James Elden's Playwright's Spotlight

Send us Fan Mail We've dug into the vaults of Playwright's Spotlight for this episode. Originally recorded on February 8th, 2023, I interviewed playwright Brynn Thayer a few weeks before the world premiere of Let Me In. Unfortunately due to a software update, the audio was unusable and the pod-recorder used for backup was not started on time. Brynn and I tried to find a time to rerecord...

Send us Fan Mail Another episode touching on aspects not featured in past episodes. Today playwright Anna Ouyang Moench sits in the Playwright's Spotlight and, thankfully, after botching her name twice, she was nice enough to stick around. In this interview, we discuss the benefits of writers groups, the pursuit of playwriting, and developing a play during rehearsal through a nontraditional w...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright and parodist, Dean O'Carroll, sat in the Playwright's Spotlight this week. We discuss his origins as a playwright and the knowledge gained from a Bachelor's Degree in theatre to an MFA in playwriting and the differences from learning from lecture opposed to the practicalities of writing and the challenges he overcame including pushing through doubt. We to...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Garry Michael Kluger stopped by to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight to talk about all things playwriting and also touched on its from film and television. Having been a three-time semi-finalist, we discuss the process of and when to submit for the O'neill's and whether it's ever okay to pay to submit your work. We also touch on how playwrights one h...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Howard Skora stopped by Playwright's Spotlight, and what a fascinating interview he delivered. What I thought would be another insightful look into the craft of playwriting, turned into an unsuspecting history lesson about the psychologist Sigmund Freud and quite a few unknown stories about his life. Not only does Howie educate me about the all things Freud, we del...

Send us Fan Mail What a fascinating discussion. Playwright Wendy Graf sat in the Playwright's Spotlight and shared her experiences throughout her career including the effects of Covid, plays vs screenplays and how the translation of the latter can to stop the action on stage, the "secret" of success in playwriting, the concept of small vs large markets, and how to approach requested...

Send us Fan Mail We are back!!! Sorry for missing a week, folks. Had some audio issues with this episode and needed a little time to figure out the best approach. 99% of the audio glitches were on my end, and my guest offers some amazing insights that I didn't want to risk losing by reshooting the episode or losing context by editing out the question. All said, John Patrick Bray and I delve i...

Send us Fan Mail I always find something to learn in an episode of Playwright's Spotlight. However, Bernardo Cubria's insight to playwriting was nonstop. Every minute turned another corner of knowledge. His approach and insight to playwriting was intimidating that I'm not sure I could keep up - from a naivety to submitting plays that could lead to success to paying for opportunities...

Send us Fan Mail Vanessa Stewart graces this episode of Playwright's Spotlight. Taking a biopic musical approach to her playwriting, Vanessa features historical figures in most of her pieces, delving into depths of research and focusing on the minute nuances of their lives, starting off with the jazz couple Louis and Keely, and silent film legend Buster Keaton. In our discussion, her writing...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright and publisher Jonathan Dorf sits in the Playwright's Spotlight and shines a light on the publishing aspect of playwriting with his experience as co-founder of YouthPLAYS touching on some of the criteria they look for as publishers of plays for younger audiences. We also touch on what makes powerful writing, in-depth characters through the tension of opposites, and...

Send us Fan Mail The charming Bob DeRosa swings by Playwright's Spotlight fresh off the relaunch of his play - Gifted. Bob shares his experiences with starting in sketch writing, its benefits in learning to write quickly and the basic rules of structure, writing dialogue that's easy vs dialogue that's bad, and stories as transformation machines for the character. We also touch upon...

Send us Fan Mail Playwright Kathryn Keats visited Playwright's Spotlight to talk about her solo beat musical, The Hummingbird, and the tragic events that led her into going into hiding, coming out on the other side, and the development of the piece, and the catharsis of playwriting. We also discuss the importance of knowing your material, structure in performance art and what it looks like on...

