James Elden's Playwright's Spotlight

Send us Fan Mail Erik Patterson dropped into Playwright's Spotlight before the opening of his upcoming play - Fucking Strangers. In this discussion, Erik shares his start into playwriting, what makes a bad play, the definition of "spectacle", achieving reversal, and pushing forward as a playwright. We also unpack developing ideas, using prompts, expectations from feedback, the disda...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Marc Mantell stopped by Playwright's Spotlight after directing the production of Dr. Freud, I Presume written by recent Spotlight guest - Donna Scarantino. Marc's playwriting journey is nothing short of fascinating, and this discussion is unlike anything any past interview or any episode down the road. While I tried to unpack Marc's process, I was met wit...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Hank Jacobs sat in the Playwright's Spotlight to unpack the concept of Immersive Theatre. In this conversation, we discuss the its definition, the development of his immersive piece The Great Clown Bank Show, what immersive theatre looks like on the page, the release of ego towards the audience, the covid and lockdowns affected theatre as well as how AI may affect...

Send us Fan Mail Two weeks before the opening of her latest piece in the Bellevue Escapades, Donna Scarantino took the time to come sit in the Playwright's Spotlight. We discuss the origins of the Bellevue series and its evolution over the years, her involvement and eventual takeover of Theatre Americana and how playwrights can submit their work, or how actors can become involved in the theat...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright William A. Smith streamed into Playwright's Spotlight to talk about the recent release of his app The Playwright's Desk and its features to assist in the management of the playwriting business. It's a fascinating resource that will help playwrights of all levels looking to track their submissions as well as streamline the process. We also discuss his othe...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright and screenwriter Paul Webb streamed onto Playwright's Spotlight all the way from outside London just a week away rehearsal were about to end for his play Warsaw. Paul is a charming Brit with a background in writing that makes everything sound so easy. That's not to say we don't discuss obstacles and struggles, especially considering entering playwriting a...

Send us Fan Mail Apologies for the delayed show notes. Had a few hiccups. Evelina Fernandez took time away from rehearsals to slip into the Playwright's Spotlight. We opened with discussing the founding of the Latino Theatre Company and her journey of learning structure, acting out voices, and writing an ongoing six hour story within a trilogy. We unpacked writing stories out of order and how...

Send us Fan Mail Olivia Dufault took time to sit under the Playwright's Spotlight before the opening of her latest play - "For Want of a Horse." In this discussion, we unpack her introduction and journey into playwriting, learning from past influencers, learning through evolution and gaining focus yet learning from lack of collaboration. We explore her path of starting new work, ent...

Send us Fan Mail Gabriel Rivas Gómez dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight a week before the opening of his latest play Level Up! We discussed his origin story falling into playwriting, his journey into finding his voice and telling a story, and the lessons of agitating a nerve. We also dove into overcoming obstacles and elemental struggles, the need to overwrite and cutting scenes, charact...

Send us Fan Mail After an enthusiastic recommendation from former guest, Cameron Scott, Andy Batt streamed into a late night EDT interview of Playwright's Spotlight, and, as always, what an insightful and inspirational conversation it was. In this interview, we discuss the origins and evolution of Andy's own playwriting and how it influenced the development of the MadLab theatre company...

Send us Fan Mail I stumbled upon Patrick Gabridge on the World Wide Web, and he was kind enough to come on to the Playwright's Spotlight after reaching out to him. If there was a playwright who has been in the spotlight who might have a pathway to success, it would be Patrick Gabridge. With a non-traditional approach to writing, Patrick focuses on site-specific plays that are staged in non-tr...

Send us Fan Mail Fan, Follower, and Fellow Playwright Travis Williams, dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight after a random and serendipitous meetup in public. In this conversation, we discuss his origin into playwriting and the possibilities of being a "living" playwright and a playwright's success, his lessons from living in Chicago and learning the order of character, narr...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright, pianist, and composer along with her collaborator Raymond O. Caldwell who is a director, producer, and artistic director of The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, stopped by the studio to discuss their latest project - Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience. While our conversation did have a few technical setbacks, we were able to get back on track about t...

