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This week I had the pleasure of having a fascinating conversation with Allison Gregory on this recent episode of Playwright's Spotlight and her approach of writing about historical and mythological characters and exploring outside their known stories. We delved into the philosophy of "when we are", letting the story find us, the power of the #2 pencil and writing longhand, stealing from the best, obtaining the rights to other's works and public domain. We also discuss commissioning adaptations, tried and true material, embracing constructs, and knowing the audience of children's theatre. It's a wonderful chat I hope everyone feels motivated and inspired by. Enjoy!

Allison Gregory’s work has been produced nationally and internationally for multigenerational audiences by a fusion of professional theaters, academic stages, and nontraditional spaces. She has received commissions and development from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Kennedy Center, South Coast Repertory, Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Playwrights’ Center, the Skirball Foundation, Geva Theatre, Seattle Rep, ACT Theater, Orlando Shakes, the National New Play Network (NNPN), Hedgebrook, the New Harmony Project, and Banff Playwrights Lab. Her plays range from satires centering on underrepresented historical figures to contemporary interpretations of mythology, intimate dramas, and exuberant, innovative theatre for young people. Her plays are published by Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts, Concord Theatricals, Smith & Krauss, and Rain City Press and include – Not Medea, Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook, and Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt.

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/B9pW5OH7L14

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Child's Play -
https://www.childsplayaz.org

Seattle's Children's Theare -
www.sct.org


Website and Socials for Allison Gregory - 

Website-
www.allisongregoryplays.com

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/allison.gregory.71

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

Before I get in to the breakdown of this episode, I have to correct a few things that are bit embarrassing for one hosting a playwriting podcast. 1) Black Comedy was written by Peter Schaefer (Black Comedy, Equis, Amadeus). 2) After "Matisse"  is actually After Magritte and was indeed written by Tom Stoppard that was attributer to Black Comedy in this episode. I'm still trying to find the title of the one-act about the burning building. Update to come. 

Playwright Nick Amatuzio beamed into Playwright's Spotlight after a last minute cancellation. Nick is a former PLAY Noir submitter who is long overdue for a chat. Four seasons in, we discuss the evolution of a play through editing, avoiding scams, monetary prizes vs production, shopping for publication, expanding on historical characters and cannon, when to edit, and what a character doesn't say. We also touch on setup vs response in comedy, struggles in playwriting, the benefits of simplicity, writing farce, and the effects of changing location. As all episodes land, there is always something new to learn no matter how novice or established a playwright may be. I promise you will walk away with some nugget of insight with this latest episode. Thanks for a great start to a fourth season. Enjoy!

Nick Amatuzio is a Smith Falls, Ontario based playwright, screenwriter, and author. His plays The American Way and Seein’ is Believin’ are both available at Off the Wall Plays, and his plays Before the Cut, Brush with the Law, Mick's Last Line & Melody's Last Line are available at Stage Write Plays.

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/qK91kRjP7f4

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Off the Wall Plays -
https://offthewallplays.com

Stage-Write Plays -
https://stage-write.com.au

Writer Beware -
https://writerbeware.blog

Freefall Writing -
https://freefallwriting.com

Website and Socials for Nick Amatuzio -

Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/nick.amatuzio

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

Playwright and filmmaker Sharisse Zeroonian streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight this week. Forgive a few moments of choppy audio on my end, but Sharisse's audio is clear, and she gives some great insight into taking your fate as a creative into one's own hands. We discuss her evolution as a writer through academia, offending your audience, self-publishing, unconventional marketing, what influences character names, avoiding expository dialogue, and character wants and obstacles. We also delve into discovering plot holes, writing in the present not in the past, the Playwrights' Center as a resource, the Playwrights Bill of Rights, and producing your own Amazon Series. Sharisse is a testament on DIY playwriting and getting one's work into the world. Enjoy!

Sharisse Zeroonian is playwright and filmmaker. Her short play, “Glass Child” was featured in the 2024 10-Minute Play Festival at the Cannon Theater in Devens, MA, and will also be featured this month in the 2024 SOOP To Nuts Play Festival in Pelham, NY. Her short play, "Pomp and Circumstance", was read at the Equity Library Theater in Manhattan in October 2024, and her full-length stage play "One Plus One Is Two" was adapted into an Amazon Prime series in October 2020. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston University in 2018, and her MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen from Lesley University in 2024.

