Onstage/Offstage Theatre Podcast

Isaiah St. Cyr, Enoch Chapman, and Montana Miller are three of the members of the Native American theatre company Natives of the Apocalypse. In the summer of 2023, this Santa Fe troupe produced an indigenized version of Lyle Kessler's "Orphans." Being one of the very few Native American theatre groups in the U.S., NOTA now embarks on a five-year plan to not only bring theatre to native Americans but enable more indigenous folks to embrace theatre as a way of preserving their heritages through storytelling. NOTA Home page

Lily is a theatre critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. I came across an article she wrote back in October of 2023 entitled “What responsibility do critics bear when a theater company closes?” I was struck that anyone, let alone a theatre critic, would voice that out loud. But it's a legitimate question, especially after Covid-19 ravaged the theatre scene worldwide.

Midge Guerrera is a playwright, blogger, travel consultant, memoirist, university education planner, arts management/public relations and much more. Our talk this month is chock full of stories, anecdotes, and inspiration. midgeguerrera.com / New Play Exchange / Facebook / Cars, Castles, Cows, and Chaos / Nonna's Mulberry Tree

Playwright, public defender. Claude Jackson's play “Cashed Out” recently had its world premiere at the San Francisco Playhouse. The play deals with Rocky, a mother and an accountant, who has a gambling addiction. Gila River Indian Community / BroadwayWorld article

Playwright, producer, novelist. Patrick Gabridge is a busy man; he writes site-specific plays, historical novels, and runs the PlaywrightBinge, an online group for playwrights to share information and support. Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter  / New Play Exchange / Plays in Place

Claire Lebowitz King's play "Outside the Gates", about two mothers, one Iranian, the other American, appeared at the '22 Edinburgh Fringe. An indomitable activist, Claire has also written other insightful social works as well as being a co-founder of Occupy Broadway. Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / TikTok / Wired / DC Theatre Arts / IMDB

Joe Swenson is probably one of the busiest people in internet theatre. A playwright/producer/author and owner/president (including film producer/writer/director) at Broken Arts Entertainment. Broken Arts Entertainment | Joe's website | Facebook | New Play Exchange |  

This month our guest is Jesus Granados, a high school coordinator, and english teacher at Complejo Educativo Santa Lucía in Santiago de Puriscal in the canton of San José in Costa Rica. Jesus is also an actor, director, and experienced theatre professional.  

Dave Osmundsen is autistic playwright / dramaturg / actor whose article “Finding Autistic Theatre Artists Is a Challenge (If You Make It a Challenge)” appeared in Howlround this past February. It's a terrific article and I wholly recommend reading it because it will definitely broaden your knowledge base around autism. In the article Dave addresses several questions of how the theatre world could include, accommodate, and better understand autistic theatre artists while also allowing those accommodations to enhance and strengthen not just the needs of autistic theatre artists but the needs of everyone involved in the theatre company. Facebook | New Play Exchange

Robert Weibazahl is a playwright and a teacher whose play "Doughnut Disturb" is the third of our 2025 Diversity/Equity/Inclusion series. Robert's website | Facebook | New Play Exchange | Bluesky 

Nick Maynard is a playwright from the UK who's worked professionally within the performing arts industry for a number of years, both commercially and academically, creating and facilitating over 300 different stage shows as writer, director or producer. His play “Things You See in the Rain” is the second of our 2025 Diversity/Equity/Inclusion-themed plays. Nick's website  |  X/Twitter

Cris Eli Blak is an emerging proud Black playwright and screenwriter whose work has been performed and produced around the world, from Off-Broadway; across the United States; on university stages; as well as in London, Australia, Ireland, and Canada. He is the winner of the first Black Broadway Men Playwriting Intiative, the winner of the 2024 Charles M. Getchell New Play Award, and the first place winner of Atlanta Shakespeare Company's inaugural Muse of Fire BIPOC Playwriting Fesitval.  His short play, “Impact Turn,” was an immediate standout in the tidal wave of submissions for our 2025 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plays. Cris's Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram   

