Creating independent theater is hard. Creating independent theater with no money is harder. For nearly a decade Aaron Garrett and Steven Saltsman have been making original theater with no funding, no help, and only the barest tracings of a plan. In Production Meeting they discuss the challenges they're facing right now as they make vital, original theater and how they plan to solve them. Along the way they intend to talk about everything from conception of the show to cleaning up the lobby afterward.
If we want people to gather in a dark room and watch Start Your Endings together we're going to have to set some money aside to fund the dang thing. Aaron and Steven talk about the different avenues they could take and settle on a work-intensive and risky strategy (but what else where they going to do, these boys love the grindstone.)
Aaron and Steven talk some long and mid-term goals and even manage to make one! It's an exciting day.
Incessant creative fellow Jacob Godbey joins us to discuss recently ending his long-running podcast, Ginger on Ginger, how to know when to move on from projects, and where to focus one's time. You can learn more about Jacob at godbeycreative.com and reach out to us at contact@pronoiatheater.com
A rather delayed look at thoughts after the first reading of Pronoia's work-in-progress, Start Your Endings.
In the first of hopefully many interviews with non-theater artists we talk today with Riley Smith about her journey to self-publish her novel rather than go through traditional channels. It's a great talk to listen to if you're looking for inspiration to be your own amplifier. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com Support the show at paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo:@pronoia
The year is dead, long live the year! Aaron and Steven gather together to set goals and intentions for 2022 since it seems like its going to stick around for awhile. Aaron's goals: Four or more non-Aaron directors for Space Train Get a hold, clean-up, and formalize our digital presence Receive 26 rejections for grants, plays festivals etc. (reach out and apply to more things.) Produce Start Your Endings (or abandon the project) Film four or more video sketches. Pay off company debt. Challenge from Steven: Cancel or produce something for purely selfish reasons. Steven's Goals: Establish medium-to-long term goals for the company. Perform at two new venues Develop classes and workshops Experiment with forms Finish, continue, and plan Space Train Seasons 2, 3, and 4 Explore teaching Realize a full production Host more theatrical parties Pay performers for four or more productions. Challenge from Aaron: Have a higher excitement gate for things you agree to, and be more decisive in what you reject. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com Support the show at pronoiatheater.com/store, paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @ Pronoia
Many moons ago Sandra and Aaron sat down for her to ask some burning questions about online production in general and Space Train in particular. What begins as a normal discussion about trains in space soon blossoms into a dark gazing out a window into a torrent of content and obligation which never ceases. It's a fun time. Reach out to contact@pronoiaitheater.com Support the show at pronoiatheater.com/store, paypal.me/pronoiatheater, or venmo: @pronoia.
Last week we spun up a whole new universe of characters in the form of Space Hospital! The process mirrored the initial creation of Space Train in many ways and since we didn't have a podcast then we thought we'd walk you through how everyone's favorite(?) irresponsible doctors were birthed forth! Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com Support the show at Pronoiatheater.com/store, venmo @Pronoia or paypal.me/Pronoiatheater.
While Aaron took a week off (and was trapped in Nashville) he takes a short moment to remember some meaningful theatrical experiences from the year.