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/U1Osl2-tr4U

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Playwrights' Center - 
https://pwcenter.org

Dramatists Guild -
https://www.dramatistsguild.com

Dramatist's Bill of Rights -
https://www.dramatistsguild.com/rights

Website and Socials for Sharisse Zeroonian -

Email - [email protected]

IG - @mediterranean_homesick_blues
X - @SharisseNaomiZ

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

A MUST LISTEN! This in far from a dismissal of past guests and interviews. This is a personal and human conversation that is insightful and inspiring from struggle to achievement and perhaps a pathway to the later. June and I had a mishap in schedule that, had it not happened, I don't think we would have had the conversation that we came away with. Her background of going from lawyer to playwright is enough to inspire anyone question their passion into the arts to take the leap. We follow with the lessons of writing a disaster of a play and getting the craft wrong but, yet, finding the engine. We examine her process, need vs premise, skeletal biographies, working backwards to move forwards in terms of character backgrounds, the gentle form of interrogation by starting with love, exploring unknown markets, inspiring playwrights and (un)appreciating the classics, reading vs viewing  a play, and compromise, sacrifice, and tradeoffs. It's a very philosophical episode that playwrights of all levels will walk away with something huge. Enjoy!

June Carryl is a playwright, actor and director. Her plays include LA BÊTE - A One Act which won the Encore! Producers Award, Spirit of the Fringe Award, and  Orgasmico Most Orgasmic Writing Award in 2014, STONE ANGELS, BLOWFLY; MOURNING STORY, BABY TOES, SEDUCER, THE RINGS OF SATURN (The Living Room Series, Blank Theatre), GOD’S WIFE, and THE ART OF YES. She’s received commissions from the Magic and Visual Artists Theater in New York. 

For tickets to The Girl Who Made the Milky Way, opening November 9th through November 17th at the Colony Theatre in Burbank with school matinees November 12th through the 22nd, visit -
https://ci.ovationtix.com/35252/production/1206496

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/SaUzYm9Om7Y

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

ACT -
https://www.act-sf.org

Z Space Studio -
http://www.zspace.org

Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance -
http://www.armeniandrama.org

The Blank -
https://www.theblank.com

Ojai Playwrights Conference -
https://www.ojaiplays.org/

Edinburgh Fringe - 
https://www.edfringe.com

IAMA -
https://www.iamatheatre.com

Playwrights Arena -
https://playwrightsarena.org

Rogue Machine -
https://roguemachine.ludus.com/index.php

Lower Depth -
https://www.lower-depth.com

Collaborative Artists Bloc -
https://www.collaborativeartistsbloc.org

The Road -
https://roadtheatre.org

Socials for June Carryl -

IG @junecarryl

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

Bonus episode between our usual schedule! In order to align our guest's upcoming shows with their interview, we're sneaking an additional episode during what would normally be a break. However, we skipped an week earlier in the season, so we hope this makes up for it.

Ethan Crystal and Garrett Poladian streamed in to the Playwright's Spotlight to talk about their world premiere musical Golem Owned a Tropical Smoothie, the first writing endeavor for the two. We talk about the origin of the idea and the dedication and steps to get it from concept to production. We also explore the key element for actors to creating a successful project to showcase their talent, and Ethan and Garrett make a strong argument on how to succeed. We delve into the two perspectives as playwrights vs characters, inserting meaning, the benefits of audience response, musical collaboration, and obsession and consistency. This is an episode about taking the leap and how to showcase your talent in a medium one may not be familiar with. Listen to end, because Ethan and Garrett share a perspective I have yet to hear in three seasons. Enjoy.

For tickets to Golem Owned a Tropical Smoothie playing through November 10th, visit - https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/2024/10/17/golem-owned-a-tropical-smoothie

Ethan Crystal is a singer, actor, writer, musician, and comedian as well as an award-winning vocal arranger, comedy writer, and composer. He is also the host of Ethan’s Open Mic, a variety open mic with a live band.

Garrett Poladian is a New York City based actor, writer, and ballerino having been a full-time company dancer from 2014-2016 with the ballet Pensacola, the only resident professional dance company in the area. 

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/eMJLHD--HbQ

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Theatre Now -
https://www.tnny.org

Sound Bites -
https://www.tnny.org/soundbitesprogram

The Tank -
https://thetanknyc.org

Website and Socials for Ethan Crystal and Garrett Poladian -

Ethan Crystal -

IG - @ethancrystal1

Garrett Poladian -

IG - @garrettpoladian
TikTok - @ravensymonestaint

Golem Owned a Tropical Smoothie -
@golemmusical

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

After high praise from Ellen Geer a few episodes, we were able to get Jennie Webb to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight and share her experiences as a playwright, dramaturg, and overseer of workshops. We explored her transition from acting into playwriting, her assistance in developing new works from "living voices", the benefits of asking questions, knowing the origin of a moment and earning it as pushing boundaries and whether or not there is a formula for playwriting. We also touch on her love of language, her process, submitting to outside markets especially oversees, defining success and accepting rejection, giving oneself parameters, and the benefits of going for a walk. Another episode chock of great advice and insight. We had a lot of fun. Enjoy.

