Podcast appearances and mentions of Oskar Eustis

A look at the highs and lows of adaptations, plus interviews with Chuck Wilts from UNA Productions and Oskar Eustis from New York's Public Theatre   In this week's episode of the OnStage Colorado Podcast, hosts Alex Miller and Toni Tresca run down what's on stage around the state now and coming up in the next few weeks. Our main topic this week is adaptations — screen to stage or stage to screen. After seeing the production of Back to the Future: The Musical at the Denver Center recently, we were inspired to look back on adapations that worked and some … not so much.   Later in the episode, Alex has two separate interviews related to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Cabaret Club series. The first is with drag performer and choreographer Chuck Wilts, who will appear at the ENT Center over Valentine's Day Weekend in a production called Infinity. The other Cabaret Club production, The Forgotten Arm, is already past, but it was a fascinating conversation with Oskar Eustis. In addition to directing this work in progress, Eustis has been the artistic director at New York's Public Theater for 20 years, so he goes into some of that fascinating experience.  And we also review our weekly Top 10 Colorado Headliners — shows coming up we think you might want to check out. Here's this week's list:  Oklahoma!, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, Johnstown, Jan. 23-March 30 Morning After Grace, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, Golden, Jan. 24-March 2 Rainbow Cult Presents: Wizard of Oz, Meow Wolf, Denver, Jan. 28 The Mariposa Collective Presents Momentum, Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Casanova, Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver, Jan. 31-Feb. 9 The Heart Sellers, ENT Center Colorado Springs, Jan. 30-Feb. 16 We're Still Here, Empathy Jam at Boulder Dairy Center, Jan. 24-Feb. 9 Gee's Bend, Aurora Fox, Jan. 31-Feb. 23 Hope and Gravity, BETC, Jan. 23-Feb. 6 at Savoy Denver; Feb 21-23 at Nomad Playhouse in Boulder Monthly Women's Open Mic, Junkyard Social, Boulder, Feb. 2    Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Recent Shows 06:37 Exploring 'The Reservoir' by Jake Brash 13:43 A Unique Take on 'Jane Eyre' 20:47 Theater Events in Vail and Community Engagement 26:40 Discussion on 'A Case for the Existence of God' 28:37 Main Topic: Adaptations Between Stage and Screen 29:00 Back to the Future: A Musical Disappointment 30:46 The Nature of Adaptations in Theater 33:44 Successful Stage-to-Screen Adaptations 36:06 The Flops: Failed Adaptations 38:28 Screen-to-Stage Adaptations: The Good and the Bad 43:34 Back to the Future: A Deeper Dive 45:02 Lessons from Adaptations: What Works and What Doesn't 56:50 Interview with Chuck Wilt 1:06 Interview with Oskar Eustis

HAMILTON  Book, Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Based on Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Works Consulted & Reference :Hamilton (Original Libretto) by Lin-Manuel MirandaHamilton: The Revolution by Jeremy McCarter & Liin-Manuel Miranda Alexander Hamilton by Ron ChernowMusic Credits:"Overture" from Dear World (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Jerry Herman | Performed by Dear World Orchestra & Donald Pippin"The Speed Test" from Thoroughly Modern Millie  (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by Dick Scanlan | Performed by Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Anne L. Nathan & Ensemble"Why God Why" from Miss Saigon: The Definitive Live Recording  (Original Cast Recording  / Deluxe)  | Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr.  | Performed by Alistair Brammer"Back to Before" from Ragtime: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens | Performed by Marin Mazzie"Chromolume #7 / Putting It Together" from Sunday in the Park with George (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim | Performed by Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Judith Moore, Cris Groenendaal, Charles Kimbrough, William Parry, Nancy Opel, Robert Westenberg, Dana Ivey, Kurt Knudson, Barbara Bryne"What's Inside" from Waitress (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Sara Bareilles | Performed by Jessie Mueller & Ensemble"Wait for It" from  Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Performed by Leslie Odom Jr.,  Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton"Maria" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording)  | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Evadne Baker, Anna Lee, Portia Nelson, Marni Nixon"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording) | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Julie Andrews"Corner of the Sky" from Pippin (New Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz | Performed by Matthew James Thomas“What Comes Next?” from Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Performed by Jonathan Groff

Renowned Broadway and TV star ELIZABETH MARVEL joins host NATHAN WINKELSTEIN, Red Bull's Associate Artistic Director,  for a conversation focused on Mark Antony's other iconic speech from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act 3 Scene 1: "Cry ‘Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war.” Elizabeth Marvel took on the role in Oskar Eustis's controversial 2017 production for Shakespeare in the Park.  (April 27, 2020)

Oskar Eustis is the Artistic Director at the Public Theater in New York City. He sits down with Guy to talk about “falling into the avant-garde rat hole” early in his career; convincing Lin-Manuel Miranda that Hamilton was more than a concept album; bringing theater to senior centers, women's shelters, and prisons; and why he believes performing arts are essential to democracy.See what the Public theater has playing here: https://publictheater.org/Links from the Show: Lin-Manuel Miranda debuts Hamilton at the White House in 2009Oskar's TED TalkBrief profile of the Public Theater's Public Works programShakespeare in the ParkFor more conversations like this – including interviews with theater legends like Audra McDonald and Nathan Lane – go to https://www.thegreatcreators.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shakespeare is ubiquitous in literature classes and theater, but the avenues of relating to his work are not always clear to young people and modern audiences. Some, such as Shakespeare scholar and professor Ayanna Thompson, argue that his plays make sense as living, breathing, adaptable instruments that can be shaped to fit the times. Playwright, director and professor James Ijames created a prime example of interpretation with his play “Fat Ham,” an adaptation of Hamlet that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The two come together on stage at the festival to talk about what makes a good Shakespeare adaptation work, and why people have been inspired to run with his work and messages for centuries. Oskar Eustis, NYU Tisch School of the Arts professor and the artistic director of The Public Theater in New York, where “Fat Ham” premiered, moderates the conversation.

The effervescent Julian Ramos is back on the podcast! He was first on back in 2018, when he and Fergie Philippe came on together during rehearsals for the Philip Tour. Julian spent over four years touring with Hamilton, and his story with the show is incredible. He recently made his Broadway debut in New York, New York and is truly living his dreams, which all started with a certified meet-cute with living legend Susan Stroman.   This week, Julian tells me about growing up in Indiana, falling in love with musical theatre, and then moving to New York City to pursue his career. He even worked as a host at The Public Theater when Hamilton was there, seating people like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Oskar Eustis. /// Episode 107 Episode 108 Julian on Instagram Gillian's Website The Hamilcast on Twitter The Hamilcast on Instagram Join the Patreon Peeps

Kevin Landis's One Public: New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis (Methuen Drama, 2022) tells the story of the remarkable first 17 years (2005-2022) of Oskar Eustis's tenure as the Artistic Director of The Public, the theatre sometimes called America's de facto national theatre. But it is not a book about Eustis. Instead, it is a book about the hundreds of artists and administrators who, guided by Eustis's leadership, create extraordinary theatre at The Public's Astor Place headquarters, at the Delacorte in Central Park, and in touring productions around the city and across the country.  A central organizing principle in the book is the contradiction (and Eustis is not afraid of contradiction) between the theatre's left-wing, Marxian ambitions and the reality that it exists in a hyper-capitalist country with little public support for the arts. Is it possible to keep tickets affordable, salaries liveable, and the work on stage exciting? If The Public hasn't figured out how to do all three, it isn't for lack of trying, and One Public provides detailed case studies of a series of attempts live up to this theatre's inspiring, impossible, necessary ideals. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Kevin Landis's One Public: New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis (Methuen Drama, 2022) tells the story of the remarkable first 17 years (2005-2022) of Oskar Eustis's tenure as the Artistic Director of The Public, the theatre sometimes called America's de facto national theatre. But it is not a book about Eustis. Instead, it is a book about the hundreds of artists and administrators who, guided by Eustis's leadership, create extraordinary theatre at The Public's Astor Place headquarters, at the Delacorte in Central Park, and in touring productions around the city and across the country.  A central organizing principle in the book is the contradiction (and Eustis is not afraid of contradiction) between the theatre's left-wing, Marxian ambitions and the reality that it exists in a hyper-capitalist country with little public support for the arts. Is it possible to keep tickets affordable, salaries liveable, and the work on stage exciting? If The Public hasn't figured out how to do all three, it isn't for lack of trying, and One Public provides detailed case studies of a series of attempts live up to this theatre's inspiring, impossible, necessary ideals. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Kevin Landis's One Public: New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis (Methuen Drama, 2022) tells the story of the remarkable first 17 years (2005-2022) of Oskar Eustis's tenure as the Artistic Director of The Public, the theatre sometimes called America's de facto national theatre. But it is not a book about Eustis. Instead, it is a book about the hundreds of artists and administrators who, guided by Eustis's leadership, create extraordinary theatre at The Public's Astor Place headquarters, at the Delacorte in Central Park, and in touring productions around the city and across the country.  A central organizing principle in the book is the contradiction (and Eustis is not afraid of contradiction) between the theatre's left-wing, Marxian ambitions and the reality that it exists in a hyper-capitalist country with little public support for the arts. Is it possible to keep tickets affordable, salaries liveable, and the work on stage exciting? If The Public hasn't figured out how to do all three, it isn't for lack of trying, and One Public provides detailed case studies of a series of attempts live up to this theatre's inspiring, impossible, necessary ideals. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Kevin Landis's One Public: New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis (Methuen Drama, 2022) tells the story of the remarkable first 17 years (2005-2022) of Oskar Eustis's tenure as the Artistic Director of The Public, the theatre sometimes called America's de facto national theatre. But it is not a book about Eustis. Instead, it is a book about the hundreds of artists and administrators who, guided by Eustis's leadership, create extraordinary theatre at The Public's Astor Place headquarters, at the Delacorte in Central Park, and in touring productions around the city and across the country.  A central organizing principle in the book is the contradiction (and Eustis is not afraid of contradiction) between the theatre's left-wing, Marxian ambitions and the reality that it exists in a hyper-capitalist country with little public support for the arts. Is it possible to keep tickets affordable, salaries liveable, and the work on stage exciting? If The Public hasn't figured out how to do all three, it isn't for lack of trying, and One Public provides detailed case studies of a series of attempts live up to this theatre's inspiring, impossible, necessary ideals. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Kevin Landis's One Public: New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis (Methuen Drama, 2022) tells the story of the remarkable first 17 years (2005-2022) of Oskar Eustis's tenure as the Artistic Director of The Public, the theatre sometimes called America's de facto national theatre. But it is not a book about Eustis. Instead, it is a book about the hundreds of artists and administrators who, guided by Eustis's leadership, create extraordinary theatre at The Public's Astor Place headquarters, at the Delacorte in Central Park, and in touring productions around the city and across the country.  A central organizing principle in the book is the contradiction (and Eustis is not afraid of contradiction) between the theatre's left-wing, Marxian ambitions and the reality that it exists in a hyper-capitalist country with little public support for the arts. Is it possible to keep tickets affordable, salaries liveable, and the work on stage exciting? If The Public hasn't figured out how to do all three, it isn't for lack of trying, and One Public provides detailed case studies of a series of attempts live up to this theatre's inspiring, impossible, necessary ideals. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Kevin Landis's One Public: New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis (Methuen Drama, 2022) tells the story of the remarkable first 17 years (2005-2022) of Oskar Eustis's tenure as the Artistic Director of The Public, the theatre sometimes called America's de facto national theatre. But it is not a book about Eustis. Instead, it is a book about the hundreds of artists and administrators who, guided by Eustis's leadership, create extraordinary theatre at The Public's Astor Place headquarters, at the Delacorte in Central Park, and in touring productions around the city and across the country.  A central organizing principle in the book is the contradiction (and Eustis is not afraid of contradiction) between the theatre's left-wing, Marxian ambitions and the reality that it exists in a hyper-capitalist country with little public support for the arts. Is it possible to keep tickets affordable, salaries liveable, and the work on stage exciting? If The Public hasn't figured out how to do all three, it isn't for lack of trying, and One Public provides detailed case studies of a series of attempts live up to this theatre's inspiring, impossible, necessary ideals. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

