Where were you when the Covid-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020?  What was your initial reaction?  How did it feel to be separated from your loved ones?  How thankful are you that Zoom was in existence?  In Richard Nelson’s Zoom play What Do We Need to Talk About?, the Apple Family siblings Barbara, Richard, Marian, and Jane, and her partner Tim are among the millions of beneficiaries of this technology that made pandemic loneliness less lonely.  They gather for an online reunion with their respective dinners and wine. The predictable discussions about all things pandemic occur, but what gradually surfaces is their longing to not only survive a deadly virus, but gain a better understanding of the life they want to preserve. Topics include: Covid-19 pandemic, technology, communication, family dynamics, trauma from illness and loss, and life reevaluation.

Season 2 Finale Episode! See you in Season 3!

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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What would you do if you suddenly found out you were pregnant, dying, and needed to do your own funeral video?  Maybe do three sets of stand up comedy for good measure?  These are the stipulations imposed by Lydia Clark-Lin’s embryo, which she affectionately names Bubbly.  Mind you, these conditions must be met within the 28-day deadline required to legally terminate her pregnancy.  Placing the camera on her self-absorbed mother, her dingy bank co-worker Kimmy, her aimless baby daddy Gin, and her closest friend Bernadette (who just happens to be an abortion doctor), Lydia hears what everyone REALLY thinks of her.  But, it does not compensate for her finally coming to terms with what she thinks of herself.   Playwright Sam Chanse wrote and performed all 8 characters in this one-person show filled with wit and subtly profound revelations about why any of us are here.  Topics include:  women’s rights, abortion rights, moral relativity, art as therapy, indecision, true friendship, procrastination, lack of self-respect, and finding purpose.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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How would you prepare for the impending loss of your good-paying job which was supposed to be your ticket to upward mobility?  In Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew, autoworkers Faye, Dez and Shanita find themselves caught in the collapsing automobile industry of 2008 Detroit.  The threat of a shut down is made more bearable by the attention paid from sympathetic foreman Reggie as well as the group's desire to look out for one another.  Their job security turns out to be about more than just a regular paycheck. Topics include: the Great Recession, economic challenges in the African-American community, work relationships, employer vs union, worker's rights, and the devaluation of the American worker.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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What would you do if your city was on fire from decades of racial tension?  Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angles, 1992  tells the collective story of the riots which erupted from the not-guilty verdicts of the police officers who beat Rodney King in 1991.  Smith interviewed hundreds of Los Angelenos to gather their viewpoints on this major turning point in their city's history.  She narrowed her one-person performance down to dozens of diverse perspectives.  Theatre Couch invites you to listen to the ones that spoke to us the most.  Topics include:  racism,  community interconnectedness, police/community relations, and civic responsibility.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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What would you do if an anonymous and insidious illness relentlessly preyed upon your nearest and dearest?  This is Ned Weeks' reality in July 1981 when he meets Dr. Emma Brookner, one of the few physicians treating gay men stricken with the disease we now know as HIV/AIDS.  In the wake of an apathetic and homophobic New York city government, Ned and his friends form a crisis organization to dispatch services and info to the neglected gay community.  Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart  transports us to the dawn of the HIV/AIDS epidemic where gay men suffered on the frontlines and their only defense was the drive to protect the ones they loved.  Topics include: homophobia, tolerance vs acceptance, community activism, systemic discrimination, and the fight against injustice. 

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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How do you cope with grief?  This question haunts every character in Migdalia Cruz’s “Miriam’s Flowers.”  It’s the 1970’s in the South Bronx and a Puerto Rican family has just suffered the loss of 7-year-old Puli who was struck by a train while retrieving his baseball.  Miriam, his 16-year-old half-sister, turns her sorrow into a crusade to take away Puli's pain by suffering her own.  Her mother Delfina and Puli’s father Nando find their own ways of failing to fill the emptiness Puli has left in their lives.  Underpinned by the music of the Jackson 5 and Eddie Palmieri, a family well-versed in pain, must grapple with their inability to move on from tragedy.  Topics include: complications from grief, self-harm, socio-economic disparity, sexual awakening, isolation, and the influence of faith.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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Have you ever become so obsessed with a goal that it devoured everything else in your life?  This is the conflict for Artie, an incompetent songwriter who shares the delusion with his conniving mistress Bunny, that he must and WILL hit the big-time.  The play is set on October 4, 1965--the day Pope Paul VI visited New York City to appeal for peace in the world.  Artie and Bunny are determined to seize his blessing for their upcoming marriage and Artie's ill-fated music.  Meanwhile, Artie's current and mentally ill wife Bananas, as well as his disturbed son Ronnie, employ their own methods of survival.  John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves explores the chaos that ensues when one man thinks the world owes him more than what he's willing to give.  Topics include: fame obsession, media influence, dissolution of the family, measurement of self-worth, and betrayal.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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Have you ever felt stuck in your life but didn't quite know how to get unstuck?  This is the nagging reality for every character in William Inge's Picnic.  Set in a small Kansas town in the early 1950s, handsome drifter Hal Carter arrives looking for his former college roommate Alan Seymour, hoping Alan's wealthy father will give him a job.  Relentlessly searching for his own place in the world, Hal unwittingly stirs each character's need to be seen and valued--especially Alan's beautiful and restless girlfriend, Madge Owens.  Topics include: female oppression, class disparity, sexual awakening, and evolving gender roles.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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If you knew you had only one week to live, what would you do with it?  This is the game Eugene Morris Jerome and his fellow army recruits play in the barracks at basic training in 1943. It's simply a game, but the young soldiers' hopes and dreams revealed by it are as real as the war they face. Join us as we discuss Neil Simon's unapologetic coming-of-age comedy, Biloxi Blues. Topics include: anti-Semitism, homophobia, defying authority, finding true love, and the loss of innocence.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

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What if you spent your life hiding who you are? Not because you want to, but because other's want you to stay invisible. In 1937 New York, burlesque performer Chauncey meets newly arrived Ned at an automat where gay men cruise.  Since homosexuality is illegal, the two must hide behind a secret code of behavior that protects them from arrest.  Chauncey is famous for portraying the Nance—a flamboyantly gay stereotype used in comic sketches.  Ned’s love, the support of his friends, and the city’s crack down on burlesque give Chauncey a chance to stop hiding and fight for his right to exist.

Produced by Vast Improvement Productions.
Hosted by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.
Theme song written and performed by Nathan Inzerillo and Nikki Jacobs.

Visit Us:
nathaninzerillo.com
nikkijacobs.com

Support the show