April speaks with Jennifer Tober from Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks. www.pittsburghshakespeare.org to register to see Cymbeline online starting September 4.  We discuss Jennifer's personal theatrical history, some of her favorite shows she's seen, and PSIP's philosophy of open casting without regard to gender, age, race, orientation, disability status, etc. We also go into detail about how they are doing Cymbeline online and why they decided to do that.  Plus other fun tidbits.

Thanks for listening. Please share this link with others. If you are so inclined you can become a sponsor on Anchor.fm/creatingfluidity or go to our website at www.fluiditytheatre.org to make a 1 time donation or become a sustaining Patron for as little as $3/month which gets you notifications as soon as we publish a new podcast episode or release any videos as well as AMAs and the opportunity to get discounts to live performances (whenever that happens again!) Your donations go toward equipment, costumes, stage weapons, royalties, marketing and all the bits and pieces it takes to produce a podcast and/or performance (live or online).

Thanks to our current sponsors. You are very much appreciated!!!

On our website www.fluiditytheatre.org you can listen to previous episodes of the podcast, watch videos of Shakespeare and modern, original comedy sketches, as well as see photos of shows and contact us with comments, questions or requests to be a guest on the podcast.

Part 2 of my conversation with Samantha A. Camp focuses on acting, being an artist (as in, when can you call yourself an artist?), how Samantha found a new creative outlet during the pandemic, why knitting backstage has helped her become a better actor, and more.

To hear Part 1 of my conversation with Samantha, go to www.fluiditytheatre.org where you can listen to all of our previous episodes, plus find video of recent comedy shows, Shakespeare and more. 

You will also find the donate button to make a 1 time donation or go to our Patreon page to become a sustaining member for as little as $3 per month. You can also sponsor this podcast with just $0.99 cents a month on Anchor.fm/creatingfluidity. It's easy and inexpensive and it helps me invest in equipment to create a better sounding podcast for you as well as to help us with marketing and living during this pandemic. So if you have an extra buck a month, consider sponsoring us and get a shout out on the podcast!

If you want to become a guest on the podcast or you have a burning question to ask, you can email us at [email protected] We are interested in speaking with women from all walks of life who do theatre, film, art, dance, writing and/or anything creative.  I'm a regular person who likes to talk to regular people and find out what makes them tick. Why do we, as creative people. do what we do? How do we do it? What obstacles have we overcome? What challenges do we see in the creative arts that we want to work on changing? Let's chat!

Thanks to Samantha for a great conversation. I enjoyed it so much. :)  Thanks to our sponsors and patrons.  I appreciate you every day!

Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to stay current with podcast episodes and other endeavors @fluiditytheatre

Thanks for listening and sharing this link with others. Have a great day.

April talks with Samantha A. Camp Part 1 starts with a discussion of how we are getting thru the pandemic and why her store, Pip and Lola's Everything Homemade has changed its business model to become a more charitable organization. Then we move on to a brief discussion of psychology and figuring out why we do what we do. Finally we talk for most of the episode about bad behavior in the theatre world; specifically we discuss harassment, abuse, and bad decisions taken too far.

**Warning we do discuss physical and sexual violence briefly and we do swear and use language that may not be deemed appropriate for minors or sensitive people.**

In Episode 10 Samantha A. Camp Part 2 we will discuss acting, audition road trips, what makes one an artist and more on the lighter side of theatre. I hope to publish that episode around August 17th.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share the link with others and consider becoming a sponsor on Anchor.fm/creatingfluidity or see our website www.fluiditytheatre.org to become a sustaining member on patreon.com and to find previous episodes of the podcast, videos of The Quarantine Comedy Special I wrote and produced in May, videos of our all women Romeo & Juliet and more. 

Thanks to Samantha for being a guest on the podcast. 

Thanks to our current sponsors and patrons.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mona Bapat recently and we had so much fun talking, we chatted for 90 minutes! I did not include everything in the podcast because that's a lot to listen to, but I did choose some great moments for your listening pleasure.

At the head of the episode you will hear some audio clips from one of Mona's recent stand up shows (pre-pandemic) and you will hear one more clilp in the first half of the show. We discuss Mona's background in life, acting and comedy. We delve into representation in the media. What it's like to be the only woman comic in a show. We talk about the joys and difficulties of writing and more.

Mona can be contacted o Facebook @MonaBee

You can find podcast episodes, comedy and Shakespeare videos and more in several places, www.fluiditytheatre.org is the easiest way to find content and contact me. You can go directly to www.patreon.com/fluiditytheatre or to be a guest or offer a comment you can email me at [email protected]

Please consider following us on Facebook and Instagram @FluidityTheatre and on Twitter @FluidityMedia

If you have and extra dollar to spare, you can become a sponsor and get a shout out on the podcast on Anchor.fm/creatingfluidity

To make a one time donation or to become a sustaining member please go to our website or patreon page listed above.

Thanks for listening and please recommend this podcast to friends who might enjoy it. Have a lovely week. Please wear a mask and social distance.

In this episode we are talking about harassment, abuse, and bad behavior in the theatre, film and general entertainment industry in Western PA. We discuss news articles which detail abuse in nearby theatres. We propose ideas for guidelines and consequences and a committee to handle grievances in the community theatre and entertainment industry. We have several anonymous stories and quotes about incidences that have happened in the Western PA area.

This is a serious issue that affects all of us and I believe now is a good time to work on this while we are prevented from live performances due to the pandemic.

If you would like to contribute your story or discuss how your theatre handles these situations, please contact me at [email protected] or go to my website www.fluiditytheatre.org to contact me.

I gave the wrong info about our patreon site it is www.patreon.com/fluiditytheatre with level at $3/$5/$10 per month. You get early access to podcasts and videos as well as AMAs and other benefits when live performances begin again.

The website articles quoted are from www.vindy.com and www.nytimes.com

We're back!

Glad to be back after a hiatus to produce an online comedy special called The Quarantine Comedy Festival, which can be found on YouTube and Facebook at The South Hills Players or patreon.com/thesouthhillsplayers. 

This episode is a comedy performance with monologues and skits written by me, April May Ohms, performed by me with Patrick Conner, Valerie DeCesar, Frederick Coleman, Megan May Mitchell, Sydney Turnwald, Michaela Mitchell, and Liora Ohms. The first piece was recorded live at our February 29, 2020 comedy show Laugh At Love and is introduced by Michaela and Liora with a fake commercial thrown in for fun. The 2nd piece, called "Dating in the Modern Age" was also written for that show, but rerecorded at a later date. (You might need to turn up the sound a bit.) 

After a short message from our sponsor, the next 3 skits were written for the Quarantine Comedy Festival which went live on May 23, 2020. The 1st monologue called "Voicemail" laments the quarantine, hormones, getting older and grocery shopping. The 2nd piece called "Which Zoom Meeting is This?" features 3 office workers getting ready for a financial meeting over Zoom when their boss breaks in, mistakenly believing that it is the Friday Happy Hour Zoom party. Chaos ensues. The third piece called "Why do people want to bring their dogs to work?" is a tongue in cheek lament about work, working from home and that guy who insists you look at baby pictures. 

The videos from which this audio was taken will be available to view on our website www.fluiditytheatre.org within 24 hours. 

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @FluidityTheatre

Thank you to our sponsors, patrons and donors. You are the shining stars in my universe!

To help continue this podcast and other content, please consider becoming a sponsor on Anchor.fm/creatingfluidity or at www.patreon.com/fluiditytheatre  

Every dollar counts and supporting creative endeavors is especially important in this uncertain time. Even though some locations are opening up a bit, theatre and live performances are basically canceled until well into 2021. I am planning to continue writing and recording comedy skits and keeping up with this podcast with interviews, theatrical performances and more, so if you have any inclination to donate, I would appreciate it so I can continue to keep the lights on, the kids fed and the content rolling.

convent

Women, like water, slowly carve their own path. This is fluidity.

Welcome to the Creating Fluidity Podcast where we amplify women's voices in theatre and the arts in Pittsburgh, Western, PA and the world!

Today April speaks with Yvonne Hudson, a.k.a. Mrs. Shakespeare. 

We talk about Yvonne's introduction to Shakespeare in Elementary school, her trouble with diction, her love of singing, our mutual affection for the Scottish play, the Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet movie, the impact of Shakespeare's grasp on the human condition and more. 

We want everyone to know about Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park's Week of Will which you can find out about and participate in by going to their website www.pittsburghshakespeare.com or their Facebook page PSIP (Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks). All the events are held over Zoom and are free and open to the public. They do ask you consider a donation to the theatre company and/or the food bank, all of which you can read about and do on their website.

In the 2nd half of the website we Yvonne tells us about the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival and developing her show Mrs. Shakespeare while working on the festival. She talks about Dr. Favorini's wide influence across the festival, Pitt and his legacy. She mentions Lynn Conner's book, Pittsburgh Stages, which has information on theatres that no longer exist. And we chat about the magic of theatre and trying to get your friends who are not interested in Shakespeare into it bit by bit, plus more!

