Podcast episodes
Hello, playwrights! Big news—our full-length episodes are making a comeback this summer! Until then, we’re excited to bring you Thank You Five, a series of short, slice-of-life episodes. In our first segment, we’re hanging outside the Old Globe Theatre for the Powers New Voices Festival 2025 to see the staged reading of Marco Antonio Rodriguez’s […]
In this two-part season finale, Tori and Mabelle talk with the extraordinary Steven Dietz about his 40+ years in the theater. He shares how his 11 years of directing workshops and readings of new plays served as his grad school, teaching him how the theater works in space. He shares tactics and tools of the […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with accomplished storyteller Hansol Jung about her jump from politics to theater. She shares her trajectory from translating plays into Korean, to an MFA in Musical Theater Directing (at Penn State), and then to another MFA in Playwriting (Yale School of Drama). She also shares about her experience collaborating on “Wolf […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with multihyphenate Brian Quijada about how a production of “Cabaret” showed him the power of political theater and set him on his theatrical journey. He shares his artist’s mission and goes in depth on the inspiration and development of “Where Did We Sit on the Bus?,” “Kid Prince and Pablo,” “Somewhere […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Anna Ouyang Moench, about grad school, motherhood, and her incredible catalog of plays. Anna shares about juggling life as an MFA Playwriting student at UCSD with teaching assistant work and parenting a newborn. The episode includes in-depth discussions of Anna’s plays “Mothers,” “Man of God,” “Birds […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with playwright, director, and educator, Ramón Esquivel, about his path into theater through teaching, including the development of his first play at 30 years old. Other topics include Ramón’s quest to introduce young people to all aspects of theater, his revision strategy, key ways that theaters can uplift local playwrights, and […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with accomplished theater artist, June Carryl, about her transition from law to theater and beyond. June shares the turning point into playwriting with Paula Vogel and how she got bit by the acting bug. June discusses why words are crucial, how theatrical stories inspire change, and the joy of working with […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with James Vásquez, Resident Artist of The Old Globe Theatre, about trading in his baseball glove for tap shoes at 12 years old. He talks about how his father deeply influenced his love of both the arts and baseball, and he shares his full circle moments from childhood to director at […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with Hope Villanueva about her launch into theater as a stage manager to her stint touring with the circus and beyond. Hope shares her strategies for balancing her various gigs–from writing, grad school, stage managing, dramaturgy, and her third season as the Literary Manager at Bay Street Theatre. Other topics include […]
Tori and Mabelle talk with Larissa FastHorse about her path from ballet to the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis to “The Thanksgiving Play” on Broadway. Larissa shares the details of her heart work with Indigenous communities and her radical inclusion process. Other topics include the Lakota Way, Indigenous Direction, writing for multigenerational audiences, and Larissa’s […]