Beckett's Babies

Hello listeners! We want to thank you all so much for your support so far this year. We are truly thankful to you all. We also want to acknowledge the pain and suffering that is happening in our communities. We hear, we understand, and we support everyone that has either donated and protested in support of #blacklivesmatter. Thanks for tuning in and we hope you will enjoy this episode. ___________________________________ Listeners! We are so excited for you to listen to this new episode of Beckett's Babies! We had an amazing conversation discussing all-things playwriting with a fellow cohort of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop program... Sean David DeMers! In this episode, Sean shares with us memories of his childhood, how he first got into playwriting, and the importance of memory in his work. We even share some fond memories of the Workshop. We hope you will enjoy this very 'memory' themed show. Thank you! Sean David DeMers is a playwright with New England and New York City roots. Plays include FACULTY POR

Hello, listeners! Boy, do we have a treat for you! This is an in-depth special episode where we had the greatest pleasure of chatting with one of our favorite people from Iowa... ART BORRECA! He is the Co-Head of the Playwriting Program and Head of the Dramaturgy Program at the University of Iowa (aka where Sam and I met and became friends!). Art talks about his journey into theater and dramaturgy, what he loves about new plays, and shares with us the Iowa Playwrights Workshop program. We are so excited for you to listen to this one. So please, grab your favorite drink, kick your feet up, and listen to this very special episode. Art Borreca is associate professor of dramaturgy, dramatic literature, and theatre history, co-head of the playwriting program, and head of the dramaturgy program. He has worked as a dramaturg with a number of leading theatre artists, including Athol Fugard, Wole Soyinka, Theodora Skipitares, David Gothard, and Naomi Wallace in such venues as the Yale Repertory Theatre, New York The

As part of our new monthly play series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is “The King of Hell's Palace" by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. In this episode, we discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. This play was also recommended to us by one of our listeners and we are so glad! Thank you, Mickey! Note: There are some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode! SHORT SUMMARY: When the Henan Ministry of Health begins paying citizens for blood plasma which is then sold to pharmaceutical companies, impoverished farmers in the province's remote villages sell blood to buy fertilizer, mend their houses and create a better life for their children. As corrupt health officials cut costs to maximize profits, safety standards are ignored, bringing potential catastrophe to China's most vulnerable population. Inspired by true events, this gripping drama explores the conflicts that arise when a community's greatest source

In this episode, Sam and Sarah discuss writing plays for the radio. We bring on a special guest, Nik Frank-Lehrer, to help us kick off the episode by sharing his experience on writing ad copy for radio. We also look at ways in how radio plays have been written and produced. Check out the links below and we'd love to hear your thoughts on writing radio plays. If you have a page or two that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to send our way. Check this episode out! GLISTENS: Sam: How Should A Person Be? By Sheila Heti Sarah: Netflix’s Never Have I Ever ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO CHECK OUT: BBC’s Radio 4 Drama https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xxp0g/episodes/player Spotify Playlist “Vintage Radio Dramas” https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZ8QVh1ew4PD The Renaissance of the Humble Radio Drama by ANGELICA CABRAL https://slate.com/technology/2017/07/radio-dramas-still-have-an-important-place-in-the-entertainment-world.html LA Theatre Works’s Catalog of Over 500 plays on Audio https://lat

Hello, listeners! In this episode, we chat with dramaturg, new play doula, and an incredible supporter of Beckett's Babies-- SHAUN LEISHER! He shares his journey into dramaturgy, what he loves about new plays, and how we can best support new work. It was an incredible joy to speak with Shaun. We could all learn a thing or two from his passion to support and advocate for new work. Check it out! Shaun Leisher (pronouns: he/him/his) is a dramaturg and new play doula based in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. As a dramaturg, he has worked on productions at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA and a workshop production of RAW PASTA by Maya Macdonald at the 2019 Ice Factory Festival at the New Ohio in NYC. In his local theatre community, Shaun is a co-founder and the Literary Manager of Emerge Theatre Company, co-created the Allentown Public Theatre's play reading series, Theatre Cafe, and has produced various readings and new play festivals throughout the region. He is also proud to be a reader/nominat

Hey listeners! We had the amazing opportunity to chat with the one and only Paul Michael Thomson. He is an actor, playwright, and co-artistic director of The Story Theatre. He had so much to say about playwriting, theater, and what it means to be an artist. We also got a chance to talk about his hilarious and page-turning play "The G.O.A.T., or Who Is Ximone?". Be sure to look out for it on New Play Exchange! Paul Michael Thomson is an actor, playwright, and co-artistic director of The Story Theatre in Chicago, IL. As an actor, he has worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, and Windy City Playhouse, among others. His plays have been produced by Avalanche Theatre, The Impostors Theatre Company, Other Theatre, Arc Theatre, and The Story Theatre, of which he is a founding ensemble member. He holds a BFA in Acting and a BA in Africana Studies from The University of Arizona and is passionate about new work, intersectional feminism, and rereading the same books over and over and over again. To learn

