ICWP Women Playwrights Podcast

Hortense Gerardo talks about her plays I SEE YOU, COUNTERPOINT, TOASTING MAN, MIDDLETON HEIGHTS, GLACIAL INCANTATIONS of THE HERAKLES PROJECT and THE HOUR BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF, as well as the PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD from ICWP, the DRAMATIC WRITING AWARD from Mass Cultural Council, the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION, and the CHANGEMAKER ANTI-RACIST PEDAGOGY LEARNING COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP at the University of California, San Diego. Hortense is a playwright and anthropologist. She is the Director of the Anthropology, Performance, and Technology  (APT) Program at the University of California, San Diego and her works have been performed nationally and internationally, including: LaMama Experimental Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, the International Performance Art Festival, the Performance Mix Festival, The Fence, and the Nuit Blanche Festival, Toronto For more information go to: www.hortensegerardo.com Past  works of note THE MEDFIELD ANTHOLOGY – June 4, 5, and 11, 2020, produced by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Cultural Alliance of Medfield on the video platform ZOOM during the Covid Pandemic. THE SAUNA PLAYS – March 20, 2020 produced by ARDNA in Oslo, Norway with funding from the Mass Cultural Council. This production was cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic. PAINLESS – June 18 – 30, 2021, produced by Speakeasy Stage as part of the Boston Project Resilience. Works to look out for MIDDLETON HEIGHTS in Concord, MA March 31 – April 23, 2023 https://freedomsway.org/event/middleton-heights-world-premiere/2023-04-02/ GLACIAL INCANTATIONS for the Without Walls Festival produced by La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego on April 27- 30, 2023  THE HOUR BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF directed by Jessica Ernst and produced by Sleeping Weasel Theater as part of the Boston Theater Marathon on May 7, 2023. See the Author Online  Website: www.hortensegerardo.com Twitter - @hfgerardo Web page where plays can be found: https://newplayexchange.org/users/261/hortense-gerardo  Hortense was interviewed by Dr Jennifer Munday, Charles Sturt University, Australia.

We hear a small excerpt of Joanna Pickering’s new powerful one woman play “Don’t Harm The Animals”  A short version of this chilling new work will now be showcased in the upcoming production of Joanna's latest play Bad Victims collection of stories about women handling violent encounters in unpredictable ways.  Bad Victims runs April 26th, 27th and 28th in its next development production at The Courtyard Theatre in London, UK before announcing its official world premier. We discuss these plays, their themes with Joanna, and the impact they are having on their sold out audiences.                                             Joanna Pickering is an award-winning British playwright and actress based in US. Her plays have sold out in NYC, Paris and London, and are stocked in The Drama Book Shop in NYC.  Past works of note:  Cat and Mouse, Beach Break, Sylvie and Sly (trilogy Truth, Lies and Deception)  Upcoming works to note Bad Victims, Misty and Rover, Don’t Harm The Animals.  Joanna online... Instagram https://www.instagram.com/joannapickering  Web page where plays can be found:  https://www.nextstagepress.com/truth-lies-and-deception/ Joanna was interviewed by Dr Jennifer Munday, Charles Sturt University, Australia.

We hear excerpts from Deena’s first play “Triple Bypass” and discuss her upcoming second play “The Canonized Club.”   Deena talks to Jenni Munday from Charles Sturt University in Australia. We discussed what inspires her writing it and how she got into playwriting.  Deena lives in South Dakota, USA and is the Founder/Creative Director of Hardly Working Promotions, LLC Past works Triple Bypass: Three Ten Minute Plays About Living for Death & Dying for Life Upcoming works  The Canonized Club: The Curious Lives & Deaths of the Saints Website https://hardlyworkingpromotions.com/about/  Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/hardlyworkingpromotions Twitter https://twitter.com/HardlyWorkingPr Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hardlyworkingpromotions/ Find Deena's plays:  https://newplayexchange.org/plays/1526482/triple-bypass 

