Beckett’s Babies – Details, episodes & analysis

THAT'S A WRAP FOR SEASON 6! Thank you all so much for tuning in and hearing us chat about all things playwriting.

Thank you again for another incredible season. Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season... See you next year!

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode with your friends or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter:  @beckettsbabies   

And as always, we would love to hear from you!   

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.   

Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com   

Theme Music: "Live Like the  Kids" by  Samuel Johnson, Laura Robertson, Luke O'Dea (APRA)

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In this episode, we pick a play to discuss, and for this week's episode, we read "English" by Sanaz Toossi. We discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. SPOILER ALERT: There are going to be some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode!

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode with your friends or follow us on Instagram @beckettsbabies!

And as always, we would love to hear from you!   Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode. 

Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com 

For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com 

Theme Music: "Live Like the Kids" by  Samuel Johnson, Laura Robertson, Luke O'Dea (APRA)

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

Hello Listeners!

Happy April 1st to those that celebrate.

On this episode... you won't believe the incredible conversation we had. We hope you enjoy this very serious episode on very very serious theatre things.

Enjoy!

____________________________________________

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode with your friends or follow us on Instagram @beckettsbabies    

And as always, we would love to hear from you!    

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.    

Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com  

For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com    

Theme Music: "Live Like the  Kids" by  Samuel Johnson, Laura Robertson, Luke O'Dea (APRA)

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

We return to our Playwright Series where we look at a single playwright and their large body of work. We discuss plays from their early, mid-career, and the latest or most recent play of their career. In this episode, we discuss the life and work of Paula Vogel. We read the three plays: And Baby Makes Seven (1984), How I Learned to Drive (1997), and Indecent (2017) to share our thoughts on Paula Vogel's craft in playwriting. We hope you will check these plays out and listen in to our conversation! PAULA VOGEL’S PLAYS: 1. And Baby Makes Seven (1984) 2. How I Learned to Drive (1997) 3. Indecent (2017) GLISTENS: Sarah's: California Wildfires Sam's: Wired's Five Levels series _____________________________________________ Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies And as always, we would love to hear from you! Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode. Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

In this episode, we discuss some of the ideas behind writing prompt and playwriting exercises, our own personal experience with prompts, and share a few of our favorites. What do we look for in a prompt that makes for an effective, productive, creative writing exercises? Give this episode a listen and be sure to let us know what you think!

GLISTENS:
Sarah: A dream
Sam: Hand pies

LINKS:
"Playwrights Teach Playwriting"
www.amazon.com/Playwrights-Teach…ent/dp/1575254239
by Joan Herrington (Editor), Brian Crystal (Editor)

Additional writing prompts:
pwcenter.org/playwriting-toolki…ur-weekend-writing

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Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

As part of our monthly play series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is a collection of 3 one-act comedy plays called “Power Plays” by Elaine May and Alan Arkin. Instead of looking at the plays individually, we attempt to look at all 3 one-act plays together as it was intended to be performed in a single evening of theater. We are going to discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoiler alerts! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode!

About POWER PLAYS:

Power Plays consists of 3 one-act plays called “The Way of All Fish”, “Virtual Reality” and “In and Out of the Light”. These are three short plays about the collision of wills and power that premiered Off-Broadway.

Elaine May is an American comedian, film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her initial impact in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols, performing as Nichols and May. 

Alan Arkin is an Academy Award-winning American actor who is also an acclaimed director, producer, author, singer, and composer.

RELATED LINKS:

“THEATER; 'Power Plays,' Something More Than a Family Affair”  By Vincent Canby (May 31, 1998)
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/31/theater/theater-power-plays-something-more-than-a-family-affair.html

Arkin Tries Out His `Power Plays' by Janet I-Chin Tu (Mar 1, 1998) Seattle Times Theater Critic
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19980301&slug=2737058

In Brief: ‘Power Plays’vBy John Simon (JUNE 8, 1998)
https://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/reviews/2886/

GLISTENS:

Sarah -  Black Girls Run, a nonprofit organization dedicated to health & fitness for young black women to get together and run in groups. https://blackgirlsrun.com/
Sam - Peaches

____________________________________________

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies
And as always, we would love to hear from you!
Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

Hello listeners! We are so excited for you to listen to this new episode of Beckett's Babies! We had an amazing conversation discussing all-things playwriting with playwright, actor, producer MARJORIE MULLER! In this episode, Marjorie shares how she got into playwriting, her tips and tricks, and we also do a little deep dive in the social media (uh oh!). We hope you enjoy this episode!

