Jaclyn Backhaus, playwright, Andrew Neisler, director, and Ben Otto, actor, of “Shoot the Freak”

Posted on September 24, 2013 by robby

not just 3 new plays Jaclyn Backhaus‘s new play, Shoot the Freak, is currently playing at Tom Noonan’s Paradise Factory on East 4th Street, as part of a unique theatrical event taking place through the month of September.

A triple-threat of playwrights including Backhaus, Kevin Armento and Jerry Lieblich have joined forces & shared resources to turn the Paradise Factory into a curated artistic laboratory for a month, with full productions of new plays by each of them as the centerpiece(s). It’s called (not just) 3 New Plays, and it’s their attempt to build “an artistic ecosystem” — an exciting proposition.

And as you’ll hear in the interview, it’s a model that I (and Jaclyn) invite you to steal.

Listen in as Jaclyn, along with Shoot the Freak director Andrew Neisler and actor Ben Otto, discuss the freaks of New York, figuring out what a new play is actually about, peeling away layers of characters and Coney Island, what is lost to the ether, and how this pop-up theatre event is like calling Captain Planet.

“…recapture the magic…”

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Matthew Freeman, playwright, and Kyle Ancowitz, director of “Why We Left Brooklyn”

Posted on September 12, 2013 by robby

Theater Accident, in association with Blue Coyote Theater Group, present the world premiere of WHY WE LEFT BROOKLYN, written by Matthew Freeman and directed by Kyle Ancowitz Doubt.

As someone in the theatre, it’s impossible not to get smacked in the face by doubt—about your career, your abilities, your life choices in general—every now and again. Maybe even daily.

The characters in Matthew Freeman‘s new play, Why We Left Brooklyn, are Brooklyn-ites wrestling with the choices they’ve made. And the choices they’ve made look a lot like the choices a lot of young artists living in New York City in 2013 have made, or are making, or are looking at making in the near future. So for a podcast devoted to looking at the off-off-Broadway landscape of the present, there was a lot of resonance felt by your humble producer while watching this show.

Listen in as Matthew & director Kyle Ancowitz discuss disappointment, growing up and getting a real job, hiding Matthew’s real address in the play, having a conversation with the theatrical community via a play, freshness, and reflecting your personal experience and the experience of your friends onstage.

“…this question about, how hard should we try, how long should we continue, how long should we continue the struggle, it gets asked of everybody in the play…”

“…you must believe in yourself. And that’s a tremendous effort, it’s a tremendous effort every day…”

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Playwright Duncan Pflaster and the cast of “Fourteen Hundred and Sixty Sketches of Your Left Hand”

Posted on September 1, 2013 by robby

"Fourteen Hundred and Sixty Sketches of Your Left Hand" by Duncan Pflaster, part of the 2013 UnFringed Festival at The Secret Theatre If you’ve spent some time around the off-off-Broadway scene, chances are you’ve run into Duncan Pflaster — maybe you saw one of his shows, or read one of his reviews.

Or, maybe you didn’t even know you were standing next to him. In my experience, dude’s always at a show.

His new play, Fourteen Hundred and Sixty Sketches of Your Left Hand, is a modern riff on the friendship between Van Gogh and Gauguin (a theme this season, perhaps?), and features strange incentives to treat brain disorders, art, sex, deception, and, sadly, violence — all stemming from a lovely bromance between two artist pals on retreat in the desert.

Listen in as Duncan, along with the cast of Roberto Alexander, W. Derek Jorden, Neysa Lozano, and Emilio Paul Tirado, discuss getting naked onstage, the playwright as director, characters retreating into their own fantasies, and how to use Cards Against Humanity to kickstart your rehearsal process.

And there’s the sound of the 7 train. What up, Queens? Continue reading →

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

Posted on July 19, 2013 by robby

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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Lawrence Lesher, director, and Todd Michael, playwright, of “Vice Girl Confidential”

Posted on May 15, 2013 by robby

Grayce Productions presents "Vice Girl Confidential," by Todd Michael, directed by Lawrence Lesher A powerful crime boss. A crusading District Attorney. A tough-as-nails madame. The corruption of a small-town girl. Stool pigeons. Vice. Drag. Dames.

With a play entitled Vice Girl Confidential, you should expect these elements.

Gracye Productions gives you the goods with the re-mounting of their Fringe Festival hit, now directed by Lawrence Lesher, with a revised script by Todd Michael (who also plays the aforementioned madame, Stella Fontaine).