In this episode, Sam and Sarah get the opportunity to chat with playwright, director, deviser and artistic director of Prop Theater -- Olivia Lilley! Olivia Lilley is a playwright, director, and deviser who came up in Chicago's DIY scene. She uses a devised process to create and develop her plays that she's been honing since 2013. Olivia's work often ransacks classic literature or nonfiction with a collective and builds a new story for the current moment. Part Mary Zimmerman, Part John Cassavettes, Olivia's work is actor centric while also boldly multidisciplinary. She often collaborates with choreographer Kelly Anderson. Olivia is Artistic Director of Prop Thtr. She was the founding Artistic Director of The Runaways Lab Theatre and currently sits on their advisory board. She's an Artistic Associate at Pivot Arts, and she's curated at The Museum of Contemporary Art. Olivia attended Carnegie Mellon School of Drama for Directing, and Interlochen Arts Academy for Music Composition. To learn more about Olivia

As part of our new monthly series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is “Cost of Living" by Martyna Majok. It is the winner of 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Play. In this episode, we discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode! SHORT SUMMARY: “Cost of Living deftly challenges the typical perceptions of those living with disabilities and delves deep into the ways class, race, nationality, and wealth can create gulfs between people, even as they long for the ability to connect. Eddie, an unemployed truck driver, and his estranged ex-wife, Ani, find themselves unexpectedly reunited after a terrible accident leaves her quadriplegic. John, a brilliant PhD student with cerebral palsy, hires Jess, a first-generation recent graduate who has fallen on desperate times, as his new aide..” GLIS

In this episode, Sam and Sarah discuss writing character descriptions. We share examples of character descriptions from different plays and look at how we can be inspired to write for our own work. Check this episode out and share us your thoughts on how you approach to writing descriptions for your characters! GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten: Crochet and podcast Asian Enough https://art19.com/shows/asian-enough Sam's Glisten: Little Prince Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gARHWfXE40 _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies And as always, we would love to hear from you! Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

In this episode, Sam and Sarah get the opportunity to chat with fellow BB listener, playwright, and songwriter -- Beth Hyland! In this episode, she shares her experience in self-producing her own work, staying creative, balancing creative and work life, and her new playALL-ONE! THE DR. BRONNER'S PLAY which will be getting a "Zoom" staged reading at the end of April. Check it out! Beth Hyland is a playwright and songwriter based in Chicago. Her plays and musicals have been produced and developed regionally in the UK at the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Octagon Theatre, and around the US at Steppenwolf LookOut, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Hearth, First Floor, The Passage, Broken Nose, The Sound, and others. She is the playwright-in-residence and co-founder of The Sound. To learn more about Beth, be sure to visit her website at www.bethhyland.com GLISTENS: Sam's - 4-year-old girl found alive and well after 2 days in the woods https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/us/Evelyn-sides-Alabama-missing-found-.html S

As part of our new monthly series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is “Ching Chong Chinaman" by Lauren Yee! In this episode, we discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode! SHORT SUMMARY: The ultra-assimilated Wong family is as Chinese-American as apple pie: teenager Upton dreams of World of Warcraft superstardom; his sister Desi dreams of early admission to Princeton. Unfortunately, Upton’s chores and homework get in the way of his 24/7 videogaming, and Desi’s math grades don’t fit the Asian-American stereotype. Then Upton comes up with a novel solution for both problems: he acquires a Chinese indentured servant, who harbors an American dream of his own. GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten: Plant Therapy Project Sam's Glisten: Fristad NEXT MONTH'S PLAY: Cost of Living by Martyna Majok _____________________________________________ Please suppor

Hi, Listeners. We're all going through a crisis and this pandemic has been on all our minds. Initially, we wanted to talk about Lauren Yee's play "Ching Chong Chinaman" but instead, we decided to talk about plagues, pandemics, and outbreaks that exist in plays and popular culture. We hope everyone is hanging in there. We are all thinking about you, listeners. Please take care of yourselves and each other. RELATED LINKS: "The Infectious Pestilence Did Reign" by Ben Cohen https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/shakespeare-plague-influence-hot-hand-ben-cohen.html "Broadway Is Closed. Write Poems Instead." by Sarah Ruhl https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/opinion/broadway-coronavirus.html GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten: Trials of Gabriel Fernandez Sam's Glisten: "Italians Find ‘a Moment of Joy in This Moment of Anxiety’" https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/world/europe/italians-find-a-moment-of-joy-in-this-moment-of-anxiety.html _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing

An ongoing series about understanding comedies, welcome to "The Comedy Club". In this first part of "possibly many part" series, Sarah dives into what she thinks about comedy and her love/hate relationship with it. In this episode, we introduce the series by asking ourselves why we laugh, what is happening on stage or on the text that is making our audience laugh. Why is laughter so infectious? Why do we NEED to laugh? What makes something funny? GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten: Sarah quits coffee and sleeps really Sam's Glisten: Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live-Action Listen to the episode and come at us! _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies And as always, we would love to hear from you! Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.becketts

Playwright, Songwriter, Solo Performer, and Theatrical Jack-of-All-Trades Ryan Oliveira returns to Beckett's Babies! Hear what he has to say about theater, dramaturgy, and presenting new work to an audience as he updates us on what he's been up to since we last interviewed him. GLISTENS: Sam's - www.thispersondoesnotexist.com Sarah's - USA Network's The Sinner, streaming on Netflix Ryan's - "The Force of Nonviolence: The Ethical in the Political" by Judith Butler _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies And as always, we would love to hear from you! Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

In this episode, Sam and Sarah discuss creating titles for our plays. We share some of our favorite titles and discuss why we like certain play titles and why we do not like others. We look to how we create titles for our own work and be inspired by others. Check this episode out and share us your thoughts on creating play titles! GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten: Her Arabica Plant Sam's Glisten: Kvass _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies And as always, we would love to hear from you! Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

As part of our new monthly series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is “Dance Nation" by Clare Barron! It is one of the winners of the 2015 relentless award, a finalist for a Pulitzer, and winner of Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. In this episode, we discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode! SHORT SUMMARY: “Somewhere in America, a revolution is coming, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plot to take over the world one routine at a time. In Clare Barron’s raucous pageant of ambition and ferocity, these young dancers have more than choreography on their minds, because every plié and jeté is a step toward finding themselves, and a fight to unleash their power.” GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten: Crime Junkie Podcast https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/ Sam's Glisten: Goodness: Altruism and the Literary Imagination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmVp

What is "devised theater"? How can one start devising new work? In this week's episode, a fellow Beckett's Babies listener, Tiana Randall-Quant, reached out to us to share her experiences creating new work with The Wallis Studio Ensemble Their show "Lucid" opens on February 20th and we can't wait for you to hear what she has to say about the process. Listen to this episode to learn about Tiana's trajectory into theater, devising and creating new work, and how she feels about when someone says that LA is not a theater town. Be sure to grab your tickets to Lucid here! bit.ly/LucidTicket GLISTENS: Sarah's Glisten - American inventor Mary Kenner Sam's Glisten - Pedro Almodovar “Pain and Glory" Tiana's Glisten - Netflix’s “The Green Frontier" ABOUT TIANA RANDALL-QUANT Tiana Randall-Quant is a Los Angeles based theatre artist working to change the narrative that LA is “not a theatre town”. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where she studied under theatre makers like Rhodessa Jones of the Medea Project and pla

Hello, Listeners! WE ARE BACK! In this episode, we check-in, share our own personal goals and resolutions (and how we've failed already), and other exciting plans we have on the horizon for Beckett's Babies. We want to extend special thanks to our listeners for tuning in every week. We appreciate your support!!! THANK YOU!!! GLISTENS: Sarah's Glistens - Essential Oils, Air Purifier, and Kobe Bryant. Sam's Glistens - Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it on our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

Hello, listeners! It's been an incredible year of discussing all things playwriting and interviewing theater guests from all walks of life on Beckett's Babies. In this episode, we share some of our favorite interviews and highlights from the year. We even share some of our dream goals for guests on our future episodes... Dream Goal Guests. DGG! SEASON 1 HIGHLIGHTS - Episodes You Should Check Out If You Haven't! 1. Alison Ruth's Interview 2. Jenni Page-White's Interview 3. Micah Ariel James' Interview 4. Tanuja Devi's Interview 5. Chris Leyva's Interview But really, you should check out all the episodes! :) GLISTENS: Sam's Glistens - Rita's Quilt Sarah's Glistens - Netflix. But also I recommend everyone watch John Leguizamo and Mike Birbiglia's specials. Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it on our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's

"Process is all." "The difference between an entrepreneur and artist is that the entrepreneur is focused on product, the artist is focused on process." "Every play teaches me what I need to make a new play." "Creativity and productivity are yin and yang." "We’re party planners, playwrights. We’re planning experiences. Experiences can not be captured and can not be recreated easily. They’re unique “you had to be there” experiences." MEGAN GOGERTY is not only laugh-out-loud hilarious but truly inspirational. Megan is a playwright, comedian, and delightful person. She just closed a run of her one-person show FEAST. at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City. Her other plays include Lady Macbeth and Her Pal Megan, Bad Panda, Hillary Clinton Got Me Pregnant, and Save Me, Dolly Parton. Her musical tribute album to the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer is widely available online. Megan was a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow, is a WordBRIDGE alum, and earned her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin