James Elden's Playwright's Spotlight

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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

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

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

Support the show

Send us a text

Tom Jacobson swung into the Playwright's Spotlight in the midst of his coinciding plays The Bauhaus Project and Crevasse to discuss the correlation to both of the pieces and the subject matter of fascism and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. While discussing the historical influence of the Bauhaus, we explore previews and changes within coinciding pieces, writing trilogies and their process and presentation, standalones within trilogies, jumping timelines in historical works, balancing historic events and relationships, and taking creative license. We also discuss research, outlining, and when to start writing, breaking down structure, layering characters with and for the actor, table work and the role of the playwright, doubling and tripling up actors, writing complex sets with simplicity, stage magic on the play, and the benefits of academia as well as relationships and how they can help land productions. It's a wonderful conversation with a few technical hiccups that you might find entertaining, but you'll walk away with some education in history in addition to some insight in the craft of playwriting. As always... Enjoy!

Tom Jacobson has penned more than 50 plays and has had more than 100 productions of his works performed around the world. His play The Twentieth-Century Way premiered at The Theatre @ Boston Court and the New York International Fringe Festival garnering five Ovation Award nominations, four Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle nominations, one GLAAD Award nomination, a Fringe Festival Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, a PEN Center Award for Drama and then moved Off Broadway to Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. He has been a co-literary manager of The Theatre @ Boston Court, a founding member of Playwrights Ink, and a board member of Cornerstone Theater Company and The Theatre @ Boston Court. His most recent play The Bauhaus Project opened at the Atwater Village Theatre and will be running simultaneously with his play Crevasse at the The Victory Theatre here in the Los Angeles area. Both pieces focus on the relationship of art and artists to the rise of fascism, anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.

For tickets for The Bauhaus Project and Crevasse through August 18th, 2024 -
https://glamgical.com/the-bauhaus-project-and-crevasse/

For the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/sNg7rH8QzQE

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

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

Moving Arts - 
https://movingarts.org

Website and Socials for Tom Jacobson -

www.tomjacobsonplaywright.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tom.jacobson3

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

Catherine Filloux dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight before the New York Premiere of her new play How to Eat an Orange. We spoke about her development and involvement in Theatre Without Borders and transitioning from an actor to playwright which would later push her into becoming a librettist for operas. She explained the structure of a libretto, the purpose of arias, developing characters and writing for range. We also touched on the dramatic question, theatrical perspectives, framing and shaping your play, and whether or not there is one thing that all playwrights should be doing. Catherine brings her knowledge and experience to this episode that I think everyone listening will walk away with something. Enjoy! 

Catherine Filloux is an award-winning playwright who has been writing about human rights and social justice for over twenty-five years. Her plays have been produced around the U.S. and internationally. Filloux was honored with the 2019 Barry Lopez Visiting Writer in Ethics and Community Fellowship; the 2017 Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theatre and the 2015 Planet Activist Award due to her long career as an activist artist in the theater community. She received her M.F.A. at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ Dramatic Writing Program and is a co-founder of Theatre Without Borders as well as an alumna of New Dramatists. She has taught playwriting at many universities and colleges including Vassar College, Wesleyan University and Bennington College. Plays include White Savior, whatdoesfreemean?, Kidnap Road, and How to Eat an Orange.

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/VZZqwhmP_H8

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Theatre Without Borders -
https://theatrewithoutborders.com/

Circle in the Square Theatre -
https://circlesquare.org/theatre/

HB Theatre Foundation - 
https://www.hbstudio.org

Website and Socials for Catherine Filloux -

www.catherinefilloux.com

IG - @catherinefillouxwriter
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CFillouxWriter/
X - @CFillouxWriter

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

Olivia Sawatzki came by Playwright's Spotlight after the West Coast Premiere of her play Being Alive (& other big jokes) at the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood.
We discuss seeing your work onstage, writing strategies, evolving as a playwright, being influenced and deconstructing playwrights' works, the process of revision, writing tricks and rituals as well as breaking habits. We also talk about confidence, finding motivation, character descriptions, detailed stage directions, and living an artists life. As an emerging playwright, Olivia has some wonderful information that any playwright at whatever stage in the career can benefit from. Enjoy! 