I could share theater stories with Tony all day long. As both an actor and director of great stature, his knowledge of the theater and its strengths and weaknesses is impressive. We talk about the myth of the “dying” theater and the “aging” demographic. Tony points out that both the theater and the audiences have been “dying” since birth, to be replaced by new cohorts. His view is that people most appreciate the arts in their middle age and beyond. It's not all that surprising that younger people often have far less interest. I brought up the “drama within a drama” when an audience medical emergency stops a play, and those times when the “fourth wall” needs to be broken (or shouldn't be). We're both big Kevin Kline fans, and we have appropriate “fourth wall” stories (Tony's is far better). Money is a chronic problem for the arts, because debt kills the ability to experiment and the freedom to fail. It's dangerous for the arts to become conservative and afraid. We've both been colleagues of Oskar Eustis, who is now the artistic director of The Public in New York City, and who's brought works such as Hamilton to the stage. We parse what Oskar has meant in his writing and speaking about “art being neither red nor blue, but for everyone.” The “Netflix” phenomenon has created serious problems for movies, but there is no such comparison with live theater. Since Thespis began the art form, and two people began speaking to each other on stage, creating dramatic tension and a storyline, the culture of the theater has remained a central element of society. The recent actors' strike since we recorded this session brings even more relevance to our discussion. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

This podcast is a commentary and does not contain any copyrighted material of the reference source. We strongly recommend accessing/buying the reference source at the same time. ■Reference Source https://www.ted.com/talks/oskar_eustis_why_theater_is_essential_to_democracy ■Post on this topic (You can get FREE learning materials!) https://englist.me/131-academic-words-reference-from-oskar-eustis-why-theater-is-essential-to-democracy-ted-talk/ ■Youtube Video https://youtu.be/0-3uvIu8lVs (All Words) https://youtu.be/-stuy_4kLDk (Advanced Words) https://youtu.be/moXe2mplZ5s (Quick Look) ■Top Page for Further Materials https://englist.me/ ■SNS (Please follow!)

In this ninth Episode of Public Square 2.0, the re-launch of The Public Theater's podcast, Public Square, host Garlia Cornelia Jones speaks to leaders in the industry about the future of theater and digital spaces. For our Season Finale, Garlia sits down with Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater for an inside look on the responsibilities of an artistic director. She also speaks with Scarlett Kim, Associate Artistic Director and Director of Innovation and Strategy at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company about the role of digital media in legacy institutions. Executive Producer: Garlia Cornelia Jones, Director - Innovation and New Media Producer, Co-Script Writer and Video Editor: John Sloan III, Ghostlight ProductionsAudio Producer: Justin K. Sloan, Ghostlight ProductionsAssistant Producer: Emily White - New Media Associate Graphics by Tam Shell, Art Director - Brand Studio Music Credits: ""Baby I'm Stuck In a Cone " by Ge Filter Fish, Artlist.io "Latte" by Sunny Fruit, Artlist.io "This Is the Life" by Yuval Maayan, Artlist.io "Beatrix" by Notize, Artlist.iorr "Northern Glory" By The SoundKeeper, Artlist.io "Catch Me" By Russo, Arlist.io ______ Show Notes The project Scarlett mentions at the end, Hella Iambic, is created by Glow Up Games.

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, Playwright, and Cultural Worker who believes in the transformational power of art. He is the founder and Executive Director of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS an arts and advocacy non-profit that makes visual the suffering and inhumane treatment of incarcerated mentally divergent people and the policies that adversely impact their lives. He is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Theatre, The Lily Award in honor of Lorraine Hansberry awarded by the Dramatists Guild of America, a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop and a Wellspring Scholar. He's served as the Founding Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre in Waco, Texas and has created art and theatre in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, and across America. He's served as the Outreach Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC and holds an MFA from The New School, and a B.S. in Sociology from the University of North Texas. His work has been produced by: The Public Theater, American Civil Liberties Union, The New Group, Cherry Lane, Zara Aina, La Mama, Woolly Mammoth, Baltimore Center Stage, Lincoln Center, and Classic Stage.   Stevie is a regular professor and lecturer at NYU Tisch School of the arts where he teaches acting, ensemble work, and devised theatre. Currently he is a professor and Artist in Residence at Harvard University where he's teaching a series of courses aimed at “Decolonizing the Creative Process”. The Harvard lectures will culminate in a forthcoming book.Stevie has written and directed two films, We Got Out and the documentary Hundreds of Thousands.Notable Theatrical Productions: Ain't No Mo' written by Jordan E. Cooper at The Public Theater (2019), Associate Director for Shakespeare in the Park at The Public Theater Julius Caesar (2017) and Twelfth Night with Oskar Eustis and Shaina Taub (2018), One in Two by Donja Love at the Signature (2019), Black Odyssey by Marcus Gardley at Classic Stage (2023),   Stevie has served as a director for several Audible productions including, Wally Roux Phantom Mechanic written by Nick Carr and starring William Jackson Harper, Hop Tha A by James Anthony Tyler, and Brutal Imagination written by Cornelius Eady, starring Sally Murphy and Joe Morton.He's a contributing writer on The Ms. Pat Show a new breakout comedy streaming on BET+ and has been commissioned by The Mercury Store for a forthcoming play called Of Mercy And Madness. For more information about Stevie visit steviewalkerwebb.com Podcast Edited by Bree-Anna Obst. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thinking-cap-theatre/support

ABOUT WILL McFADDEN AND #STORYTIME Welcome to the award winning #Storytime Podcast! The Internet is a dumpster full of stories, and our host Will McFadden is the most fearless and skilled dumpster diver in the game. #Storytime features the top podcasters, YouTube creators, TikTok stars, Reddit masters, and everyday folks who all share a love of great storytelling. Subscribe now and follow on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook to become an official Fable Baby today! This season guests include Rider Strong, Adam Pally, McCall Mirabella, SeanDoesMagic, and many more. Episodes here: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-storytime-podcast-77077583/ ABOUT WILL McFADDEN Will McFadden is Chief Creative Officer at Collab and Company Member at The Actors' Gang. The Actors' Gang ensemble has included accomplished actors such as Jack Black, Lee Arenberg, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Brent Hinkley, Helen Hunt, Kate Walsh, Kyle Gass, Fisher Stevens, Ned Bellamy, Jeremy Piven, Ebbe Roe Smith, Kate Mulligan, and Tim Robbins. The theater company has presented the work of innovative theater artists including Georges Bigot, Simon Abkarian, Charles Mee, Culture Clash, Bill Rauch and The Cornerstone Theatre Company, Tracy Young, Namaste Theater Company, Roger Guenver Smith, Eric Bogosian, Oskar Eustis, Danny Hoch, Beth Milles, David Schweitzer, Brian Kulick, Stefan Haves, Jason Reed, Michael Schlitt and Tenacious D. Guest artists that have appeared on The Actors' Gang stage include: Jackson Browne, Sarah Silverman, Ben Gibbard, John Doe, Tom Morello, Jenny Lewis, Wayne Kramer, Paul Provenza, Zooey Deschanel, Serj Tankian, David Crosby, Pink, Felicity Huffman, Jill Sobule, William H. Macy, Phillip Baker Hall, Jeanne Tripplehorn, T.C. Boyle. and the late, beloved, Gore Vidal.Touring productions include The New Colossus, Harlequino: On to Freedom, A Midsummer Night's Dream, George Orwell's 1984, The Exonerated, Tartuffe, Embedded, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine and The Guys. Over the last thirty years The Actors' Gang has toured the U.S. in forty-five states and on five continents, performing across the world from London to Milan, Bucharest, Athens, Madrid, Barcelona, Bogota, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Buenos Aires and recently, to Santiago and Concepcion, in Chile.

Today, I am so happy to announce my episode with  artistic director of San Diego's Old Globe  Theater, Barry Edelstein. Barry is the director of Roundabout's hit production of The Wanderers, a funny, dramatic, and extremely timely play that's a must-see for New York audiences. You can find tickets here:   The Wanderers   Tune in to hear some of the stories of his prestigious career, including what he learned from Joseph Papp, how he met Steve Martin, putting on a Philip Glass piece at Classic Stage Company, recommending Shylock to Al Pacino, why we're in a golden age of American playwriting, the play that Oskar Eustis recommended to him, his experience with moving to the West Coast, upholding the literary standards of the Old Globe, and so much more.

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. Guests: Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare's works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City's Public Theatre. John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. Guests: Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare's works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City's Public Theatre. John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. Guests: Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare's works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City's Public Theatre. John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. Guests: Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare's works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City's Public Theatre. John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. Guests: Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare's works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City's Public Theatre. John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this 1st Episode of the Public Square 2.0, the re-launch of The Public Theater's Podcast, “Public Square.” Host Garlia Cornelia Jones, The Public's new and first ever Director of Innovation and New Media, introduces us to the new format, and sits down with long-time Writer in Residence, Suzan-Lori Parks, as well as our retiring Production Executive, Ruth Sternberg.   Each episode, we will continue to guide you through a behind the scenes look as we connect with artists and staff.  Welcome home, to Public Square—we can't wait to have you back!  Stay Tuned for Episodes, wherever you find your podcasts. Visit our Podcast webpage for the video version of the podcast! Hosted by Garlia Cornelia Jones Executive Producer: Garlia Cornelia Jones, Director - Innovation and New Media Creative Producer: John Sloan III, Ghostlight Productions Audio Producer: Justin K. Sloan, Ghostlight Productions Assistant Producer: Emily White - New Media Associate Graphics by Tam Shell, Art Director - Brand Studio Photo Credits: Kenny Leon, Margaret Odette, Garlia Cornelia Jones; photo by Simon Luethi Chay Yew, Garlia Cornelia Jones, Luis Alfaro photo by Simon Luethi Jason Paradine, Heather Fichthorn, Cody Johnson, Garlia Cornelia Jones, Yuvika Tolani, Oskar Eustis; photo by Simon Luethi Garlia Cornelia Jones, Martha Redbone; photo by Simon Luethi Public Theater building, photo by Aislinn Wiedele BALDWIN & BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE, photos by Joan Marcus A RAISIN IN THE SUN, photos by Joan Marcus TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (2005), photo by Michal Daniel HAIR (2008), photo by Joan Marcus PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR photo by Joan Marcus Joe's Pub photo by Nada Shaaban John Clay III and Paige Gilbert in A RAISIN IN THE SUN, photo by Joan Marcus Madeline Sayet in WHERE WE BELONG, photo by Joan Marcus     Music Credits: “Love to love me” by Suzan-Lori Parks, from her play White Noise “Whichaway the World” by Suzan-Lori Parks, from her play Plays for the Plague Year “Latte” By Sunny Fruit, Artlist.io   Transcript by 3Play

We don't often think of the theatre as a democratic cornerstone, but talk to Oskar Eustis, the acclaimed artistic director at the Public Theater in New York City, and the stage shimmers into focus as the essential art form of a free society. Oskar has produced such award-winning shows as Hamilton, Fun Home and Sweat, and he has become convinced that the theatre's capacity to teach each one of us how to be more fully alive is a gift that should not be confined to elite stages. He joins Anne here for the last episode of our Restoration of the Human season to dream about the ways in which the theatre's ancient logic might seep out into other corners of our fragmented society, granting new life for our practice of democracy, and indeed, for our souls.