A few weeks ago we awoke to an unsettling discovery: unapproved ads on all our podcasts! Aaron talks about the perils of relying on free software, podcasting solutions available to Pronoia, and what he hopes to do with the podcasts in the future. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com
Aaron and Steven gather together to begin in medias res and discuss this year in Pronoia Theater. Come for the moderately detailed financial report, stay for the two hosts breaking down a bit towards the end! Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com Support the show at Pronoiatheater.com/store, paypal.me/pronoiatheater, or venmo: @pronoia
Aaron and Steven prep for the end of the year by talking about how to gauge the success of the community, how to serve, it, and who ends up owning the art Pronoia Theater creates! Support the show at Pronoiatheater.com/store , paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia
It's time to have other people say words! Start Your Endings has gone through a few revisions and we've now held a reading! Hear bits from the entire show and some of the thoughts from the cast and audience designed to hone to drive this show to morose perfection. Thank you to Kacie Adams, Dano Colón, Callina Anderson, Jessica Kelly Garrett, Qasim Makkani, Todd Thigpen, and Clarity Leigh Welch for acting in the reading, and to Ian Mauzy and Zachary Storz for lending their thoughts afterwords. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com Support the show at Pronoiatheater.com/store, paypal.me/Pronoiatheater, or venmo: @Pronoia
All works benefits from revision and the creative process demands iteration. Since you are but a single person (for now, any day I'm sure I'll transcend into a gestalt entity,) how do you get thoughts that aren't natively yours? You ask for notes. (you already knew that, it's the name of the episode.) Good notes can be hard to find: some people need coaxing to really give you what you need, and then even if they sometimes you're too defensive and you shut down the conversation just as its beginning. As Aaron faces a looming pile of notes he shares his thoughts on how to solicit good notes, and how to prevent yourself from getting in the way. Support Production Meeting at Pronoiatheater.com/Store or give directly to paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or venmo: @Pronoia.
If we want our work to be meaningful it must first be remembered. After a bit of catch-up and new business Aaron and Steven discuss what ways a work may be made more memorable and what can be done to strengthen that part of their work. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com
The first step to addressing any problem is acknowledging its existence, but as artists, people, and marketers there are a lot of pressures to always present a flawless front. In this epsiode Aaron takes aim at three fairly major issues he finds in his own practice as he explores fears that keep him from reaching higher, focusing more, and pushing forward. We hope you still like him. Support the show at paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com
We wrap up our four festival tour in Green Bay, Wisconsin with friends Tommy Spears, Ben Hudson, Ben Seidensticker, and Claire Kannapell. We chat about Peter Pan, geological ages of improv, and what we learned from this busy travel schedule. If you want to support the show you can do so at paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia
Whether one is designing a cult or just wants to amortize artwork merchandising is a great additional revenue stream for an arts business and for awareness of the company. As with everything business related Aaron and Steven aren't good at it. But they're trying. They talk about their first steps into this world and where they're going with it. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com Support the show at paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or venmo @Pronoia
As the leaves turn (not in Texas) and 2021 dies its slow, painful death Aaron and Steven reflect on the last few months of business and how they're contiuing to meet their goals before briefly prepping for the future. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com If you'd like to support the show you can do so at venmo @pronoia or paypal.me/pronoiatheater!
Eat some haunted brownies and come with us on a whirlwind tour of Oak Ridge, Tennessee! We were there for the inaugural Secret City Improv Festival and hear from Ben, Bailey, Kacie, and the rest of the gang (Steven and Aaron,) about their experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Contact@pronoiatheater.com
It's been awhile since we talked. Aaron gives general updates about what Pronoia has been up to the last month before diving deep into the current state, and massive leaps forward, the break-up show has taken in the last three months.
We went to Omaha!... Eventually. In our first improv-festival since 2020 Aaron and Steven take a trip to the middle of the country and see what's funny there.
Time constraints sometimes lead to work being released under adverse conditions. Whether it is rushed deadlines, or a lack of time to fully edit, this work may be a little rough around the edges, which can somtimes lead to exciting moments of uniqueness, or mushy underbaked drivel. The latest episode of Space Train (Rook of the Year) was the product of unclear goals and a rushed writing process. It hasn't aired yet, but Aaron is feeling uncertain about how he feels and he talks about that process in this week's Production Meeting!
Chelsea Curto joins Aaron to discuss the seven plays contained in Summer 2021's DPS Book Club. What did they think about this collection of plays about broken people? Listen to find out!
