Brian Demar Jones, Jean Goto, Mariah Freda, and Michael Ables of “No Man’s Land”

The Anthropologists present NO MAN'S LAND, photo by Victoria Medina PhotographyWhat do you do if your daughter wants to be a real-life princess?

If you’re Jeremiah Heaton, you buy a plot of land in Africa, call it North Sudan, and make your little girl’s dream come true.

But as the poster, at left, for The Anthropologists’ No Man’s Land attests, fantasy endings like this can become something else entirely once your eyes are opened to the realities of life in the 21st Century. The very real, very complicated issues of colonialism, racism, capitalism, gender, and more come to the fore of the fairy tale in this devised show, currently playing at TheaterLab in Manhattan.

Listen in as director/writer Melissa Moschitto, assistant director/assistant producer Alex Randrup, producer Malini Singh McDonald, and actors Brian Demar Jones, Jean Goto, Mariah Freda, and Michael Ables discuss their devising process, a nice suit that doesn’t quite fit you, finding a way to get 99.9% of what you want while producing without an off-Broadway budget, and finding the play through failing to find the way to tell the story.

“…those are the parts that resonate the most, when suddenly we’re just having a conversation. And it allows you to kind of have those thoughts performed for you by people…I feel like a lot of people, when it comes to the issues of this country […] you start just echoing the same thoughts, the first round of arguments. And I think what’s so great about this show is that it lets you kind of get past that…”

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Jonathan Warman, Rosemary Howard, and Rob Skolits of “Quit the Road, Jack”

Quit the Road Jack, written by Jerry Polner, directed by Jonathan WarmanAh, the angst of the angry young man. “His fist in the air, and his head in the sand,” as a Long Island poet once said.

The titular character of Jerry Polner’s Quit the Road, Jack is just such a young man, but instead of staying at home with his back to the wall, he’s on the lam across the continent, with his hapless, divorced, bickering parents two steps behind.

GSAS! spoke with the show’s director Jonathan Warman, as well as actors Rosemary Howard and Rob Skolits—listen in as they discuss quirkiness and outsiders, balancing truth & comedy, surreal vs. more than real, drawing inspiration from political cartoons & Mexican street art, and inspiring conversations outside the theater.

“The more truthful and real it is…it actually is more funny.”

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Brian Gillespie, David Andrew Laws, Jane May, Robin Rightmyer, and Amanda Tudor of “Twelve Nights”

Pull Together Productions presents Twelve Nights, written by Sean Graney and directed by Brian GillespieIn case the title, coupled with the poster art to the left, doesn’t make it obvious enough, Twelve Nights is Sean Graney’s adaptation of Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, set in the 1980s.

Gimmick? If you’re cynical, I suppose. Awesome? Indisputably, hell yeah.

I say that, and personally, I kinda hate ’80s nostalgia. This show, and production, just makes it irresistibly fun.

All the essential ingredients are there: bright polo shirts, mix-tapes on cassettes, brilliant Peter Gabriel and Say Anything and Bill & Ted and Poison references, the whole nine. And the whole story is told by only four actors rollicking thru it at full-tilt. And, as if that weren’t enough, there’s the goofing on the twelve nights of Christmas, very apropos for a show running the first couple weeks of December.

If you want some fun theatrical holiday cheer, but without all the, y’know, holiday-malarky, check this show out. Pull Together Productions is killin’ this one, y’all.

Listen in as director & Pull Together Artistic Director Brian Gillespie, along with the full cast of David Andrew Laws, Jane May, Robin Rightmyer, and Amanda Tudor discuss the benefits of forgetting, putting ’80s pop culture onto Shakespeare, joke science, She’s the Man, and acknowledging where we are and what we’re doing—even when it goes a little askew.

“…to see the audience having fun with you…they’re just so on our side from the very beginning, it’s so good to see that…'”

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