No Script: The Podcast

This week on No Script, Jacob sits down with singer-songwriter, composer, and emerging theatre-maker Grace Yurchuk for a rich conversation about Julius Caesar. They, of course, discuss the power of rhetoric in Shakespeare’s original political thriller and how Grace’s bold musical adaptation takes on that challenge. Together, Jacob and Grace unpack what makes Julius Caesar such a gripping and surpr...

This week on No Script: The Podcast, Jackson and Jacob dive into Tina Howe’s lyrical memory play Pride’s Crossing — winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play and a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play centers on 90-year-old Mabel Tidings Bigelow, once the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to France. From her croquet party in Pr...

In the finale of Adaptation Month, Jackson and Jacob discuss Bekah Brunstetter's play "The Oregon Trail." You guessed it -- the play is based on the famous video game and follows two sisters in two different timelines as they navigate life's difficult choices. Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No S...

Jackson and Jacob continue Adaptation Month by discussing the cult-classic musical adaption of Stephen King's Carrie, by Lawrence D. Cohen, Dean Pitchford, and Michael Gore. Listen as J&J chat about how musicals inherently alter the storytelling, and how Carrie: The Musical gained its infamous reputation.   ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as...

Jackson and Jacob continue their themed month, Adaptation Month, by discussing Kate Hamill's adaptation of one of the most famous novels of all time: "Pride and Prejudice." Listen in as J&J chat about Hamill's unique and brilliant techniques of adaptation.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podc...

Jackson and Jacob kick off Adaptation Month by discussing Kimberly Belflower's recent Broadway hit "John Proctor is the Villian." Based on Arthur Miller's famous play "The Crucible," this contemporary play ignites a fire in a close-knit school community. Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss Samuel D. Hunter's play "The Whale." Recently adapted into a film starring Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink, "The Whale" is a complex play about hard-won hope. Listen in as J&J discuss the way Hunter has layered his themes and questions into masterful dramatic scenes.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as...

Jackson and Jacob discuss Molly Smith Metzler's play "Cry It Out," which premiered at the Humana Festival of New Plays. This touching drama follows two women who become fast friends during their maternity leaves. Listen in! ------------------------------ 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...

Jackson and Jacob discuss John Millington Synge's famous comedy "The Playboy of the Western World." This Irish classic has been adapted countless times, but it's original story remains a quirky comedy which relies heavily on dramatic irony. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Check out this article on the riots that took place in Dublin: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/sep/23/playboy...

Jackson and Jacob discuss Enda Walsh's wild, Beckett-like comedy "The Walworth Farce." In a small flat in London, a father and his two sons replay the same day of their lives over and over again. But what happens when, one day, a stranger knocks at their door? Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No...

"Surely Goodness and Mercy" by Chisa Hutchinson is the story of a middle school boy and his unlikely friendship with the school lunch lady. Listen in this week as Jackson and Jacob discuss the play's tenderness and heart. J&J also discuss the techniques Hutchinson uses to keep the audience tightly focused on the story. ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Fo...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss Tom Stoppard's epic play about the Velvet Revolution: "Rock 'n' Roll." Listen in as J&J breakdown the play's intricate scene work. They also discuss Stoppard's powerful portraiture of theoretical ideas in everyday life. ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No...

Jackson and Jacob discuss Rajiv Joseph's play King James. This two-hander loosely follows the career of LeBron James as a Cleveland Cavalier, with all it's unexpected twists and turns. Listen in!  ------------------------------ 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/noscriptpodcast  -----...

Jackson and Jacob discuss Ayad Akhtar's new play "McNeal" which starred Robert Downey Jr. in its Broadway debut. In the play, Akhtar takes on the issue everyone's talking about: AI.  ------------------------------ 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/noscriptpodcast  -------------------...

To begin Season 15, Jackson and Jacob discuss another play from Lynn Nottage's fabulous library: "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark." In this story of an early black film star, Nottage deploys surprising meta-theatricality to cross time periods and ask powerful questions. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Check out these other voices and their discussions of "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark": Saman...

Jacob is joined by Audrey Francis, Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, for a special conversation on Noah Diaz's incredible play "You Will Get Sick," opening at Steppenwolf later this month. Listen in!  Get your tickets to "You Will Get Sick" by Noah Diaz at Steppenwolf Theatre Company here: www.steppenwolf.org ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon....

In the final episode of the season, Jackson and Jacob discuss the worldwide phenomena that is "Jesus Christ Superstar"! Listen in as they breakdown how Webber and Rice trouble the familiar stories of Jesus and Judas, and how the changing view on rock n' roll has altered the story of "Jesus Christ Superstar." ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/...

Jacob is joined by Amy Marie Seidel, director of the New York Theatre Company's upcoming production of "Machinal" by Sophie Treadwell. Jacob and Ms. Seidel discuss the continued relevance of "Machinal," and how Treadwell uses expressionist techniques to bring the audience inside the mind of the characters. They also discuss Seidel's production, which incorporates tap dance and live foley work. The...

Jacob is joined by Jack Cummings III, director of Classic Stage Company's co-production of William Inge's Bus Stop with NAATCO and Transport Group. Mr. Cummings and Jacob discuss Inge's legacy and his unique portraits of American loneliness. They also discuss Cummings' upcoming production, which begins previews on May 8, 2025. This production of Bus Stop begins on May 18 and runs through June 8. G...

Jackson and Jacob discuss the play "Into the Beautiful North." In her stage adaptation of the novel by the same name, Karen Zacarías takes the audience across thousands of miles in an epic quest. Listen in! ------------------------------ 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/noscriptpodc...

Join us as Jackson and Jacob round out Halloween in April by discussing Chisa Hutchinson's revenge-horror play "Whitelisted." They chat about how Hutchinson deploys sometimes simple, sometimes not so simple spooky effects to make a larger observation about the world. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure...

Halloween in April continues with Jen Silverman's play Witch. Jackson and Jacob discuss Silverman's loose adaptation of The Witch of Edmonton, paying particular attention to how -- though the play contains a literal devil! -- Silverman locates the real horror of the world in our trapped (and trapping) societal patterns.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For...

Halloween in April continues with a discussion about Anne Washburn's play Apparition. Jackson and Jacob explore her mysterious, vignette-based exploration of what scares us... and why. Listen in!  ------------------------------ 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/noscriptpodcast  -----...

Halloween in April -- our Season 14 Themed Month -- begins today!  No Script begins a 4-week look at plays with spooky, frightening characters, situations, and themes. This week, Jackson and Jacob discuss York Walker's play Covenant, where a century old myth about making a deal with the devil comes to life... Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For...

This week, Jackson and Jacob visit a classic of the stage: Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov. This puzzling play defies categorization. With a large ensemble cast, a surprising lack of plot, and several bids for love, Chekhov manages to gorgeously tell a story of human longing. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to...