Lou Beckett discusses her play, Bletchley Girls, accompanied by an excerpt from the audio play. Lou Beckett wrote for the stage until Covid lockdowns inspired the director of her play, Bletchley Girls, to turn it into a radio play and podcast. Since then, the allure of having a legacy for one’s work, as well as the continuing presence of Covid, has meant her subsequent plays have been created for radio/podcast. Pictured: Tthe Bletchley Girls creative team Lou’s other works include Rotten Luck, The Parrot, the Poet, and the Philanderer, and  Forbidden Music. Upcoming works: We Can’t Be, a new audio play, tells the story of two young women who decide their town needs a statue of a woman. Lou's  Online Pages Website:  https://www.loubeckett.com/ Facebook Page  @loubeckett.playwright Twitter: @loubeckett4 Instagram:  loubeckett_       Amazon Author page  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Radio-Play-Bletchley-Girls-WW2/dp/B08K5Y7831 Buy the Audio On Audible Spotify ICWP Member URL

Jenni Munday interviews Kari Ann Owen and Kari reads from two of her works. Kari Ann Owen is a Missoula, MT playwright. She discusses her comedy routine about Dr. Fauci’s loving lost-lost brother in the Mafia, and her play, Fighting It!, about courageous men and women during the New York Covid Pandemic lockdown. Her plays are published and produced in the USA. Examples of past works: “Bernie Madoff in Hell”, San Francisco Fringe Festival “Modern Life”, a series of one act plays about a disabled computer scientist and his service dog, dot.com, and their conquest of prejudice, produced and awarded playwrighting and directors’ prize at Dominical University, San Rafael, CA. Websites https://wildhorse.sparkdisk.com/ THEATRE ENGAGE https://kariannowenandtheatreengage.vpweb.com/    

Sharon Wallace is the President of ICWP, The International Centre for Women Playwrights. She talks to Jenni Munday from Charles Sturt University in Australia. She reads from her play 1967: A Life of its Own. " I was inspired to write the play from a short story based on a personal reflection from my childhood memory of the 1967 Riot in Detroit, Michigan.  I decided to build characters within the riot setting and develop a story within the conflict of the riot. My first experience with playwriting began as an adolescent adapting a story to a play. Many years later, studying acting at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York, I got into playwriting. I collaborated with my fellow actors to write a play titled "Ouch Outrageous Love." However, years later, I committed to the genre of playwriting when I completed my first play, 1967: A Life of its Own, as the creative component of a master's degree. " Sharon's other works Poetry Inheritance, In Search of a Woman, PushCart Evening, Without Skin, 2646 West Grand, My Passions and the Practical Self, Locations Unknown, White Socks Upcoming works Children's Books Marching to See a King, A Mustard Seed of Faith PlaysLong Way Home, Twilight Hours, Out of the Lions Paw ContactTwitter  @Sharruth4Instagram sharonwallace9051 ICWP Member Directory            

From NY to LA to Paris - A Passion Pandemic Project becomes a dream production Joanna Pickering tells the wonderful and uplifting pandemic story about how she moved from the USA to Paris, France and ended up with a showcase of her plays being produced in Paris in December 2021. 

Annie Rachele Lanzillotto is a New York poet, performance artist, actor, director, playwright, songwriter, who has promoted audience participation in hundreds of performances everywhere from street corner mailboxes, to Bronx butcher shops, to the Guggenheim Museum. She reads her entertaining story  Twelve Rabbis Went to a Party, and talks with Jenni Munday about her story writing and performing, and how she is helping herself and others cope with the COVID pandemic. She is the Artistic Director of StreetCry and an ICWP Member. Find out more about her on her website.

