Boo Killebrew & Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell, playwrights/performers of “Family Play (1979 to present)”

Collaboration Town presents Family Play (1979 to present)Over the past several decades, the fundamental definition of “family” has changed — and the collaborators of Collaboration Town have come of age through some 30-odd of those years.

In their new show Family Play (1979 to present), previously titled Help Me to Make It and part of their two-year participation in The Archive Alliance Residency, CTown co-artistic directors, actors, and playwrights on the project Boo Killebrew and Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell (fellow playwright Jordan Seavey spoke about the project on an earlier episode of the podcast, during the show’s workshop last summer) explore the changing nature of the family through a series of 116 moments — many of which will be familiar to…well, anyone who’s grown up.

Listen in as Boo and Geoffrey discuss what makes a family, “a lot of Google Docs,” the deconstruction of the traditional nuclear family in traditional American drama, and how you define a person based on moments.

“…if we’re going to explore how family is changing, then we need to explore traditional structure in plays…we wanted to just break everything down as much as possible…take away definitions of people…everyone is everyone is everyone…”

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Jordan Seavey, co-creator & co-playwright of “Help Me to Make It”

Collaboration Town presents a workshop production of "Help Me to Make It"

Collaboration Town returns to the podcast for their third episode (check out the The Deepest Play Ever and All Girls podcasts for interviews with Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell & Lee Sunday Evans, also co-creators on this project), with the workshop production of their new (apropos of their name) collaboratively-created show, Help Me to Make It, part of the 2013 Ice Factory Festival ahead of its full production in April 2014.

Listen in as co-creator & co-playwright Jordan Seavey talks about how to get from 12 hours of written material down to a one-act workshop performance (hint: “killing textual babies”), the relationship between his life as a playwright and his life as a performer, and how Collaboration Town defines their namesake—collaboration.

“We have that kind of tension, as well, that siblings have, and we have that kind of forthrightness…where we can say, ‘this is really what I want,’…we’re very blunt, in a loving way…”

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Anna Greenfield, playwright & actress, & Lee Sunday Evans, director, of “All Girls”

"All Girls," by Anna GreenfieldCollaboration Town was last on the podcast with the crazy epic The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos. This time around, their show All Girls brings things to a much more personal level to great effect with this lovely, personal piece about three young girls on the verge of entering high school.

It may be “all girls,” but of course all are invited. And as you’ll hear in the interview, playwright/actress Anna Greenfield and director Lee Sunday Evans want to be sure this show is accessible to all (and they succeeded).

Listen in as Anna & Leigh talk about sensitivity to voices, “struggling with the process of becoming,” writing something so you can act in it, and being honest. Continue reading

Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell, playwright & actor, from “The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos”

Collaboration Town's The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of PathosGo See a Show! was back at The New Ohio last weekend for some deep, epic thoughts, provided by The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos.

Playwright & actor Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell joined me for an interview on his dinner break between shows — that’s him in the first photo below, red-eyed & blue-mouthed, with his arm outstretched next to the puppet & puppeteer of Mephistopheles.

Listen in as Geo discusses acting in a show he’s still revising, loving & lampooning Brecht, and what’s next for the company he co-founded & leads, Collaboration Town — and I curse Jad Abumrad (not seriously, of course).

Obligatory Shakespeare reference this time? The Winter’s Tale. It never fails to come back to the Bard!

(…sorry for the background noise — it seems Collaboration Town has a big population!…)


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The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos
by Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell
music by Michael Wells
lyrics by Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell, Jordan Seavey and Michael Wells
directed by Lee Sunday Evans and Jordan Seavey

The New Ohio Theatre
154 Christopher Street, 1E
Tickets available via SmartTix

Wednesday, March 14th @ 7:30 – Opening Night!
Thursday, March 15th @ 7:30
Friday, March 16th @ 7:30
Saturday, March 17th @ 5:00
Saturday, March 17th @ 9:00 (WEAR GREEN AND PAY WHAT YOU CAN!)
Sunday, March 18th @ 7:30
Monday, March 19th @ 7:30
Wednesday, March 21st @ 7:30

Thursday, March 22nd @ 7:30
Friday, March 23rd @ 7:30
Saturday, March 24th @ 5:00 & 9:00

Collaboration Town's The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos

Collaboration Town's The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos

photos by Colin D. Young