Tag Archives: designers

Rhys Luke, Sophia DiPaolo, Leah Davidowitz, Tits Morality, Chloe Drohan, & Eliana Coe of “Dave and Boris Kill the Cat”

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Listen in as Dave and Boris Kill the Cat playwright Rhys Luke, director Sophia DiPaolo, costumer Leah Davidowitz, and performers Tits Morality, Chloe Drohan, and Eliana Coe, discuss falling down rabbit holes, working on a show that features real people, queer horror, grotesque and disgusting mannerisms, drag & film noir, intergenerational cat trauma, & making everything larger than life.

“…there’s something so special about sending such a strong message, under the guide of comedy…to have audience members tell you is, ‘it was so funny, I laughed so hard,’ and then you know that they go home, and think a little bit more about it, and they realize what the show is really about…it’s such a joyful process, to work on something so meaningful, something so inclusive, and have a laugh while doing it…”

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Clay McLeod Chapman, Pete Boisvert, Stephanie Cox-Connolly, & Morgan Zipf-Meister of “Feejee Mermaid”

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Drops in the Vase presents FEEJEE MERMAID, written by Clay McLeod Chapman, directed by Pete Boisvert, at The Flea TheaterListen in as feejee mermaid playwright Clay McLeod Chapman, director Pete Boisvert, props & effects designer Stephanie Cox-Connolly, and actor Morgan Zipf-Meister, discuss finding a taxidermy consultant, love and hate, reconnecting with the scene, multiple hats, buying everyone the book, and making shit so you can make something live & breathe.

“…it’s about four people who are intersecting at a point in their lives where they love each other, hate each other…these are people who need each other to complete themselves, and achieve something greater than any one individual.”

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

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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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Miranda Haymon, Emmie Finckel, & Cha See of “In the Penal Colony”

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The Hodgepodge Group and Lucy Powis present IN THE PENAL COLONY, written and directed by Miranda Haymon, presented as part of Next Door at NYTWListen in as In the Penal Colony writer/director/producer Miranda Haymon, along with set designer Emmie Finckel and lighting designer Cha See, discuss the relationship and performance of patriarchy & punishment, how the show’s designers interacted with their process, sites of judgement, machines, building a highly physical piece with little dialogue, avoiding the “bad version” of the play, supporting design choices, and how Kafka’s 100-year-old short story resonates today.

“…I feel that this piece is directly engaging with the real live bodies and the real live circumstances in a way that feels gripping, and theatrical, and REAL…we’re able to get folks in the room, and have a real, live, conversation…”

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Ray Yamanouchi, Axel Avin, Jr., Sydney Cole Alexander, Hunter Canning, Alex Herrald, Martin K. Lewis, Danie Steel, and Enrico de Trizio of “The American Tradition”

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New Light Theater Project presents THE AMERICAN TRADITION, written by Ray Yamanouchi, directed by Axel Avin Jr., at 13th Street Repertory CompanyListen in as The American Tradition playwright Ray Yamanouchi, director Axel Avin, Jr., and performers Sydney Cole Alexander, Hunter Canning, Alex Herrald, Martin K. Lewis, Danie Steel, along with music & sound designer Enrico de Trizio, discuss getting into the difficult questions with laughter, true stories of daring escapes, examining allyship, Brecht’s alienation effect, theatricalizing moments, how racism gets coded, remembering who the story is for, the incredible space that theatre gives us to “look through the keyhole,” and acknowledging the history that we don’t want to acknowledge.

“…I felt like it was a conversation that needed to be had. It’s a broader conversation than just speaking about slavery, or the Antebellum time period. It speaks to what’s happening today, using America’s great sin of slavery to talk about what’s still happening today…”

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Alex Roe, Erin Beirnard, Michael Turner, & Jessie Lynn Smith of “Shadow of Heroes”

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Metropolitan Playhouse presents SHADOW OF HEROES, written by Robert Ardrey, directed by Alex RoeListen in as Shadow of Heroes director Alex Roe, along with actors Erin Beirnard & Michael Turner and lighting designer Jessie Lynn Smith, discuss modern resonance with pockets of history, humanizing historical figures, exploring the “why,” witnessing, finding the balance between fact and dramaturgy, and the “constant tension” between open societies and darker personal interests.