Listen in as Lawrence & Todd discuss the importance of timing in physical humour, how Vice Girl Confidential changed over time, and the fun challenge of hiding the risque elements of a play (in a world where sex & violence are usually out in front). Continue reading →

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William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., playwright, and Ryan Victor Pierce, actor/producer, of “Wood Bones”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by robby

The Eagle Project presents "Wood Bones" by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.

When I asked playwright William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. to describe what his new play is about, as you’ll hear at the start of this episode, he responded that it’s about the spirit of the land, that the earth (and structures, like the “wood bones” that give the play it’s title) has spiritual energy created by what happens to the land.

Told through a series of flashbacks throughout the 20th century in and around the house with the street address of 121, Wood Bones tells the stories that give the house its spiritual energy, and gives that energy a physical presence (literally — the spirit of the house is a character onstage).

Listen in as William, along with Eagle Project founder & Artistic Director (and actor in the show) Ryan Victor Pierce, discuss making theatre inclusive, the spiritual energy of the land, and accepting that you don’t know — but you have the opportunity to learn.

“Everything is alive.”

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August Schulenburg, playwright, and Kelly O’Donnell, director, of “Honey Fist”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by robby

Flux Theatre Ensemble presents "Honey Fist" I love seeing people I recognize onstage.

And though I’m not from Marble Head, outside of Boston (pronounced “Mahble Head, outside of Bahston”), playwright August Schulenburg has written some beautifully complex, and very familiar, characters in his funny, tragic, compelling new play, Honey Fist.

Listen in as Gus and director Kelly O’Donnell discuss where Gus’s “most autobiographical play” (that’s not autobiographical) came from, the late-night last-minute carving of bongs, and why Honey Fist is running in rep with Sans Merci (hear the Sans Merci podcast here — and, listen to Gus & Kelly’s first outing on the podcast, about Adam Szymkowicz’s play Hearts Like Fists, here).

“Wha, you think you’re bettah than me?”

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Jeremy J. Kamps, playwright, Danny Sharron, director, and Lillian Rodriguez, actress, of “What It Means to Disappear Here”

Posted on May 8, 2013 by robby

Ugly Rhino's "What It Means to Disappear Here" For the second episode in a row, GSAS! heads to the nation of Colombia (via the magic of theatre, of course), this time with Ugly Rhino’s What It Means to Disappear Here.

Initially set in a café in Cartagena (where the audience sits, along with the actors), What It Means… is the story of Yulieth, a young Colombian woman who is meeting Mitch for the first time — the norteamericano man who wants to buy her as his wife. Through a series of flashbacks-and-forwards, along with some brilliant use of radio broadcasts, the audience follow the paths that brought Yulieth & Mitch to that initial meeting, and its aftermath.

Listen in as playwright Jeremy J. Kamps, director Danny Sharron, and actress Lillian Rodriguez discuss eavesdropping on a marriage deal and writing a play about it, focusing on the human story, and what makes somebody care.

“What is the role of theatre…in a drama bringing forth political issues…what is our role in the off-off-Broadway world, bringing a play like this?”

“To me, it is the role.”

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

Posted on April 5, 2013 by robby

"All Girls," by Anna Greenfield Collaboration 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 →

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Greg Kalleres, playwright of “Honky”

Posted on March 28, 2013 by robby

Honky is a play about relationships: about the relationships between five people, and about the relationships between who designs, buys, wears, covets, sells, and markets basketball shoes.

But hovering over—or rather, sitting squarely on top of—all of these relationships, is the issue of race.

It’s the kind of show that provokes wild, and/or uncomfortable, and/or silent laughter, at different times, from different people, for different reasons.

And while it doesn’t shy away from a difficult subject, Honky is hysterical, insightful, dramatic, and fun.

Listen to this episode of GSAS! to hear playwright Greg Kalleres discuss quiet audiences, brave actors, and advertising.

“You may fail, but you’ve certainly got the right to try.”

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Tag Archives: Playwrights

Jaclyn Backhaus, playwright, Andrew Neisler, director, and Ben Otto, actor, of “Shoot the Freak”

Matthew Freeman, playwright, and Kyle Ancowitz, director of “Why We Left Brooklyn”

Playwright Duncan Pflaster and the cast of “Fourteen Hundred and Sixty Sketches of Your Left Hand”

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

Lawrence Lesher, director, and Todd Michael, playwright, of “Vice Girl Confidential”

William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., playwright, and Ryan Victor Pierce, actor/producer, of “Wood Bones”

August Schulenburg, playwright, and Kelly O’Donnell, director, of “Honey Fist”

Jeremy J. Kamps, playwright, Danny Sharron, director, and Lillian Rodriguez, actress, of “What It Means to Disappear Here”

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

Greg Kalleres, playwright of “Honky”