KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

Dan Hoyle, playwright and performer of “The Real Americans,” playing at the Marsh in Berkeley through February 25, 2017, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

Dan Hoyle has been taking his show, “The Real Americans” around the United States since 2010, with stops at Berkeley Rep and other places. Based on interviews conducted during a trip across the country via van, “The Real Americans'” has been expanded and revised to reflect the Trump candidacy and presidency. After Berkeley, he takes the play to Washington DC and elsewhere.

In this interview, he talks about his show and its political elements, performs excerpts from the show, and discusses his career. The son of Geoff Hoyle of Pickle Family Circus, Dan Hoyle has multiple degrees, and spent time as a Fulbfight Scholar in Nigeria, the basis for his solo play, “Tings Dey Happen.”

An extended version of this interview aired on KPFA’s Arts-Waves program.

More information: The Marsh [1]

Dan Hoyle website [2]

Also: A Review of "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard, at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley through March 5, 2017.

[1] https://themarsh.org/

[2] http://www.danhoyle.com/

Paul Theroux’s latest travel book is Deep South, now out in trade paperback. Over the course of four seasons, Theroux traveled through the back roads of America’s South, mostly avoiding cities but hopping from small town to small town in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and the Carolinas, seeing the vast poverty and hopelessness of a forgotten region of the United States. He discusses his travels, and also his latest collection of short stories, Mr. Bones, with host Richard Wolinsky.

Also, theatre review: The Christians, at SF Playhouse.

[caption id="attachment_255287" align="alignleft" width="214"] Khaled Hosseini[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_255286" align="alignleft" width="186"] Ursula Rani Sarma[/caption]

A Thousand Splendid Suns: ACT Artistic Director Carey Perloff in conversation with Khaled Hosseini, author of the novel, and Ursula Rani Sarma, who adapted the book for the stage.

The novel "A Tousand Splended Suns," by Khaled Hosseini, about the relationship of two Afghan women over the several years, has been adapted for the stage by playwright Ursula Rani Sarma, and is running at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater through February 26th. Carey Perloff is directing the production.

On January 17, 2017, in front of an audience at the Geary, Carey Perloff spoke with Khaled Hosseini and Ursula Rani Sarma about the adaptation, about their careers, and about the nature of adaptation. This is an edited portion of that discussion.

Special thanks to Kevin Kopjak. Radio version produced by Richard Wolinsky.

Audio of the entire discussion [1]

[1] https://soundcloud.com/actsanfrancisco/carey-perloff-khaled-hosseini-and-ursula-rani-sarma-in-conversation

Fun Home: Alison Bechdel and Jeanine Tesori, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Alison Bechdel is the author of the graphic novel “Fun Home,” and Jeanine Tesori is the composer of the musical adaptation of “Fun Home”. Originally opening at New York’s Public Theatre, “Fun Home” moved to Broadway and won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical. Jeanine Tesori shared the Tony for Best Original Score with lyricist and librettist Lisa Kron.

“Fun Home” is based on a graphic memoir detailing how Alison Bechdel came out of the closet to her parents, and discovered her father was gay, and the tragedy that came afterward.

Alison Bechdel is also the author of the comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” and the graphic memoir “Are You My Mother.” Jeanine Tesori has written the music for four other musicals: “Violet,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, “Shrek: The Musical” and, with Tony Kushner, “Caroline or Change.” She has also written scores for four animated films, including “Shrek The Third,” and is currently working on a new opera with Tony Kushner about the later life of Eugene O’Neill.

The touring company of “Fun Home” plays at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre through February 19, 2017. For more information: Curran Theater [1]

Fun Home Wikipedia page [2]  Alison Bechdel [3]   Jeanine Tesori [4]

Recorded in the offices of the Curran Theatre. Special thanks to Jaron Jones. A 39-minute version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast.

[1] https://sfcurran.com/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_Home_(musical)

[3] http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/about

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanine_Tesori

[caption id="attachment_254083" align="alignleft" width="335"] Ashley Judd & Richard Wolinsky. April 25, 2011. Photo: Dev Ross[/caption]

Ashley Judd, interviewed by Richard Wolinsky on April 25,2011

On Saturday, January 21st, Ashley Judd captivated the crowd at the Women’s March in Washington with her presentation as a "Nasty Woman". While most people simply know her as an actor in films and television, her real center lies as an activist for health and social justice. Richard Wolinsky had a chance to interview Ashley Judd when she was on tour in 2011 for her memoir, "All That Is Bitter and Sweet," which dealt with her early life and later activism. For those who only know her through film and TV, this discussion is an eye-opener as she talks about her work with NGOs in Africa and Asia.