Our conversation with Kaitlyn Zoeller and Sandra Peck Ramsey continues as we move on from the themes of Space Train season on and the threads season two may have in store! We have shirts and bags now! Show your allegiance to the conspiracy of Pronoia at pronoiatheater.com/store. If you want to support the show for the pure love of it you have it within you to do so! Paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or Venmo: @Pronoia! Contact@Pronoiatheater.com
Production Meeting welcomes Space Train castmembers and literary bon vivants Kaitlyn Zoeller and Sandra Peck Ramsey to the show to discuss the themes present in Space Train season one and whether Aaron's opinion ever matters.
Writing the finale of a year-long project like Space Train is daunting, crippling even. In order to successfully realize this two-parter. Aaron and Steven discuss the writing process and how they may use those lessons in future projects.
Let's hope Chelsea doesn't listen to recorded episodes. After a month of jiggery-pokery Aaron and Steven actually get down to business for what turns out to be a rather full September. Brief mentions of ongoing projects are surrounded on all sides by the practical discussions of programming upcoming live shows and planning to travel for the month of Festivals (tivals... ivals.. als.)
Aaron took a trip to Seattle and New Mexico! What theater did he encounter there and what lessons did he learn?
Friend and confidant Ben Seidensticker joins the show and he and Aaron swap opinions on sketch comedy, how to structure sketch comedy curriculum, and how to encourage people to write more. Eventually you can hear Ben's mystery podcast, but we don't know when or what it's called (that's all part of it.) Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! Support the show at venmo: @Pronoia or paypal.me/pronoiatheater
Actress Kacie Adams joins us to discuss auditions: are they useful, can they be better, and when do they provoke Kacie to weep openly. Learn more about Kacie nowhere, for she is a woman of mystery. Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! Support the show at venmo: @Pronoia or paypal.me/pronoiatheater
Steven's a Trafmalogorian, and theater business as well. Steven and Aaron check-in on the break-up show roughly halfway through it's initial writing process. What's working, what's not, and where should they go from here? Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! Support the show at venmo: @Pronoia or paypal.me/pronoiatheater
To exist, theaters need money. This money can come from outside the organization in the form of its owners supporting it directly, but most people would prefer the the company be able to support itself. Today on Production Meeting we explore the seven ways theaters can make money, the trade-offs inherent in pursuing any of them to the detriment of the others, and how Pronoia interacts with each of those seven methods. Production Meet is the only show about producing independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have. If you want to support the show you can do so at paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia. Reach out at contact@pronoiatheater.com
At the beginning of the year Steven and Aaron set out ten goals each for Pronoia's coming year. Now halfway through, how are they doing? They discuss what goals no longer seem relevant, what they can cross off, and why Aaron has a hard time beleving that people respect him. Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have. You can support the show at paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @Pronoia.
June was a month chock-a-block with shows from Pronoia Theater! Between our first live performance in over a year to the ambitious God Kings III, we did a lot of things in a short amount of time. Aaron and Steven discuss community, writing, being rusty, and gauging audience reaction as they dive into this important month in the company. Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have. If you'd like to support the show you can do so at paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia. Reach out at contact@pronoiatheater.com
After slaying the 2020 DPS Book club in one swoop Aaron takes a quarterly approach and limits himself to talking about only seven plays this time around. It's not without its technical pitfalls though!
Time for a new kind of Double Platinum! While most of these episodes exploring the creation of a new sketch show are retrospective: explaining the process of coming up with the idea and how it turned out, this episode sees Aaron narrating his outline process as it happens in real (edited) time!
We interrupt your previously scheduled Production Meeting to bring you breaking news: we’re doing a live show! On June 5th we’re joining Ophelia’s Rope in a benefit for Cone Man Running in a real place with actual people. BUT we don’t know what we’re doing yet, so Aaron and Steven take an hour to discuss what they can offer to this entertainment starved crowd. Lots of ideas are thrown around, we land on the one that costs Aaron the most and everyone leaves home different than they were before. Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have. If you’d like to support the show you can do so at paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia.
