Send us a text I invited Joel Trinidad onto the Playwright's Spotlight after reading about his journey. He streamed in while on tour for his acting performance of Romeo and Juliet as part of a fringe fest in South Dakota. In our conversation, we discussed acquiring an artist visa, producing your own work, the definition of success, the structure of a musical, and the importance of networking and finding opportunities. We also discussed using your cast to fill seats, imposter syndrome, submission...
Jul 01, 2025•58 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Send us a text Broadway marketer turned playwright Cameron Scott came onto Playwright's Spotlight after I received his submission to PLAY Noir to talk about his later-in-life start to playwriting. In this conversation, we delve into what the definition of a writer is, a play being a living thing, audio plays vs stage plays and a play's transition from audio to stage, and setting time aside and finding opportunities to write. We also discuss staging in unconventional locations, being a minimalist...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Send us a text Returning playwright Faye Widjaja and her cohort, Sohoni Sawant, dropped by the studio after having streamed in from her original interview just over two years ago to discuss the journey and evolution of her play A Minor Inconvenience from the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival to the Hollywood Fringe. It's an insightful journey I hope every playwright at any stage can pull a nugget of knowledge. We explore their journey from the original production and obstacles at Lenaea to the...
Jun 03, 2025•55 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Send us a text John Farmanesh-Bocca swung by The Playwright's Spotlight to talk about his latest Shakespeare adaptation Lear Redux: A Quantum Fantasia. Throughout this conversation we discuss his journey into becoming an adaptive playwrights of the Classics, how he breaks them down, unpacks them, and the puts them back together to serve a modern audience without losing the original story and, sometimes, the original language. We discuss how much preparation he does before moving into collaborati...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Send us a text Longtime-listening playwright Brad McEntire streamed into the Spotlight to discuss his experience and approach to the craft. We discuss the exercises and lessons from studying under Will Power at Southern Methodist University and the Dallas Theatre Center, playing with the rhythm of dialogue, what beginning playwrights don't do or practice, and whether or not you can achieve impossible stage directions with a small budget. We also delve into his background as a literary manager, h...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Send us a text Rickerby Hinds swung by the Playwright's Spotlight prior to the premiere of his "last' play. We unpack various topics including Hip Hop Theatre, being a self-taught playwright, writing without arrogance, earning your audience, and the use of poetry, spoken word, rap, and movement and dance. We also discuss lessons in editing, metaphors and similes, achieving layers, character introductions, unwritten dialogue, and what choreography on the page looks like. We wrap it up with his ve...
Apr 29, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Send us a text Just over the week before the World Premiere of her first play celebrating the Centennial celebration of Coral Gables, Florida, multiple Emmy-winning journalist June Thomson Morris beamed into the Playwright's Spotlight. In this interview, we discuss attempting one's first play, overcoming obstacles, and experiencing your work come to life for the first time. We also explore how journalism nurtures playwriting, learning from Masterclass vs Academia, narrowing framing and foregoing...
Apr 22, 2025•55 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Send us a text Playwrights Lisa Rosenbaum and Ronda Spinak sat in the Playwright's Spotlight to discuss the evolution of their play The Violin Maker from its Sydney, Australia production to its US premiere from its origin from The Violins of Hope through its process up to rehearsals. We delve into the styles of salons, approaching flashbacks and overwriting, respect and valuing while collaborating, getting to the emotion and infusing your writing with heart, stage directions as road maps and usi...