In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with playwright and screenwriter, Raven Monroe! We get into about Black girls playing all kinds of roles, writing across genres and mediums and how growing up in the South impacts her work.Raven Monroe is an actor and playwright from Charlotte, NC. She is a proud graduate of UNC Charlotte (BA ‘16) and NYU Tisch School of the Arts (MFA ‘19) where she honed her skills in the dramatic arts, studying under theatre director Oskar Eustis and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. As a writer, her intention is to create works that send Black women and girls on adventures, providing representation and showing Black girls that they can be the star of any story. Her works include Mary Davis: Adventures in the Godlands, which was a quarterfinalist at the 2019 Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, and Sissy & Gen, which is a quarterfinalist in the 2020 Emerging Screenwriters Genre Screenplay Competition. She currently serves as the Vice President on the board of the North Carolina chapter of Women in Film & Television, where she created the bi-weekly live panel “Filmmaker Fridays”, which airs on the NC WiFT Facebook page.You can find Raven's work on New Play Exchange https://newplayexchange.org/users/36026/raven-monroeLearn more about MOJOAA at:www.MOJOAA.orgFacebook/Instagram: @MOJOAApac

Thomas Sadoski, Thomas Mazziotti and Face2face host David Peck talk about The Mimic, socio-paths, loss, the old school, mental health issues, rapid fire dialogue, and why you need to keep ringing the bell.TrailerFind out more about the film here.Synopsis:Based on a true story, this clever, intriguing, and hyperbolic comedy follows the main character - the Narrator (Thomas Sadoski) who is befriended by his young new neighbor 'the Kid’ (Jake Robinson), after he joins the local newspaper team. Obsessed with the idea that the Kid may be a sociopath, the Narrator goes to extreme lengths to uncover the truth about him and his wife, a woman he ultimately begins to fancy.Between long walks down the street, a twisted dinner date, and a car drive gone terribly wrong, the Narrator gets closer and closer to the truth about the Kid. But the truth, as he finds, is anything but what he expected. "Sociopaths have been portrayed as a shady bunch up until now. Inspired by true events, this confrontational comedy explores the uncharted territory of the lighter side of a sociopath,” says Mazziotti. “I applaud Gravitas Ventures introducing audiences to an alternate character dynamic which has yet to be portrayed under comedic scrutiny on screen, yet he lives among us all.”About Thomas and Thomas:Thomas Sadoski will next star in the upcoming CBS series Tommy, which stars Edie Falco as the first female chief of police for Los Angeles. Equal parts political, procedural, and family drama, Tommy comes from Paul Attanasio, the creator of Bull and Homicide: Life on the Street. On the big screen, he was most recently featured alongside Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried in The Last Word, directed by Mark Pellington, and reprised his role as Jimmy in John Wick: Chapter Two, starring Keanu Reeves. He will next star in the independent comedy The Mimic, which also stars Jake Robinson, Gina Gershon and Jessica Walter, and will soon begin production opposite Lucy Liu in the romance drama, The Last Weekend in May, for director Matthew Lillard.A veteran of the stage, Sadoski most recently starred in the Public Theater production of the new Suzan-Lori Parks play, White Noise, directed by Oskar Eustis with Daveed Diggs. Over the course of his stage career, he has starred in and earned raves for his performances in a wide variety of Broadway and off-Broadway productions. His most recent New York stage appearance was opposite Amanda Seyfried in the off-Broadway production of Neil LaBute’s The Way We Get By. His previous collaboration with LaBute on reasons to be pretty earned Sadoski a nomination for a Tony Award in the Leading Actor Category, as well as Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award nominations. Sadoski’s other Broadway credits include Other Desert Cities for which he won an Obie Award, The House of Blue Leaves with Ben Stiller and Edie Falco, and Reckless, his Broadway debut opposite Mary-Louise Parker.Off-Broadway credits include Sam Mendes’s Bridge Project productions of As You Like It and The Tempest, Becky Shaw for which he won a Lucille Lortel Award, This is Our Youth with Mark Ruffalo, the world premiere of Elizabeth Merriweather’s The Mistakes Madeline Made, Gemini, Stay, Where We’re Born, Jump/Cut, All This Intimacy, and The General From America.Sadoski’s film credits include the critically-acclaimed film I Smile Back with Sarah Silverman and Josh Charles, the award-winning John Marc Vallee film Wild with Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, John Wick with Keanu Reeves, Take Care with Leslie Bibb, and many others.In addition to his role as Don Keefer on HBO’s Golden Globe-nominated Aaron Sorkin series The Newsroom and the hit CBS comedy Life in Pieces, his television credits include the NBC mini-series, The Slap, a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and guest starring roles on and Ugly Betty, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. A graduate of Circle in the Square Theater School in New York City, Sadoski has worked extensively to help develop new theatrical works at New Dramatists, The Lark, The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center and the Sundance Institute.In his free time, he works closely with the organizations INARA and War Child, which work to support children affected by war. Sadoski resides in Los Angeles.Thomas Mazziotti started in television production at WPIX in New York before graduating both from college and into filmmaking at the same time. He attended the International Film and Television Workshops in Maine, as well as, Laguna Beach, CA.His first effort, The Beep, a 20-minute short film about a killer answering machine received theatrical distribution in N.Y. and L.A. due to a Fast Track article in New York magazine. This attention enabled him to option a play by Neil Bell performed at Playwrights Horizons in N.Y. and bring Sidney Lumet's producer on board to oversee the project. Undertow opened theatrically in N.Y. and garnished much attention due to its controversial subject matter of a young policeman entrapping a gay congressman on videotape. It stars Peter Dobson from Last Exit to Brooklyn.Tom then turned his attention to comedy and optioned a Canadian short story by Peter Sellers. Charlie Hoboken opened theatrically in N.Y. and stars Jennifer Esposito, Amanda Peet, Austin Pendleton, and Tovah Feldshuh. It tells the story of a fast-talking insurance salesman that makes ends meet by being a part-time hit man. The Mimic is Tom's third feature and first original screenplay. Based on a recent true story that happened to him, it reunited him with Austin Pendleton after 20 years. The stylized vision and rapid-fire dialogue enabled him to attract an all-star cast with strong theatrical backgrounds making it possible to shoot fourteen pages of dialogue in one day.Image Copyright and Credit: Thomas Mazziotti and Circus Road Films.F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

No one expected this year to look the way it did. The coronavirus pandemic has upended our lives. Racial injustices continue to fill us with outrage and shame. Presidential politics are testing the strength of our democracy.   But in 2020 we also saw the resilience of essential workers, the resourcefulness of communities, the power of technology to keep us connected. The election turned out more voters than ever before, and a new generation of protesters confronted systematic racism.  It was an extraordinary year full of stories that we'll tell for the rest of our lives, and to make sure we don't forget, we're putting together a 2020 Time Capsule that we'll pry open in 2030 and revisit those stories and lessons. In this rebroadcast of our Sunday evening special, we talk to WNYC voices who played a role in telling those stories on the air, and hear stories from listeners about how they navigated this consequential year.  - Zoe Azulay and Amina Srna, producers at the Brian Lehrer Show who have been taking your calls all year, reflect on what it's been like to talk to listeners. Zoe wrote a piece about how your voices helped her through 2020, and put together a montage of calls that paint a picture of the year. - Brooke Gladstone, co-host of WNYC's On The Media, talks about how the news covered the pandemic, the election, and the intersection of the two. - WNYC's Gwynne Hogan and Kai Wright, discuss the big ideas about racial justice sparked by the police killing of George Floyd and the groundswell of protests against police violence that moved the conversation. - Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater, talks about what's next for the performing arts, an industry among the hardest hit by the pandemic.  

© 2020 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.124 West 13th StreetNew York, NY 10011Founder and CEO, Charles MelcherExecutive Producer, Carolyn MerrimanAssociate Producer, Luke Gernertin collaboration with Charts & LeisureFounder, Jason OberholtzerExecutive Producer, Mike RugnettaEditor, Garrett CroweMix and Music, Michael Simonelli With special thanks to Oskar Eustis, Shareeza Bhola, Jessica Slaght, Bonnie Eldon, Shannon Fanuko, Anna Hall, Meghal Janardan, Zoe Margolis, Vanina Morrison, and Megan Worman.

No one expected this year to look the way it did. The pandemic has upended our lives. Racial injustices continue to fill us with outrage and shame. Presidential politics are testing the strength of our democracy.  But in 2020 we also saw the resilience of essential workers, the resourcefulness of communities, the power of technology to keep us connected.  The election turned out more voters than ever before, and a new generation of protesters confronted systematic racism.  It was an extraordinary year full of stories that we'll tell for the rest of our lives, and to make sure we don't forget, we're putting together a 2020 Time Capsule that we'll pry open in 2030 and revisit those stories and lessons. Today, we'll talk to WNYC voices who played a role in telling those stories on the air, and hear stories from listeners about how they navigated this consequential year. On Today's Program: - Zoe Azulay and Amina Srna, producers at the Brian Lehrer Show who have been taking your calls all year, reflect on what it's been like to talk to listeners. Zoe wrote a piece about how your voices helped her through 2020, and put together a montage of calls that paint a good picture of the year. - Brooke Gladstone, co-host of WNYC's On The Media, talks about how the news covered the pandemic, the election, and the intersection of the two. - WNYC's Gwynne Hogan and Kai Wright discuss the big ideas about racial justice sparked by the police killing of George Floyd and the groundswell of protests against police violence that moved the conversation. - Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater, talks about what's next for the performing arts, an industry among the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Today my guest is none other than legendary bookwriter John Weidman, author of Pacific Overtures, Road Show, Assassins, Contact, Big, and more! Tune in to hear him talk about how Pacific Overtures was originally a play, delineating Road Show with Oskar Eustis, getting Susan Stroman to choreograph a different type of dance, why there are no kids shows, the many forms of Assassins, and more!

With all eyes on US politics, we visit one of their most enduring democratic institutions: New York's Public Theater. Besides developing hit shows like Hair, A Chorus Line and Hamilton, The Public makes work by, for and about the citizens of New York. Also, the operatic adaptation of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is revived by State Opera South Australia and we check in with two Victorian dance schools who have held on through the lockdown but fear that more challenges lie ahead.

With all eyes on US politics, we visit one of their most enduring democratic institutions: New York's Public Theater. Besides developing hit shows like Hair, A Chorus Line and Hamilton, The Public makes work by, for and about the citizens of New York. Also, the operatic adaptation of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is revived by State Opera South Australia and we check in with two Victorian dance schools who have held on through the lockdown but fear that more challenges lie ahead.

With all eyes on US politics, we visit one of their most enduring democratic institutions: New York's Public Theater. Besides developing hit shows like Hair, A Chorus Line and Hamilton, The Public makes work by, for and about the citizens of New York.Also, the operatic adaptation of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is revived by State Opera South Australia and we check in with two Victorian dance schools who have held on through the lockdown but fear that more challenges lie ahead.

Nearly three decades ago, the play “Twilight Los Angeles” — about the Rodney King trial verdict — premiered. Just like in 1992, the world is seeing the problem of racial injustice come back into focus. How is art confronting a racist system in America? What has changed since the riots in LA? Oskar Eustis, artistic director at the Public Theater in New York, speaks with Anna Deavere Smith, the creator of “Twilight Los Angeles.” They discuss how, even though arts institutions are mostly closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, artists continue to work. They’re thinking deeply about how to use their craft to push the country forward in a critical moment. The views and opinions of the speakers in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.

As protests over the death of George Floyd rage from coast to coast, Christiane Amanpour speaks to civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson about institutionalized racism and inequality in the United States. Melvin Carter, Mayor of Minneapolis’ twin city St Paul, discusses the latest news on the ground and the charges brought against Derek Chauvin, the police officer filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck shortly before his death. Artist Eric Fischl reflects on the complex relationship between art and trauma. And artistic director of The Public Theater Oskar Eustis, talks to our Michel Martin about why he says theatre and democracy are inextricably linked.

