2015 Salon: Q&A with “Fake-Ass Mickey…” playwright Kevin R. Free

We are beyond excited to be working with playwright and performer extraordinaire Kevin R. Free  – a longtime friend of the Salon! While Kevin is making waves at Humana, his short play “Fake-Ass Mickey and “Fake-Ass Minnie Take a Real-Ass Break” will be performed TONIGHT on the Wild Project stage, directed by Christopher James Weihert and performed by Mandi Masden and Kareem M. Lucas. 

Check out our Q&A with Kevin below, and join us tonight! We have a full house but it is very likely that we can get the whole waitlist in.

2015 Salon: Q&A with “MAN. KIND.” playwright Don Nguyen

It’s the night of the party, y’all! We’re kicking off #year5 of the Salon tonight (and hope to see you there!), and bring you this Q&A with playwright Don Nguyen as his response to our theme “To Serve and Protect” – both personal and in his writing – really excites us.

 Q. In writing for the Directors Salon, how did you interpret the prompt “To Serve and Protect” and how did it inspire “MAN. KIND.”?

A. I was really drawn to the question of what separates service from servitude and who are we obligated to serve and who are we obligated to protect. I wanted to interrogate these notions through the lens of what’s currently been going on in our country and write a timely piece that explore these events, but I gave up and wrote about cave people instead.

2015 Salon: Q&A with “Rebel Judy” playwright J. Julian Christopher

After a hiatus in 2014, the Working Theater Directors Salon is back for its 5th Anniversary, and back with a vengeance! We’re thrilled to launch our Artist Q&A series with playwright J. Julian Christopher, whose short play Rebel Judy will be part of our night of 7 short plays inspired by the theme “To Serve and Protect” and performed on Sunday, March 22nd at 7pm at The Wild Project.

Q: In writing for the Directors Salon, how did you interpret the prompt “To Serve and Protect” and how did it inspire your play, Rebel Judy?

A: Interestingly enough, the prompt chose me. When first given the prompt, I was clueless on what to write. A few times I tried to force words out and it just wasn’t working. As an exercise I decided to just write whatever I wanted to write, and suddenly the prompt infiltrated my brain and the theme presented itself in a different way than I had first interpreted. What came out, was how people within a minority group tend to protect each other at all costs, which in turn, serves that particular minority community. The characters, Tito and Allyn, connect by being part of the fringe of society. There is a commaraderie along with a mentor and student relationship. It’s essential to their continued existence.

2013 Salon: Q&A with “The In-Between” director Kareem Fahmy

We are 5 days into the Salon and our directors are rehearsing at spaces all over the city!  Not only do we have 7 directors and 10 actors rehearsing 7 short plays, but 3 director-driven projects helmed by Katherine Brook (Transcripts), Kareem Fahmy (The In–Between), and Shana Solomon (Si Nos Dejan: If They Let Us).  What does “director-driven” mean?  We are interviewing all three directors about their processes to find out their definitions of “director-driven.”  Make sure to check out their works-in-progresses on Saturday, June 22nd at 7:30pm and keep reading for a Q&A with Kareem Fahmy about his piece, The In-Between.

2013 Salon: Thanks to our Artistic Director/Industry Leader Q&A Panelists!

Panelists Jennifer Cook (The Field), Ellen Rusconi (SDCF), and Susan Bernfield (New Georges), along with Working Theater’s Producing Artistic Director Mark Plesent, shared their insights with us on a number of topics – networking, self-producing, resources for emerging artists, the director/artistic director relationship, and how make an application stand out.  Thank you so much to our panelists for being a part of the 4th Annual Working Theater Directors Salon and leading such an engaging conversation!

2013 Salon: Thanks to our Directors Q&A Panelists!

2013 Directors Q&A Panelists Nelson Eusebio, Daniella Topol, Tamilla Woodard, and Ken Rus Schmoll with Working Theater Producing Artistic Director Mark Plesent

2013 Salon: Photos from the Opening Night Kick-Off Party!

Last night was a success!  Thanks to the abundance of Directors Salon supporters past and present who came to drink, party, and network with us!  Check out the photos from last night (thanks to 2012 Salon Playwright Tim J. Lord for playing photographer!) and make sure to come back to the Salon – we have a Directors Q&A Panel tonight, an Artistic Director and Industry Leader Panel tomorrow night, and performances this weekend!  

 

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2013 Salon: Q&A with Directors Q&A Panelist Ken Rus Schmoll

The 4th Annual Working Theater Directors Salon kicks off TONIGHT!  Join us at our opening night party tonight (at which you can actually put your name in a hat and be directing something that goes up on Sunday!),  attend panels with directors and artistic directors on Tuesday and Wednesday, and enjoy our final performances on Saturday and Sunday – please stop by the June Havoc Theatre this week and and take advantage of the free opportunities we offer for emerging NYC directors!

Tomorrow night is our Directors Q&A Panel at which professional NYC directors Nelson Eusebio, Ken Rus Schmoll, Daniella Topol, and Tamilla Woodard will be sharing how they built their careers as well as answering any questions you may have about the directing world.  Below, Directors Q&A Panelist Ken Rus Schmoll (co-chair of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, another great group for emerging directors and playwrights!) shares his creative habits and what excites him about new work.

2013 Salon: Q&A with “Ten Page Manifesto” Playwright Mike Lew

We’re so excited to have Mike Lew as one of our Directors Salon playwrights this year.  He’s currently blowing up the blog-o-sphere with his thoughts on issues such as gender parity in the theater, casting actors of color, and interning at NYC theater companies (and Mike is married to the awesome playwright Rehana Lew Mirza, who wrote the hilarious short play “The Waiting Game” for the 2012 Salon, directed by Daniela Thome!). 

Mike’s short play “Ten Page Manifesto” will be performed on the final night of the Salon (Sunday, June 23^rd at 7:30pm), so make sure to check out the show, OR come to the opening night party on Monday, June 17^th at 7pm for a chance to direct it yourself!  Keep reading for a Q&A with Mike about his play in the Salon as well as his thoughts on the playwright/director relationship (and how to even go about forming one).

Q&A with 2013 Salon Director Katherine Brook on her project “Transcripts”

As we stated in our HowlRound blog post that was published yesterday (!), the Salon’s night of Director-Driven work is one of our most difficult events to curate as we not only choose projects that we feel are exciting in terms of content and style, but to work together as an evening and truly benefit from the resources we offer.  This year’s Director-Driven directors are Katherine Brook (Transcripts), Kareem Fahmy (The In–Between), and Shana Solomon (Untitled Immigration Project).  Make sure to check out their works-in-progresses on Saturday, June 22^nd at 7:30pm and keep reading for a Q&A with Katherine about her piece, Transcripts.