Offscript: Bring Your Own Boat!
It’s the New Year’s Eve edition of Offscript! We look at the big theatre headlines of 2014, as well as the shows that we loved.
All Stories About Offscript
Offscript: Bengal Tiger With a Santa Hat On
It’s the Grinch edition of Offscript! This week, our editors talk about holiday shows and the people who watch them (hint: it’s not us). Plus, Suzy interviews 10-year-old Chicago theatre critic Ada Grey (a.k.a. the smartest 10-year-old you will ever meet).
Offscript: Bad Jews and Monkey Nipples
This week, Offscript hosts a critic’s panel on Joshua Harmon’s play ‘Bad Jews.’ Plus, the editors discuss artists’ compensation and when you should work for free.
Offscript: Shhh…You Sleep Now!
This week’s guest is TCG board president Diane Rodriguez, who discusses the recent TCG board meetings, the Latino theatre movement and the L.A. 99-seat plan. Plus, the editors preview our December issues, out this week.
Offscript: The Land of Breakout Songs and Butt Wiggles
It’s the all-Public-Theater edition of Offscript! Senior editor Eliza Bent joins us to discuss Young Jean Lee’s newest show “Straight White Men” at the Public Theater. Then Suzy, Rob and Eliza sound off on “Fortress of Solitude,” also at the Public, and why some musical conventions work sometimes but not others. (We promise next edition of Offscript will be a little less NY-centric.)
Offscript: Anna & Julian in the Jacuzzi
This episode of OffScript features an interview with James McNeel, managing director of Contemporary American Theatre Festival in West Virginia. He was in town/New York City for the Off-Broadway premiere of CATF’s “Uncanny Valley,” by Thomas Gibbons. Assistant editor Diep Tran talks with him about new plays and robots.
Also, the editors of AMERICAN THEATRE discuss succession of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and Suzy and Diep get into a heated debate over a “Jacuzzi.” Come on in, the water’s warm!
Offscript: Awake & Online
“It’s the bitch of living.” Except not really. In this episode of Offscript, we talk to arts reporter Linda Buchwald about “Spring Awakening” at Deaf West Theatre, which uses deaf actors and sign language to add a new dimension to the Duncan Sheik/Steven Sater musical about teenage desires in 19th-century Germany. Plus our editors argue over gender parity and the politics of representation.
Offscript: Vanya & Sonia & Critics & Chris
Let’s Durang it up! In this revamp of our Offscript podcast, we talk to Christopher Durang, whose play ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ is the most-produced play of the 2014-15 season.
Offscript: Humana Festival Edition
AMERICAN THEATRE looks back on the 38th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, which featured new plays by Kimber Lee, Lucas Hnath and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. AMERICAN THEATRE’s senior editor Rob Weinert-Kendt sat down over Skype for a podcast conversation with two theatre critics: Erin Keane—arts reporter and theatre critic from Louisville’s NPR station WFPL—and Bill Hirschman, editor and critic of Florida Theater On Stage. They discussed the festival’s offerings, if art for art’s sake is a good idea and the critic’s obligation to the playwright.
Offscript: Happy Birthday to AT!
Episode 9 of OffScript celebrates the 30th birthday of the magazine, and features AMERICAN THEATRE editor-in-chief Jim O’Quinn and publisher Terry Nemeth, who have been with the magazine since its birth in 1984. They reminisce with senior editor Eliza Bent about early mishaps, their favorite articles and the future of the magazine.