Double Platinum is the series within Production Meeting that tracks the writing process of a show in the middle of the writing process! The Stunt show is slowly adding scenes. Aaron discusses the thoughts behind the second sketch based off the Barenaked Ladie's song Alcohol and how to back into an idea that still fits your theme. Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! If you want to support Pronoia Theater you can do so at paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or venmo: @Pronoia
Before an episode of Space Train gets written Aaron and Steven outline it to make sure the story works. Join them in outlining an upcoming episode from season 2!
As in-person restrictions are relaxed it’s time for Pronoia to look at returning to the live stage. An opportunity recently came up, and Aaron discusses it and Steven’s concerns in this week’s Production Meeting. You can support Production Meeting at paypal.me/pronoiatheater or venmo: @pronoia.
In the last year the barriers have shifted in theater: what was once simple is not unreasonable, what was once impossible is now commonplace. Along with that new reality producers and directors must shift their thinking. We bring on Rebecca Bernstein of Zoom Shakespeare Productions and Rachel Blomstrum of the Quarantine Queens Theatre Company to discuss how their approach to theater has changed and how it will continue changing. Follow Zoom Shakespeare Productions Follow Quarantine Queens Theatre Company or contribute to their Patreon Reach out to us at Contact@pronoiatheater.com If you want to support the show you can do so at paypal.me/Pronoiatheater or venmo: @Pronoia
In addition to scripted material Pronoia develops new improvised forms. We set out to create a new, online-focused form that would take advantage of the medium instead of being hindered by it. These thoughts would coalesce into Wallflower. How did it go? Listen as Steven and Aaron hash out the details during the first rehearsal and their post-mortem after the performance.
Production Meeting is the only show about producing indepedent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! Boiling Point Players is an exciting theater company dedicated to bringing women to stage. Autumn Clack and Ruth McCleskey join the program to talk about their company, their annual cabaret, and why you shouldn't allow work from all over the country.
Production Meeting is the only show about creating independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have. As people who create independent theater it's important to keep abreast of what's going on in the larger theater world, and a good way to do that is by reading current plays. Dramatists Play Service is one of the larger play licenserers in America and they have a book club which sends you seven plays every quarter. Aaron subscribed to the DPS book club in 2020 and he's here to tell you what he thought of it, who he thinks it's for, and what can be learned from this group of 27- er, 28 plays.
Production Meeting is the only show about producing independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! Pitcher's Mound is a live workshopping show. Usually the actors aren't allowed to give their opinions on the material, but now they are! Listen to Steven Saltsman, Kathryn Noser, Clarity Leigh Welch, and Diana Alcaraz talk about the scripts by Ben Seidensticker, Aaron Garrett, Natalie Vaughn, and Andrea Santoni they just performed in.
Production Meeting is the only show about producing independent theater wherever you are with whatever you have! Anytime you plan to do more than one production you create meaning between the shows; you create a season. Aaron and Steven have planned many seasons at Pronoia Theater and before at previous institutions, and they usually do so behind closed doors, but not today! See the two fellows plan out the shows and podcasts Pronoia will put out online April through June of 2021, and through it their goals and values. Since it is the end of the quarter they also check in with their 2021 goals and see how that's going for them.
For 2020 Aaron joined the DPS Book Club: a service which sends seven plays from the Dramatists Play Service library every quarter, both new and old. Aaron spent the last three weeks catching up on all twenty-eight plays from 2020, and he's here to rank them in the order of what he which he would most like to see produced. Reach out to contact@pronoiatheater.com
After many weeks of talking about it, a delayed premiere, and a cool-down after the premiere we bring the saga of Back to the Normal to a close… or do we? Aaron and Steven are joined by Dennis Budde to discuss the production process of Back to the Normal, how a theater company approaches a short film, as well as the elations and disappointments of the final product. Go to Pronoiatheater.com to find the short film and our original interview with Dennis!
Have you ever wondered what goes into creating the sound effects for an episode of Space Train? Aaron does a live walkthrough as he finds the sounds that bring “The Goodbye Girl” to life.
Aaron takes a few minutes to explain why he reads plays for fun and what he gets out of the quixotic practice.
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