My name is LaurA! Force Scruggs and I am a published, produced and commissioned playwright.    I am a Playwright in Residency at Three Cat Productions in Chicago, where I am writing a play about Jane Addams (and the impact of childhood upon her career and her work with children at Chicago's Hull House), which will tentatively be produced in 2022/23 (postponed due to COVID-19).    My play, "Punk Grandpa" (all about being yourself and the value of the grandparent/grandchild relationship) was formerly published by Chicago Dramaworks (before it shut down) and is now published/licensed by PlayScripts Online (https://playscripts.online/shop/punk-grandpa). It was originally performed as a one person show and has now also been performed with multiple characters.  It’s been presented throughout Chicagoland as well as in New York City (at FRIGID NYC and Planet Connections Theatre Festivity).    My short play, "Bossy," (about teaching theatre despite the red tape of working at a big city government-run park system and a complicated relationship with a uniquely loving grandma) is in the process of being published and licensed by Stage-Write Plays, a new company out of Australia.    My play, "Heart of Fairy" (explores concepts of womanhood and motherhood through the unique lens of a fairy, challenging audiences to think outside the normal ideals of gender and identity) was produced as part of Three Cat's season in Chicago in 2019 and is published by Smith Scripts out of the UK (https://www.smithscripts.co.uk/product/heart-of-fairy-by-laura-force-scruggs/).    I have my B.S. in Elementary Education, with a Jr. High/Middle School Theatre endorsement and M.A. in Communication, Media and Theatre.   I taught theatre for about ten years (ages 18 months - senior citizens) in a variety of environments, from the Chicago Park District to a public middle school to a private high school and a Jewish community center. I was a Golden Apple semi-finalist in 2008, as a middle school theatre teacher in the inner city of Bellwood, Illinois.   I have been granted a writing residency with Write On, Door County for October 3rd - 10th, 2021.   I am also a member of The Dramatists' Guild, Playwrights' Center, New Play Exchange and International Centre for Women Playwrights.    Upcoming Works: Punk Grandpa production at DavJasFran Entertainment/Dreamer's YOLO this Fall in Chicago All of Jane's Children - Real and Imagined, working title - my play about Jane Addams' work with children and the impact of childhood upon us - will be produced with Three Cat Productions in Chicago, tentatively in 2022/23 - as part of my Playwright Residency at Three Cat Website URL:  https://https://lauraforcescruggs.com  Facebook Page  https://www.facebook.com/laura.scruggs.7/  Twitter  LaurA! SCRUGGS!  @LaLeezyScreezy Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/unclefunyouretheonedocumentary/ NPX Listing  https://newplayexchange.org/users/40322/laura-scruggs Web page where works can be purchased.  https://www.smithscripts.co.uk/product/heart-of-fairy-by-laura-force-scruggs/ https://playscripts.online/shop/punk-grandpa IMBD      https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11051996/  ICWP Member Profile  https://womenplaywrights.org/Sys/PublicProfile/55644138/3677111

Christine reads from and then talks about three of her plays:  Dying in Pittsburgh, Fragments of A Witches' Journal, and Old Hippie. Christine Emmert is an actress, playwright and director as well as enthusiastic fan of theatre. Living in the woodlands of eastern Pennsylvania with her husband Richard, she has been in the theatre world for over sixty years. Her work has been performed and read through out the English speaking world. She will be filming her one woman play, FROM OUT THE FIERY FURNACE, next month for the National Parks. This piece has been presented as a story of one woman and her stove to bring attention to the ironworking industry that flourished in the 1800s throughout the Northeastern part of the United States. You can read her occasional blog on chrisitneemmert.wordpress.com or access her on dakinichris@yahoo.com.

Joanna Pickering reads from her play Beach Break, and then talks with Jenni Munday about her current projects and where to from here after COVID. Joanna is a British actor and writer, currently living in the USA. She has been described as a multi-talented artist, with a wealth of expertise and experience.  She overlaps creative projects in writing, modelling, music and TV/film producing and screenplays.  Joanna can be contacted via these channels. Website http://www.joannapickering.com/ Twitter: @joannapickering Instagram:  @joannapickering