Apr 15, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Send us a text British L.A.-based playwright Stephen Laughton came sat in-house in the Playwright's Spotlight before the West Coast Premiere of his play One Jewish Boy. In this interview, we discuss the differences in the London, New York, and Los Angeles markets, London gatekeepers and the draw of the London Fringe and its difference to the Edinburgh Fringe, taking advantage of Covid, and the responsibilities and how playwriting applies to the Astrophysics Team at the American Museum of Natural...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Send us a text Before the World Premiere of his very first play, Judson Jones streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight. We discussed his background in theatre, film, and television and his journey to writing his first play and any challenges he overcame. We dove into hitting the flow state, introducing new ideas, the appreciation of new works, storytelling through Post-It notes, working with deadlines, collaborating with designers and the benefits of simplicity and justification as well as elimi...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Send us a text Playwright Megan Gogerty streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight right before the opening of her one-woman show and reimagining of the story of Beowulf. It's a fascinating episode with tons of wisdom to take in, unpack, and apply. We discuss one-person adaptations and letting the play be itself, the importance of intuition, the use of two ideas that collide, and knowing what the question is. We delve into the structure of a one-person vs multi-actor piece, the structure of a one-...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Send us a text Audrey Cefaly streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight after I had the pleasure of seeing the production of her play Alabaster at The Fountain Theatre in Los Angles. This is first time I've had the opportunity to talk to the playwright after seeing their work. We discuss asking big questions, making changes throughout the play's evolution, how much design is on the page, knowing the rules of the card game, and refraining from hardwiring stage directions to allow creative freedom. ...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Send us a text This is a very important episode shining light onto a subject a lot of us don't realize our fellow creatives are struggling with and how it may affect their craft - disabilities. Peter Anthony Fields sat in the Playwright's Spotlight and shared his experience fighting Parkinson's and how his diagnosis changes his creative pursuit. We discuss not only the physical afflictions of the disease but also the mental symptoms, his transition from filmmaker to playwright, advice for other ...
Feb 18, 2025•49 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Send us a text Before the World Premiere of her play, Georgia and the Butch, playwright Carolyn Gage streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight. As happens with most episodes lately we explore something new about the craft and delve into the documentary play, in this case the relationship between Georgia O'Keefe and Maria Chabot. We discuss framing and censorship, theatre critics, creative license. We also chat about her experience approaching musicals and adaptations, the purpose and rules of a s...
Feb 04, 2025•58 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Send us a text This interview is a long time coming. I am extremely grateful for Adam taking the time to come on to share his knowledge. I'm sure if time allotted, we could easily could've had a three hour conversation, and I promise we will do at least one more episode. In this talk, we discuss his decision to write a book about playwriting from a letter-writing perspective, common questions he is asked, marketing and approaching theaters, dealing with rejection, finding opportunities, and nego...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Send us a text Happy New Year! It's amazing how things come full circle. After having Steven Dietz' wife, Allison Gregory, on last episode, we were privileged enough to have Laura Annawyn Shamas on Playwright's Spotlight, who happened to work them both in Minneapolis at The Playwright's Center. In this episode, Laura and I discuss a playwright's involvement in a piece, tech and costume "covers" (a term I just learned), "fourth" grade playwriting, inspirations, what makes a great director, and st...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Send us a text This week I had the pleasure of having a fascinating conversation with Allison Gregory on this recent episode of Playwright's Spotlight and her approach of writing about historical and mythological characters and exploring outside their known stories. We delved into the philosophy of "when we are", letting the story find us, the power of the #2 pencil and writing longhand, stealing from the best, obtaining the rights to other's works and public domain. We also discuss commissionin...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Send us a text Before I get in to the breakdown of this episode, I have to correct a few things that are bit embarrassing for one hosting a playwriting podcast. 1) Black Comedy was written by Peter Schaefer (Black Comedy, Equis, Amadeus). 2) After "Matisse" is actually After Magritte and was indeed written by Tom Stoppard that was attributer to Black Comedy in this episode. I'm still trying to find the title of the one-act about the burning building. Update to come. Playwright Nick Amatuzio beam...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Send us a text Playwright and filmmaker Sharisse Zeroonian streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight this week. Forgive a few moments of choppy audio on my end, but Sharisse's audio is clear, and she gives some great insight into taking your fate as a creative into one's own hands. We discuss her evolution as a writer through academia, offending your audience, self-publishing, unconventional marketing, what influences character names, avoiding expository dialogue, and character wants and obstacle...