Jennie Webb is an LA-based playwright and dramaturg having created and ran the new play development program, Seedlings, at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum and co-creating EST/LA's Ignite Project. Her work includes “Yard Sale Signs,” “Smiling Cat Candy Heart,” "On Tuesday," "It's Not About Race," “Rebecca on the Bus,” “Brand New Script” and "Buying a House". National recognition include Finalist for O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Gulfshore Playhouse, and City Theatre Short Play Festival as well as Semi-Finalist for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, PlayPenn, Athena Project,  and Trustus Theatre Festival. She is the recipient of Max K. Lerner Playwriting Fellowships and a Women in Theatre Red Carpet Award and is a member of the Playwrights Union, EST/LA, Honor Roll!, Dramatists Guild. She is also co-founder of LA Female Playwrights Initiative.

For information for Jennie's reading of Wound Care on October 18th, visit -
https://www.companyofangels.org/new-works-fest-rsvp-1

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/l0z5Yj3qqDg

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

O'Neill Playwrights Conference -
https://www.theoneill.org/npc

Play Penn -
https://www.playpenn.org

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum -
https://theatricum.com

EST/LA -
https://www.estlosangeles.org

LA Female Playwrights Initiative -
https://lafpi.com

Playwrights Union -
https://playwrightsunion.com

Actors Gang -
https://theactorsgang.com

Hollywood Fringe -
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org

Website and Socials for Jennie Webb -

www.jenniewebbsite.com

IG - @jenniewebbsite
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jenniewebbsite
X/Twitter - @jenniewebbsite

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

Michi Barall streamed into Playwright's Spotlight this week days before her new play Drawing Lessons leaps into rehearsal at Children's Theatre Company. Conceptually complex, Michi shares the concept of translating a graphic novel for the stage, the concept of live drawing on stage and simultaneously performing, putting the concept on the page, the process of casting, and her struggles breaking down virtual art. We also discuss the impact of the New York and Minneapolis markets and organizations on the play and the changes from each as well as collaborating with multiple artists and the Deadline Draft. We touch on her journey from actor to playwright, the lessons from Greek playwrights, learning the rules and overcoming obstacles, the importance of Theatre History, and conquering Imposter Syndrome. It's a very educational episode that explores the possibilities of theatre and what can be achieved. As always, Enjoy!

Michi Barall is a New York City-based actor, playwright, and academic. Her dance-theatre piece, Rescue Me, was produced at the Ohio Theatre by Ma-Yi in 2010. Her music-theatre adaptation of Peer Gynt - Peer Gynt and The Norwegian Hapa Band, premiered in 2107 at the ART/NY Theatre. She holds degrees from Stanford University, NYU with an M.F.A. in Acting) and Columbia with a PhD in Theatre/English & Comparative Literature. She has taught at Columbia, NYU, and MIT and is currently on the faculty at Purchase College. 

Drawing Lessons opens at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota October 8th through November 10th, 2024. 
For tickets, visit - https://childrenstheatre.org/whats-on/drawing-lessons/

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/w1gHrCcEN5M

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Children's Theatre Company -
https://childrenstheatre.org

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

Ben Edlin and Deborah Aquila came by the studio to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight before the World Premiere of the collaborative play -TH*IR*DS. In this interview, we discussed the long process of developing this play over the course of seven years, the changes made, the possibility of it becoming a pilot but returning the concept to the stage, their process and procedure, and breaking a story. We also touch obstacles in collaboration, Ben's need to "enter the cave", choosing words and punctuation, assembling the team, and the changes that occur during table work as well as the challenges of flipping from playwright to actor when cast in your own piece. It's a insightful discussion that gives both perspectives of a collaborating team. Enjoy.

BEN EDLIN is a playwright and actor who trained at Dartmouth College and The Aquila Studio in Los Angeles. He is also a founding member of THE THREE WEEKS NOTICE COLLECTIVE, with whom he recently premiered his play, “Conversations in Exile,” an original adaptation of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters.” His newest play, THIRDS opened September 6th and runs through September 29th at The Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles.

DEBORAH AQUILA is casting director and is the mind behind the story of THIRDS. A graduate of NYU's TISCH SCHOOL of the ARTS and THE STELLA ADLER CONSERVATORY, she’s cast films including "THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION," "PRIMAL FEAR," "KISS THE GIRLS," and "LA LA LAND.” She is a proud member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, BAFTA, and the Casting Society of America (CSA) and has been nominated 18 times for the Artios Award by the CSA, winning for the features Red, My Week with Marilyn, CODA and La La Land.