On Monday, New York's Public Theater heads in a new direction with a star-studded, free, one-night-only virtual gala performance. Hosts Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Oskar Eustis join us to talk about the event and the future of theater in a post-coronavirus world. Also, many of the 90 accredited schools around the world that train guide dogs for the blind have been closed by the coronavirus pandemic. Journalist Jon Kalish reports on how one school in New Jersey is coping with the pandemic.

This week's show is a special tribute to the life and legacy of Bernard Gersten (1923-2020), a trailblazing producer and non-profit administrator responsible for the success of the Public Theater and Lincoln Center Theater (LCT). Jamie and Rob sat down with Bernard last summer for what would be his final interview. You'll hear excerpts from that conversation along with remembrances and reflections from the Public Theater's artistic director Oskar Eustis, LCT's founding artistic director Gregory Mosher, LCT's current producing artistic director André Bishop, and celebrated director Jerry Zaks. Tune in to hear the amazing, one-of-a-kind story of how Bernard Gersten shaped and changed the American theatre.  This week's music: “Prelude”, “You're the Top”, from “Anything Goes”, “Aquarius”, “Good Morning Starshine" and “Hair” from “Hair”, “Summer, Summer” and “Where's North” from “Two Gentlemen of Verona”, “I Hope I Get It”, “At the Ballet”, “One” and “What I Did For Love” from “A Chorus Line”  Find us on Twitter & Instagram: @fabulousinvalid Facebook: www.facebook.com/fabulousinvalid Rob's reviews: www.stageleft.nyc Email us at: info@fabulousinvalid.com    Jamie Du Mont Twitter: @jamiedumont  Instagram: @troutinnyc  Rob Russo Twitter/Instagram: @StageLeft_NYC  Jennifer Simard Twitter: @SimardJennifer  Instagram: @thejennifersimard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. GuestsStephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare’s works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature.Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City’s Public Theatre.John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare.  

Following the cancellation of Shakespeare in the Park, Oskar Eustis talks about a utopian story in one of Shakespeare's plays. A practical guide to what a vision of the future can do--and what it can't. --------------- Hosted by Jeremy McCarter Music, mixing, and mastering by Mikhail Fiksel Graphics and social media by Carly Pearlman ---------------- Share Make-Believe on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakeBelieveFM IG: https://www.instagram.com/makebelievefm/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/makebelieveassociation/  

For more information about Future of StoryTelling, and to apply for tickets to our annual summit, check out fost.orgThe FoST podcast is a production of Future of Storytelling and Charts & Leisure. Produced by Luke Gernert, Anna Hall, Jason Oberholtzer and Mike Rugnetta, with support from Camille De Beus, Shannon Fanuko, Anna Huff, Meghal Janardan, Weronika Jurkiewicz and Megan Worman.Edited by Garrett Crowe. Mix and music by Michael Simonelli. Hosted by Charlie Melcher.

Nikki M. James most famously, originated the role of Nabalungi in the Broadway hit musical, Book of Mormon, for which she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. After her award winning performance, Nikki went on to star as Éponine in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables. James starred on the Fox series Proven Innocent. James received rave reviews for her starring role as Viveca in Kirsten Child’s musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin in Encores! Off-Center production at City Center. The musical review was an ambitious follow up to Nikki’s portrayal of Portia, Brutus’ proud wife, in The Public Theatre’s extremely press worthy and politically prescient version of Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in the Park in 2017. Nikki reprised her role of Viola in the musical version of Twelfth Night this past summer under the direction of Oskar Eustis at the Delacorte Theatre. Recent notable work in television includes a starring role in CBS’ quirky series Braindead and a recurring guest arc on the hit series The Good Wife, CBS’ Bull, Escape From Dannemora on Showtime and reprised her role of Monica from The Good Wife on the CBS All Access series The Good Fight. Her film credits include: Lucky Stiff and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. She has also performed several sold-out, one-woman cabaret shows at popular New York City venues such as 54 Below and Joe’s Pub. No stranger to Broadway, Nikki has starred in productions of All Shook Up and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Other memorable theater productions include; Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra alongside Christopher Plummer, The Wiz, Bernarda Alba, House of Flowers and Preludes. She resides in New York City and holds a BFA in Drama from NYU.

Enjoy a panel discussion moderated by Laura Flanders and a key note address by Oskar Eustis, director of the famed Public Theater in New York, featuring artists as agents of change celebrating the work of Ben Barber, founder of the "Interdependence Movement". The artists, activists and scholars featured were chosen to represent the new and inspiring ways in which the arts, culture, and creativity in particular are giving voice to a new generation of activism, in engaging Barber's Interdependence Movement philosophy.  Panelists included:  Cristal Chanel Truscott, Ruchira Gupta, Mohsin Mohi Ud Din, Arturo O'Farrill. The event took place this past April at New York University's Skirball Hall and was promoted jointly by the Performing Arts Library, NYU, Asia Society, and Voices of a People's History.  You'll find more information and a link where you can watch the event in its' entirety at Patreon.

  Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and director Oskar Eustis talk race, art, slavery and... bowling?

Niegel Smith, co-director of “Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce” and Artistic Director of The Flea Theatre Company in New York, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Niegel Smith previously worked with Taylor Mac on “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” and “Hir,”, and has a thriving career Artistic Director of the celebrated off-off-Broadway theatre company, The Flea, and is associate artistic director of the Elastic Theatre Company as well. A protege of the Public Theatre's Oskar Eustis, he has worked as director for productions around the country. The post Niegel Smith, Artistic Director, The Flea Theatre, NY; co-director, “Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce” appeared first on KPFA.

Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public Theater, discusses his role in creating some of the most influential shows in modern history, from "Angels in America" to "Hamilton," and why storytelling can be "the great equalizer." The conversation is moderated by Goldman Sachs' Pablo Salame. Date: June 1, 2018 This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published or reproduced, in whole or in part, or disclosed by any recipient to any other person. The information contained in this podcast does not constitute a recommendation from any Goldman Sachs entity to the recipient. Neither Goldman Sachs nor any of its affiliates makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in this podcast and any liability therefore (including in respect of direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage) is expressly disclaimed. The views expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of Goldman Sachs, and Goldman Sachs is not providing any financial, economic, legal, accounting or tax advice or recommendations in this podcast. In addition, the receipt of this podcast by any recipient is not to be taken as constituting the giving of investment advice by Goldman Sachs to that recipient, nor to constitute such person a client of any Goldman Sachs entity. Copyright 2018 Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC. All rights reserved.

'Emotional puppet show' Eddie Izzard, Paul Simon, Yuval Noah Harari, Thomas Feiner, Oskar Eustis, Bea Campbell, Hailey Tuck, Quentin Crisp, Emily Devine, David Byrne & Selena, Barack Obama, Steinski, Tom Rogerson & Brian Eno, Billie Holiday, Eleanor Tiernan, Nino Rota, Folk Uke, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, The Temptations, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Virginia Astley, Stuart Moxham, Germaine Greer

In this mini episode host Leah Walsh shares an excerpt from a Ted Talk by Oskar Eustis, "Why Theater is Essential to Democracy". Check back next week for a full new episode of The Compass Podcast! https://www.ted.com/talks/oskar_eustis_why_theater_is_essential_to_democracy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Truth comes from the collision of different ideas, and theater plays an essential role in showing us that truth, says legendary artistic director Oskar Eustis. In this powerful talk, Eustis outlines his plan to reach (and listen to) people in places across the US where the theater, like many other institutions, has turned its back -- like the deindustrialized Rust Belt. "Our job is to try to hold up a vision to America that shows not only who all of us are individually, but that welds us back into the commonality that we need to be," Eustis says. "That's what the theater is supposed to do." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

전설적인 예술 감독인 오스카 유스티스는 진리는 다양한 관점의 충돌에서 태어나고, 극장은 우리에게 진실을 보여주는 데 필수적인 역할을 담당한다고 말합니다. 이 강렬한 강연에서 유스티스는 미국의 사양화된 공업 지대처럼 수많은 기관들과 극장들이 등을 돌려버린 지역들에 사는 사람들에게 다가가고, 그들의 목소리를 듣기 위한 자신의 계획에 대해 설명합니다. 유스티스는 말합니다. "우리의 임무는 미국에 미래상을 제시하는 일입니다. 개개인의 정체성을 보여주면서도 이상적인 공동체로 결합시키는 미래상을요. 그게 극장이 해야 하는 일입니다."

"Die Wahrheit ergibt sich aus dem Aufeinandertreffen unterschiedlicher Ideen, und eine wesentliche Rolle des Theaters besteht darin, uns diese Wahrheit zu zeigen", sagt der legendäre Intendant Oskar Eustis. In diesem überzeugenden Vortrag erläutert Eustis seinen Plan, Menschen an Orten in der gesamten USA zu erreichen (und ihnen zuzuhören), dort, wo Theater und viele andere Institutionen nicht existieren, wie z. B. im deindustrialisierten "Rust Belt" (Rostgürtel). "Es ist unsere Aufgabe, unseren Mitbürgern eine Vision vor Augen zu führen, die ihnen nicht nur zeigt, wer wir alle im Einzelnen sind, sondern die uns wieder zu der Gemeinschaft zusammenschweißt, die wir sein müssen", sagt Eustis. "Das ist die Aufgabe des Theaters."

A verdade vem da colisão entre ideias diferentes, e o teatro desempenha um papel essencial ao nos mostrar a verdade, diz o lendário diretor artístico Oskar Eustis. Nessa palestra intensa, Eustis detalha seu plano para alcançar (e ouvir) pessoas em lugares dos EUA para os quais o teatro, como muitas outras instituições, virou suas costas, como na desindustrializada região do Cinturão da Ferrugem. "Nossa função é tentar sustentar uma visão dos EUA que mostre não apenas quem somos individualmente, mas que nos reconecte com a harmonia na qual precisamos estar", diz Eustis. "É isso que o teatro deve fazer."

La vérité découle de la collision de différentes idées et le théâtre joue un rôle essentiel pour nous montrer ce qu'est la vérité, dit le légendaire directeur artistique Oskar Eustis. Dans cette intervention forte, il présente son projet pour toucher (et écouter) des gens dans des lieux --tels que la zone désindustrialisée de la Rust Belt -- à travers les États-Unis où le théâtre, comme beaucoup d'institutions, a tourné le dos. « Notre rôle est d'offrir à l'Amérique une image qui montre non seulement qui nous sommes tous individuellement, mais qui nous réunisse au sein de cette communauté que nous devons être, dit-il. C'est ce que le théâtre est censé faire. »

La verdad surge de la colisión de ideas diferentes. Aquí el teatro juega un rol esencial en mostrarnos esa verdad según el legendario director artístico Oskar Eustis. En esta intensa charla, Eustis describe su plan para ponerse en contacto con el pueblo de los Estados Unidos en donde el teatro, como muchas otras instituciones, les dan la espalda, como en el desindustrializado ‘cinturón de óxido’. “Nuestro trabajo es tratar de ofrecer una visión a Estados Unidos que muestre no solo quienes somos como individuos, sino también que nos consolide nuevamente en la comunidad que necesitamos ser”, explica Eustis. “Eso es lo que el teatro se supone que debe hacer”.

Truth comes from the collision of different ideas, and theater plays an essential role in showing us that truth, says legendary artistic director Oskar Eustis. In this powerful talk, Eustis outlines his plan to reach (and listen to) people in places across the US where the theater, like many other institutions, has turned its back -- like the deindustrialized Rust Belt. "Our job is to try to hold up a vision to America that shows not only who all of us are individually, but that welds us back into the commonality that we need to be," Eustis says. "That's what the theater is supposed to do."

