Every other week, the editors of American Theatre curate a free-ranging discussion about the lively arts in our Offscript podcast.
This week’s guest is playwright/geek theatre pioneer Qui Nguyen. Associate editor Diep Tran caught up with him at the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Rep (you can read her write-up here). The two of them bond over being Vietnamese-American and discuss Qui’s newest play Vietgone, a quasi-historical sex comedy about his parents, and the newest Vampire Cowboys show, Six Rounds of Vengence (running through May 16). Qui also explains the origins of the label “geek theatre,” and breaks down how to properly write a strong female character.
In this week’s preamble, the editors Rob Weinert-Kendt, Suzy Evans and Diep discuss the Public Theater’s 2015–16 season, diversity at the Lucille Lortel Awards and code-switching.
This week’s recommendations:
- John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore from Red Bull Theater, running through May 16.
- Cabaret extraordinaire Molly Pope videos on YouTube.
- Hand to God on Broadway
- This season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” especially the Bard-inspired “Shakesqueer” episode. Full episodes are on LogoTV.com.
- A YouTube video of Marie Osmond reciting Hugo Ball’s sound poem Karawane.
Download the episode here. Subscribe via iTunes or RSS.
