Stories Found

About This Episode

In this episode of Stories Found, we hear the hilarious ten-minute play, The Interview by Mark Harvey Levine.

The Interview is about a completely normal job interview — during a zombie apocalypse. Episode transcript here

About the Playwright

Mark Harvey Levine has had over 1900 productions of his short plays everywhere from Bangalore to Bucharest and from Lima to London. His plays have won over 45 awards and been produced in more than ten languages. His work has been published in over two dozen anthologies by Applause, Smith & Kraus, Routledge and Vintage. Full evenings of his ten-minute plays, such as "Cabfare For The Common Man", "Didn't See That Coming" and "A Very Special Holiday Special" have been shown around the world, including at the Edinburgh Fringe and in a multi-year tour of Brazil. A Spanish-language film of "The Kiss" ("El Beso") premiered at Cannes and aired on HBO and DTV (Japan). Two of his plays were adapted for Brazilian television.

Read more of Mark's work on NPX, The New Play Exchange.

About the Cast

The Interview was performed for us by:

Liz Bernstein Liz Bernstein (she/her/hers) is a training facilitator and career coach in Central Florida. Her first loves, however, are acting, singing, performing, and creative writing. In the Central Florida area, she has performed with the Gemini Blvd collegiate a cappella group, Orlando Cringe, Phoenix Tears Productions, Central Florida Community Arts, and Playwrights Roundtable. She has also worked virtually with the Fragmented Festival and is excited to continue working virtually with Stories Found. Liz is a core collective member of Whiskey Theatre Factory, a group dedicated to producing meaningful theatrical productions that uplift, develop, and celebrate emerging and untapped voices. With Whiskey Theatre Factory, she has helped with new play development and production, including new works in the Orlando Fringe Festival. Most recently, Liz was honored to perform the role of "Amy" in Ava Love Hanna's piece, There Will Be Bears for PRT's production of Launch. Joe Llorens

Joe Llorens has been a performer for over twenty years. In that time, he's done things. Some of those things he's liked, even. Joe will keep trying to do things he likes and not be as judgy about the things he doesn't like because he really should cut himself a bit of a break. He loves his wife, children, and pets, though. A lot.

Ava Love Hanna

Ava Love Hanna is a professional writer, published playwright, and award-winning speaker and storyteller. She is continually amazed by how often she is mistaken for a real grown-up.

Featured Organization: Whiskey Theatre Factory

Whiskey Theatre Factory is a theatre collective based in Orlando, FL with the mission to produce meaningful theatrical productions that uplift, develop, and celebrate emerging and untapped voices. We challenge our community through provocative, authentic pieces, examining our culture and revealing the grace of humanity. Interested in reading our Credo or connecting with us? Visit WhiskeyTheatreFactory.com to learn more.

Featured Sponsor: Team Jemini Designs

Team Jemini Designs is the place for bold, fun, pop culture themed items. T-shirts, gifts and more!

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Want to be a featured storyteller in a future episode?

We're accepting submissions!

About This Episode In this episode of Stories Found, we hear the humorous ten-minute play, sixteen17 by Jason Rainey. sixteen17 is a funny play about the quirky relationship between a mother and her daughter as the daughter turns 17 -- a birthday that's an important milestone for the mother. Jason wrote this play as part of the ScriptWorks Weekend Fling. The Weekend Fling is ScriptWorks' annual 48-hour playwriting event in which writers are tasked with creating a ten-minute play in 48 hours. There are three ingredients provided that MUST appear in the play. In our interview with Jason we discuss the ingredients that he had to weave into his play, how those ingredients influenced his script, and why we think writing exercises with rigid constraints can often help writers produce work they might otherwise not have created.

About the Storyteller

Jason Rainey is a member of ScriptWorks in Austin.