Send us Fan Mail After an excruciating knee-tweak, Catherine Butterfield streamed into the Playwright's Spotlight being laid up on the couch. Proof that playwrights will go above and beyond, so we were unable to do the originally planned in-person interview. In this episode, we breakdown layering stories in the same location throughout different eras, when it's time to share and direct o...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, musical theatre playwright Isaac Laskin stopped by Playwright's Spotlight to talk about the the development and evolution of his hit L.A. musical Hey, Morgan. He dispels the rumor of being challenged to write a musical about a dear friend, how the origination started as individual standalone songs about his roommate and how it later evolved into a musical. We...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Clara Rodriguez jumped into the Playwright's Spotlight in the midst of the run of her latest play - Pointy Scissors. In this discussion, we delve into the theatre company at Theatre West in Los Angeles and their Writers in Residence program. We unpack her journey into playwriting and her motivation and inspiration, the fees and benefits of various theatre companies...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright James Merolla streamed onto Playwright's Spotlight. We had an engaging and honest conversation about his background as a director and a theatre reviewer and how that eventually led to becoming a playwright. We discuss his struggles with rejection and doubting your talent and being a late-starting and older playwright and eventual successes. We also talk about the l...

Send us Fan Mail Dietrich Smith jumped into the Playwright's Spotlight after the opening of his World Premiere adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel Amerika. We explore his background as the literary manager at the Open Fist Theatre Company and the trends he observed from submissions. We speak about establishing theme and whose story it is in a piece, mapping the journey, approaching adaptat...

Send us Fan Mail Sofia Streisand dropped into Playwright's Spotlight to discuss the U.S. premiere of her play Bluebeard's Castle (that I misspoke as Blackbeard's) November 1st through November 23rd. In this discussion, we discuss the difference between Russian, European, and American theatre, her journey from musical theatre to playwriting, writing multiple voices, and writing for s...

Send us Fan Mail Ankita Raturi basked under the Playwright's Spotlight for the World Premiere of her play Neha & Neel. In this discussion we break down the concept of applied theatre and being a teaching artist, how it effects character, exercises that extrude character and whether or not the practice makes it into a piece. We unpack earning a monologue, the first steps of playwriting, wr...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Crystal Skillman beamed into the Playwright's Spotlight from Indianapolis for the run of her World Premiere play The Rocket Men. We discuss how one becomes a 4-time NYT's Critics' Pick playwright, what it means to be a "theatrical" writer, writing design on the page and offering solutions, trusting and listening to your audience, the concept of...

Send us Fan Mail SEASON5, EPISODE 1!!!  Wow. Hard to believe. This is an episode recorded months ago saved for this very occasion. Kudos to Cameron Scott for connecting me to John. This is a very special episode taking writing to a new level that every playwright can benefit from. John takes writing to levels I don't think we've ever tackled in past episodes, but you will have to listen...

Send us Fan Mail Israel López Reyes swung by the studio before the opening of his recent commission to discuss his background leading up to it and his success as an Angeleno playwright. We discuss his journey from actor to playwright, how he fell into theatre and his discovery to figuring out story and telling stories that matter. We unpack the evolution of emerging playwrights, the process and ap...

Send us Fan Mail Filmmaker turned playwright, David Kohner Zuckerman, dropped into Playwright's Spotlight to talk about the World Premiere of his play Parallel Process. In this interview, we talk unpack his journey from film to stage and how it affect his writing, his approach to naturalism and honesty to his writing, and how his acting and directing applied to his writing. We also touched on...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Stuart Brown streamed into Playwright's Spotlight for a second time after technical difficulties with sound, but I hope delved a little deeper this time around. We discuss the Connecticut Theatre Market, being a critic and a playwright and how the former affected the latter, honesty as a critic, and advice to theatre companies on getting critics in seats. We also e...