Oh, the Drama! – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Celebrate 100 years on stage with an original ten-part podcast from David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.

Host Courtney B. Vance ('86) takes you behind the curtain, exploring how the Geffen School has trained a century of artists across theatrical disciplines.

Hear sensational student stories, learn from Geffen School faculty, and listen to award-winning alumni reminisce on Oh, the Drama! The first episode is out soon.

Change is a constant at Yale's David Geffen School of Drama.

Legendary leaders, restless students, and a midnight meeting that led to the birth of Yale Repertory Theatre - this is the story of how DGSD became what it is, as told by actor Courtney B. Vance ('86).

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This episode features James Magruder ('88, D.F.A. '92), Catherine Sheehy ('92, D.F.A. '99), and Irene Lewis ('66). Read James's book The Play's the Thing: Fifty Years of Yale Repertory Theatre for more on Yale's theatrical past, and be on the lookout for Catherine's upcoming book for a comprehensive history of the school.

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Oh, the Drama! is written, produced, and edited by Zachary Goldberg and Isabel Robertson.

Executive producers are Jill BC Du Boff and James Bundy.

Episode art by Kiki Gordon.

Original music by James Harrison Monaco.

Additional music from Uppbeat:

• Puzzle Pieces, Albert Behar
• Hidden Signs, Soundroll
• Ticking Tension, Albert Behar
• Don't Misbehave, Soundroll
• Fantasia, Monument Music
• Complex World, All Good Folks
• Gravity of Us, DADA
• Alpenglow, Hvegel

A good script  is powerful: it can change hearts and open minds. The secret? Playwriting is a team sport. Learn how Yale playwrights like Sarah Ruhl, Marcus Gardley, and Interview with a Vampire showrunner Rolin Jones use workshopping and collaboration to sharpen their scripts and hone their artistic voices.

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This episode features Emily Breeze (‘26), Marcus Gardley (‘04, Faculty), Rolin Jones (‘04), Nia Robinson (‘27), and Sarah Ruhl (Faculty).

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Oh, the Drama! is written, produced, and edited by Zachary Goldberg and Isabel Robertson.

Executive producers are Jill BC Du Boff and James Bundy.

Episode art by Kiki Gordon.

Original music by James Harrison Monaco.

Additional music from Upbeat:

https://uppbeat.io/t/floor-model/hogeweyk

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https://uppbeat.io/t/aura-classica/also-sprach-zarathustra

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https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/particles-and-waves

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https://uppbeat.io/t/aura-classica/summer-the-four-seasons-vivaldi

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https://uppbeat.io/t/aura-classica/dance-of-the-hours-ponchielli

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https://uppbeat.io/t/giulio-fazio/lovely-waltz

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https://uppbeat.io/t/aura-classica/eine-kleine-nachtmusik-mozart

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https://uppbeat.io/t/theo-gerard/impressionist

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https://uppbeat.io/t/airstream/bashin-it

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https://uppbeat.io/t/the-magical-egg/creeping-around-absurdly

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https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/planting-seeds

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https://uppbeat.io/t/aura-classica/vienna-blood-waltz-johann-strauss-ii

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https://uppbeat.io/t/aaron-paul-low/chopin-nocturne-no-2-in-e-flat

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What makes a good director?

Bringing a play to life from the page to the stage is the spiritual work of a lifetime. Follow Yale directors as they unearth life in a text, inspire and guide actors’ performances, and translate visions from imagination to reality.

Plus, hear the story of a subversive take on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew starring a young Lupita Nyong'o (‘12). 

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This episode features Lileana Blain-Cruz (‘12, Former Faculty), Jasmine Brooks (‘26), Tess Cruz (‘28), Liz Diamond (Faculty), Ethan Heard (‘13, YC ‘07, Former Faculty), and incoming dean Evan Yionoulis.

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Oh, the Drama! is written, produced, and edited by Zachary Goldberg and Isabel Robertson.

Executive producers are Jill BC Du Boff and James Bundy.

Episode art by Kiki Gordon.

Original music by James Harrison Monaco.

Additional music from Uppbeat.

Live recordings from the Yale Repertory Theatre productions of Zora Neale Hurston’s Spunk (2025) and Jasmine Brooks's Directors’ Thesis Production of Aleshea Harris’s Is God Is (2026).

Art shapes culture, so theater managers are often at the forefront of change. That’s because the business of theater is the business of people, from the cast and crew to the audience. At DGSD, students craft AI policy, uphold institutional promises of anti-racism, and shape the theater landscape.

In this episode, Carmen Morgan gets a call from Dean James Bundy. DGSD was about to change.

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This episode features Josh Borenstein (‘02, Faculty), Raekwon Fuller (‘27), Chloe Knight (’24), Reynaldi Lindner Lolong (‘13), Shaunda Miles McDill (‘04), Carmen Morgan (Faculty), and Maya Simon (‘28). Read about Carmen’s organization Arts Equity and learn more about Phamaly, the Denver-based theater where Raekwon did his fellowship.

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Oh, the Drama! is written, produced, and edited by Zachary Goldberg and Isabel Robertson.

Executive producers are Jill BC Du Boff and James Bundy.

Episode art by Kiki Gordon (‘27).

Original music by James Harrison Monaco.

Additional music from Uppbeat:

https://uppbeat.io/t/doug-organ/surf-turf

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https://uppbeat.io/t/giulio-fazio/dancing-in-kotor

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https://uppbeat.io/t/giulio-fazio/dancing-in-kotor

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https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/gossip

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https://uppbeat.io/t/future-forests/tides

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https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/to-valhalla

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https://uppbeat.io/t/vocalista/spread-the-light

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https://uppbeat.io/t/vocalista/mind-maps

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https://uppbeat.io/t/anthem-falls/polaroid-memoirs

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https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/magical-playground

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https://uppbeat.io/t/the-magical-egg/creeping-around-absurdly

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https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/marshmallow

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The show must go on! Or must it…?

After the director and the designers all leave and the house lights go down, the theater is the stage manager’s domain. They’re an air traffic controller and flight attendant in one. And without them, a production can quickly go south.

When glass shatters on stage, when the stage floor must stay a spotless white night after night, when the director is re-blocking the show all the way up to opening night, how does the stage manager keep the plane in the air? 

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This episode features Narda E. Alcorn (‘95, Faculty), Payton Gunner (‘27), A.K. Howard (‘13), Taylor Oliva (‘28), and Ben Pfister (‘17, Faculty).

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Oh, the Drama! is written, produced, and edited by Zachary Goldberg and Isabel Robertson.

Executive producers are Jill BC Du Boff and James Bundy.

Episode art by Kiki Gordon (‘26).

Original music by James Harrison Monaco.

Additional music from Uppbeat:

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Recordings from backstage of King Lear (La Noche Llegará), a Shakespeare Repertory Project production adapted by Héctor Flores Komatsu and Thando Mangcu and directed by Héctor Flores Komatsu.

Other shows referenced include the 2025 David Geffen School of Drama production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, directed by Destyne R. Miller, and the 2026 Yale Repertory Theatre production of Hedda Gabler, directed by James Bundy.