Crystal Skillman’s, The Telling Trilogy, was specifically written and directed to be produced at Seventh Street Small Stage — a long room behind a bar/restaurant.  The audience sits around the side of the room with the action going on next to them, around them and in front of them. 

Daniel Reitz’s, Fall Forward, was originally staged at a Methodist Church just a few blocks from the World Trade Center.  Here the audience congregates in the courtyard joined by one of the actors.  They are then led into the church, seated  on benches and the action takes place in the  pews facing them.

Both of these are examples of many of the innovative site specific productions that Daniel stages and directs.  And this summer he is teaching a class at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts to a group of young directors.  Wanting to learn more about the class, the topic and what these directors think about the process, we invited Daniel to record a podcast with six of his students.  Tune in – it’s a chance to listen to the teacher and the students, all with slightly different thoughts.

And Daniel is also directing a new show Keep Your Baggage With You (At All Times) as part of the Dream Works Festival.  It begins performances August 6.

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.

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.

She has a new play, Flow, coming up on March 27 in the Director’s Salon at Working Theatre with director Nicole A. Watson.

And here’s some information she sent about her next production:

I’m so excited that my play The Vigil or the Guided Cradle is being produced in a co-production with Impetuous Theater Group and The Brick theatre at the Brick – April 22nd- May 8th. Director John Hurley  and I are really excited about our wonderful cast: Susan Louise O’Connor*, Dion Mucciacito*, Christian Rummel*, Travis York*, Vinnie Penna*, Alex Pappas* & Joseph Mathers. It’s a great team and we go into rehearsals next week. Here’s a description of the show:

A Medieval man tortures a terrorist in 15th Century Prague while a young tourist in the 21st Century befriends a stranger. A play about the danger of crossing over, between now and then, THE VIGIL or THE GUIDED CRADLE is a chilling portrait of the art of torture and those desperate enough to use their ability to create . . . no matter the cost.

More information on Impetuous’ website

This is a great listen as we get a feel for the plays in the author’s own words and a catch up on what each has been doing since the original book was published in 2000.

There’s bonus material included in the e-book and Martin gets to talk a bit about these pieces also. 

The authors are all still involved in theatre but you’ll be surprised to hear what else they’ve been up to.  Download the episode and enjoy.

First up is Disgraced Comics which he created with comic book illustrator, Miriam Gibson. The first issue is called The Adventures of Max Quarterhorse and begins where an earlier play of his, All the Shifty Villains, ends. Robert talks about the great difference in writing for a comic book as opposed to writing for the stage and finds it to be quite invigorating.

Next there is Disgraced TV which is an Internet TV series called Apt. 1B. He describes this as a cross between Lost and Friends and it all takes place in this apartment in the East Village. Many of the actors who have appeared in Robert’s plays appear in this series.

Seems to me these new endeavors are a great next step for a very talented playwright. You can find links to both on his website. Take a look. And Robert promises a new play in 2010.