Episodes

  • Anne Curzan Says

    Anne Curzan Says
    Jul 23 2024
    Linguistics professor and podcast host Anne Curzan talks about her new book Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words, which is exactly what it says: A fun and lively conversation about language and the kinds of rules that helpful, and the kind you can ignore. Anne reveals how she came to study language and its history; how she values reducing ambiguity and promoting clarity; the importance of knowing your audience; how to approach new words and usages like a birdwatcher; and how she can assist in the epic struggle between your inner “wordie” and your inner “grammando.” (Length 18:47)
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    19 mins
  • Hot Wing ‘Quing’

    Hot Wing ‘Quing’
    Jul 13 2024
    Lili-Anne Brown directs the fabulously funny and moving Writers Theatre production of Katori Hall's Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Hot Wing King that's filled with extraordinary heart and comic specificity. Brown shares what drew her to this group of flamboyant characters; the challenge of cooking real hot wings onstage; how she brings grandeur to The Hot Wing King and intimacy to the musical The Color Purple; and how you should definitely come for the LOLs but stay for the dramá. (Length 18:45)
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    19 mins
  • Independent Shakespeare Company

    Independent Shakespeare Company
    Jul 8 2024
    Independent Shakespeare Company celebrates its 20th anniversary of producing free Shakespeare in the parks of Los Angeles, and artistic director Melissa Chalsma talks about the journey ISC has taken to get here and "the longterm relationship" she's in with William Shakespeare. Chalsma reveals the challenges and rewards of not knowing what the hell you’re doing when you’re starting out; how ISC matches LA's casual vibe; how, no matter how long you’ve been working on Shakespeare’s plays, he’s always just out of reach; memories of As You Like Its we have known and loved; the joy of being in a collaborative conversation with a playwright who’s been dead for 400 years; and the importance of never underestimating the power of your own naïveté. (Length 24:55)
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    25 mins
  • Token Theatre’s RomCom

    Token Theatre’s RomCom
    Jul 3 2024
    Who doesn’t love a romcom? David Rhee and Wai Yim discuss Zac Efron, their sweet and very funny romantic comedy now having its world premiere as the inaugural production of Token Theatre Company, whose aim is to change the narrative and shatter false constructs about Asian Americans. David and Wai (who are also Token's Artistic and Managing Directors) share how they created their version of a Disney movie and translated Wai's YouTube channel to the stage; successfully avoided traps and make fools of themselves in a good cause; juggle serious themes of AAPI hate crimes and Asian representation; and melded something hugely joyful with something more “important.” (Length 17:20)
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    17 mins
  • The Bard’s Book

    The Bard’s Book
    Jun 24 2024
    Ann Bausum, the author of The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare From Oblivion, discusses how she first discovered the story of Shakespeare's First Folio and why she decided to share it with young readers. Bausum reveals her Shakespeare origin story; the delight of seeing different generations respond to Shakespeare's plays; wildly inappropriate metaphors for turning kids on to history and literature; a massive shoutout to the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin; gratitude to playwright Lauren Gunderson and the Folger Shakespeare Library; and how children’s literature, like children’s theatre, is the best training for effective communication. (Length 18:09)
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    18 mins
  • Dreaming Multiple ‘Dream’s

    Dreaming Multiple ‘Dream’s
    Jun 18 2024
    Artist, author, and illustrator Gary Andrews (Finding Joy, Drawing on Shakespeare, Daisy the Littlest Zombie) is directing A Midsummer Night's Dream for the fifth time and making brand new discoveries in this most popular of Shakespeare's comedies. Gary reveals the Victorian inspiration behind his current production; how he finds unexpected comedy in the scenes between Theseus and Hippolya, and draws on his Welsh heritage; the other Shakespeare plays he would love to return to, and characters he'd love to play for the first time); the danger of over-politicizing the script; the importance of navigating the play's multiple endings (more than Return of the King!); and resolving the ultimate question: Who doesn’t love a cuddly Bottom? (Length 22:47) (PICTURED: Eloise Wynn-Jones as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed, photographed, and wearing makeup designed by Gary Andrews.)
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    23 mins
  • Ruining Father’s Day

    Ruining Father’s Day
    Jun 10 2024
    Mark Nutter and Tom Wolfe bring their special blend of comedy and music to an evening entitled “Another Father’s Day Ruined,” part of the Solo Sunday series held at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro. Mark and Tom discuss their 30-plus-year partnership and reveal their collaborative – for want of a better word – "process;" the ways in which neither of them are Mick Jagger; the time Tom opened for Bill Hicks; a history of ruining other things, like opera and Gershwin; memories of writing and filming the Chris Farley and Matthew Perry comedy Almost Heroes; and almost dying while researching Wild Men, their early-90s parody of Robert Bly’s Iron John. (Length 21:36)
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Hamid Dehghani’s ‘English’

    Hamid Dehghani’s ‘English’
    Jun 3 2024
    Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play English, a powerful, warm-hearted, and surprisingly funny play about four adult students in Iran studying for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), is getting an extraordinary production from director Hamid Dehghani that runs this summer at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Hamid discusses how amazingly personal Toossi's play is and the extraordinary theatrical conceit at the heart of it; how both the play and the production embrace questions of identity through humor; the difficulty of being as funny in English as you are in Persian; how the incredibly specific becomes wonderfully universal; and how working on this script with these actors allowed Hamid to clarify his truest artistic self. (Length 19:16) (PICTURED: Shadee Vossoughi and Nikki Massoud in the Goodman Theatre and Guthrie Theatre co-production of Sanaz Toossi's English, directed by Hamid Dehghani. Photo by Liz Lauren.)
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    Less than 1 minute