Rick Moody is the author of several novels, the most recent of which is Hotels of North America, a series of fictional on-line reviews about hotels and places where people sleep. Rick Moody is known for pushing the novel in new directions, both seriously and comically, and is the author of works such as The Five Fingers of Death and The Ice Storm. He is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

Also: An announcement about the Ghostlight Project. January 19, 2017, 5;30 pm: Keeping the light burning through the darkness. In San Francisco, outside ACT Geary Theatre, on Geary Street; in Berkeley at Berkeley Rep's Narsai David Courtyard.

Also: Review of Belleville by Amy Herzog, at Custom Made Theatre through Jan. 28, 2017

Adam Johnson‘s latest collection of stories, Fortune Smiles, won the National Book Award in 2015.  His novel, The Orphan Master’s Son, about life in North Korea, won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize. He discusses both books and his career with host Richard Wolinsky. Rebroadcast from December 2015.

[caption id="attachment_252253" align="alignleft" width="370"] Richard Adams in the mid-1970s.[/caption]

Richard Adams (1920-2016), author of "Watership Down" and "The Plague Dogs," interviewed in 1978 by Richard Wolinsky.

Richard Adams,died on Christmas Eve, 2016 at the age of 96. Born in 1920, he served as a liaison officer during World War II. Past the age of fifty and a life-long civil servant, Richard Adams began telling stories to his daughters about talking rabbits while on a car trip. The daughters prompted him to turn the stories into a novel. After four failed attempts, a fifth try in 1972 found a publisher and “Watership Down” became an international best-seller and later a beloved classic fantasy. He followed that with “Shardik,” a novel about a giant bear. Along the way, Adams became an advocate against the use of animal testing, which is the subject of his third novel, “The Plague Dogs.”

It was on tour for that third novel upon its American publication in the spring of 1978 that Richard Wolinsky interviewed Richard Adams. Though he'd conducted a handful of interviews with a co-host, this was his first solo shot.

In the interview, Adams discusses his views toward animals, the reason why he wrote "Watership Down," his use of dialects, and his favorite fantasy books, along with specifics from "The Plague Dogs."  The interview has been digitized, remastered and re-edited for this broadcast. An extended version of this edit can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast elsewhere on this website.

Also: A review of "The Madwoman in the Volvo" at Berkeley Rep.

 

Anne Rice discusses her latest novel, "Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis" along with her entire career as a novelist with host Richard Wolinsky. First of two parts; concludes Thursday on Bookwaves.

Anne Rice achieved success in 1976 with her novel "Interview with the Vampire," which spawned a series of novels titled "The Vampire Chronicles" and became a world-wide phenomenon. Along the way, she also wrote several other novels including the Mayfair Witches trilogy, Cry to Heaven, a series of books under pseudonyms, and the screenplay for "Interview with the Vampire" was turned into a successful film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

In 2014, after an eight-year hiatus, she returned to the main character in her Vampire Chronicles series, Lestat, and here talks about the second book in this new series. She also talks about her career, including a failed musical of Lestat and the four films made from her books.

The interview was recorded at Books Inc., Opera Plaza, in San Francisco on Dec. 2, 2016. The entire interview is also heard as a Radio Wolinsky [1] podcast

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/anne-rice/

Emma Rice, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Emma Rice is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and director/co-adaptor of “946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips,” a Kneehigh production running at Berkeley Rep through January 15th. For several years, Emma served as Artistic Director of Kneehigh, where she was also director of several shows that came through Berkeley Rep, including “Tristan and Yseult,” “The Wild Bride,”  and “Brief Encounter.” Her work is known internationally for its unconventional story-telling and staging.

“The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips,” based on a popular children’s book by Michael Murpurgo, who joined with Emma in co-adapting his story, tells of a girl named Lily in 1944 and her search for her missing cat in an English village overrun with American soldiers preparing for the D-Day invasion. “946” refers to a tragic event that actually happened in the seas off Slapton and was excised from history for fifty years.

The play features original songs and music, and puppetry, and dancing. This interview was recorded on-site at Berkeley Repertory Theater in Berkeley.

An extended version of this interview can be found on the Radio Wolinsk [1]y podcast.

Also, theater review: Christmas at Pemberley at Marin Theatre Company

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/emma-rice-946-amazing-story-adolphus-tips-berkeley-rep/