Podcast with Cassidy and Bogard

June 30, 2010

This year we thought we would record podcasts with the authors from Plays and Playwrights 2010 a bit differently than in the past.  We felt it might be a good idea to talk with them as they had something new on the horizon. We hope, and it often does happen, that our playwrights get to work together but this year two of our authors, also excellent actors, auditioned for the same role and ended up sharing the stage in the upcoming Henry VI, Part 3. 

When Martin (editor of our books and moderator of many of the podcasts) found out about this he immediately invited them both to talk about their experiences as actors and about their plays which are published in this year’s anthology. 

Jerrod Bogard is the author of Spin Cycle and he shares with listeners how this collection of one-acts came together as an evening of theatre.  He further explains how it is different from most such collections in that it has a through line which joins them together making five short plays feel like one play in five acts.  You really get an appreciation of the process that goes into making a great production.  And Jerrod is a delight to listen to.

Nat Cassidy describes his play, Any Day Now as a normal three act family drama — except that Dad’s a zombie.  His thoughts on why he wrote this and the various pop culture influences (and non-influences) are all part of the process of a talented and intelligent author.  And Nat has that wonderful combination of charm and friendly good nature.

Check out this new podcast and learn a bit more about Plays and Playwrights 2010 and this new production of Henry VI Part 3.

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3 Reasons Why We Published Plays and Playwrights for the New Millennium – the e-book

June 8, 2010

Books have been around for a long time, but times, they are a-changing, and it now appears that e-books, in various forms, are here to stay. A couple of years ago, I didn’t know anyone who read books online; today, I have Kindle software on my PC and on my iPhone, and just about everytime I’m in the theatre I see someone in the audience reading from a Kindle or Nook before the show begins.

NYTE prides itself on helping professionals and audience members in our community make great use of new technology–and that’s why we’ve recently published our first e-book. It’s currently available on Kindle only:

Plays and Playwrights for the New Millennium – the e-book.

But we’re planning to publish to other formats/readers in the near future, and to expand our selection of titles, too.

So why should you be thinking about e-books?

Reason #1 — so easy to get, so easy to use. You never have to leave the house, don’t have to put on your shoes, don’t have to wait til daylight to shop.  You can buy it at 3:05 a.m. and by 3:07 a.m. it will be ready to read on your iPhone, iTouch, iPad, BlackBerry and PC.  Got a Kindle? It will be there, too,of course. 

And it’s easy on the eyes.  I make the font a little bigger and I don’t have to fumble for my glasses to read it. Click to shut it down and when you come back to it, it’s exactly on the right page.  Don’t have to dog-ear the pages or worry that the bookmark will fall out.

Want to skip around? Just go to the Table of Contents and click on the play you want to read.  There you are in a nano second.  And you can get a free sample downloaded to see if you really like it.  Give it a try.

Reason #2 — You can read it anywhere. Download it to all your devices–your iPhone, BlackBerry, etc.  Read it on the subway, read it at lunch, read it on your way to an audition.  It is the most convenient way, I am finding, to read whether it be for pleasure or for a more serious purpose.  The book you want is always in your pocket or on your laptop and that is worth a lot.  And having it on your PC where you can go to it when you just want to take a few minutes off from working on another assignment is fun. 

Reason #3 — This anthology seems to be a first.  We’ve checked around and we don’t seem to be able to find any other anthologies of contemporary plays.  This excites us as we still believe this is a group of playwrights that is decidedly underserved where publishing is concerned.  Contemporary work should be easy to find. 

One caveat with the Kindle store — unless you know the name of the e-book or can follow a link, you will have a difficult time finding this.  Unfortunately in the navigation bar there is no heading for “drama” or “plays” so send out this link to your friends — no obligation to purchase, but this way they can get to look at what we feel is a great e-book.  And it’s only $10.

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FringeNYC in August

June 8, 2010

August brings the whirlwind that is the New York International Fringe Festival with its 197 productions in a period of just over two weeks.  It’s the most exciting, looked forward to event of the summer.  And it gets better each year.  The choices are varied and exciting.  Of course, nytheatre.com will help guide you by publishing the previews written by the participants.  And we’ll have lots more online as we get closer to the opening.  

I thought I would give you a bit of advance notice as to the playwrights we have published here at NYTE Small Press who will have new plays produced in the festival.  Make a note, so you can try to see some of their newer work come August.

Chad Beckim (his play ‘nami is published in Plays and Playwrights 2007) will be represented twice.  Look for Cookie and A Matter of Choice.

Boo Killebrew (her play They’re Just Like Us is also in 2007) is part of the ensemble theatre company, Collaboration Town, and their new piece, for which she is part of the writing team  is called The Momentum. 

Arlene Hutton (her short play Faerie Tale is included in Plays and Playwrights 2001 as part of Washington Square Dreams) will have a new play to check out entitled Running.

Leslie Bramm who wrote the Foreword to our latest anthology and whose play, Marvelous Shrine, we published in Plays and Playwrights 2008 will be at the festival with his work, Venus and Mona.

Stan Richardson whose play Another Brief Encounter we also published in PP ’07 will present Veritas and you can listen to him talk about this play with his director Ryan Davis on a recent nytheatrecast episode. 

That’s a whole bunch to look forward to.  Hope you’ll be able to catch some or all in August.

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