Episode 455. BackRoom Shakespeare Backstage

RSC Managing Partner Austin Tichenor performed with the Back Room Shakespeare Project in their production of The Merchant of Venice in July 2015 at the Radler Bar & Restaurant, and because his roles were relatively (thankfully) small, he roamed the backstage area interviewing actors and audience members about their preparation and expectations. Featuring an audio excerpt of the performance, similarities to tricksy hobbits, navigating the play’s racism and anti-semitism, finding the comedy, and the joys and terrors of performing in a riotous pit of bloodthirsty drunks. NOTE: BRSP co-founder Samuel Taylor (who coined the expression embroidered into a sampler by Kate Pitt) discusses the Project’s aims and philosophies in his book My Life With The Shakespeare Cult on RSC Podcast episode 437. (Length 23:57)

Episode 394. Characters Of Faith

”The character of Emma Darwin in In The Garden: A Darwinian Love Story (by Sara Gmitter) is that apparent rarity: a character of faith in a movie, play, or TV show who isn’t portrayed as a bully or a crazy zealot. Rebecca Spence (left, with Andy White), the actress who created the Read more…

Episode 387. Lookingglass Theatre Company

”Phillip R. Smith, the Producing Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company, talks about the core values that drive the work of this highly respected institution. Featuring the wisdom of grand adventures, multiple artistic directors, shared Edinburgh origins, stubborn trajectories, the power of never reaching the horizon, the Read more…

Episode 383. Meet The Darwins

”Playwright Sara Gmitter talks about her new play In The Garden: A Darwinian Love Story (now getting its world premiere at the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago), which explores the long and successful romance between Charles and Emma Darwin: A woman who believed in God and heaven and salvation — Read more…