It was with great sadness we learned that Amy passed away a few weeks after this podcast was published.  We have retained it here in her memory.  This Episode is an Interview with Amy Oestreicher Jenni Munday interviews Amy Oestreicher. She is an Audie award-nominated playwright, performer, and multidisciplinary creator. A singer, librettist, and visual artist, she dedicates her work to celebrating untold stories, and the detours in life that transform communities. PTSD A PTSD specialist, artist, author, Huffington Post columnist, international speaker, RAINN representative, and disability advocate, she's given three TEDx Talks on transforming trauma through creativity, and has shared her story on NBC, CBS, ABC, and contributed to 70+ publications on arts and community transformation. Touring Amy has toured her musical, Gutless & Grateful, to 200+ venues from 54 Below to Barrington Stage Co since its 2012 NYC debut, and premiered her multimedia musical, Passageways (original lyrics, music, book and artwork) at HERE Arts Center with the release of her memoir, My Beautiful Detour: An Unthinkable Journey from Gutless to Grateful. Publications Her plays have been published by Eddy Theatre Co, PerformerStuff, Narcissists Anthology, New World Theatre’s “Solitary Voice: A Collection of Epic Monologues,” finalists in Manhattan Repertory’s Short Play Fest, NYNW Theatre Fest, #MeTooTheatreWomen,"Women in the Age of Trump," & performed across the country by students for immigration festivals, academic projects. Founder of "LoveMyDetour," a campaign creating performances designed to entertain, educate, and engage on the intersection of arts and social justice, is part of the National Initiative for Arts and Health in the Military. The ICWP Centre Stage Podcast was named as one of the Top 20 Playwriting Podcasts on the web by Feedspot.

Ali MacLean US member Ali MacLean reads excerpts from two of her plays “Sullen Girl” and “This Will Be Our Year”. She then joins Jenni Munday for a conversation about what motivates her playwrighting, researching dark subject matter, and what inspires ideas for new plays. Ali can be contacted Twitter and Instagram: @aliontheair  

Julia Pascal is a playwright and theatre director.  In this interview, she reads from her dramatic full-length stage play AS HAPPY AS GOD IN FRANCE The characters: Hannah Arendt at 33                                             Charlotte Salomon at 25 Eva Daube   at 16 Agathe Blumenfeld at 50 Trude Gottlieb  at 22   Other roles are taken by the ensemble. About As Happy As God in France.  The title references the joyful Yiddish invented by  Jews in appreciation of their new status as equal citizens in post-Revolutionary France. Its use here is ironic as the play explores French antisemitism In May 1940, German Jewish exiles, seeking refuge in France were ordered to report as  'Undesirables'.  Of those 8,000 women were deported to the largest of the many camps near the Spanish border.  This drama focuses on the largest of these, Gurs, whose history is hardly known. This text investigates the false dream of safety in France through the lens of three  German Jewish women: thirty-four-year-old, political writer, Hannah Arendt; sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Eva Daube and twenty-four-year-old painter, Charlotte Salomon. They were incarcerated during in the chaotic days between armistice and occupation. The action of this play focuses on a decision of whether to stay, and hope for liberation, or escape in to a dangerous landscape. As Happy As God in France explores major events of the twentieth century as experienced by these women. Themes include the French betrayal of Revolutionary values, the abandonment of the Jews, sex, love, art, politics, resistance, survival, suicide and escape.  It is the first play about Arendt, Salomon and Daube in Gurs. The facts Hannah Arendt was in Gurs in 1940 for eight weeks. Charlotte Salomon is believed to have been incarcerated there before she was murdered in Auschwitz. Eva Daube was in Gurs. Agathe Blumenfeld and Trude Gottlieb are created from research in this hidden history.                              The play was completed in 2020 and has had no productions.

When she was married to an Iranian, Eliza's interest in Muslim social and religious practice was acute and her interest has endured into the present. Eliza reads from a play that combines elements from an earlier play she was commissioned to write about Cliterodectomy.  That play was not allowed to be performed at a university theatre festival in Turkey, because of its subject matter.  Later, she incorporated it into another play about some actors rehearsing two short plays against a background of Muslim restrictions that require women actors to wear face coverings. That later play is titled Blue Sky Thinking and is available on Amazon.   

This first episode of the Centre Stage podcast celebrates International Women's Day and SWAN Day. Jenni Munday, in Australia, interviews Paddy Gillard-Bentley in Canada, about the writing of Paddy's play " Accidental Fish" (subtitled Coping with Life Badly) and Paddy reads an excerpt from the play. Reference: Flush Ink Productions (on Facebook) She Speaks events