“…essentially, it’s about the life of, and possibilities of giving life to, an ideal, and the challenges those ideals face. But in the end, I think there’s something inspiring…”

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Vince Gatton, Jordana Williams, & Tyler M. Perry of “Alexandria”

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Sanguine Theatre Company presents ALEXANDRIA, written by Vince Gatton, directed by Jordana Williams, at IRT TheaterListen in as Alexandria playwright Vince Gatton, along with director Jordana Williams and set/lighting designer Tyler M. Perry, discuss grabbing the audience with words, curating our modern campfire stories, how to keep your play’s young character off his phone, “eavesdropping on the internal arguments happening in Christian America,” the struggle between the analog and the digital, trying to give gifts of love between characters, and hooking audiences with the immediacy of indie theatre.

“…I feel like this play asks a really timely question, in a very compassionate, sensitive way […]. At a certain point what you’re tolerating is sort of what you’re permitting, and where do you draw the line and what’s ok and what stand should you take, and when should you shut somebody down? And I don’t know the answer, and it’s something that I struggle with, and I love how honestly the play grapples with that…”

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Nick Benacerraf, Jess Chayes, Stephen Aubrey, and Jax Jackson of “SEAGULLMACHINE”

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La Mama E.T.C., in association with The Assembly, presents SEAGULLMACHINE, created by The Assembly, conceived by Nick Benacerraf, co-directed by Jess Chayes & Nick BenacerrafListen in as collaborators on The Assembly’s SEAGULLMACHINE—conceiver/co-director Nick Benacerraf, co-director Jess Chayes, dramaturg Steven Aubrey, and performer Jax Jackson—discuss layering multiple theatrical sources, permission to find points of resonance, turning on a dime, the company’s development process, finding new roles through that process, bringing an audience into a world “oozing word-slime,” different versions of ourselves, and the question of whether or not theatre can produce change.

“…every night, by a certain time in the play, it feels like we’re also just people, human beings in a room with our audience. And that has been one of the most special experiences of it, to me…”

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Giverny Petitmermet, Rachel Dart, Elizabeth May, Taylor Beidler, and Alex Guhde of “The Trojan Women”

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The New Collectives present Euripides' THE TROJAN WOMEN, A New Version by Brendan Kennelly, directed by Rachel DartListen in as The New Collectives Artistic Director & performer Giverny Petitmermet, director Rachel Dart, sound designer Elizabeth May, dramaturg Taylor Beidler, and assistant director Alex Guhde discuss bringing The Trojan Women to the present day, “folk songs from countries you’ve never been to,” why you should have a dramaturg & an assistant director on your show, “feeling your feelings,” finding the intersection between art and activism, where you’ll see Bob Fosse in this show, and how theatre can be the catalyst to a live conversation about what really matters.

“We do The Trojan Women in 2017 because the sad fact is that women who are displaced by war and conflict…continues to be relevant each and every day…”

“This really feels like the moment all the things that The New Collectives do comes to a head…”

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Janet Bentley, Andy Evan Cohen, Alexandra Cohler, & Ian Campbell Dunn of “Basement”

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Roly Poly Productions presents BASEMENT, written by Michael Hagins, directed by Janet BentleyListen in as the director of Basement, Janet Bentley, along with actors Alexandra Cohler & Ian Campbell Dunn and sound designer Andy Evan Cohen, discuss radio-announcer-as-chorus, working in multiple languages in the same piece, sound as dramaturgy (and dramaturgy through sound), the benefit of having a medical professional in your production team, finding a place for a dance, and how to turn the traditional wartime romance narrative on its head.

“…theatre is always musical to me. There’s a rhythm to it…”

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