Every other week, the editors of American Theatre curate a free-ranging discussion about the lively arts in our Offscript podcast.

Happy New Year! It’s the first Offscript of 2016 after a month off. This week editors Rob Weinert-Kendt, Suzy Evans, and Diep Tran catch up with big news, including comings and goings at a number of major theatres. We also wax nostalgic on the late David Bowie.

This week’s guest is Tony-winning actress Tonya Pinkins, who came by to discuss the controversy surrounding Mother Courage and Her Children at Classic Stage Company in New York City, and some of the reasons she left the production. She answers the question, Can Brecht speak to the black and/or the African experience? We also talk about Caroline, or Change and Rasheeda Speaking.

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This week’s recommendations.

• The Art of Luv (Part 1): Elliot from the Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble at the Public’s Under the Radar Festival. It’s part dating seminar, part religious ritual.
• Noises Off at Roundabout Theatre Company, for a hilarious, old-fashioned good time.
• Go down a David Bowie theatrical memory lane on YouTube, including a fun interview with Dinah Shore, miming, and that one time he starred in a Brecht play.