THOUGHTS ON THEATRE, CULTURE & LIFE

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with Vernon Dickson,  Associate Professor of English at Florida International University about Shakespeare's problematic play The Taming of the Shrew. VERNON'S BIO Vernon Dickson is Associate Professor of English at Florida International University, where he recently served as Director of the Literature and Film Programs. Hi...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with Jemma Alix Levy,  Theatre Director and Associate Professor of Acting and Directing at Washington and Lee University about Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. JEMMA'S BIO Jemma Alix Levy is an Associate Professor of Acting and Directing at Washington and Lee University and has directed professionally for over 25 years...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with Stephen Burdman,  founder of New York Classical Theatre about producing and directing Shakespeare's problematic play The Taming of the Shrew. STEPHEN'S BIO Stephen Burdman founded New York Classical Theatre in 2000 and is the vision behind the creation of Panoramic Theatre. Originally from Los Angeles, he earned a bache...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with Carla Della Gatta PhD,  theatre historian and performance theorist on Shakespeare's problematic play The Taming of the Shrew. CARLA'S BIO Carla Della Gatta  is a theatre historian and performance theorist whose research focuses on adaptation, ethnicity, and aurality. She is Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with Alisa Solomon, professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, writer, and dramaturg about Fornes' relationship with Susan Sontag. ALISA SOLOMON'S BIO Alisa Solomon is a teacher, writer, and dramaturg in New York City. She is a professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University,...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with Alice Reagan, Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Directing at Barnard College and a seasoned director of the plays of Maria Irene Fornes, about her directing practice and her current project, directing Fornes' play Evelyn Brown: A Diary at La Mama (May 19, 2023 - Jun 4, 2023, https://www.lamama.org/shows/evelyn...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard talks with celebrated director Stevie Walker-Webb about all things Fornes, including Stevie's direction of her adaptation of Calderon de la Barca's  Life is a Dream  at Baltimore Center Stage (May 4 - 21, 2023, https://www.centerstage.org ) . STEVIE WALKHER-WEBB'S BIO Stevie Walker-Webb is an Obie award winning Director, Playw...

Welcome to “From Christmas Tree Farm to Stand,”   Thinking Cap Theatre's Four-Part Podcast Series inspired by interviews and site visits with Christmas Tree Farmers around the state of Florida.  In this episode Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard, Ph. D., talks with Farmer Tom,  from Santa's Christmas Tree Farm in Eustis, Florida. These interviews were used as pr...

Welcome to “From Christmas Tree Farm to Stand,”   Thinking Cap Theatre's Four-Part Podcast Series inspired by interviews and site visits with Christmas Tree Farmers around the state of Florida.  In this episode Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard, Ph. D., talks with husband and wife family farmers, Bo and Karen Salis from A Southern CHRISTmas Tree Farm in Hilliard Flo...

Welcome to “From Christmas Tree Farm to Stand,”   Thinking Cap Theatre's Four-Part Podcast Series inspired by interviews and site visits with Christmas Tree Farmers around the state of Florida.  In this episode Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard, Ph. D., talks with Franco and Robert Camacho, father and son farmers from Bavarian Christmas Tree Farm in Tallahassee, Flo...

Welcome to “From Christmas Tree Farm to Stand,”   Thinking Cap Theatre's Four-Part Podcast Series inspired by interviews and site visits with Christmas Tree Farmers around the state of Florida.  In this episode Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard, Ph. D., talks with Cathryn and John Gregory from Unicorn Hill Christmas Tree Farm in Gainesville Florida, a couple who has...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard Ph. D talks with Matthew Sturgis, author of biography Oscar Wilde: A Life . MATTHEW STURGIS BIO Matthew Sturgis is an historian and biographer, the author of Acclaimed Lives of Aubrey Beardsley and Walter Sickert , as well as Passionate Attitudes , a history of the English Decadence of the 1890s. He has also written a study of Biblical archae...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard Ph. D talks with Helena Gurfinkel, Wilde Scholar and  Professor of English at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; HELENA GURFINKEL BIO Helena Gurfinkel is Professor of English at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has published widely on Victorian literature (particularly the fin de siècle ), contemporary literature, l...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard Ph. D talks with Neil Mckenna, author of The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde.   NEIL MCKENNA BIO Neil Mckenna is a journalist, author and activist. He was born in Manchester but now lives in Norfolk wit his husband, Robert and their cat, Lupin. ABOUT THE BOOK In The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde , Neil McKenna provides stunning new insight into...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard Ph. D talks with Caridad Svich, playwright, songwriter, editor, translator and mentee of Maria Irene Fornes. CARIDAD SVICH'S BIO  As a playwright, songwriter, editor and translator living between many cultures, including inherited ones, the idea of departure has always been not only an actual or metaphorical basis for writing the work, b...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard PhD talks with Vanessa Garcia a Miami-based multidisciplinary writer and creator working as a screenwriter, novelist, playwright, and journalist. VANESSA GARCIA'S BIO Vanessa Garcia is a multidisciplinary writer and creator working as a screenwriter, novelist, playwright, and journalist. She has written for Sesame Street, Caillou, and is a co...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard PhD talks with Lillian Manzor Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures and Hemispheric Caribbean Studies at the University of Miami and Founding Director of the Cuban Theater Digital Archive. LILLIAN MANZOR's BIO Dr. Lillian Manzor is Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures and Hemispheric Caribbean Studies at t...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard PhD talks with Migdalia Cruz master playwright and mentee of Maria Irene Fornes. MIGDALIA CRUZ's BIO MIGDALIA CRUZ is a Bronx-born, award-winning, multi-platform, playwright, lyricist, translator, and librettist of more than 60 works for stage, radio, film, TV, and podcast, performed in 150 venues in 40 cities in 12 countries. An alumna of Ne...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard Ph. D talks with Brian Herrera, Associate Professor of Theatre at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and Anne Garcia-Romero, Associate Professor of Theatre in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. BRIAN HERERRA's BIO Brian Herrera is, by turns, a writer, teacher and scholar - pres...

Thinking Cap Theatre's Artistic Director Nicole Stodard Ph. D talks with Gwendolyn Alker Associate Arts Professor and Director of Theatre Studies in the Department of Drama, Tisch/NYU about Fornes' legacy, identity politics, feminism, the landmark play Fefu and Her Friends and Alker's latest work on Fornes' Evelyn Brown. GWENDOLYN ALKER'S BIO Gwendolyn Alker is an Associate Arts Professor and Dire...