Send us Fan Mail Tony Award Winning Playwright Itamar Moses stopped by Playwright's Spotlight. Chock full of humorous moments, Itamar shares his experience adapting the cherished animated film An American Tale for the stage, children's ability to suspend disbelief, and avoiding dumbing down the material for a younger audience. We also discuss when it's time for a table read and reco...

Send us Fan Mail Another insightful episode in the bag. This week playwright Roger Q Mason stops by and unpacks the queer perspective of playwriting discussing how performance compliments writing (and vice versa), embracing and pushing discomfort as well as thematic layering and poetic expressionism. We also delve into the definition of being a "jazz playwright", writing from the root, t...

Send us Fan Mail Australian born and Canadian artist, Sunny Drake, stops by Playwright's Spotlight. In this episode, we discuss developing the artist within and how to grow as a playwright without formal training, how much involvement the playwright has at a table reading, the benefits of previews, rehearsing in repertory theatre and how to submit as well as breaking down and submitting to re...

Send us Fan Mail Without a doubt the most important episode of Playwright's Spotlight to date. If in the past you've never made it through an episode in it's entirety, this is the one to sit through until the end. A story of diligence, perseverance, over coming adversity, Faye Widjaja tells the story of her high school drama club staging a production when it seemed the universe was...

Send us Fan Mail 90 minutes of brilliant insight. The amount of real estate this episode with Matt Williams covers couldn't be covered in a set of Time Life books. Matt provides so much knowledge, it was hard to know when to stop and move on to the next question. In this chat we cover learning playwriting from dramaturgical books opposed to those focused on actual playwriting, driving action...

Send us Fan Mail What a wonderful and intoxicating exchange and perhaps a little serendipitous. I discovered John had started following the podcast and what followed was nothing short of a high energy conversation about the craft. In this episode with John Mabey, we discuss the romance and preciousness of playwriting as well as the psychology of the craft and the necessity of getting out of our ow...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I have a inspirational conversation with playwright Barry Kornhauser about the commissioning and adapting plays from children's books, development, creative freedom and licensing, and breaking down and building a story around stage directions and minimal dialogue. We also discuss working with underprivileged as well as individuals with disabilities, writing fo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Playwright's Spotlight I speak to Los Angeles based playwright and actor Trey Nichols. In addition to playwriting, Trey runs a series of playwriting workshops throughout the year. Our conversation touches on various aspects of the craft including - learning through acting, one's inspirations, and playwriting classes as well as using the past for exposi...

Send us Fan Mail It's always a treat when playwrights can record in house. This week local playwright Dagney Kerr stopped by to discuss her playwriting journey from college to relocating to Los Angeles as well as her process from workshops to worldwide productions. We also discuss letting go of your work and standing your ground. In addition, we tackle working with bad directors, adjusting yo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Los Angeles based playwright Paul Surace swings by Playwright's Spotlight to talk about his upcoming compilation Hearing More Voices the followup to his first collection Hearing Voices. We discuss poignancy in playwriting, writing with intent, characters with a history vs characters that are strangers, and being directed as a playwright. We also touch on bad...

Send us Fan Mail Fresh in the middle of her trip from New York for the West Coast Premiere of her new play Broken Story, playwright Cyndy A. Marion stopped by a Playwright's Spotlight for an in-house interview. In this episode, we discuss transitioning from director to playwright, learning structure, taking creative license when writing about real life events, honesty in marketing, and what m...

Send us Fan Mail Wow wow wow. This episode is chock full of information, education, and insight, I could've gone on for another hour and a half. Michael Wright shares so much information throughout our chat. The plethora of topics we cover is immense and his knowledge is never ending. His exercises, or as he calls them "etudes", will help any playwright or writer struggling or weak...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1. Author of The Playwright's Survival Guide and Perfect Ten and ten-minute playwright virtuoso, Gary Garrison swings by Playwright's Spotlight. In this discussion, we discuss progressing as a playwright, structuring a ten minute play, the differences between a sketch and a ten-minute play, and developing characters. We also touch on the nece...