Marjorie Muller is a Chicago-based playwright, actor, and producer, whose work has been featured at Urbanite Theater, the Women's Theatre Festival, Impostors Theatre Company, and more. She is currently developing an adaptation of Dracula for young adults called "Lucy Westenra Is Definitely Not (And Will Never Be) a Vampire" that will be performed this Fall at the Latin School of Chicago. She is also producing a live audio drama with Theatre in the Dark based on War of the Worlds which will be happening this upcoming Fall.

GLISTENS:
Sarah - CSA box
Sam - blueberries
Marjorie - listening to the entire discography of Led Zeppelin. Find that bass line!

To learn more about Marjorie and her work, be sure to check out the following websites:
www.marjoriemuller.com/
www.theatreinthedark.com/
www.instagram.com/idesofmarge/

Also! Marjorie shared with us her favorite playwriting exercise. Go to our website www.beckettsbabies.com to learn more!
________________________

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

As part of our new monthly play series, we pick a play to discuss and this month’s play is “Sweat" by Lynn Nottage. In this episode, we discuss what we noticed, what we liked, and questions that came up while reading the play. Note: There are some spoilers! We highly recommend you read the play before listening to this episode!

About SWEAT:

SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat. (summary from Dramatist Play Service)

SWEAT won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015; it was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017.

Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of marginalized people. She is a professor of Playwriting at Columbia University. She was the first woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice; the first in 2009 for Ruined, and the second in 2017 for Sweat.

See Lynn Nottage in this interview explaining the origins of SWEAT from Public Theater:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcReO9WfWeQ

GLISTENS:
Sarah - author Samantha Irby; going on daily walks.
Sam - going to the dentist

____________________________________________

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies
And as always, we would love to hear from you!
Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

How do you think about research when beginning a new play? When do you begin the research process? How do you know when to start writing? In this episode we discuss our own experiences on which plays of ours have required research; how did we do this research; and how do we feel about research. We ask ourselves how do we incorporate research without making the play overly expositional or boring and what are some best practices in organizing all this research? Let us know what you think! We'd love to hear from you.

GLISTENS:
Sarah: Michelle Obama. Michelle Kwan. Michelle McNamara. Michelle's.
Sam: Wool Blankets

HELPFUL LINKS:

"On the Fine Art of Researching For Fiction" by Jake Wolff
lithub.com/on-the-fine-art-of-…rching-for-fiction/

“Inspiration from artifacts: writing plays for the future inspired by the past” by Katie Bender
pwcenter.org/playwriting-toolki…ture-inspired-past

On dramaturgy
howlround.com/research

_______________________

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies
And as always, we would love to hear from you!
Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support

Hi listeners! In this episode, we chat with the one and only Playwright, Co-Founder and Managing Curating Producer of Black Lives Black Words International Project Reginald Edmund.

Black Lives Black Words International Project launched an online play season celebrating the diversity of the African-American and African experience in today’s world called ‘Plays for the People’. The season features new works from seven cutting-edge black playwrights: Reginald Edmund, Chisa Hutchinson, Anya Pearson, Dominic Taylor, Idris Goodwin, Katrina D. RiChard, and Wole Oguntokun. The season opened on July 8th and will continue to run through November 8th, 2020.

Learn more about Black Lives Black Words and be sure to catch a show this season at www.blacklivesblackwords.org/get-tickets

To learn more about Reginald's plays, check out his New Play Exchange here:
newplayexchange.org/users/632/reginald-edmund

GLISTENS
Sarah: Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries
Reginald: Amazon’s Homecoming, Amazon’s The Expanse, and We Buy Black - webuyblack.com/
Sam: VS podcast
www.poetryfoundation.org/podcasts/ser…1/vs-podcast
________________________

Please support Beckett's Babies by reviewing, sharing an episode to your friends, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @beckettsbabies

And as always, we would love to hear from you!

Send us your questions or thoughts on playwriting and we might discuss it in our next episode.
Email: contact@beckettsbabies.com
For more info, visit our website: www.beckettsbabies.com

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beckettsbabies/support