Olivia Sawatzki is a Los Angeles-based playwright. Originally from Columbus, Ohio. She is an alumna of Ohio State University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Theatre in 2020. She won the 2019 Gerald R. Black Prize for Recognition of Excellence in Playwriting. Her plays have been produced in Ohio and California and include Men of Might, LZRDGRL, Bleed Me Dry, and for sale, baby shoes. Most recently, her play Being Alive (& other big jokes) sold-out its West Coast Premiere run at in Los Angeles, CA, and she is a member of the Dramatists Guild. 

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/MEG5VRKejqQ

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Stuart Rogers & Theatre Tribe -
https://stuartrogersstudios.com/la-theatre/

New Play Exchange -
https://newplayexchange.org

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

Playwrights' Center - 
https://new.pwcenter.org

NYCPlaywrights -
https://www.nycplaywrights.org

Website and Socials for Olivia Sawatzki -

IG - @olivsawa

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

Recent Harvard-Westlake graduate Ian Kim swung by the studio to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight after the successful production of his second musical - Bakery of Love as part of HW's Playwright's Festival. We talk about making it look simple, the dangers of missing deadlines, musician collaboration and singer coordination as well as the meaning and benefits of safeties in a musical and writing for ranges. We also discuss transitioning from traditional playwriting to musicals and the process of the latter, commons songs types found in musicals, and terminology such as the bridge of a song. We wrap things up with trimming and cutting, cross-casting, changes during rehearsals, finding outside opportunities, and monetary prizes versus getting produced. Ian's a charming and talented musician with insight that will take him without doubt to a successful future. I hope you find inspiration from his interview. Enjoy!

Ian Kim playwright, actor, and filmmaker as well as a recent graduate of the prestigious Harvard-Westlake in North Hollywood, California. His musicals Unauthorized Aid and Bakery of Love were both selected for the school’s annual Playwright’s Festival, and the former was produced at the California Young Playwrights Contest in San Diego, California. He begins attending Harvard next fall with an undeclared major.

Click below to view the video format of this episode -
https://youtu.be/20RJdGE8Nos

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

MuseScore -
https://musescore.org/en

Stephen Sondheim: Finishing the Hat -
https://www.amazon.com/Finishing-Hat-Collected-1954-1981-Principles/dp/0679439072

The Blank Theatre's Young Playwright's Festival -
https://www.theblank.com/ypf

California Young Playwrights Contest in San Diego -
https://www.playwrightsproject.org/programs/contest/

Unauthorized Aid Production Video -
https://vimeo.com/832110714

Socials for Ian Kim -

IG - @ianbkim

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

Barry M. Putt, Jr. beamed into the Playwright's Spotlight from New Jersey to discuss the medium of the audio drama, a throwback and homage to radio plays of the 30s and 40s. We breakdown the differences in elements of traditional playwriting vs the audio drama, i.e., setting up the scene, dialogue, sound effects, music, etc. We also talk about converting plays from stage to audio drama, the process of writing them as well as compensation and the opportunities in that market. We also touch on length, episodic vs feature, beats and silences in the medium, the hiring process for staff writers, popular genres, writing good suspense and character as well as establishing character flaws and adapting from other sources such as dime magazines. We wrap things up by touching on some of the traditional aspects of playwriting. Whether its audio dramas or traditional stage plays, Barry offers insight that I think you will find beneficial, and as always... Enjoy!  

Barry M. Putt, Jr.'s plays have been performed in Canada, France, the UAE, and throughout the U.S and his comedy, “A Different Blend of Friendship” won the New Jersey Wordsmiths Award. Other plays include – Seafood Salad, The Grumbletonians, Inside Out, and Gutter Rat. He has also scripted more than 50 audio-drama productions for companies including Colonial Radio Theatre, Radio Theater Project, and Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre. His book on the craft of audio-drama writing entitled "Stories Told through Sound" is published by Applause Books. He is a member of the Witherspoon Circle, the Dramatists Guild, and the Authors Guild and has a degree in Dramatic Writing from NYU and in English Literature from Centenary University.

