No Script: The Podcast

The Courtroom is a piece of theatre that tries not to be. Arian Moayed's stages a piece of verbatim theatre that follows one woman's encounters with the American immigration court. This week on No Script, listen in as Jackson and Jacob unravel the theatrical techniques Moayed deftly employs to help you forget you're watching theatre....  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us...

This week on No Script, a sharply funny comedy of bad manners by Gina Gionfriddo. "Becky Shaw" keeps you on your toes through its quick witted comedy and keen class commentary. 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  --------------...

At the quarter mark of Season 10, Jackson and Jacob discuss a riotous, unique piece of storytelling theatre about the wild world of pro wrestling. Kristoffer Diaz's play "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" is hilarious and pointed, making a strong case for pro wrestling as entrancing populist theatre - and reflecting on the potential dangers of the form. Listen in! -----------------------------...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss a spooky, mind-bending play by American powerhouse Lucas Hnath. The Thin Place is a masterful storytelling experience. Simultaneously haunting and thought provoking, Hnath's minimalist piece offers complex discussions about the nature of storytelling. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob revisit one of the greatest dramatists of all time: Tennessee Williams. His play The Night of the Iguana is a poignant, painful, sincerely moving portrait of lost souls. Set on the veranda of a tropical resort, Williams' play demonstrates his powerful skill. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob dive into a wild romp of a musical, with a satiric twist. The Drowsy Chaperone (Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Bob Martin, and Don McKellar) is about a wedding gone wrong and includes a series of hilarious hijinks! But it's also about the lonely, isolated person listening to the musical on his record player. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please...

No Script returns with Season 10! In this episode, Jackson and Jacob discuss the provocative new Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham by James Ijames. A contemporary adaption of Hamlet, Fat Ham is witty and engaging - a lovely way to honor the story of Hamlet while, simultaneously, playing on our expectations of it. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon...

In the final episode of Season 9, Jackson and Jacob discuss an incredible piece of drama from contemporary American playwright Robert O'Hara. "Barbecue" is a dramaturgical gem, with several unique theatrical features blended into a stand-alone piece of theatre. Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss a classic American play. Clifford Odets' "Waiting for Lefty" is a stunningly relevant piece from 1935. Listen in as J&J chat about its remarkable theatrical maturity.  ------------------------------ 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/n...

"After the Revolution" by Amy Herzog is part of a pair of plays about the same family. Jackson and Jacob discussed the other play ("4000 Miles") early in No Script's history. This week, they discuss "After the Revolution." 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://...

In the final episode of this season's themed month, Jackson and Jacob revisit Stephen Adly Guirgis' play Between Riverside and Crazy. Jackson, now having listened to the LATW production of the play, brings a new view on the incredible performability of Guirgis' work.  Listen to the original episode on Between Riverside and Crazy here: https://noscriptpodcast.podbean.com/e/s8e1-between-riverside-an...

This week, Jacob is joined by special guest Michael Legg to discuss Lucas Hnath's play The Christians. Legg was part of the Humana Festival at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville when The Christians was commissioned.  This discussion is part of Season 9's themed month "New Chats, Old Scripts." Each week, No Script discusses a play that has previously appeared on the podcast, coming at the script fro...

In the second episode of the Season 9 Themed Month, "New Chats, Old Scripts," Jackson and Jacob have an abbreviated follow up conversation about Jaclyn Backhaus' play "Men on Boats."  Listen to the original episode here:  https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-edww2-10ecd71 https://open.spotify.com/episode/4pDBHql3WHSz6Q0nth3pnL?si=IZk1kVtaR7WpBH0yu0X7bQ ------------------------------ Please consider suppo...

In the first episode of the Season 9 Themed Month, Jackson and Jacob have a "new chat" about an "old script." In this month, J&J have short, follow-up conversations covering scripts already discussed in the previous 8 seasons of No Script. This week: "Dinner with Friends" by Donald Margulies, which Jacob directed earlier this summer.  Listen to the original episode here:  https://noscriptpodcast.p...

This week on No Script, a satiric, wildly comedic script by Burglars of Hamm, a writing/performing collective. The musical follows (very loosely) the life of John B. Watson, a scientist whose theory of behaviorism changed psychology as we know it. There's also a talking rat......... Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob talk about one of the most influential playwrights in history: Anton Chekhov. His play "Uncle Vanya" is a brilliant tightrope between comedy and tragedy. The story of a barely-scraping-by farm community visited by an urban professor, "Uncle Vanya" is also a classic "stranger comes to town" play. Listen in as J&J discuss Chekhov! ---------------------------...

It's a play about life... or death? Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play Everybody is an adaption of the famous morality play "Everyman." In his modernization, Jacobs-Jenkins uses form as a storytelling technique, employing several incredible theatrical devices. Listen in as Jackson and Jacob chat about this smart, engaging script.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon....

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob take on a challenging play about relevant contemporary issues. "Admissions," by Joshua Harmon, is a biting comedy about hypocrisy, and what happens when the things you believe in directly impact you. Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can c...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss one of the most famous novel adaptions in recent memory. Simon Stephens' play "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is an adaption of the best seller novel of the same name by Mark Haddon. Listen in as J&J chat about the theatrical methods Simons used in adapting the novel. ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us...

On this week's episode, Jackson and Jacob take on Karen Zacarías' neighbor-comedy "Native Gardens." The play swept the nation before the pandemic, both for its chuckle-inducing portrayal of warring neighbors and its subtle political commentary. Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast ca...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss the work of a theatre legend. Harold Pinter is one of the most profoundly impactful playwrights in history, and his play "No Man's Land" gained recent popularity thanks to incredible performances by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. Listen in as J&J unpack the deep mysteries of this great script by an all-time great playwright.  -------------------...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss Philip Kan Gotanda's play The Wash. In The Wash, Gotanda uses significant props and meaningful actions masterfully. Listen in to hear J&J geek out about Gotanda's skill as a dramatist.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue.  https:/...

After a long holiday weekend, No Script returns with a script about another fall holiday... in Ireland! Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa" is a memory play about an impoverished family in Ireland, and the joy and sorrows of their lives. Listen in!  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can cont...

Dance Nation by Clare Barron is a visceral, imaginative look back at adolescence. Listen in as Jackson and Jacob celebrate Barron's use of magical realism to offer an uncompromising reflection on the nature - and cost - of excellence.   ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue.  https:...

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob double up on musicals. Last week was a fruitful discussion of a musical from the early 80s..... and this week is more of the same! J&J talk about "Little Shop of Horrors" by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Listen in! ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast...