Christian Parker of “The First Line of Dante’s Inferno”

Listen in as Christian Parker, producer & director of The First Line of Dante’s Inferno, discusses blank slates, finding a rhythm, getting the audience ahead of what they’re experiencing, letting the humor live, and the weird magic that happens when people get lost in the woods.

“…I think more broadly, the play is about longing, and feeling lost in midlife, and loneliness, and what sort of questions we find ourselves having to answer in the middle of our lives when we’ve already made a bunch of choices, and have to make some decisions about whether we’re going to honor those, or take a totally new direction…”

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Ed Schmidt of “Edward”

Listen in as Ed Schmidt, creator and performer of Edward, discusses melodramatic origins to fictionalized short stories, a “theatrical epistolary novel,” doing what you can do and not what other playwrights do, cutting out the middle men, object—>story vs. story—>object, and finding the sustainable model that works for you.

“…somebody else’s life started to emerge from this, and at a certain point I realized, ‘this is a play, told this way.’ […] And I thought, ‘how could I do this thing, which is really kinda anti-dramatic…and make that theatrical in some way’…”

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Camber Carpenter of “In My Condition”

Listen in as performer/producer/mom/singer/diva/creator of In My Condition, Camber Carpenter, discusses parenthood, the stand-up/cabaret intersection, the scariness of being brutally honest, Mother Nature’s trickery, adding in that ever-changing additional performer (the audience), letting loose, and taking the initiative to make art while being a mom.

“…our world is difficult in so many ways right now…bringing a little joy to somebody for a while is pretty important, I think…”

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Sophie McIntosh, D.B. Milliken, & Michael Lepore of “Road Kills”

Good Apples Collective presents ROAD KILLS, written by Sophie McIntosh, directed by Nina GoodheartListen in as Road Kills playwright Sophie McIntosh, along with performers D. B. Milliken & Michael Lepore, discuss dramaturgical road trips, literal roadkill, finding your way to the darker places, tossing props in full dark, radio plays between scenes, “the two worst days of your life,” creating a special environment, and the strange mishaps that bring us closer together, and sometimes push us apart.

“…a lot of this play has to do with the ways that we interact with animals, across the spectrum…”
“They are us, we are one of them…”

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Scott C. Sickles, Jesse Edward Rosbrow, Amanda LaPergola, Brian Silliman, & Alyssa Simon of “Hellish Delights”

Theatre Beyond Broadway presents HELLISH DELIGHTS, written by Scott C. Sickles, directed by Jesse Edward RosbrowListen in as Hellish Delights playwright Scott C. Sickles, director Jesse Edward Rosbrow, and performers Amanda LaPergola, Brian Silliman, Alyssa Simon, discuss finding delight in characterizations, humor traps, storytelling, second chances and the effects of time on the work, finding the through-line, puppets, and what it means to be in hell.

“…I feel like the plays, parts of them, feel very different now than they did five years ago. I don’t know much of that is just that, our world has changed…how much of it was, it was in the back of our minds, ‘working’ for five years, or, we’re five years older, with five years more experience…”

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Christopher Lee, David Carl, & Philip Cruise of “Fat Cat Killers”

SparkPlug Productions in association with Thin Duke Productions and The Gene Frankel Theatre present FAT CAT KILLERS, written by Adam Szymkowicz, directed by Andrew BlockListen in as the cast of this timely production of Fat Cat KillersChristopher Lee (co-producer), David Carl, & Philip Cruise (co-producer)—discuss bumbling buddies, coincidental Caribbean encounters, the brilliance & great works of playwright Adam Szymkowicz, finding “more murdery” stuff, status shifts, continuous character discovery, and just how two lonely cogs in the corporate wheel could get in way over their heads.

“…as soon as we read the play, we were like, ‘we have to do it.’ […] And we don’t promote Luigi, and I don’t think the play does—but I think the play really addresses American exceptionalism…”

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Nick Thomas, Adam Belvo, & Azumi Tsutsui of “Anonymous”

Spit & Vigor presents ANONYMOUS by Nick Thomas at Tiny Baby BlackboxListen in as Anonymous playwright & director Nick Thomas, along with performers Adam Belvo (Michael) and Azumi Tsutsui (Diana), discuss sharing a character, letting the story pour out, the relief of the audience, “embedded” theatre, “rehearsal with a bunch of strangers,” going “full Australian business-bro,” finding a character that’s far from you, taking us back to the (awesome) 1990s, and the potential of anonymity.

“…it has a different feeling of freshness. Like, I can feel the people sitting beside me, and they don’t know what’s going on, but hearing the story for the first time…I can feel, people are feeling it…”

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Kimille Howard & Cezar Williams of The Fire This Time Festival 2025

Season 16 of The Fire This Time Festival, 2025, featuring works by FELISPEAKS, Brittany Fisher, TyLie Shider, Garrett Turner, Jeanette W. Hill, & D.L. Patrick, directed by Kimille Howard, at The Wild ProjectListen in as the Director of the shows in this year’s The Fire This Time Festival, Kimille Howard, along with Producing Artistic Director Cezar Williams, discuss finding balance, discovering musical talent, bringing together black voices in the theatre, finding new collaborators, figuring out the big game of scheduling Tetris, leaning into the practicalities, and making magic.

“…it’s a theatrical event…to amplify the career of black playwrights…we pull together an incredible team of artist…and it’s always a good time.”

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Kallan Dana, Julia Greer, and Sarah Blush of “Racecar Racecar Racecar”

The Hearth presents RACECAR RACECAR RACECAR, written by Kallan Dana, directed by Sarah BlushListen in as Racecar Racecar Racecar playwright Kallan Dana, director Sarah Blush, and producer/performer Julia Greer, discuss the open road of a script, symmetry & palindromic structures, complicated father relationships, creating breaks, emergency relocations, and taking road trips with your collaborators.

“…I’m a person who tries to talk and talk until I can get to what I mean, and I’m always failing. The words are always failing you. And so I think that feels like a really emotionally true thing for me, and that was part of the fun for generating the language in this play…”

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Coral Cohen, Cosette Pin, Sam Hood Adrian, & James Clements of “Third Law”

What Will the Neighbors Say? presents THIRD LAW at Culture Lab LICListen in as members of the team that devised What Will the Neighbors Say?‘s Third Law—director Coral Cohen, designer Cosette Pin, and performers Sam Hood Adrian and James Clements—discuss their devising process, exploring audience agency, Kandinsky, testing your show with live participants, taking risks, and where theatre meets gaming.

“…it’s unlike any game that you have played. You are controlling physical bodies all around you, like real life VR…like reality, but you’re making a play right in front of you.”

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