TALKBACK

In advance of the 2022 Tony Awards next Sunday, June 12th TALKBACK is thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with the creatives behind the Tony nominated musical A Strange Loop. Michael R. Jackson, the mind behind the Pulitzer Prize winning musical, and Rona Siddiqui, the show's music director, chat with Christine about what inspires them to create and act in service of all dramatic writers by serving on the board of the Dramatists Guild of America. Michael shares his love of soap operas and Rona tells the story of how she went from training as a classical pianist to a musical theater composer. You won't want to miss it.  Dramatic writers start their journey with the blank page. In our fourth season we wanted to honor the craft and inspiration it takes to bring stories to the stage and honor the service of our DG Council members that give their time to make the world for all writers a better place. Our remaining episodes will premiere starting in October 2022. Join us as we talk with theatrical giants Ahrens and Flaherty, Branden Jacobs Jenkins, Charlayne Woodard and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final episode of Season 3 Christine sits down with celebrated director Leigh Silverman about her ongoing commitment to form teams that have intersectional inclusion. Leigh shares candidly both her own efforts to create parity on her teams, and her personal learning curve. Leigh will be a part of New York City's Vineyard Theater 2021/2022 season. Visit (vineyardtheatre.org) TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America. It's produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and me, Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Delaney Pruyn mixes our show. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley. The Dramatist Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. This is our final episode for the season, but we'll be back next fall. Who should we speak to next? What topics should we cover? Let us know by using hashtag #DGTALKBACK and as always to be continued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Christine talks to Teresa Coleman Wash, Executive Artistic Director of Bishop Arts Theater Center in Dallas, Texas. We discuss the ways individualism and collectivism can go hand in hand in creating true community collaboration, using examples from Bishop Arts Theater Center's programming and efforts during the pandemic.  Teresa Coleman Wash is a producer, playwright, and founding artistic director for the Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC). Under her leadership, the theatre earned Theater Communications Group coveted Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, 13 Irma P. Hall Awards, approximately $4M in philanthropic support, and the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs' prestigious Stanford Award for demonstrating exemplary fiscal management. She is a National Arts Strategies fellow having studied at Harvard Business School and holds an MA in Arts Management from Goucher College. She is the recent recipient of the Irma P. Hall Theatrical Excellence award, an Obelisk Award for Visionary Arts Leadership, and the National Guild for Community Arts Education Milestone Award. Her plays have been seen in New York, Atlanta, Washington, D. C., Detroit, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) is an award-winning, multicultural, multidisciplinary arts institution with IRC 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt status. We are the recipients of the Dallas Business Journal inaugural 2021 Leaders In Diversity Award. Founded in September of 1993, our mission is to cultivate a diverse and vibrant arts community committed to social impact, while creating opportunities for local and emerging artists to develop new, contemporary, and lasting works that celebrate the diversity and resiliency of our community. We offer a full season of theater performances, jazz concerts, a speaker series, and year-round arts education programs. We are a cultural oasis for the next generation of acclaimed writers, directors, performers, and arts administrators. Governed by ten board members, we impact over 30,000 artists, art enthusiasts, and children each year via virtual and in-person seasonal performances and arts education programs. See the trailer for Profile Theater's audio production of Mlima's Tale https://profiletheatre.org/members-only/mlimas-tale-archive/ TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild. It's produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and me, Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley. Our guest producers for this episode are Michael Lew and Shellen Lubin. The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK and as always to be continued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the pandemic left so many things unsure this year, one thing was clear: connecting communities from across the world is easier than ever. In this episode, we'll hear from artistic leaders from two theater companies that approach centering artists with disabilities in different ways. Christine speaks with Nicholas Viselli from Theater Breaking Through Barriers, a company that has been doing work centering artists with disabilities since 1979 and Sarah Hom and Anna Morton from the Roundabout Theatre Company, a company who has been working hard this year to expand their programming to be more intentionally inclusive. TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America. It's produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley. Our guest producer for this episode was Anita