The video format of this episode can be viewed at -
https://youtu.be/y2hIkY8sbTs

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Shoestring Radio Theatre -
https://www.shoestring.org

Next Stage Press -
https://www.nextstagepress.com

Voices in the Wind -
https://www.voicesinthewind.ca

Richard Wade, U.S. Marshal -
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/richard-wade-u-s-marshal/id1549613880

Website and Socials for Barry M. Putt, Jr. -

Website -
https://www.barrymputtjr.com

FB - https://www.facebook.com/barry.m.putt
IG - @barrymputtjr
         @puttbarry
X - @bmputt

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 Boni B. Alvarez stopped by Playwright's Spotlight during the run of his historic play Mix-Mix: The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy. In such, we discuss approaching historical figures and events and flashbacks on stage. We also discuss his approach to writing "in threads,"  being married to material, finding momentum, and addressing and giving feedback. We also explore Julliard, his start in playwriting, lessons in playwriting and having a style. We also touch on what is craft, finding an arc, and writing and finding a good antagonist. It's a fascinating episode that explore the evolvement of writing and revision, "taking every single note," making changes and change "requests," as well as content warnings.  As always, I hope you walk away with some beautiful insight into the craft of playwriting. Now, sit back and get to work.

Boni B. Alvarez is a Los Angeles-based playwright-actor and faculty member at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. He has been a semifinalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and a Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Aurora Theatre’s Global Age Project, and Clubbed Thumb’s Biennial Commission.  He is currently in the Geffen Playhouse’s Writer’s Room and a Resident Playwright with New Dramatists. His plays include America Adjacent, Bloodletting, Fixed, Nicky, Dallas Non-Stop, Driven, The Debut of Georgia, Emmylu, and Refuge for a Purple Heart. He holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, an MFA (Acting) from A.R.T./MXAT Institute at Harvard University, and an MFA (Dramatic Writing) from USC. His play Mix-Mix: The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy opens May 18 and runs through June 16 at The Los Angeles Theatre Center.

For tickets to Mix-Mix: The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy  visit -
https://dola.com/events/2024/6/6/mix-mix-tickets

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/1UzeyRIgdtI

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -
https://americanrepertorytheater.org

Website and Socials for Boni B. Alvarez -
https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/boni-b-alvarez/

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

David Johann Kim stopped by Playwright's Spotlight to discuss his two new simultaneous running plays and the process in which they were developed, their similarities surrounding the same historical event, and the collaborative process working with two different troupes and directors and his "overnight" success. We also discuss the value of workshops, recording notes opposed to writing them, fighting with structure, the Joint-Stock Method, discoveries from table work, writing rituals, and embracing rejection letters. It's a fascinating conversation about a unique situation. I hope you enjoy the talk.

David Johann Kim is an actor and playwright. His plays PANG SPA and TWO STOP were awarded the 2022 Los Angeles New Play Project Award and Grant. TWO STOP was recently workshopped at The Inkwell Theater and PANG SPA was a semifinalist for the 2018 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Ashland New Play Festival and Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the final round of Dennis and Victoria Ross Foundation Playwrights Program. He holds an MFA from UC San Diego and is a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights Union, EST/LA’s Playwrights Unit, Chalk Rep’s Writers group, Playwrights ThinkTank and cofounder of EST/LA’s Ignite Project.

To watch the video format of this episode, visit -
https://youtu.be/N4oPK8ZBt5M

For tickets to both Two Stop (May 2 – June 9, 2024) and Pang Spa (May 16th - June 9th), visit - https://www.estlosangeles.org/two-stop-world-premiere

Links to resources mentioned in this episode -

Los Angeles New Play Project -
https://lanpp.org

EST/LA (Ensemble Studio Theatre) -
https://www.estlosangeles.org

Chalk Repertory Theatre -
https://www.chalkrep.com

The Magic -
https://magictheatre.org/

Asian American Theatre Company -
https://naatco.org

New Works Now -
https://downtownla.com/do/new-original-works-now-festival

Lark Play Development -
https://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/lark-play-development-center/

Inkwell Workshop -
https://www.inkwellretreats.org

Circle X Writers -
https://www.circlextheatre.org/new-page-2

Evolving Playwrights -
https://www.circlextheatre.org/evolving2023

Ignite Project -
https://www.estlosangeles.org/ignite-project

New Play Exchange -
https://newplayexchange.org/

Website and Socials for David Johann Kim -

IG - @d.yo_hankim
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/david.j.kim.982

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