For tickets to TH*IR*DS, playing through September 29th, 2024, visit -
https://thirdstheplay.com/

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/06ioaeHchCY

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

The Aquila Studio -
https://www.theaquilastudio.com

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

If there was a formula that could tell you how to become a successful playwright, this episode is it. Nicholas Pilapil dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight for an insightful approach to becoming a working playwright. His approach to workshops lays out a pathway of motivation and accountability. We discuss confidence versus hubris, his approach to selecting playwrights for his workshop, the benefits of seeing theatre, telling the story, character description, set, and beats, as well as how to creating distinct voices. This was such a motivating chat that I believe lays out a foolproof way to becoming a working playwright. Let me know if you agree. Enjoy!

Nicholas Pilapil is an alum of The Writers’ Room at the Geffen Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company’s Emerging Playwrights Lab, The Vagrancy Playwrights Group, and artEquity. His plays include The Bottoming Process and if all that You take from this is courage, then I’ve no regrets and was the winner of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. His work has also been developed with Geffen Playhouse, Abingdon Theatre Company, Playwrights Foundation, American Stage, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, The Workshop Theater and Artists at Play.

For tickets for God Will Do the Rest playing through September 29th, visit -
https://www.latinotheaterco.org/godwilldotherest

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/49Xf3MSTcmE

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Artists at Play -
https://artistsatplay.org

Los Angeles Theatre Center -
https://culture.lacity.gov/cultural-centers/los-angeles-theatre-center-latc/

Geffen's Writers Room -
https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/tickets/new-plays/the-writers-room/

IAMA -
https://www.iamatheatre.com/

Boston Court Theatre -
https://bostoncourtpasadena.org

Website and Socials for Nicholas Pilapil -

https://www.nicholaspilapil.com

Twitter/X - @nicholaspilapil
IG - @nicholaspilpil
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nepilapil
TikTok - @nicholaspilapil

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

Support the show

Send us a text

Actor, director, producer, playwright, and artistic director since 1978 of the famous Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, Ellen Geer stopped by to talk about the history of the Theatricum, growing up in a blacklisted family, and how playwriting helps heal societal wounds. Ellen shares her transition into playwriting, her approach to revising Shakespeare to the female characters' point of view and how it changes the story, the learning curve of a self-taught playwright, and the importance of ending a days work of writing on a high note. She also delves into the important lessons of playwriting, the use of technology, struggles and confidence, and her view of "gatekeepers" and staging your own work, especially when it could be considered a controversial piece. It's a charming conversation and the second episode where my camera shut down in the middle of the interview, so I apologize for the brief interruption. In the end, it was a pleasure to sit and share with an important and prominent influence in the Los Angeles theatrical community. Enjoy!

For tickets to the current running production of Wendy's Peter Pan at the Theatricum Botanicum, visit - https://www.todaytix.com/los-angeles/shows/41175-wendys-peter-pan

Ellen Geer is a playwright, actress, producer, and director and has been the artistic director of Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum since 1978, where she helped the theater develop from a Sunday afternoon workshop performing Shakespeare to a professional repertory theater company with a negotiated Actors Equity Contract. She has produced and directed well over 100 Theatricum productions, including plays by Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Chekhov and Thornton Wilder and many of her own plays and adaptations have been performed at Theatricum as well, including this season’s Wendy’s Peter Pan and last season’s Queen Margaret’s Version of Shakespeare’s War of the Roses; Trouble the Water; An Enemy of the People; TOM (adapted from the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”); Merlin: The Untold Story; Dracula; A Dark Cloud Came; and Dory, A Musical Portrait. 

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/F5nDOG__jr4

Website and Socials for Ellen Geer and Theatricum Botanicum -

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum -
https://theatricum.com

Theatricum's Socials -

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Theatricum
IG - https://www.instagram.com/theatricum_botanicum/
X - @theatricum

Ellen Geer Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ellen.geer.3

Websites and socials for James Elden, PMP, and Playwright's Spotlight -

Punk Monkey Productions - 
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com

PLAY Noir -
www.playnoir.com

PLAY Noir Anthology –
www.punkmonkeyproductions.com/contact.html

James Elden -
Twitter - @jameseldensauer
IG - @alakardrake
FB - fb.com/jameseldensauer

Punk Monkey Productions and PLAY Noir - 
Twitter - @punkmonkeyprods
                  - @playnoirla 
IG - @punkmonkeyprods
       - @playnoir_la 
FB - fb.com/playnoir
        - fb.com/punkmonkeyproductions

Playwright's Spotlight -
Twitter - @wrightlightpod 
IG - @playwrights_spotlight

Playwriting services through Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival
www.losangelescollegiateplaywrightsfestival.com/services.html

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