Hollander. The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine welcomes playwrights Saviana Stanescu, Caridad Svich and recently former Artistic Director of the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe Daniel Gallant (Gallant was still the current Artistic Director at the time of this recording) to chat about ways they have helped amplify the work of immigrant artists. Self identifying "artivist" Saviana created "Liberties Daughters" a monologue series for immigrant women hosted by Nuyorican Poet's Cafe and Caridad created No Passport an unincorporated, artist-driven, grass-roots theatre alliance & press devoted to cross-cultural, Pan-American performance, theory, action, advocacy, and publication. Each discuss how the pandemic taught them to be creative in producing work online and how it lifted borders and led to new audiences. TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild. It's produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley.The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK and as always to be continued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our first episode of our third season we'll talk about the journey of bringing a culturally specific show to a predominantly white institution. Our guests are Rehana Lew Mirza, Rohi Mirza Pandya of SRC Partners and Natasha Sinha, who are working to bring the new musical Bhangin' It (book by Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew, music and lyrics by Sam Willmott) to their world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2022. Christine and our guests discuss the intricacies of telling a specific cultural story,the pitfalls of representation, and how building relationships with theaters can be the key to successfully communicating the need for cultural consultants. For more information on Bhangin' It and to purchase tickets visit: https://lajollaplayhouse.org/show/bhangin-it/ TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild. It's produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and me, Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley. Our guest producers for this episode are Michael Lew and Shellen Lubin. The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we talk about the Dramatists Guild's new Inclusion rider and the initiatives surrounding it. At the time of this recording the rider had not been released. We're happy to report that we've released the rider and you can get a copy here: https://www.dramatistsguild.com/inclusion This rider is the first of its kind to come out of the theatre industry. Our goal is to empower and encourage playwrights to advocate for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Anti-racism in our own works while collaborating with our producing partners towards these shared goals. Our guests are playwrights and DG Council members Ty Defoe and Chisa Hutchinson. TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild. It's produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and me, Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley. . The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TALKBACK returns with six new episodes on October 18 – and this season is all about collaboration! I'm your host, Christine Toy Johnson, and I can't wait to share our conversations with you. We'll be talking about bringing culturally specific shows to Predominantly White Institutions and how large institutional theaters are pivoting their focus to be more inclusive. We'll be discussing the Guild's brand-new inclusion rider, how immigrant artists have brought communities together to share their work throughout the pandemic, and so much more. Don't miss a single episode. Subscribe to The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK on the Broadway Podcast Network, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final episode of Season 2, Christine gets to chat with two longtime friends, Robert Barry Fleming and Charles Randolph-Wright about the concept of radical hospitality: the act of creating access where none existed by purposefully and actively removing barriers. Christine leads our conversation on how all artists can claim the space to tell their own stories and how radical hospitality can be extended towards the audiences for whom these stories are intended to reach.  To learn more about Charles Randolph-Wright visit: https://www.dramatistsguild.com/members/charlesrandolph-wright To learn more about Robert Barry Fleming visit: https://www.actorstheatre.org/bios/robert-barry-fleming/ To learn more about Actors Theater of Louisville visit: https://www.actorstheatre.org/ This episode features Charles Randolph Wright and Robert Barry Fleming. The Dramatist Guild Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Pruyn mixed our show. Our theme music was composed by Andrea Daly. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Tari Stratton, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Dramatists Guild.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The entire theater industry has found itself confronting a very specific access challenge this year. So many traditional boundaries have been broken. The fourth wall has been replaced with the Zoom screen, and the audience with a chat room. Christine chats with writers Nikkole Salter and Bianca Sams about how they’re thinking about work, audience, and opportunity - outside of the brick-and-mortar theater model with its traditional subscriber base. To learn more about Nikkole Salter visit www.nikkolesalter.com Follow them on Twitter @NikkoleSalter To learn more about Bianca Sams visit www.biancasams.com Follow them on Twitter @BiancaSams1 This episode features Nikkole Salter and Bianca Sams. The Dramatist Guild Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Pruyn mixed our show. Our theme music was composed by Andrea Daly. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Tari Stratton, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Dramatists Guild.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Age is just a number, right? Maybe not when it comes to the entertainment industry. Playwright Sarah Tuft (MARVEL-OUS MONICA; IN WHICH MONICA LEWINSKY IS A SUPERHERO HELL-BENT ON REVENGE, 110 Stories) and actor Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Edward Scissorhands) tell personal stories about their careers and how age has played a factor. Sarah tells Christine how she refused to accept the status quo and is on the executive committee at Honor Roll-an action and advocacy group of women+playwrights over 40.   To learn more about Caroline Aaron visit: https://www.dramatistsguild.com/members/carolineaaron To learn more about Sarah Tuft visit www.sarahtuft.com and follow her on Twitter @sarah_tuft To learn more about Honor Roll visit: https://www.dramatistsguild.com/thedramatist/honor-roll-we-got and follow them on Twitter @HonorRollWrites   This episode features Sarah Tuft and Caroline Aaron. The Dramatist Guild Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Pruyn mixed our show. Our theme music was composed by Andrea Daly. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Tari Stratton, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Dramatists Guild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theater is upheld as an inclusive community. So, what does meaningful inclusion look like for artists with disabilities? Gregg Mozgala and Katy Sullivan talk with Christine about their roles in Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Cost of Living, their own advocacy work, and the extra labor they take on just by stepping into the rehearsal room. To learn more about Gregg’s work visit https://queenstheatre.org/ or http://www.greggmozgala.com/ To learn more about Katy visit www.katysullivan.net You can buy a copy of Cost of Living by Martyna Majok from Dramatists Play Service This episode features Gregg Mozgala and Katy Sullivan The Dramatist Guild Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Pruyn mixed our show. Our theme music was composed by Andrea Daly. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Tari Stratton, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Dramatists Guild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is getting a Masters degree the best way to enter the theater industry? It’s a popular avenue to take, but it may not be the only way. Christine sits down with friends and colleagues KJ Sanchez and Vichet Chum as they dive into the realities of student loans, institutional racism, and a career in an insecure industry. For more information on the MFA programs discussed today please visit: Brown University MFA in Playwriting University of Texas at Austin MFA in Playwriting This episode features Vichet Chum and KJ Sanchez The Dramatist Guild Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Pruyn mixed our show. Our theme music was composed by Andrea Daly. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Tari Stratton, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Dramatists Guild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine sits down with two writers and advocates, Georgia Stitt (Snow Child, Samantha Spade, Ace Detective, Founder of Maestra) and Lloyd Suh (The Chinese Lady, Charles Francis Chan Jr.'s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery), to talk about the pipeline, who is granted access to being considered for jobs in the industry and why. You’ll hear their theories on why the pipeline is perpetuated, whose stories are being told, and how musicians, composers, and playwrights can make a more welcoming space for all.   For more on Lloyd Suh visit https://newdramatists.org/lloyd-suh For more about Georgia Stitt and Maestra visit maestramusic.org or GeorgiaStitt.com To see the Asian American Performers Action Coalition Visibility report visit http://www.aapacnyc.org/2017-2018.html   This episode features Georgia Stitt and Lloyd Suh The Dramatist Guild Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson. Robare Pruyn mixed our show. Our theme music was composed by Andrea Daly. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Tari Stratton, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the Dramatists Guild.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final episode of the season playwright Leah Nanako Winkler tells Christine about a 3Views, a new initiative to invite more voices into theater criticism. Later freelance critic and journalist Jose Solís and playwright, screenwriter, and novelist Theresa Rebeck talk about Jose’s first love- theater criticism and why boiling everything to thumbs up or down is damaging to the industry. This episode features Leah Nanako Winkler (God Said This, Season 2 New Amsterdam on NBC) Jose Solís (TCG’s Token Theatre Friends) and Theresa Rebeck (MCC’s Seared, Bernhardt/Hamlet) The Dramatist Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America and BOOM Integrated . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek, Christine Toy Johnson, directed by Sarah Storm, and edited by Jenn Grossman and Clint Rhodes of John Marshall Media. It was recorded by Eric Dabdoub for JMM. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Ralph Sevush, David Faux, Tari Stratton, Adrien Glover, Robin Lai, and John Marshall Cheary. 