You can find Mrs. Shakespeare on Facebook and on Twitter as msshakespeare or on her page Poet's Corner.

You can find Fluidity Theatre and the Creating Fluidity Podcast at www.fluiditytheatre.org and @fluiditytheatre on all social media

[email protected]

We are also on patreon.com as Fluidity Theatre and Creating Fluidity podcast  https://patreon.com/user?u=32691299

Consider becoming a patron for $3, $5 or $10/month, discontinue any time, get early release of material, exclusive content, and discounts to live events as well as other benefits.

As always thanks to our 1st time listeners and a special thanks to our returning listeners and a giant social distance hug to our sponsors!

~April

Welcome to the Creating Fluidity Podcast. 

Women, like water, slowly carve their own path. This is fluidity.

Today's guest is Sydney Turnwald. She is a delightful person who may be familiar to some of you in the Pittsburgh theatre community. 

We talk about Sydney's theatre experience in Switzerland. (Yes, I am jealous, too.) We talk, censorship, compromise, talk backs and Brecht. I place Brecht in the absurdist camp. (no letters, please) I comment on my affinity for realism and the audience being a part of the theatre experience and not just passive observers. 

We discuss Romeo and Juliet with Fluidity Theatre. Sydney was in both the March and August 2018 productions and we discuss both. April can't say enough about how much Sydney saved the day in August when Mercutio left the show and Sydney took up the role at the last minute and did an amazing job!!!

We talk about playing characters written for men and how does one create a female character from a male role? Sydney offers some advice on using the fight choreography to form a female centered fighting style to inform the character and build the alternate world.  We also remark on how little one sees women fighting on stage where the women is seen in a positive light and playing R&J gave us the opportunity to do that where really nothing like it exists.

Thanks to our sponsors on Anchor. fm/creatingfluidity Barbara B. was our 1st sponsor at the $4.99/month level, but you can join at the .99/month if that's a better fit for you. We can assure that every little bit helps us to keep going during these rough times and we appreciate it.

If you'd rather head over to Patreon.com and become a Patron there we have levels at $3, $5 and $10/month. Thanks to Val D., our 1st VIP Patron. On Patreon.com you can get exclusive content and early access to video and podcasts as well as live streaming events and discounts to in person events (once the world gets back to that!).

To make a one time donation and to check out video and links www.fluiditytheatre.org

Follow us on social media @FludityTheatre

Email [email protected]

Welcome to Episode 3 of the Creating Fluidity Podcast where April speaks with  Ellie Pfeuffer and Samantha Carpin.

The Creating Fluidity Podcast aims to amplify women's voices in theatre and the arts in Pittsburgh and Western, PA.

Today we chat with 2 actors who were in The Heritage Players' 2018 production of Dracula, directed by me, April May Ohms.  Samantha played Renfield and Ellie played Dr. Van Helsing. Both parts were written as men. We talk about their process of creating a female character from a male role. We also talk about gender blind casting, April's experience as Renfield in college, being a woman in the world, type casting and being cast against type, the phenomenon of the "he-peat" or as Sheryl Sandberg called it in 2015 in Time.com "Talking while Female."

 We also delve into the history of using mental illness as a weapon against women and how Sam was able to use that history to inform her character. We consider why men can be just as stuck as women are but in a different way when Ellie brings up the film "The Mask We Live In" by Jennifer Siebel Newson which examines the narrow definition of masculinity and the harm it does to all of us.

We talk about stage combat with Kalee George who helped us throw Sam around the stage a lot while making it look cool and be safe. Thanks, Kalee! And we discuss what TV shows we'd like to be on and what characters we'd like to play in our wildest dreams.

Thanks to www.purple-planet.com for the music.

Please consider becoming a sponsor at anchor.fm/creatingfluidity There are many levels. .99/month is pretty cheap for great content and it helps us out a great deal. It also helps us out if you send this podcast to friends who you think will enjoy it. Thanks!

Shout out to our 1st Anchor.fm sponsor Barbara B. Thank you! You are a superstar and much appreciated!

You can also support us by going to www.fluiditytheatre.org and watching the video of our 2018 Romeo and Juliet production. Head over to the podcast page to find more episodes there. You can find us on Patreon.com if you want exclusive content and early content. I definitely send out early content to my Patreon patrons, so consider it. Thanks!

Shout out to our 1st Patreon Patron Val D. You are a shining star and I can't thank you enough!

Follow us on all socials @FluidityTheatre