His work has been commissioned, presented, or produced by ScriptWorks, Last Frontier Theatre Conference (Valdez, AK), Penobscot Theatre (Bangor, ME), Daedalus Theatre (Columbus), Freshwater Theatre (Minneapolis), Mildred's Umbrella (Houston), Sound Plays, Texas Dramatist Playwriting Series, and Punchkin Rep in Austin. He has directed several of his own short plays at Austin's FronteraFest, receiving a Best of Fest citation in 2011.

You can find more of Jason's plays on NPX, the New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/50068/jason-rainey

About ScriptWorks

ScriptWorks is a playwriting organization based in Austin, Texas, but it's membership is open to playwrights across the country. Every year, ScriptWorks hosts the Weekend Fling. Writers have 48 hours to write a ten-minute play including three required ingredients. The event culminates with a super fun cold reading Salon on Sunday and all scripts submitted are then reviewed by a selection committee for the Out of Ink Festival. If you'd like to learn more about ScriptWorks membership or how you can join us for the upcoming Weekend Fling in November (11/20 - 11/22/2020) feel free to visit ScriptWorks.org or contact us and we'll connect you.

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Want to be a featured storyteller in a future episode? We're accepting submissions!

In this episode of Stories Found, we feature the story, The Vagina-Mommy Incident by Ava Love Hanna. In hindsight, this is one of my favorite parenting moments - the first time my four year old asked me about genitals. I thought I would simply answer him in a straightforward and scientific way and that would be that. It did NOT go as planned. I'm your storyteller this week, Ava Love Hanna. I'm a humorist, published playwright, and award-winning speaker and storyteller based in Austin, Texas. I've told stories at Listen to Your Mother, Testify, The Tellers, Fray Cafe at SXSWi, The Story Department, FronteraFest, and stages across the country. Most importantly, I'm continually amazed by how often I'm mistaken for a real grown up.

• Want to see me tell this story live at Listen to Your Mother in Austin? Watch HERE.
• Want to read the story? Read HERE.

Check out another story by me in Episode 1 - Am I Willing to Punch a Peacock? at StoriesFound.com

You can also find me at: AvaLoveHanna.com or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Want to be a featured storyteller in a future episode?

We're accepting submissions!

In this episode of Stories Found, we hear the hilarious story, The First Time I Got Naked in Front of a Bunch of People I Didn't Know by Max Langert. Max takes it all off and describes his first experience at a spa in Amsterdam. Max Langert has had plays produced in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Amsterdam. He's won the Henrico playwriting award, been named Best of the New Southern Theatre Festival in Tennessee and named Best of the Fest multiple times at FronteraFest in Austin. He's told stories at Testify, Austin Bat Cave, and Listen To Your Mother. He also manages Cinnamon Path Theater and has a couple of teenage sons that make him laugh a lot. Get more information about Max and links to some of his other work on our website: StoriesFound.com You can also find him at: MaxLangert.com or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. -----

Want to be a featured storyteller in a future episode? We're accepting submissions!

In this episode of Stories Found, we hear the story, Am I Willing to Punch a Peacock? by Ava Love Hanna. Ava's story was recorded live at Mayfield Park and the actual gang of rowdy peacocks that tried to ruin lunch with her son that day can be heard in the background. Links to a transcript of the story and a video of the performance are available on StoriesFound.com Ava is the host of the Stories Found podcast as well as a humorist, published playwright, and award-winning speaker and storyteller based in Austin, Texas. She is continually amazed by how often she's mistaken for a real grown up. You can read more of her work at: https://avalovehanna.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ----- Want to be a featured storyteller in a future episode? We're accepting submissions!

Stories Found is brand new storytelling show... err, podcast. We've moved our staged comedy shows to the safe, germ-free world of digital storytelling! Each episode features a different writer or storyteller and their weird, funny, and mostly true stories. Check out the trailer, get to know Ava and Paul and get ready for our full episodes starting later in July. Also, make sure to submit your own story for a chance to be a featured storyteller in a future episode! Stories Found -- We do funny stuff.