Oskar Eustis founded his first theatre company at the age of 16. From Tony Kushner's Angels in America to Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton, Eustis has been intimately involved in the creation and development of many of the greatest works of American theatre of the past 30 years. Oskar and I sat down in his office at the Public Theater in February to talk about important teachers, Shakespeare, drama, democracy, Hamilton, the state of civil discourse ... and a few new ideas on the horizon.

Fergie L. Philippe and Julian Ramos of Hamilton's Philip Tour join me for a #HamiltourToo party! We have the best time and in this first episode, Fergie and Julian talk about the journeys that led them both to Hamilton: from Fergie tweeting acapella Hamilton raps to Lin-Manuel Miranda back in 2015 to Julian working at The Public as a host and seating Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tommy Kail, and Oskar Eustis for their very early Hamilton meetings.   Fergie's tweets to Lin: https://twitter.com/fergsters95/status/678842103284277252 https://twitter.com/fergsters95/status/679529520341364737   Hamilton at The Public Theater - Montage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaSD7NY3SCo   Look At Me Now:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gyLR4NfMiI

“Culture is the only human practice that can actually dig into the root of a trauma and try to undo it in the first place. And this is why people are so afraid of culture, and in particular theatre. ‘Cause when there’s a human being in front of you having an experience, it’s very difficult to ignore them. It’s hard to ignore a play.” — Dan Fishback Dan Fishback and Motaz Malhees both made waves in the New York theater scene this fall with plays about Palestine. Motaz performed with the Freedom Theatre of Jenin in "The Siege," at the NYU Skirball Center. Meanwhile, Dan's play "Rubble Rubble" was abruptly and controversially cancelled by the American Jewish Historical Society. In this joint interview, Dan and Motaz talk about their work, and explain why culture is their weapon of choice against the injustices of the occupation. This episode of Unsettled is hosted by Max Freedman. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. Recorded at The 'cast Sound Lab in Brooklyn, New York on November 6, 2017. Edited for length and clarity by Ilana Levinson.  Photo credit: Sammy Tunis Dan Fishback is a playwright, performer, musician, and director of the Helix Queer Performance Network. His musical “The Material World” was called one of the Top Ten Plays of 2012 by Time Out New York. His play “You Will Experience Silence” was called “sassier and more fun than 'Angels in America'” by the Village Voice. Also a performing songwriter, Fishback has released several albums and toured Europe and North America, both solo and with his band Cheese On Bread. Other theater works include “Waiting for Barbara” (New Museum, 2013), “thirtynothing” (Dixon Place, 2011) and “No Direction Homo” (P.S. 122, 2006). As director of the Helix Queer Performance Network, Fishback curates and organizes a range of festivals, workshops and public events, including the annual series, “La MaMa’s Squirts.” Fishback has received grants for his theater work from the Franklin Furnace Fund (2010) and the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists (2007-2009). He has been a resident artist at Kelly Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania, the Hemispheric Institute at NYU, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, where he has developed all of his theater work since 2010. Fishback is a proud member of the Jewish Voice for Peace Artist Council. He is currently developing two new musicals, “Rubble Rubble” and “Water Signs,” and will release a new album by Cheese On Bread in 2018. Motaz Malhees is a Palestinian actor born in 1992. He received his professional training in Stanislavsky, Brecht and Shakespeare at The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp (Palestine), and in Commedia dell’Arte at Theatre Hotel Courage in Amsterdam (Holland). Motaz has trained with internationally acclaimed directors such as Juliano Mer-Khamis and Nabil Al-Raee (The Freedom Theatre), Di Trevis (Royal Shakespeare Company), Thomas Ostermeier (Schaubühne Theatre), and Katrien van Beurden (Theatre Hotel Courage). His stage credits with The Freedom Theatre include: “Alice in Wonderland” (2011), “What Else – Sho Kman?” (2011), Pinter’s “The Caretaker” (2012), “Freaky Boy” (2012), “Courage, Ouda, Courage” (2013), “Suicide Note from Palestine” (2014), “Power/Poison” (2014), and most recently “The Siege” at the NYU Skirball Center. Motaz has also acted in films, including: “Think Out of the Box” (2014, dir. Mohammad Dasoqe), which screened in Palestine, Germany and Mexico; and “Past Tense Continuous” (2014, dir. Dima Hourani). As a versatile actor, Motaz has performed in multilingual plays as well as in scripted, devised, physical, epic and fantasy theatre. Motaz also produces and performs in short films about social issues in Palestine, which have received a wide following on social media platforms. Having grown up in Palestine, and experienced the economic and political hardships of life under occupation, Motaz has been actively interested in acting since he was nine years old. He lives through theatre, and believes in the potential of art to transform people’s ideas and lives. REFERENCES "Arna's Children" (dir. Juliano Mer-Khamis, 2004) "The Life and Death of Juliano Mer-Khamis" (Adam Shatz, London Review of Books, November 2013) "Center for Jewish History Chief Comes Under Fierce Attack By Right-Wingers" (Josh Nathan-Kazis, Forward, September 6, 2017) "Jewish Center Faces Backlash After Canceling Play Criticized as Anti-Israel" (Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times_, _October 11, 2017) Program note by Oskar Eustis for "The Siege" at NYU Skirball Center (October 2017) Indiegogo campaign for Dan Fishback's "Rubble Rubble" "Return to Palestine"(The Freedom Theatre, 2016) in Arabic without subtitles Theatre of the Oppressed NYC Housing Works  "All Your Sisters" (Cheese On Bread, 2017) danfishback.com @motazmalhees thefreedomtheatre.org TRANSCRIPT DAN: So many people warned me against making work like this. And yeah, I got canceled, but in the process, I have tremendously powerful friends now that I didn't make before. MOTAZ: Doesn't it make you stronger after they cancel it? DAN: Yeah, of course. Yeah. MOTAZ: Didn't it make you more like want to do it? DAN: Oh, yeah. MOTAZ: That's a good thing, then.   [MUSIC: Unsettled theme by Nat Rosenzweig]   MAX: Welcome to Unsettled. My name is Max Freedman, I’m one of the producers of Unsettled and your host for today’s episode. Now when I’m not working on this podcast, I’m a theater artist, and I know how hard it can be to make a life in the theater and get your work out there. However hard you think it is, imagine you’re trying to tell stories about the occupied West Bank. Enter Dan Fishback and Motaz Malhees. Dan and Motaz both made waves in the New York theater scene this fall with plays about Palestine. Motaz was in New York performing with the Freedom Theatre of Jenin in “The Siege,” a play about the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, during the Second Intifada. Dan, on the other hand, made waves because of a play that didn’t happen, rather than one that did. His play, “Rubble Rubble,” was supposed to go up at the American Jewish Historical Society, but they cancelled it. I’ll let him tell you why -- and what happened next. Dan and Motaz didn’t know each other before, but I had the privilege to get them in the same room to talk about their work and as you’ll hear, they had a lot in common. In preparation for this interview, I dug through years of old journals and found my entry from the day I first met Motaz, when I was in Jenin, three summers ago. Really big and underlined a few times, I had written two words: CULTURAL RESISTANCE. So that’s our theme for today. Quick note: besides the three of us, at one point you’ll hear the voice of my co-producer Ilana Levinson. I think that’s all you need to know, so, let’s get started!   MAX: Welcome to Unsettled. Uh, why don't you start by introducing yourselves? MOTAZ: Eh, first of all I am so happy to be here with you guys that's before I introduce myself. I am Motaz Malhees, so I am an actor from Palestine, I used to work with the Freedom Theatre since 2010. I do a lot of politics theatre but also the same time I do also for community, I do like for kids show. But I feel like, whatever needs, I give, like...it’s not important the type of theatre I do. But nowadays I'm freelance, and I work like with all theatres in Palestine, my country, because I don't want to be just involved with one place -- even that's I always say that the Freedom Theatre, that's my place and my home. DAN: I’m Dan Fishback, I’m a...I make performance and music and theatre in New York, I’ve been here since 2003 -- I don't know, what do you want to know? MAX: Where’d you grow up? DAN: Oh my gosh! I grew up in a pretty normal American Reform Jewish family, outside Washington, DC in Maryland. In a family that...was essentially a liberal Zionist family, although I don't think they would have necessary articulated themselves like that, they just imagine themselves being normal. And I heard growing up, “If only the Palestinians were nonviolent, then they would get what they want. Because they're asking for something reasonable, but it's because they're violent that things are problem....that that's the reason why there's a problem.” And like, the older people around me as I was growing up were always saying, “If only there was a Palestinian Gandhi” -- that was like the refrain, over and over again. And now I find myself 36 years old, going back to my communities and being like, “There’s this huge non-violent Palestinian movement! And it’s international and we can be part of it, it’s boycott, and blah blah blah.” And everyone’s like, “Oh no, no no, this makes us uncomfortable too.” I'm like, “This is what you were begging for my whole childhood! And now it’s here! Why aren’t you excited? Why aren't you as excited as I am?” That’s where I’m from. MOTAZ: That’s cool. DAN: And it’s an honor to be here with Motaz, whose performance in “The Siege” was absolutely amazing. MOTAZ: We not sure, but there is like people who really want to bring it back to the U.S. again, because it was a really successful show like for the Skirball Theatre, even like they almost sold out. MAX: Let me back you up a second, because, I want you to imagine that I have never heard of “The Siege,” have never heard of the Freedom Theatre. Can you tell me -- tell me what it was, tell me what it is. MOTAZ: “The Siege” it's a story about the invasion happened in 2002 in Palestine. There was like eh...invasion for the whole West Bank: in Jenin, in Nablus, all the cities. Like, one of them was Bethlehem, and in Bethlehem there was like a group of fighters, freedom fighters, who fight and defend back from their homeland. They have like many guns defending themselves, and they have in the other side -- the Israeli side -- there is tanks, Apache, Jeeps, all kind of guns you can imagine your life, heavy guns. And they were like around 45 fighters, 250, 245 civilian -- priests, nuns, children, women, and men, from both different religions -- who’s like stuck inside the Nativity Church for 39 days. With the like first five days they have food, after that they have no food. And they surrounded with around 60,000 soldiers from the Israeli army. They want, like, to finish it. So they, they have pressure, they don't wanna -- even the fighters, says khalas, it’s enough. Their people are suffering, their families are suffering outside because of that. So, they sent them like a paper, they have to write their names, the number of their IDs they have, and their signature. So, the fighters sign on it, and they know that's thirteen going to Europe and twenty-five are going to Gaza. They don't know even where they going. So, they sent them to exile the same day. DAN: When my friends and I were leaving the theatre, all we were talking about is, we were so curious about what their lives would be like after fifteen years of exile and we couldn’t wrap our minds around it. MOTAZ: I know one of them is personally, and he told me a lot about it. And it’s really important to bring this piece because of one reason: they didn't choose. Even they signed the paper that say they have to go to exile, but like they was under pressure, and they thought it's temporary and that they would return. And eh, I know how much they are really broken from inside. They never show this to people.But from inside, if you know them personally, they are really broken, and they just...all they want, just to see like at least their families. Some of them, they can’t. Their family, like they can't get the visa to go to visit them -- like, for example, the two guys, Rami Kamel, and Jihadi Jaara who living in Dublin, they haven't seen their families at all. One of them, like Jihadi he have a son that's his wife give birth like after one week he was sent to exile. He didn't even touch his son, he's fifteen years old, like...at least, like, okay, you don't want to send him back to Palestine. Let his family visit him! Like, this is the minimum of humanity. And eh...a really important point we have like always to say: those people was in their homeland, they was in their own city, and they fight back. They didn't went to...yeah, to Tel Aviv to fight, or to somewhere inside Israel, to fight the people over there. They was fighting the…defending themselves from the Israeli army. MAX: How did you get started with the Freedom Theatre? MOTAZ: Woo hoo! Since I was like, eh…fourteen I heard about it, or thirteen -- and I was dreaming about to be in there cause I’m, since like eight, nine, I start doing acting. It's like something I really love from inside, like I really really want to be an actor. Not because like I wanted a name. Because I can hold the stories, I can share stories for all over the world, I enjoy it, it's something beautiful and strong in the same time. So when I was sixteen, I heard about the hip-hop workshop, dance hip-hop workshop in the Freedom Theatre. So I went there and I apply for it, and I get involved with the workshop, and the last few days Juliano just came and he said, “We open a new class for theatre.”   MAX: Juliano, who Motaz just mentioned, is Juliano Mer Khamis, who started what is today, the Freedom Theatre. Real quick, I want to tell you the remarkable story of the Freedom Theatre of Jenin. During the First Intifada, Juliano’s mother, a Jewish Israeli Communist named Arna Mer, came to Jenin, where she helped to establish housing and educational programs for children in the refugee camp there -- and eventually a children’s theatre called The Stone. Arna died of cancer in 1995, and during the Second Intifada, the Stone Theatre was destroyed. Arna’s son Juliano returned to Jenin for the first time since his mother’s death in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Jenin, and made an incredible film called "Arna’s Children" -- Motaz will tell you more about this in a bit, but it’s on YouTube and I highly recommend it. It was after finishing this film that Juliano returned again to Jenin to found the Freedom Theatre. In 2011, Juliano was assassinated, but the Freedom Theatre has persisted. Alright -- back to Motaz.   MOTAZ: So I get involved and I put myself in that place since 2010. And it’s been like around...now, now you could say like eight years almost. It is...hard and eh, good in the same time. It is, ‘cause you face emotion, a lot of different emotion. But I love it. It's like, it’s become my home now. I’m always there. Even if I have nothing, I go pass by drinking coffee there like, chill, see what's going on, if they need help or something, because I'm part of the family. MAX: Well we met because I went to visit the Freedom Theatre. And you were just hanging around and we sat there and talked for an hour. MOTAZ: Yeah yeah. MAX: Alright, so, Dan. DAN: Yeah. MAX: Tell me about your work and particularly tell me about “Rubble Rubble” and the genesis of that project. MOTAZ: I wanna hear about it. DAN: Well I've been working for the past decade on a trilogy of plays that sort of explore the inner life of the Jewish left in the United States over the past century. And this last play, “Rubble Rubble,” which I've been developing for the past few years, starts in the West Bank in an Israeli settlement. And you find this family that I've been writing plays about -- which is a very far leftist socialist radical family -- you see that that family has split off, and there's like a right-wing side of the family that has become settlers. And the left-wing anti-Zionist member of their family travels to visit them, after they haven’t spoken in twenty years. MOTAZ: Whoa. DAN: And the family confronts each other over his huge chasm, where one person is like a Palestinian solidarity BDS supporter and the rest of the family are like... MOTAZ: Pro-Israel. DAN: They're like settlers! Like living on stolen land, even though, but they’re middle aged American Jews who in the sixties were like radical New Left, you know, people. I’m fascinated by how many American-Israeli Jews were like super far on the left in the United States and then became these horrible oppressors in Israel. It blows my mind that it's possible to make that transition within the course of one life. And so, and that's where the play starts, and um…and I've been developing it for a few years, I went to Israel-Palestine to research for the play, I spent two weeks with interfaith peace builders traveling all through the West Bank and meeting with different non violent Palestinian and Israeli activists. I spent a week interviewing settlers, which was extremely disturbing. Um, and then I’ve been developing this play, and it was gonna have its first public reading at the American Jewish Historical Society in Manhattan and, um, a couple weeks ago -- I guess now around a month ago -- we went to their offices for a meeting and everything was very positive, they were very excited to have us, the staff was very supportive of the work. And we heard that there was a right-wing smear campaign against the organization's new CEO. And we were told, “This is all happening but don't let it bother you. We might have to cancel that other thing, but we're not going to cancel your play, because we, we're really excited about it.” And literally the conversation we had was about raising the budget for our play. Eight hours later, I got an email saying that the play had been canceled. MOTAZ: What? Was there any explanation about it? DAN: Well, I knew that it was... The institution itself never sent me like a formal letter or anything, but I knew that it was because of this right-wing Zionist pressure campaign that they were being pressured to fire their new CEO, and in order to try to get rid of that critique, they were just going to get rid of us. And the staff of the American Jewish Historical Society was very supportive of me, and I don't see them as my enemies at all. It was the board of directors, or at least a small group from the board, met in the middle of the night and made this decision. And this is what happens all the time in Jewish organizations: the people actually doing work are willing to make brave choices, and the people who are funding that work are not willing to let anyone make those choices. MOTAZ: Yeah yeah yeah, this happened with the same thing almost with us. DAN: Yeah, at the Public, right? MOTAZ: Yeah yeah yeah, it's almost the same, I like, I don't know who’s stand with us or who is against us, but we had this question for Oskar, which is the Artistic Director of the Public Theater, and his answer was really diplomatic answer and I respect -- no Oskar, he’s really great guy and he was one of the supporters to bring this play over here, and the most important thing, he says, that's to bring “The Siege” for the New Yorker people and we did it. It’s not about the place. DAN: Well, that was interesting about Oskar Eustis and “The Siege,” is that it was supposed to be at the Public Theater, the board canceled that choice. But Oskar, who is the Artistic Director of the Public Theater, he had notes in the program for “The Siege” production at the Skirball Center. And I was like, this is so unusual that you open the program and you see notes from the director of the theatre that canceled the play! MOTAZ: Yeah yeah. But, I want to hear more about Dan play, man. DAN: Sure, yeah. MOTAZ: I would like to know what is the story? DAN: Well, I can tell you about the story of what happens in the play, but what I also want to say is that, after we were canceled, the New York theatre world became incredibly supportive of us. And people really came out of nowhere to offer support and offer help. We raised our budget that had been canceled from American Jewish Historical Society within three days. MOTAZ: Whoa. DAN: Yeah. And we were offered resources that we couldn't have ever imagined. And to me, that was a huge sign that the people who are trying to censor dissident voices around Israel-Palestine are going to fail in humiliation. Because our work is stronger than ever after having been canceled, because people are so angry about it. People who are, who don't really know very much about it, are angry about it. And there are left-wing Zionists in my life who don't agree with me, but who are so angry that the play was canceled -- and it’s put them in a situation where they are more open to my ideas, and more open to considering the ideas of the play. So, I mean -- and we’re going to do the reading of the play, it's going happen next year, the details aren't confirmed, but it's going to be bigger and more interesting and more spectacular than it would have been if it hadn’t been canceled in the first place. Which is interesting. The play itself -- it’s funny because the people who canceled it never read it. And it's weird, like if they read it I think they'd be like, “Oh, this is weird.” It's a weird play. The first act is like a very traditional living room drama in a family. So, there's the aunt and uncle, who are middle-aged formerly left-wing radical American Jews who live in a settlement. There's their radical nephew, who shares my politics but is not a sympathetic person. He’s kind of...nasty and annoying and neurotic. And he’s there with his partner who’s Colombian and has no context for any of this. So I really wanted there to be a character who doesn't really have any stake in the game, doesn't have any history with Israel-Palestine, just comes from another part of the world entirely, but who has...a personal history of violence. Because he grew up in a part of Colombia that experienced a lot of violence. Whereas, I think a lot of white American Jews, violence, revolution, all these ideas are abstract concepts, and we don't experience them in our real lives. So he's coming at -- that character, who in a way is the central character of the play -- is coming at things from a totally different context. And I don't want to give anything away, but by the end of the first act, things go horribly wrong, and the first act ends with an enormous disaster. And the second act begins, and it's a musical, and it takes place in Moscow in 1905. And it's the same family, but a century before, and the matriarch of the family is building bombs for the socialist revolution of 1905. MOTAZ: So it’s almost flashback? DAN: It’s like a flash -- it's like an ancestral flashback. MOTAZ: That’s interesting. DAN: So you see the ancestor of the same family, and she's like a socialist revolutionary. She's building a bomb, she wants to like blow up the Tsar. And...and the ideas of the first act are sort of filtered through the music of the second act, where you see her with her socialist comrades. And what I want to ask is: How did this family go from here to there? How did it get from one place to the other? And, and the other question that I'm really interested in asking is like: Once you learn that there's an enormous injustice around you, how far are you willing to go to stop it from happening? How much violence are you willing to accept in order to stop something? Which is a huge question, I think, for anti-Zionist Jews when it comes to Palestine, like how...what are we supposed to do, knowing this horrible thing is going on? It's a huge question within Palestinian society, obviously, like what are you willing to do to stop this from happening? And it’s been a huge question throughout Jewish political history, which is full of violent resistance to injustice, and we act like were so horrified by violence, but Jewish history is full of it. So, those are the questions that I'm dealing with, and I don't think that the play offers any straightforward answers. And that's the interesting thing about the play being canceled or censored, is that the play itself is about what happens when two sides of a Jewish family can't communicate, and shun each other. And that’s what’s happened with the play, that we were being shunned just like family members are being shunned. And when I was in Israel, researching the play, and I would tell people what the play was about -- you know, it's about a Jewish family that's separated over Israel, and the Israeli side doesn't talk to the American side -- and every single person I talked to was like, “Oh, that's just like my family. That's my family, that happened to us.” And I was like, oh, right. This is bad for everybody. This destroys families, this injustice is destroying everybody involved in it. MOTAZ: Yeah, I mean like, even if it’s happened, like something like, my grandparents, whatever it takes place, I will not do the same thing in a different place. DAN: Right? This is the big Jewish catastrophe of the twentieth century, that you take one of two decisions, right? You either, you take all the trauma and you say, “This will never happen to us again, and we will do anything to protect us.” Or you say, “This will never happen to anyone again.” MOTAZ: What, like, Jewish used to live in Yemen, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, many Arab countries, there was normal to see like this Muslim, Christian and a Jewish neighbor and eh, like an atheist beside him, and all of them are living in the Arab world like normally, like -- let's be honest, even though the Arab history is not clear, like there is many bad things from the Arab history also like... But eh, we used to live like together, so the thing is not religion. I don’t believe it’s religion, it’s