SHOP TALK

Nicole is joined by THE PLEASURE TRIALS playwright Sarah Saltwick, plus the Dramashop cast and crew of the show's staged reading, Director Britty Lea, Stage Manager Abby McCauley, Alycia Oliver (Callie Young), Char Newport (Dr. Rachel Milan), and Rosie Pregler Hitt (Narrator). Watch the Shop Talk live stream here: https://tinyurl.com/76h999yt, and visit www.dramashop.org/donate to become a Supporting Player today.

Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock sits down with Gretchen Kerr to talk theatre in process. Gretchen made her Dramashop directorial debut with A PUBLIC READING OF AN UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY ABOUT THE DEATH OF WALT DISNEY. She has portrayed Helen Bechdel in Dramashop's production of FUN HOME, Mother in NEVERMORE, has been seen in many productions at the Erie Playhouse, and holds a BFA in Theater and Music from Otterbein University. She is currently Administrator and Communications Coordinator at Saint George Church. And she sings. In the podcast.

Lights, camera, Thiems! Dramashop Artistic Director Zach Flock chats with the stars of our next production, Kate and Patrick Thiem. For two nights only, Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 8 pm, Dramashop’s own Kate & Patrick Thiem will perform a live concert including some of their favorite songs, direct from the Dramashop stage. With their signature wit and incredible voices, the Thiems kick off our tenth season with this unique live stream event. Performing live from our stage, we’ll welcome audiences into the theatre – albeit via live stream – for the first time in more than six months. Kate and Pat will be accompanied from a safe distance by Michael Malthaner on keyboard and Robert Martin on guitar. A bare-bones tech crew, all wearing masks, will bring this event live from Dramashop to wherever you are. Tickets: dramashop.org. September 18th and 19th, 2020 @ 8 PM

This week we have a special edition of Shop Talk featuring the team at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre working on putting up a very unique piece of theater as part of a summer tradition at the university, Shakespeare Summer Nights. Dramashop Artistic Director Zach Flock talks with the group behind TWELFTH NIGHT; an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, directed and adapted by GU alumna Jenna Sulecki. The cast features Gannon students, faculty, and alumni in the cast and on the creative team as well as guests from all across the U.S. - and according to their own description, you'll be welcomed to Illyria; a new social media platform- sort of like MySpace meets Tumblr on which different characters host meetings and you, the audience, gets to view. There has been a shipwreck. Viola is lost. She creates a new profile in order to survive this wild and new online world. The world of Illyria utilizes other forms of social media technology with homages being paid to TikTok and Instagram, Venmo and Twitch. Watch as Viola and the rest of the characters play with identity- online and IRL, and find love and loss in the process. The event will be streamed live on Schuster’s Facebook page at 8pm July 27, 28, 29, and August 3, 4, and 5th at www.facebook.com/gannonschustertheatre. This streaming is free but donations can be made at schustertipjar.com at any time. Donations will be split evenly amongst the cast as well as a portion of these donations will go to Black Lives Matter, an organization that the cast and production team feels strongly about supporting. Also, there will be Shakespeare Summer Nights T-shirts available for purchase online featuring quotes from the show. All proceeds from the T-shirt sales go towards supporting the Schuster Theatre. Shop Talk this season is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

Nicole, Zach and Alaina welcome the country's most-produced playwright and author of SILENT SKY - among many others - Lauren Gunderson, to SHOP TALK LIVE! Lauren joins us to discuss her career and process as a playwright, theatre in the age of COVID-19, the importance of making the theatre an affirming space (not just a safe space), and more. Hosted by Nicole Lossie and featuring Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock and creative adviser Alaina Manchester, SHOP TALK LIVE! is recorded live in front of a studio audience at Dramashop (or, in this case, via Facebook Live), featuring conversations with local theatre experts and members of the Dramashop community. This season of SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

This week's episode features a special edition: our latest Director Emeritus lecture with Fr. Shawn Clerkin. The topic: Pandemic: Asserting Community Creativity, originally recorded and broadcast via Facebook Live. Where we are with COVID-19 has a lot of us thinking about the role of theatre and the arts in challenging times, and here Fr. Shawn discusses the impact of pandemic on performing arts’ relationship to the spiritual life of the community and its perceptions of reality and absurdity. Fr. Shawn Clerkin holds a Master of Divinity from Bexley Hall Seminary, a Master of Fine Arts / Theatre Directing from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Bachelor of Arts / Theatre & Communication Arts from Gannon University. SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

Zach Flock and Alaina Manchester talk with Jessica Annunziata about - among many other things - devised theater, a long history of Shakespeare performances, and moving from working from a place of fear to a place of joy. SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

Go behind the scenes of SILENT SKY, Dramashop's first-ever live-streamed staged reading, as members of the cast and crew talk about the unique experience of rehearsing and performing live from their homes. SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

PART THREE: William Shakespeare was undoubtedly one of history’s greatest playwrights, which is why there’s still so much to say about his works 400 years later. Over this series of three episodes, our panel of experts talk about their experiences with the Bard, from their first introductions to directing and performing his works; and they discuss why the works of William Shakespeare continue to resonate today.

