This is a Classic: The Expand the Canon Theatre Podcast

Victoria Collado is a Cuban-American director who lead our reading of A Happy Country in 2021's Expand the Canon festival! We loved her insights and approach to the play, discussing its translation, and her reasons that this Maruxa Vilalta play is a classic. She chats with Skye Pagon and Shannon Corenthin.

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https://www.victoriacollado.com/

If you’re seeking a play about revolution where the family drama is the political drama… consider this powerful portrait of love, protest, class, and voyeurism. This play follows the recently impoverished Jiménez family in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country as complex conversations are brought to the foreground by the arrival of a tourist staying in their home. How do you balance your activism with your desire to just live? Do you fight for your family, or your country? And how do you be an ethical tourist in a culture that is not your own? This play leaves an audience asking all the right questions and drawing their own timely parallels.

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Episode hosted by Skye Pagon and Shannon Corenthin. Scene performed by Mariana Mondragón and Reza Salazar.

If you’re looking for a fun rom-com where your wingman is a flock of wingwomen… consider this witty Restoration comedy. A rollicking, hilarious, and touching tale of Mrs Rich, the wealthy widow of a banker, who wants to marry a Lord to improve her social status. She listens to all the wrong people for advice– eventually leading her straight into the arms of a notable rogue. Through sparkling discourse, interwoven with a moving subplot, Mrs. Rich’s friends and brother-in-law come to her rescue in the nick of time and prevent their friend (and a few other women) from throwing it all away for an undeserving man.

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This episode is hosted by Mary Candler and Shannon Corenthin, and the scene is performed by Desiree Baxter and Rachel Schmeling.

If you’re looking for a clever class comedy by a Noel Coward contemporary… consider this zany play that takes on tradition, marriage, and capitalism. The spoiled but sweet Wanru has a watchful father… who she is desperate to avoid when sneaking in her hot new boyfriend. In this story, family is often run like a business and financial prospects are important across the board – but not everyone is clearly showing their cards. Wanru’s Dad keeps trying to run her love life like a business, Yanhua gets the world’s worst proposal, and everyone’s trying to keep up the face of tradition... even if it’s just a show. Chinese comedic playwright Yang Jiang brings light, love, and clarity to this relatable family situation.

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This episode is hosted by Emily Lyon and Mary Candler, and the scene is performed by Dorothea Gloria and David Huynh.

Family Tree: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jq5XvtvQw1tott2PED5D-FGIK-WPMhLe/view?usp=sharing

Catherine Boyle is a professor, as well as one of our favorite translators. You may know her from our 2020 list, having translated Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz's House of Desires. Luckily for us, she's been working on a title from our 2021 List – Ana Caro's Valor, Agravio, y Mujer!

For more information on Out of the Wings, visit: https://outofthewings.org/

Mary and Skye host this fun conversation about translations!

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If you want a scorned heroine who is determined to live in a revenge tragedy but accidentally finds herself in a comedy… consider this Spanish Golden Age play. With cross dressing, love triangles, swordplay, and soaring verse, this is a celebration of women’s agency. Doña Leonora dresses like a man and crosses Europe to get revenge on her ungrateful ex who left her unmarriageable. Along the way, she manipulates others in her sphere (often through the clever use of funny voices) causing confusion and antics – and ends up with a triumph that she deems better than any murder.

*Disclaimer: we had an audio mishap, so bear with us –– Skye's audio gets better 7 minutes in!

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This episode is hosted by Skye Pagon and Mary Candler, and the monologue is performed by Ashley Kristeen Vega.

If you’re looking for something a bit lighter in your Ibsen or Shaw slot… consider this deft comedy where the girl finally learns to stand up for herself. An enjoyable romp through Bourges, France, this play speaks to anyone who has gotten stuck in a relationship with someone truly selfish. Henri, the idealized love of Francoise, is “a central role without precedent in French literature” – yet whom is easily recognized in contemporary life. Ahead of its time, George Sand delivers this delightful, snide jab at the aristocracy that seems a precursor to Oscar Wilde’s cutting humor. Join us in rooting for Françoise as she gains the self worth to say adieu. 

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This episode is hosted by Emily Lyon and Shanon Corenthin, and the scene is performed by Gagarin and Sara Hymes.

Director and Founder of CLASSIX Awoye Timpo sits down with Mary & Shannon (amidst directing Alice Childress' Wedding Band at TFANA!) to talk about her work –– and what makes Efua Sutherland's Foriwa a classic.

CLASSIX was created by theatre director Awoye Timpo to explode the classical canon through an exploration of Black performance history and dramatic works by Black writers.

https://www.theclassix.org/

*Note: we will link to Reclamation, the podcast Awoye mentions, as soon as it's publicly released! Check back here soon!*

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If you’re looking for a story about a small community and love akin to Our Town... consider this play about how an overlooked outsider and two powerful women can shake a community out of a slump. Set in a small Ghanaian village, a love story emerges, challenging the town to reconcile tradition with modernity. Relatable across the globe, this sweet yet brave look into a slice of Ghanaian life shows what it takes to rebuild a community — hope, courage, and open hearts.

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This episode is hosted by Mary Candler and Shannon Corenthin, and the scene is performed by Terra Chaney and Shariba Rivers.

Lots to look forward to -- including SPECIAL GUESTS and a DISCOUNT CODE!

Alice Childress' Wedding Band (from our 2020 List!) is being produced at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn this April & May. Use code PigPal65 for discount tickets.

We chat with director Awoye Timpo, who also leads Classix (https://www.theclassix.org/our-vision) about Alice Childress and why she's a classic!