mentality. It’s... DAN: I was talking, I was having an argument in a restaurant a couple years ago with a Zionist Jew, and we were fighting really passionately. And someone, a stranger came up to our table and said, “Guys, stop fighting about this. It's an ancient struggle that's been going on thousands of years.” And we both looked at him, both of us agreed, we were like, “No, it isn't! This is new, this is in the past like less than 200 years that this has happened, come on.” We were like, “Go sit down. Finish your lunch, hon. Get out of our faces.” There's so many lies about it. But this is...I feel like this is the work, this is the cultural work of American Jewishness right now. We've been brought up with such a distorted understanding of the world. And it's gonna take so much cultural work to undo it all. MOTAZ: Yeah, and it's gonna make a lot of enemies at the same time. DAN: Oh yeah. But I think my situation proves that it's also gonna get…it's not gonna be completely a disaster. You know, everyone -- so many people warned me against making work like this. And yeah, I got canceled, but in the process, I have tremendously powerful friends now that I didn't make before. MOTAZ: Doesn't it make you stronger after they cancel it? DAN: Yeah, of course. Yeah. MOTAZ: Didn't it make you more like want to do it? DAN: Oh, yeah. MOTAZ: That's a good thing, then. Okay, what’s the next question? MAX: So, for both of you, why is culture your weapon of choice? MOTAZ: Woo hoo! Because eh… Dan, you go ahead. DAN: ‘Cause its more powerful! Like…violence only ever creates more violence. I think this, like, even when it's necessary, it ends up being true. Culture is the only human practice that can actually dig into the root of a trauma and try to undo it in the first place. Um, and this is why people are so afraid of culture, and in particular theatre. ‘Cause when there's a human being in front of you having an experience, it’s very difficult to ignore them. It's hard to ignore a play. And, and so many…especially, so many American Zionist Jews are under -- on an emotional level, understand that their perspective is impossible. ‘Cause if you ask most American Jews, “Do you believe that it is right for a country to privilege one ethno-religious group over others?” Most of them will say, “No, that’s wrong. That is a wrong thing.” And then you say, “Well, what about Israel?” and they'll go, “Uhhhhhh…” But the fundamental truth, the deeper truth is that none of us actually support this. It's, the the support for Israel is the more superficial belief. The deeper belief is that this is wrong. Good plays, good art, good visual art, good music, good anything about this will help strip away the sort of superficial attachment to the, to the story of Israel, and help people get to the deeper belief that supremacy is wrong. No matter who is supreme in any given situation, it will always be wrong. ILANA: Sorry, I just wanna um, in the conversation about Zionism, I’m wondering... DAN: Do you want me to define that? ILANA: Yeah, I’m wondering specifically if you think any form of Zionism involves supremacy and that kind of thing. DAN: You know, I identify as an anti-Zionist Jew, and a lot of people, a lot of people will say, “Oh, don't say that, because it’s icky, it makes us uncomfortable to say you're anti-Zionist. Because, 'cause what does that really mean.” And for me, if it was the early 1900s, maybe I would have identified as like a Cultural Zionist. But to me, the way the word Zionism functions in the world, it’s support for a Jewish state of Israel. And to me, that means that Zionism inherently requires one to believe that Jews should reign supreme in this land, and I think that that's an untenable option. MAX: I…I sort of wanna respond. DAN: You wanna get into it, Max? MAX: No, I don't -- no, I don’t wanna argue with you…that's not… I will confess that I am skeptical of people who call themselves anti-Zionists who are not Jewish and not Palestinian. I... DAN:  Yeah yeah yeah, me too. I think that part of the, part of what it means to liberate Jews in the world, is to liberate us from our trauma, and to liberate us from that pain that…that distracts us from the reality of the world. And that requires our friends to help us get through that trauma, and to help us liberate ourselves from that trauma, and that requires non-Jewish people who oppose Zionism to make sure that we are emotionally capable of, um, of joining with them and being in community with them. And to me that's always like a challenge to my non-Jewish friends and comrades to be like, if we’re gonna do this together you need to understand that we’re…we just barely made it alive into this century, and a lot of us have like legitimate fears for our lives. I mean, we’re living in the United States where there's like a Nazi problem, right? Like our fear of violence is real and legitimate and um, when people say there's like no anti-semitism on the left in the United States, to me that's like so foolish. Like obviously, there's some anti-semitism in any part of the world, in any community. MOTAZ: Of course, of course…that's true. DAN: And when we pretend it doesn't exist, then we’re...I think we make so many other Jews feel unsafe joining us in this movement, because we're saying something that's obviously untrue and they don't trust us ‘cause it sounds like we’re lying to them. From my perspective, we need to say it: yeah, there's totally some anti-semitism on the left. And we need to deal with it, and our non-Jewish comrades need to deal with it, so that we can see that this is a safe place for us to be. MOTAZ: Nobody called you before, like you are anti-semitic after all the things you did? DAN: Oh yeah. MOTAZ: And you are Jewish. DAN: Oh yeah. Motaz, I need to tell you, I've gotten a lot of hate mail in my life and it's never as aggressive as other Jews. They’re the ones that tell me I should die. What they always say is, “You should go to Palestine, where they’d kill you.” They say this all the time, and I’m like, “I’ve been to Palestine, dude!” MOTAZ: So if some of the guys gonna hear this interview, Dan, you more than welcome in my house in Jenin. Nobody gonna kill you, you gonna love it. So come back to the first question? MAX: Yes, yes, finally... MOTAZ: Why cultural... Because I'm fed up. I have seen like many people got killed in this entire world since I was born. And see blood everywhere, why it’s need to be violent? Why that question? Why don't we turn the opposite question: why we have to be violent? Because it's like, we fed up, we are like, we are human. There is many people that think, like, “Oh, they was born like this.” No, they was not born like this. There is something happen to them. Like, if you watch there is a really important and good movie, it’s called “Arna’s Children,” Little kids, he talking about this story a lot, little kids. And they was dreaming about to be a Romeo of Palestine, them want to be Juliet, one of them he want to be Al Pacino. They wanna be actors. Suddenly, in a moment in 2002, you see those people got killed. And they became a freedom fighter before. Why? One of them his mother got killed by a sniper. One of them, after they bomb a school, he went to the school and he grabbed the body of a girl and she was almost alive, while he was running through the hospital, she died. So, his...of course he was gonna have a flip in his mind, and he gonna hold the gun and fight. So those people, they didn't like came from nothing. There is a reason always to do this. Even like I'm not into like guns or things, that's why I choose also art because I believe art is more stronger than a gun. And I don’t want to see any person on earth suffer. Like death is coming anyway, like you gonna die, but why we have to kill each other? Destroying, destroying. Like, I can make art which is strong, I can bring the messages, not just from my place, from all over the world and develop it to the stage. And eh… I think it's, let's make it, let's be cultural more. Let's let the art talk. And eh, we not gonna fake history, we not gonna fake stories, we gonna bring the story as it is. DAN: And this is why they’re so afraid of theatre. MOTAZ: Yeah! DAN: Because theatre shows the reasons why a person does something, and they don't wanna look at the reasons. MOTAZ: Man, I start to believe in this thing in 2012. I was going to the theatre in a taxi and there was checkpoint, and they stop me. ‘Cause I have no ID. I told him, like “I’m late for my theatre.” And he said, “Oh, you’re going to the Freedom Theatre.” He said like, “Come on man, they killed Juliano, they could kill you too.” And I said like “Why?” He said like, “Art will not change anything man. Why you need it?” And I said, “It's fine, for you it's nothing, but for me...” And he told me, “If you don't have your ID next time, you go to prison. And I promise you.” So since that time I just realize how much art is strong, and how much they afraid from art.   MAX: Here’s Motaz in a scene from “Return to Palestine,” devised by graduates of the Freedom Theatre acting school. [Excerpt from "Return to Palestine," in Arabic]   MAX: So, the work I do here in New York City is mostly with an organization called Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. MOTAZ: Yeah, I know. MAX: Where I work with a lot of different groups of people. Right now I’m working at Housing Works, which is an organization that um…I think this is the blurb from their website, “works to end the twin crises of HIV/AIDS and homelessness.” MOTAZ: Whoa. DAN: Easy. MAX: Yeah, right? I’m working with a group of folks from Housing Works on a play that they created about their experiences trying to keep and get affordable housing, with housing vouchers that they have because of their status. And… that’s just one example, I’ve worked on a lot of plays, and the way that sometimes I think about what those plays are meant to do, is is kind of in two areas: there’s the sort of, I mean, the way that I talk about it with my family, which is very much in the kind of like raising awareness camp, in the sense that people come to see these plays, they don’t know anything about tenant harassment in New York City and they learn about it. And then, really what it was designed to do by the folks who came up with this stuff in Brazil in the seventies, which is to build capacity in that community. Um, these theater tools are tools for people to work together to make change. I’m wondering if that resonates with you at all, and sort of -- what do you see your work in theater doing? DAN: Obviously I like plays that do all of these things at the same time. MOTAZ: Yeah. DAN: But, as a playwright, if you go into a project with too much of a vision of like what kind of responses you want from your audience -- an audience knows when you’re trying to manipulate them, and at the end of the day, an audience knows when something is authentic. So, being a playwright is about balancing your vision for what you want to happen in the room, and your relationship to your own imagination and your own impulses. MOTAZ: And the thing is like, if you don’t believe it, the actors will never believe it, then the audience will never believe it. DAN: Yeah, totally, and a lot of political theatre gets a bad rap, because I think a lot of political theatre is only thinking about, how can we make an impact with this audience? And it feels false. MOTAZ: I’m interested to know about, Dan, like -- normally, when you write, you give solution for the people? Or you give them a question to find the solution? DAN: I don’t give solutions, no. MOTAZ: You give a question. DAN: I give the questions. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. MOTAZ: Good, yeah. DAN: If I feel like I know concretely an answer to something, then I don’t need to write the play. I will just write an essay.   [MUSIC: Cheese on Bread, “All Your Sisters”]   MAX: Motaz had to leave, and I got to talk to Dan for a little while longer about the difference between boycott and censorship, and why he wants to start identifying as a “liberationist Jew.” If you’re not already subscribed, SUBSCRIBE to Unsettled on your podcatcher of choice -- because, in a couple weeks, you’ll get a bonus episode with the rest of our conversation. In the meantime, you can find Dan’s work at his website, danfishback.com, and follow Motaz on Instagram @motazmalhees, that’s M-O-T-A-Z-M-A-L-H-E-E-S. The song you’ve been hearing is "All Your Sisters" by Dan Fishback’s band, Cheese On Bread, from their forthcoming album "The One Who Wanted More,” coming out next year. You can find the song, a full transcript of the episode and other resources at our website, unsettledpod.com. Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Asaf Calderon, Yoshi Fields, Ilana Levinson, and me. This episode was edited by Ilana Levinson. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. We recorded this episode in a studio for the first time -- shout out to Cast Sound Lab in Brooklyn, New York. Go to our website, unsettledpod.com, for more show information. We want to bring you more content in more different forms, and to make that happen, we need your support! So you can become a monthly sustainer at Patreon.com/unsettled. You can like Unsettled on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts, to make sure you never miss an episode of Unsettled.