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Send us a text A MUST LISTEN! This in far from a dismissal of past guests and interviews. This is a personal and human conversation that is insightful and inspiring from struggle to achievement and perhaps a pathway to the later. June and I had a mishap in schedule that, had it not happened, I don't think we would have had the conversation that we came away with. Her background of going from lawyer to playwright is enough to inspire anyone question their passion into the arts to take the leap. W...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Send us a text Bonus episode between our usual schedule! In order to align our guest's upcoming shows with their interview, we're sneaking an additional episode during what would normally be a break. However, we skipped an week earlier in the season, so we hope this makes up for it. Ethan Crystal and Garrett Poladian streamed in to the Playwright's Spotlight to talk about their world premiere musical Golem Owned a Tropical Smoothie, the first writing endeavor for the two. We talk about the origi...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Send us a text After high praise from Ellen Geer a few episodes, we were able to get Jennie Webb to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight and share her experiences as a playwright, dramaturg, and overseer of workshops. We explored her transition from acting into playwriting, her assistance in developing new works from "living voices", the benefits of asking questions, knowing the origin of a moment and earning it as pushing boundaries and whether or not there is a formula for playwriting. We also to...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Send us a text Michi Barall streamed into Playwright's Spotlight this week days before her new play Drawing Lessons leaps into rehearsal at Children's Theatre Company. Conceptually complex, Michi shares the concept of translating a graphic novel for the stage, the concept of live drawing on stage and simultaneously performing, putting the concept on the page, the process of casting, and her struggles breaking down virtual art. We also discuss the impact of the New York and Minneapolis markets an...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Send us a text Ben Edlin and Deborah Aquila came by the studio to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight before the World Premiere of the collaborative play -TH*IR*DS. In this interview, we discussed the long process of developing this play over the course of seven years, the changes made, the possibility of it becoming a pilot but returning the concept to the stage, their process and procedure, and breaking a story. We also touch obstacles in collaboration, Ben's need to "enter the cave", choosing w...
Sep 17, 2024•59 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Send us a text If there was a formula that could tell you how to become a successful playwright, this episode is it. Nicholas Pilapil dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight for an insightful approach to becoming a working playwright. His approach to workshops lays out a pathway of motivation and accountability. We discuss confidence versus hubris, his approach to selecting playwrights for his workshop, the benefits of seeing theatre, telling the story, character description, set, and beats, as ...
Sep 03, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Send us a text Actor, director, producer, playwright, and artistic director since 1978 of the famous Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, Ellen Geer stopped by to talk about the history of the Theatricum, growing up in a blacklisted family, and how playwriting helps heal societal wounds. Ellen shares her transition into playwriting, her approach to revising Shakespeare to the female characters' point of view and how it changes the story, the learning curve of a self-taught playwright, and the importa...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Send us a text Tom Jacobson swung into the Playwright's Spotlight in the midst of his coinciding plays The Bauhaus Project and Crevasse to discuss the correlation to both of the pieces and the subject matter of fascism and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. While discussing the historical influence of the Bauhaus, we explore previews and changes within coinciding pieces, writing trilogies and their process and presentation, standalones within trilogies, jumping timelines in historical works, balanci...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Send us a text Catherine Filloux dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight before the New York Premiere of her new play How to Eat an Orange. We spoke about her development and involvement in Theatre Without Borders and transitioning from an actor to playwright which would later push her into becoming a librettist for operas. She explained the structure of a libretto, the purpose of arias, developing characters and writing for range. We also touched on the dramatic question, theatrical perspective...
Jul 23, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Send us a text Olivia Sawatzki came by Playwright's Spotlight after the West Coast Premiere of her play Being Alive (& other big jokes) at the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood. We discuss seeing your work onstage, writing strategies, evolving as a playwright, being influenced and deconstructing playwrights' works, the process of revision, writing tricks and rituals as well as breaking habits. We also talk about confidence, finding motivation, character descriptions, detailed stage directio...
Jul 10, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Send us a text Recent Harvard-Westlake graduate Ian Kim swung by the studio to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight after the successful production of his second musical - Bakery of Love as part of HW's Playwright's Festival. We talk about making it look simple, the dangers of missing deadlines, musician collaboration and singer coordination as well as the meaning and benefits of safeties in a musical and writing for ranges. We also discuss transitioning from traditional playwriting to musicals and...
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 16
