SDCF Podcast Series

Hosted by M. Graham Smith, we are delighted to bring you the second series of SDCF Podcast Series: Regional Originals with M. Graham Smith – a series of interviews with some of the most exciting Directors and Choreographers working in America's regional theatres today.

This week on SDCF Podcast Series, M. Graham Smith sits down with director/playwright, Blanka Zizka, Artistic Director of The Wilma Theater.

We are delighted to be launching the very first SDCF Podcast Series focused entirely on choreography: In Motion, with Wendy Seyb.

Our very first guest on In Motion is the Broadway-bound choreographer, Chase Brock, Artistic Director of The Chase Brock Experience. In this week's episode Chase shares his thoughts on the 'Millennial Remix Moment' in which multi-hyphenates are thriving; the mentors that didn't pull any punches; creating and sustaining a dance company; and the push and pull of choreographing across media and how it makes him a better theatre maker.

Hosted by M. Graham Smith, we are delighted to bring you the second series of SDCF Podcast Series: Regional Originals with M. Graham Smith – a series of interviews with some of the most exciting Directors and Choreographers working in America's regional theatres today.

This week on SDCF Podcast Series, M. Graham Smith sits down with director and playwright, Chay Yew, Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater. They discuss how Chay learned to write between the lines, what directors shouldn't say to playwrights, how to understand how a region receives stories, and how a particular story will talk to your community.

A room that is supportive of the play is most crucial - Chay Yew, 2018

Theatre often struggles to include and embrace diverse voices and artists, and this is certainly true of artists with disabilities. However, directors and casting directors are uniquely positioned to change producing practices and the perceptions of audiences well before the lights go up, and indeed, even before the first rehearsal – and it starts with the casting breakdown. Join SDCF Foundation Director David Roberts as he sits down with director Sam Gold and casting director David Caparelliotis to discuss opportunities in collaborating with artists with disabilities. They will explore authentic representation of disabled characters by actors with disabilities, as well as the casting of those same actors in non-disabled roles, and how they as director and casting director navigate producers' expectations, critical reception, and audience response to their work with this underrepresented community of artists.

This week on SDCF Podcast Series we are revisiting a conversation with James Lapine and Lonny Price, moderated by Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Executive Director, Laura Penn.

Technology has made the ability to capture and distribute live performances via high-quality video a reality the theatre field is embracing with increasing regularity. New players are entering the field every day, including BroadwayHD, Amazon.com, and Netflix, among others. When it comes to the crafts of stage directing and choreography, what is your relationship with the video director? What is the role of the editor in this new iteration of your work? How can you ensure the integrity of the live experience? What should you be concerned about when work created for the stage, now opens the possibility for audiences to access live performances on the large screen, small screen, and portable devices?

Large nonprofit theatres across the U.S. are experiencing a sea change of transition in their artistic leadership posts. Today, only about 25% of those posts are held by women, and fewer still by people of color. What are the root causes from a practicing artist standpoint? How will the theatre industry move beyond just planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion, towards implementation of these values? And when will it be reflected in the field's highest and most prominent positions? Join SDCF Executive Director David Roberts as he sits down with director Liesl Tommy and artistic producer Stephanie Ybarra as they explore the intersections of women, people of color, and leadership in American theatre and discuss how they are actively changing the game. This One-on-One is presented in association with Dramatists Guild of America.

Over 60 years ago, theatre directors joined forces with community leaders around the country and created what is today a vibrant ecosystem of literally thousands of nonprofit theatres. These theatres have become inextricably bound to the character of a region, a city, a town. Large and small, these companies produce theatre at the highest level while serving as anchors for economic development and the fostering of an informed citizenry. Now a generation or two removed from their founders, the missions of theatre companies are held in trust by Boards of Directors, but it's the individual artist's vision that brings the mission to life. How do exceptional artists make that happen? What is the interplay amongst and between theatres in a community? What opportunities and challenges does artistic leadership bring to an individual director? In conversation with Chris Coleman and Dámaso Rodríguez, artistic directors in Portland, Oregon, SDC explores how practicing directors braid their own personal artistry and ambition with organizational and community leadership.

"Risk is here, so you've gotta move through it." – Nataki Garrett, 2018.

Hosted by M. Graham Smith, we are delighted to bring you the twelfth episode of our podcast series – SDCF Podcast Series: Regional Originals with M. Graham Smith – a series of interviews with some of the most exciting Directors and Choreographers working in America's regional theatres today.

Today M Graham Smith is with Nataki Garrett, Artistic Associate Director with Theatre Company at Denver Center for Performing Arts (DCPA) and -Artistic Director at Blank the Dog Productions.

Moving to New York City with just '$500 and a hole in her shoe', Nataki has since established herself as a #director in many different regional communities and now in Denver. Nataki's work looks to provide opportunities and platforms for silenced voices to be heard. Her whisper through the megaphone is that "there is going to be a convergence of 'Black Lives Matter' the #MeToo movement, and Time's Up" and that "the boards [of our regional theatres] have to be ready to listen to the next generation."

#SDCFaccess #SDCFconnectivity

"People are going to say no to you more than they say yes, and that's hard. It takes strength." - Torange Yeghiazarian.

Today on our SDCF Podcast Series - Regional Originals podcast, M Graham Smith is with Torange Yeghiazarian, Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions. They discuss empowering playwrights to tell the stories that they want to tell, how working at Golden Thread can be a unique and often life-changing experience, and the biggest challenges of her 'not-so-hidden-agenda'.

Golden Thread, founded in 1996, produces passionate and provocative plays from or about the Middle East that celebrate the multiplicity of its perspectives and identities. The company was awarded the American Theatre Wing's National Theatre Company Grant in 2013 and 2016.

You can have a listen to this episode on iTunes at SDCF Podcast Series. #SDCFaccess #SDCFconnectivity