In this flashback to summer episode of TALKBACK, host Christine Toy Johnson welcomes playwright Kristoffer Diaz to talk about his work on the musical Hercules at the Public Theater just before it premiered in New York City and addresses presentation through the lens of wrestling in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Then, Christine and Kristoffer are joined by Tony Award winning Hadestown Director Rachel Chavkin, actor and activist Lynne Marie Rosenberg (Famous Cast Words, High Maintenance), and playwright Chisa Hutchinson (Proof of Love, Somebody’s Daughter, She Like Girls) to discuss a production’s responsibility to require both authenticity and diversity in their actors and among the staff.  This episode features Kristoffer Diaz, Rachel Chavkin, Lynne Marie Rosenberg, and Chisa Hutchinson. The Dramatist Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America and BOOM Integrated . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek, Christine Toy Johnson, directed by Sarah Storm, and edited by Jenn Grossman and Clint Rhodes of John Marshall Media. It was recorded by Eric Dabdoub for JMM. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Ralph Sevush, David Faux, Tari Stratton, Adrien Glover, Robin Lai, and John Marshall Cheary.

This week, host Christine Toy Johnson leads TALKBACK on a journey to understand why representation, or the lack of it, has real and lasting impact on actors and audiences alike. Mandy Gonzalez shares her personal journey from seeking herself in others onstage to becoming a role model for others. Pun Bandhu, Porsche McGovern, and Todd London discuss the variety of studies tracking inclusion in theater workplaces, the grim truth of the current math, and how seeing these studies is slowly changing minds and rosters.  TalkBack is distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. For episode transcripts and exclusive content visit us on the web at  dramatistsguild.com. Keep the conversation going on Twitter using #DGTalkBack

No marketing means no audience… but how *do* you talk to the Marketing Department? Christine Toy Johnson sits down with actor/playwright Charlayne Woodard, playwright Lydia Diamond, producer Garlia Cornelia Jones, and marketing director Caitlin Baird for a lively discussion on how artists can get the marketing support their plays need to thrive, and chat about practical strategies for turning conflict into collaboration. TalkBack is distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. For episode transcripts and exclusive content visit us on the web at  dramatistsguild.com. Keep the conversation going on Twitter using #DGTalkBack

In our second episode The Dramatist Presents: TALKBACK  Host, Christine Toy Johnson sits down with novelist and playwright Kia Corthron (The Castle Cross The Magnet Carter, A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick) to talk about what it was like to write Tap The Leopard, a play in three acts that tells of the historical African-American colonization of Liberia. A story that was far outside her lived own lived experience, but hit home with audience members. After the break, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen join Kia and Christine. They explore the practicality and the pitfalls of cultural research, and why sometimes fiction can tell the truth better than truth.   This episode features Kia Corthron and Mashuq Mushtaq Deen,. The Dramatist Presents: TALKBACK is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America and BOOM Integrated . This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek, Christine Toy Johnson, directed by Sarah Storm, and edited by Jenn Grossman and Clint Rhodes of John Marshall Media. It was recorded by Eric Dabdoub for JMM, with Los Angeles tape sync support by Phoebe Unterman. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Ralph Sevush, David Faux, Tari Stratton, Adrien Glover, Robin Lai, and John Marshall Cheary. TalkBack is distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. For episode transcripts and exclusive content visit us on the web at  dramatistsguild.com. Keep the conversation going on Twitter using #DGTalkBack

In its inaugural episode, The Dramatist Presents: TALKBACK looks at the line between appreciating a culture and wanting to explore it in art and appropriating a culture for art and profit. At the top, host Christine Toy Johnson (The New Deal, The Wisdom of Trees) sits down with Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse to talk about her Thanksgiving Play, as well as her approach to playwriting as activism. After a break, a panel of additional playwrights, journalists, and performers join Christine and Larissa to get more perspectives on the tensions between appreciation and appropriation. The group digs deep on the power dynamics of cultural appropriation, the long-term harm caused by misrepresentation, and pushes back on the entertainment industry's long tendency to exclude and/or underpay cultural consultants...when they're used at all.  This episode features Larissa FastHorse, Diep Tran, David Henry Hwang, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, and Anita Hollander. The Dramatist Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America and BOOM Integrated. This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek, Christine Toy Johnson, directed by Sarah Storm, and edited by Jenn Grossman and Clint Rhodes of John Marshall Media. It was recorded by Eric Dabdoub for JMM, with Los Angeles tape sync support by Phoebe Unterman. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Ralph Sevush, David Faux, Tari Stratton, Adrien Glover, Robin Lai, and John Marshall Cheary. TalkBack is distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. For episode transcripts and exclusive content visit us on the web at  dramatistsguild.com. Keep the conversation going on Twitter https://twitter.com/dramatistsguild using #DGTalkBack

We’ve seen the stats. We’ve read the think pieces. Now we’re ready to TALKBACK.  TALKBACK is the podcast for every dramatist or theater fan who wants, but maybe hasn’t seen, the inclusiveness we all imagined. TALKBACK entertains frank conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion. We ask the tough questions and don’t have all the answers but dig into dialogue that’s vital and messy and real. Join host Christine Toy Johnson and her industry colleagues from the pulse of the American theatre on TALKBACK. Available on all your favorite podcast platforms October 21st. Join the conversation on twitter using #DGTalkBack,