Our guests are playwright Laura Shamas and multidisciplinary artist Harriette Feliz, who are here to talk about Laura's play “Four Women in Red” which recently finished a run at the Victory Theatre in Burbank, CA. Harriette is one of the four cast members. “Four Women in Red” addresses the ongoing epidemic of violence against Native American women. Some of the material in this podcast may be unsettling to some audience members. "Four Women in Red" review Dept. of Interior - Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Dept. of Interior - Not Invisible Act Commission

Philip Middleton WIlliams has been produced around the world and published in many anthologies and seven of his plays by Next Stage Press. He has an MFA in playwriting from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in playwriting and dramatic criticism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He also serves on the national advisory board of the William Inge Theatre Festival and the board of directors of the Midwest Dramatists Center.  Philip's website / Facebook / New Play Exchange

This month's guests are Diane Quinn and Bill Fuller, co-founders and driving force behind Unseen Theatre, an audio podcast showcasing (unproduced), original plays, featuring---something very much after my own heart---strong female protagonists, performed by SAG-AFTRA actors. Diane is Artistic Director/Co-Producer, and also has been an actor and playwright for Unseen Theatre, (and is additionally the podcast's marketing director). Bill, her Co-Producer, audio engineers every sonic second, composes and arranges the podcast's original music,(and handles web design, graphics) and is also a playwright. Unseen Theatre website Bill's website To LISTEN to A Romance in the Air: https://tinyurl.com/43rbxmaw To VOTE for A Romance in the Air For the Full Festival listening for all the productions heard at the UK International Audio Drama Festival 

Svetlana Arestova is a literary translator and professor of translation at HSE University in Moscow, Russia. Her list of accomplishments is extensive, including translations of books by Andrew Sean Greer, Daniel Mason and Elizabeth Strout. We talk about the intricacies of translating not just words, but intent, meaning, and finding ways to make the differences of two linguistic cultures meet, especially for rthe genre of theatre, where the words—or is it the story?--are paramount. Find her on Facebook! #translation #playwriting #theatre #russian #svetlanaarestova

Scott is an LGBTQ/neurodivergent/biracial Korean American writer. He has received five consecutive Writers Guild of America Awards for the daytime serial General Hospital, and numerous Emmy Award nominations. For over thirty years, his plays have been performed in New York City, his native Pittsburgh, across the United States, as well as internationally in Canada, Australia, the UK, Hungary, Singapore, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Dubai. His "Second World Trilogy," a speculative alt-history political/environmental love story, consists of three full-length plays spanning nearly 50 years. In addition, his sequence of short plays, "Playing on the Periphery," which tells the story of four LGBTQ+ third-graders, was previously presented as a concert reading by Reading Theatre Project, deep in red Pennsylvania. Monologues and scenes from the piece have been performed in “Don’t Say Gay” Florida. Scott's website / Instagram / New Play Exchange 

Gene Kato is the mastermind behind Next Stage Press, an online boutique publishing house that has grown exponentially over the past few years. Gene has singlehandedly created a showroom for hundreds of playwrights to market their creative opuses. A lively, fun interview with lots to talk about! NPX / X / Facebook / Genekato.com #genekato #publishing #playwriting #theatre #nextstagepress  

Donald Loftus is a playwright/lyricist whose work has been performed around the globe and is one of the masterminds behind the online play reading group New York Pages. He's has written the book and lyrics to several musicals (Abbey Victoria, Pollyanna, ‘Round Duffy Square, and Illusion), and his one-acts have been presented in over 100 play festivals around the country. Donald's play “Joey” is the last of our 2024 Missing Home series. DonaldLoftus.com  /  New Play Exchange  Facebook  / Playwright's Center

JB Alexander is a playwright, an actor, and sometimes he directs. This month we present his exceptional play “Melting the Ice,” a face-off between an ICE officer and a lawyer who won't take no for an answer. This is the third in our 2024 "Missing Home” series. #jbalexander #playwriting #theatre #ice #detention #separatedfamily #refugees #immigration