Tag Archives: Actors

Alex Tobey & Rachel Lin of “I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!”

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I WANTTT A UNICORN FRAPPE!!! by Catherine Weingarten directed by Alex Tobey at The Tank NYCListen in as I WANTTT A UNICORN FRAPPE!!! director Alex Tobey & actor Rachel Lin (Jenny) discuss obsession with limited availability drinks, romantic anxiety, blending darkness & depth along with bright humor, presentation & artifice & longing, rehearsal tone conversations, finding something magical and big while also keeping it intimate, and the difference between living in a difficult reality vs. an artificial fantasy.

“…it’s a frothy, girly comedy about a young woman named Jenny…torn between ‘do I live in reality, and be unhappy, or do I go to this fantasy world that is a little distant…and maybe it’s not quite real, and maybe it’s actually unhealthy’…”

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Āsim Ali Naqvi, Yves Allen, Anissa Naji, Karan Khanna, & Nafis of “Down Once More”

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New York Theater Festival presents DOWN ONCE MOREListen in as Down Once More playwright Āsim Ali Naqvi, along with performers Yves Allen, Anissa Naji, Karan Khanna, & Nafis, discuss identity, the supernatural, expanding what’s allowed to be discussed and by whom, meeting your favorite character, wearing multiple hats, showing up as yourself, and the play’s complicated blend of science, psychology, spirituality, queerness, career, and attention.

“…hella juicy…”

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Ally Callaghan & Julio Cesar Gutierrez of “Love Story”

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Listen in as actors Ally Callaghan (Maria) and Julio Cesar Gutierrez (Marc) of Aurora Stewart de Peña’s Love Story, presented in its world premiere by The Tank and Voyage Theater Company, discuss theatrical roller-coaster rides, building props and scenery in space, stage directions, feeling the space, heaviness & fun, getting from point A to point B, mid-’00s dramaturgy, and “grief, afterlife, & the unknown.”

“…from the people that have come to see it, they’ve said that they’ve felt really impacted by the show, and it left them thinking a lot. I think this tackles grief in a way that I’ve never seen it tackled before…so I think because of that, it leaves a lot of questions to ask, and a lot of questions to be answered…”

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Carrie Heitman, Kyle Abourizk, Leah McVeigh, Cynthia Babak, & Parnia Ayari of “Plan C”

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Listen in as Hook & Eye Theater ensemble members and collaborating devisers on Plan C—Carrie Heitman (director), Kyle Abourizk (assistant director), Leah McVeigh (production management), Cynthia Babak (performer), & Parnia Ayari (performer)—discuss their devising process, solving problems by hand, modern resonance, getting your people into a room together, lemons worth squeezing, trusting your collaborators, taking risks, politics and somatic experiences, and organizing to defeat a systemic problem.

“…we have collaborated over the years—trust does grow. It’s a real joy to work with people who you know have your back, and the only way you can do that is by doing a bunch of things with them, and failing, and picking it up…it’s unique…”

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Barry Boehm & Christopher Borg of “Our House”

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Listen in as Our House playwright Barry Boehm and actor Christopher Borg discuss wedding jitters, putting your play in history, living a life of dignity & honesty & joy anywhere, legacy, sticking your foot in it but trying to do better, rom-com energy, & the history and importance of the producing company, TOSOS.

“…I’ve had the basic ideas of this play for many years…originally it was going to be about the life of gay people, comparing the East Coast to the Midwest…then as I got older, it became a more intergenerational discussion…things just sort of changed…it’s about people that are trying to find their voice, and express who they are, but are often caught up…they experience crises in different ways…”

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Paul Pinto & Kristin Marting of “Mano a Mano”

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Listen in as Mano a Mano creator/composer/performer Paul Pinto, along with director Kristin Marting, discuss getting over live performance doomerism, celebrating/questioning/undressing/redressing/exposing masculinity, giving the audience access to the performer, theatrical collaboration, the work of the body in creating vocal sound, a work of art’s relevance in time and space, and giving the audience a good time.

“…I like to see theatre that impresses me…that makes me feel like, when I sit down there, not only can I not believe what’s going on onstage, but I want to jump onstage and take part…”

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Ed Schmidt of “Edward”

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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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Joe Therrien, Ali Dineen, Darkin Brown, Tom Cunningham, Sam Wilson, & Jason Hicks of “Dimension Zero”

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DIMENSION ZERO by Boxcutter Collective, presented at HERE Arts CenterListen in as Dimension Zero co-creators, performers, and Boxcutter Collective members Joe Therrien, Ali Dineen, Darkin Brown, Tom Cunningham, Sam Wilson, & Jason Hicks discuss consensus not compromise, salad bars, writing and shaping earworms, grant-writing as production impetus, outside eyes, reality catching up to dark comedy, “following the giggle,” and how a collective comes together to create an anti-capitalist musical puppet show.

“…one of the reasons we made this show, is to not go insane…art allows you to take that thing you can’t deal with, and it allows you to put it into your hands to mess with. For us, with this show, it’s taking this planetary moment of terror…it allows us to at least put it in front of us, and put it in front of the audience, in a way we can feel empowered, and hopeful…”

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Eliza Palter, Vena Howard, & Kat Quiñones of “The Goo”

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New Relic Theatre presents THE GOO, written by K. Rose Dallimore, directed by Eliza Palter, at The Chain TheatreListen in as The Goo director Eliza Palter, along with performers Vena Howard & Kat Quiñones, discuss unintended distance from your friends, efficient vibes, the built-up pressure of your 20s, creating compelling stage pictures on a picnic blanket, activating ideas & notions, sitcom framing, being real & having the hard conversations, and what a modern examination of the themes of The Importance of Being Earnest could look like.

“…it’s an ensemble piece, it’s funny, it’s about a bunch of people sitting around and talking about nothing, getting nowhere…and while this play isn’t a one-to-one adaptation…you have this sense that there’s something burbling under the surface that we’re not quite getting at. It’s a meditation on authenticity, on performance…”

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Mark Lonergan, Ryan Shinji, & Book Kennison of “I’ll Take It”

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Parallel Exit presents I'LL TAKE IT at 3AM Theatre, created and conceived by Joel Jeske, directed by Mark Lonergan, photo by Maike SchulzListen in as I’ll Take It performer Ryan Shinji & composer Book Kennison, along with director Mark Lonergan, discuss success by proximity, coexisting in small spaces, conceptualization and minimizing, bodies and boxes in space, object manipulation, possible futures, dancing around each other, and what’s going on with this wild ride of a show in a box.

“The concept is three friends who are living together in a very tiny apartment, and over the course of the show they drift apart, they come back together…it’s a very classic New York story, and experience, and it’s told through the mediums of circus & physical theatre. So it’s not just people standing and having a relationship…it’s people doing spectacular, extraordinary things with their bodies…”

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