PART TWO: William Shakespeare was undoubtedly one of history’s greatest playwrights, which is why there’s still so much to say about his works 400 years later. Over this series of three episodes, our panel of experts talk about their experiences with the Bard, from their first introductions to directing and performing his works; and they discuss why the works of William Shakespeare continue to resonate today.

William Shakespeare was undoubtedly one of history’s greatest playwrights, which is why there’s still so much to say about his works 400 years later. Over the next three episodes, our panel of experts talk about their experiences with the Bard, from their first introductions to directing and performing his works; and they discuss why the works of William Shakespeare continue to resonate today.

This time, we’re talking about directing for theatre, and we’re assembling (remotely) a great panel: - Kate Neubert Lechner, Executive Director of the Erie Playhouse - Dr. Brett Johnson, Artistic Director, Mercyhurst Institute for Arts & Culture, and Director of the Mercyhurst Theatre program - Rev. Shawn Clerkin, Co-Director of the School of Communication and the Arts at Gannon University and Dramashop Director Emeritus Hosted by Nicole Lossie and featuring Dramashop Artistic Director Zach Flock, SHOP TALK LIVE! is recorded live in front of a (virtual) studio audience, featuring conversations with local theatre experts and members of the Dramashop community. The live recording will be edited for time and content and posted as an episode of our podcast. Sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock and SHOP TALK producer Nicole Lossie sit down with the cast of GLORIA on opening night - just minutes before curtain - to talk about the implications (and benefits) of a short rehearsal period, why actors return to Dramashop and what you can expect from jumping off a diving board without goggles. Originally released: February 2019

Family dysfunction at a holiday gathering. Parents treating their adult children like kids. Adult children treating their parents like kids. Secrets kept, secrets revealed, and, crap, where did grandma go? For the Blake family of Pennsylvania, Thanksgiving in Manhattan throws the family into turmoil, and as the play unfolds in real time, things may never be the same. Laughter, tears and enough wine to make it through a family gathering are just a few of the things you’ll see on stage in THE HUMANS. Originally released: January 2019

In this episode, Zach talks to Alaina Manchester and Shawn Clerkin about Gannon University's bold, captivating original production, APE/ESSENCE. From a novel by Aldous Huxley to a treatment by Clerkin and finally, an ever-evolving devised piece by Manchester and cast, the result is a dangerously relevant theatrical experience. Originally Released: January 2018

Zach Flock, Alaina Manchester and Michael Haas discuss our production of MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY, what influenced the production, the evolution of storytelling, the death of Homer Simpson, the journey of devised theatre, masks and much. much more. Originally Released: March 2018

Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock talks with associate artistic director Alaina Manchester about Dramashop's THE LARAMIE PROJECT and TROJAN WOMEN at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre. Originally Released: September, 2018

Real vs. absurd, what is HIR (and hir), and humanity's complete inability to communicate. On this episode, Nicole Lossie talks with HIR director Megan Hamm and Dramashop associate artistic director Alaina Manchester about gender identity, a little bit of politics and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Originally released: November, 2018

In our second remote episode during quarantine, Zach brings together the cast of Dramashop's very first production - Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty: Alaina Manchester, Dom Del Greco, Evan O'Polka and Jess Flock.

Shawn, Alaina, Zach and Nicole talk about things that go wrong on stage, the importance - and beauty - of ensemble work in theatre, undergarment preferences while on stage and what we're missing due to the current pandemic. Join us.

Nicole & Zach sit down with Alaina Manchester, Dramashop Creative Adviser and Director of Performing & Visual Arts at Gannon University, Emily Cassano, Theatre Director at Penn State Behrend, and Domenic Del Greco, Youtheatre / Education Director at the Erie Playhouse to talk about the evolution of the theatre culture surrounding intimacy and combat on stage. How are they similar? How does one train? Why is this such an important conversation? Good lessons for actors - and directors - at all levels. Have something you'd like to hear the Dramashop team discuss? Let us know. Follow our social media @dramashoperie or email info@dramashop.org.

Nicole Lossie is joined by Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock and creative adviser Alaina Manchester to talk about getting started in theatre, why it's okay to feel your feelings and what it means to say "you can't do theatre wrong."

Join us for a live recording session of SHOP TALK, the official Dramashop podcast, hosted by Nicole Lossie. In this episode, we’re talking theatre in process. What does it mean? What exactly is our process at Dramashop, and how does process differ from person to person? Nicole talks with Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS actors Nora Schillinger (board member) and Michael Haas (director of operations & outreach), and creative team members Jessica Annunziata and Adam Rossi. Plus, we’ll open it up to questions and comments from the audience during our first ever SHOP TALK LIVE!

"Am I falling into nothingness or flying into something so sublime?" Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock discusses FUN HOME with assistant director Patrick Thiem, music director Kate Thiem and SHOP TALK producer Nicole Lossie. Tickets for this and all performances available at dramashop.org.