No Script: The Podcast

Beautiful. Simple. Theatrical. Thorton Wilder's "Our Town" is a carefully crafted answer to what Wilder saw as theatre's increasing dependence on spectacle. This week on "No Script," Jackson and Jacob stroll through Grover's Corners, walking alongside Wilder's characters in their growing up and their marrying and their living and their dying.  ------------------------------ Please consider support...

Specificity is at the core of Jenny Laird's beautiful, tender play "Ballad Hunter." It's the story of a specific family, in a specific community, at a specific time. This Monday on No Script, Jackson and Jacob peel back the layers of this complex, poetic story. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No...

Season Three is here! In this first episode, Jackson and Jacob return to their tradition of using Lynn Nottage scripts for the season beginning. Nottage's play "Intimate Apparel" is a tender, heart-wrenching portrait of a young woman whose dreams come into conflict with each other. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can...

In the final episode of Season 2, Jackson and Jacob discuss Sarah Ruhl's retelling of a classic myth. Her play "Eurydice" departs in many respects from the traditional story of "Orpheus and Eurydice." Instead of focusing on the romance, Ruhl tells us of Eurydice's journey rekindling a relationship with her father in the Underworld.    After this episode, "No Script" will be on a short break. Seaso...

This week on "No Script," Jacob is joined by special guest Karen Bohm Barker. Together, they discuss Wendy Wasserstein's play "The Heidi Chronicles," which documents one woman's journey through late 1900s feminism.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue.  https://www.patreon.com/nos...

The landscape of American theatre is shaped by many amazing playwrights. Without a doubt, Tennessee Williams occupies a central place in that list. In this episode of "No Script," Jackson and Jacob take on his most enduring work: "A Streetcar Named Desire." In his haunting portrayal of a New Orleans neighborhood, Williams has created a cast of instantly recognizable characters.   -----------------...

The title is shocking. The characters wild and unpredictable. But Stephen Adly Guirgis' play "The Motherf*cker with the Hat" is something like . . . a romantic comedy? This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss this foulmouthed play and all its tender, hilarious genius.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure t...

Episode 50 has arrived. For this momentous occasion, Jackson and Jacob celebrate the world's most famous playwright: William Shakespeare. Together, they dive into the dastardly plans of Shakespeare's mad tyrant. In "Richard III," Shakespeare asks his audience to consider a man who is both the play's protagonist . . . and its villain.   ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us o...

The plot? It seems simple enough. Two couples meet to discuss the fight between their children. But what occurs over the course of this sharp play is anything but simple. Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" asks questions about the masks we wear and the loyalties we keep . . . or pretend to keep. Listen in as Jackson and Jacob weave through the complicated shifting alliances and power dynamics of this...

This week on "No Script," Jackson and Jacob discuss one of theatre's classic comedies - "The Importance of Being Earnest." This 1895 play by Oscar Wilde has earned a place as one of the most produced plays in the English language. But is it still funny? Listen in to hear what J&J think. ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to...

Early in their college years, Jackson and Jacob produced a lovely 10-minute play by Jeffrey Sweet called "Cover." Now, years later, J&J return to Jeffrey Sweet for this new episode of No Script. Sweet's play "Bluff" is funny, gripping, and intensely theatrical. It's a simple story told brilliantly. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $...

A girl's soccer team warms up for a game - six weeks of games, actually. As the team stretches, the audiences watches these women engage life's biggest questions... and friendship's pettiest arguments. Listen in this week as Jackson and Jacob take on the play that's sweeping the nation - Sarah DeLappe's "The Wolves."  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as...

In Season 1, Jackson and Jacob discussed Annie Baker's Pulitzer Prize winning script "The Flick." Now, in Season 2, they turn to one of her earlier, better known works. "Circle Mirror Transformation" is a delightful, touching look at a community center theatre class. Listen in as Jackson and Jacob break down Baker's use of silence and subtext.   ------------------------------ Please consider suppo...

It is the final week of Miller Month here on No Script. Three plays down . . . one to go. And boy, it's a big one. We've saved perhaps Miller's most incredible, powerful, important script for last. Of course, it's "Death of a Salesman." Listen in as J&J weave their way through Miller's poignant narrative about Willy Loman and his family.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting u...

Week 3 of Miller Month is here. We're almost halfway through. Can you believe it? This week, listen in as Jackson and Jacob explore the play that saved Miller's career . . . "All My Sons." It's the story of past sins, long-held shame, and country healing after WWII.   ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Scri...

In this second week of Miller Month, Jackson and Jacob discuss Arthur Miller's devastating tragedy "A View From the Bridge." It's a tale of jealousy, inappropriate affection, and disastrous consequences - does this sound like a Greek tragedy or what? Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podc...

Miller Month has officially arrived. In this first week, Jackson and Jacob dive into Miller's imagining of the Salem Witch Trials - "The Crucible." What happens when a town, and a whole society, let paranoia and revenge rule their courts? Listen in as J&J discuss theocracy, revenge, and what really counts as evidence. ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as...

How do we carry grief? What manifestations does grief have in our daily lives, our relationships? In his 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning script "Rabbit Hole," David Lindsay-Abaire paints a portrait of a family in grief. This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob explore that portrait, looking at the ways in which Lindsay-Abaire uses things like blame and object negotiation to guide his characters throu...

Years ago, Jacob discovered a copy of this play in a used bookstore. He fell in love with the script and it has claimed the top spot on his directing wish-list ever since. Now, he and Jackson dive into the rich story and beautiful language of "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht. The play is a fictionalized account of Galileo's life, focusing especially on his conflict with the Catholic Church after he dis...

For the first time on No Script, Jackson and Jacob are discussing a script they have actually acted in together - Dale Wasserman's "Man of La Mancha." Loosely based on the famous story of Don Quixote, "Man of La Mancha" follows the mad knight in his quest to vanquish evil and sway the heart of his beloved Dulcinea. Join us as J&J discuss Quixote's infectious spirit, his comic sidekick, and the pli...

Is there a hell? This question has inspired much debate in the Christian world. And it is at the core of Lucas Hnath's play "The Christians." Just after his newly built church building is paid off, Pastor Paul announces that he is leading the church in a new direction - they will no longer believe in hell. The play follows the aftermath of this decision. Listen in as Jackson and Jacob explore the...

In the aftermath of the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Caryl Churchill conducted interviews with witnesses and survivors. That material was developed into her much loved script "Mad Forest." Fascinating imagery defines the play, and Churchill's characters are empathetic and human. This week on "No Script," Jackson and Jacob dive into this complex and rich piece of dramatic literature.  ----------------...

One of America's defining male playwrights is David Rabe. This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob take on his chaotic, foul look at 1980s Hollywood - "Hurlyburly." The play is the story of the friendship between a group of young Hollywood professionals. The core of this friendship seems to be cocaine, womanizing, alcohol, and parties. Listen in as J&J dig to find the nugget of gold in Rabe's swe...

Christopher Durang's "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" is a delightful, character-driven comedy. It won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. The script follows three adult siblings as they confront an ever changing world. This week on No Script, listen in as Jackson and Jacob talk Chekhov, technology, and - yes - voodoo. -----------------------------...

Season 2 is here!!! In this opening episode, Jackson and Jacob return to Lynn Nottage, whose work they discussed in the very first No Script episode ever. This time, J&J discuss "Ruined," the winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Based on interviews with survivors, "Ruined" is the story of several women as they attempt to navigate the treacherous waters of a civil war in the Democratic Repu...