“Culture is the only human practice that can actually dig into the root of a trauma and try to undo it in the first place. And this is why people are so afraid of culture, and in particular theatre. ‘Cause when there’s a human being in front of you having an experience, it’s very difficult to ignore them. It’s hard to ignore a play.” — Dan Fishback Dan Fishback and Motaz Malhees both made waves in the New York theater scene this fall with plays about Palestine. Motaz performed with the Freedom Theatre of Jenin in "The Siege," at the NYU Skirball Center. Meanwhile, Dan's play "Rubble Rubble" was abruptly and controversially cancelled by the American Jewish Historical Society. In this joint interview, Dan and Motaz talk about their work, and explain why culture is their weapon of choice against the injustices of the occupation. This episode of Unsettled is hosted by Max Freedman. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. Recorded at The 'cast Sound Lab in Brooklyn, New York on November 6, 2017. Edited for length and clarity by Ilana Levinson.  Photo credit: Sammy Tunis Dan Fishback is a playwright, performer, musician, and director of the Helix Queer Performance Network. His musical “The Material World” was called one of the Top Ten Plays of 2012 by Time Out New York. His play “You Will Experience Silence” was called “sassier and more fun than 'Angels in America'” by the Village Voice. Also a performing songwriter, Fishback has released several albums and toured Europe and North America, both solo and with his band Cheese On Bread. Other theater works include “Waiting for Barbara” (New Museum, 2013), “thirtynothing” (Dixon Place, 2011) and “No Direction Homo” (P.S. 122, 2006). As director of the Helix Queer Performance Network, Fishback curates and organizes a range of festivals, workshops and public events, including the annual series, “La MaMa’s Squirts.” Fishback has received grants for his theater work from the Franklin Furnace Fund (2010) and the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists (2007-2009). He has been a resident artist at Kelly Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania, the Hemispheric Institute at NYU, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, where he has developed all of his theater work since 2010. Fishback is a proud member of the Jewish Voice for Peace Artist Council. He is currently developing two new musicals, “Rubble Rubble” and “Water Signs,” and will release a new album by Cheese On Bread in 2018. Motaz Malhees is a Palestinian actor born in 1992. He received his professional training in Stanislavsky, Brecht and Shakespeare at The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp (Palestine), and in Commedia dell’Arte at Theatre Hotel Courage in Amsterdam (Holland). Motaz has trained with internationally acclaimed directors such as Juliano Mer-Khamis and Nabil Al-Raee (The Freedom Theatre), Di Trevis (Royal Shakespeare Company), Thomas Ostermeier (Schaubühne Theatre), and Katrien van Beurden (Theatre Hotel Courage). His stage credits with The Freedom Theatre include: “Alice in Wonderland” (2011), “What Else – Sho Kman?” (2011), Pinter’s “The Caretaker” (2012), “Freaky Boy” (2012), “Courage, Ouda, Courage” (2013), “Suicide Note from Palestine” (2014), “Power/Poison” (2014), and most recently “The Siege” at the NYU Skirball Center. Motaz has also acted in films, including: “Think Out of the Box” (2014, dir. Mohammad Dasoqe), which screened in Palestine, Germany and Mexico; and “Past Tense Continuous” (2014, dir. Dima Hourani). As a versatile actor, Motaz has performed in multilingual plays as well as in scripted, devised, physical, epic and fantasy theatre. Motaz also produces and performs in short films about social issues in Palestine, which have received a wide following on social media platforms. Having grown up in Palestine, and experienced the economic and political hardships of life under occupation, Motaz has been actively interested in acting since he was nine years old. He lives through theatre, and believes in the potential of art to transform people’s ideas and lives. REFERENCES "Arna's Children" (dir. Juliano Mer-Khamis, 2004) "The Life and Death of Juliano Mer-Khamis" (Adam Shatz, London Review of Books, November 2013) "Center for Jewish History Chief Comes Under Fierce Attack By Right-Wingers" (Josh Nathan-Kazis, Forward, September 6, 2017) "Jewish Center Faces Backlash After Canceling Play Criticized as Anti-Israel" (Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times_, _October 11, 2017) Program note by Oskar Eustis for "The Siege" at NYU Skirball Center (October 2017) Indiegogo campaign for Dan Fishback's "Rubble Rubble" "Return to Palestine"(The Freedom Theatre, 2016) in Arabic without subtitles Theatre of the Oppressed NYC Housing Works  "All Your Sisters" (Cheese On Bread, 2017) danfishback.com @motazmalhees thefreedomtheatre.org TRANSCRIPT DAN: So many people warned me against making work like this. And yeah, I got canceled, but in the process, I have tremendously powerful friends now that I didn't make before. MOTAZ: Doesn't it make you stronger after they cancel it? DAN: Yeah, of course. Yeah. MOTAZ: Didn't it make you more like want to do it? DAN: Oh, yeah. MOTAZ: That's a good thing, then.   [MUSIC: Unsettled theme by Nat Rosenzweig]   MAX: Welcome to Unsettled. My name is Max Freedman, I’m one of the producers of Unsettled and your host for today’s episode. Now when I’m not working on this podcast, I’m a theater artist, and I know how hard it can be to make a life in the theater and get your work out there. However hard you think it is, imagine you’re trying to tell stories about the occupied West Bank. Enter Dan Fishback and Motaz Malhees. Dan and Motaz both made waves in the New York theater scene this fall with plays about Palestine. Motaz was in New York performing with the Freedom Theatre of Jenin in “The Siege,” a play about the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, during the Second Intifada. Dan, on the other hand, made waves because of a play that didn’t happen, rather than one that did. His play, “Rubble Rubble,” was supposed to go up at the American Jewish Historical Society, but they cancelled it. I’ll let him tell you why -- and what happened next. Dan and Motaz didn’t know each other before, but I had the privilege to get them in the same room to talk about their work and as you’ll hear, they had a lot in common. In preparation for this interview, I dug through years of old journals and found my entry from the day I first met Motaz, when I was in Jenin, three summers ago. Really big and underlined a few times, I had written two words: CULTURAL RESISTANCE. So that’s our theme for today. Quick note: besides the three of us, at one point you’ll hear the voice of my co-producer Ilana Levinson. I think that’s all you need to know, so, let’s get started!   MAX: Welcome to Unsettled. Uh, why don't you start by introducing yourselves? MOTAZ: Eh, first of all I am so happy to be here with you guys that's before I introduce myself. I am Motaz Malhees, so I am an actor from Palestine, I used to work with the Freedom Theatre since 2010. I do a lot of politics theatre but also the same time I do also for community, I do like for kids show. But I feel like, whatever needs, I give, like...it’s not important the type of theatre I do. But nowadays I'm freelance, and I work like with all theatres in Palestine, my country, because I don't want to be just involved with one place -- even that's I always say that the Freedom Theatre, that's my place and my home. DAN: I’m Dan Fishback, I’m a...I make performance and music and theatre in New York, I’ve been here since 2003 -- I don't know, what do you want to know? MAX: Where’d you grow up? DAN: Oh my gosh! I grew up in a pretty normal American Reform Jewish family, outside Washington, DC in Maryland. In a family that...was essentially a liberal Zionist family, although I don't think they would have necessary articulated themselves like that, they just imagine themselves being normal. And I heard growing up, “If only the Palestinians were nonviolent, then they would get what they want. Because they're asking for something reasonable, but it's because they're violent that things are problem....that that's the reason why there's a problem.” And like, the older people around me as I was growing up were always saying, “If only there was a Palestinian Gandhi” -- that was like the refrain, over and over again. And now I find myself 36 years old, going back to my communities and being like, “There’s this huge non-violent Palestinian movement! And it’s international and we can be part of it, it’s boycott, and blah blah blah.” And everyone’s like, “Oh no, no no, this makes us uncomfortable too.” I'm like, “This is what you were begging for my whole childhood! And now it’s here! Why aren’t you excited? Why aren't you as excited as I am?” That’s where I’m from. MOTAZ: That’s cool. DAN: And it’s an honor to be here with Motaz, whose performance in “The Siege” was absolutely amazing. MOTAZ: We not sure, but there is like people who really want to bring it back to the U.S. again, because it was a really successful show like for the Skirball Theatre, even like they almost sold out. MAX: Let me back you up a second, because, I want you to imagine that I have never heard of “The Siege,” have never heard of the Freedom Theatre. Can you tell me -- tell me what it was, tell me what it is. MOTAZ: “The Siege” it's a story about the invasion happened in 2002 in Palestine. There was like eh...invasion for the whole West Bank: in Jenin, in Nablus, all the cities. Like, one of them was Bethlehem, and in Bethlehem there was like a group of fighters, freedom fighters, who fight and defend back from their homeland. They have like many guns defending themselves, and they have in the other side -- the Israeli side -- there is tanks, Apache, Jeeps, all kind of guns you can imagine your life, heavy guns. And they were like around 45 fighters, 250, 245 civilian -- priests, nuns, children, women, and men, from both different religions -- who’s like stuck inside the Nativity Church for 39 days. With the like first five days they have food, after that they have no food. And they surrounded with around 60,000 soldiers from the Israeli army. They want, like, to finish it. So they, they have pressure, they don't wanna -- even the fighters, says khalas, it’s enough. Their people are suffering, their families are suffering outside because of that. So, they sent them like a paper, they have to write their names, the number of their IDs they have, and their signature. So, the fighters sign on it, and they know that's thirteen going to Europe and twenty-five are going to Gaza. They don't know even where they going. So, they sent them to exile the same day. DAN: When my friends and I were leaving the theatre, all we were talking about is, we were so curious about what their lives would be like after fifteen years of exile and we couldn’t wrap our minds around it. MOTAZ: I know one of them is personally, and he told me a lot about it. And it’s really important to bring this piece because of one reason: they didn't choose. Even they signed the paper that say they have to go to exile, but like they was under pressure, and they thought it's temporary and that they would return. And eh, I know how much they are really broken from inside. They never show this to people.But from inside, if you know them personally, they are really broken, and they just...all they want, just to see like at least their families. Some of them, they can’t. Their family, like they can't get the visa to go to visit them -- like, for example, the two guys, Rami Kamel, and Jihadi Jaara who living in Dublin, they haven't seen their families at all. One of them, like Jihadi he have a son that's his wife give birth like after one week he was sent to exile. He didn't even touch his son, he's fifteen years old, like...at least, like, okay, you don't want to send him back to Palestine. Let his family visit him! Like, this is the minimum of humanity. And eh...a really important point we have like always to say: those people was in their homeland, they was in their own city, and they fight back. They didn't went to...yeah, to Tel Aviv to fight, or to somewhere inside Israel, to fight the people over there. They was fighting the…defending themselves from the Israeli army. MAX: How did you get started with the Freedom Theatre? MOTAZ: Woo hoo! Since I was like, eh…fourteen I heard about it, or thirteen -- and I was dreaming about to be in there cause I’m, since like eight, nine, I start doing acting. It's like something I really love from inside, like I really really want to be an actor. Not because like I wanted a name. Because I can hold the stories, I can share stories for all over the world, I enjoy it, it's something beautiful and strong in the same time. So when I was sixteen, I heard about the hip-hop workshop, dance hip-hop workshop in the Freedom Theatre. So I went there and I apply for it, and I get involved with the workshop, and the last few days Juliano just came and he said, “We open a new class for theatre.”   MAX: Juliano, who Motaz just mentioned, is Juliano Mer Khamis, who started what is today, the Freedom Theatre. Real quick, I want to tell you the remarkable story of the Freedom Theatre of Jenin. During the First Intifada, Juliano’s mother, a Jewish Israeli Communist named Arna Mer, came to Jenin, where she helped to establish housing and educational programs for children in the refugee camp there -- and eventually a children’s theatre called The Stone. Arna died of cancer in 1995, and during the Second Intifada, the Stone Theatre was destroyed. Arna’s son Juliano returned to Jenin for the first time since his mother’s death in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Jenin, and made an incredible film called "Arna’s Children" -- Motaz will tell you more about this in a bit, but it’s on YouTube and I highly recommend it. It was after finishing this film that Juliano returned again to Jenin to found the Freedom Theatre. In 2011, Juliano was assassinated, but the Freedom Theatre has persisted. Alright -- back to Motaz.   MOTAZ: So I get involved and I put myself in that place since 2010. And it’s been like around...now, now you could say like eight years almost. It is...hard and eh, good in the same time. It is, ‘cause you face emotion, a lot of different emotion. But I love it. It's like, it’s become my home now. I’m always there. Even if I have nothing, I go pass by drinking coffee there like, chill, see what's going on, if they need help or something, because I'm part of the family. MAX: Well we met because I went to visit the Freedom Theatre. And you were just hanging around and we sat there and talked for an hour. MOTAZ: Yeah yeah. MAX: Alright, so, Dan. DAN: Yeah. MAX: Tell me about your work and particularly tell me about “Rubble Rubble” and the genesis of that project. MOTAZ: I wanna hear about it. DAN: Well I've been working for the past decade on a trilogy of plays that sort of explore the inner life of the Jewish left in the United States over the past century. And this last play, “Rubble Rubble,” which I've been developing for the past few years, starts in the West Bank in an Israeli settlement. And you find this family that I've been writing plays about -- which is a very far leftist socialist radical family -- you see that that family has split off, and there's like a right-wing side of the family that has become settlers. And the left-wing anti-Zionist member of their family travels to visit them, after they haven’t spoken in twenty years. MOTAZ: Whoa. DAN: And the family confronts each other over his huge chasm, where one person is like a Palestinian solidarity BDS supporter and the rest of the family are like... MOTAZ: Pro-Israel. DAN: They're like settlers! Like living on stolen land, even though, but they’re middle aged American Jews who in the sixties were like radical New Left, you know, people. I’m fascinated by how many American-Israeli Jews were like super far on the left in the United States and then became these horrible oppressors in Israel. It blows my mind that it's possible to make that transition within the course of one life. And so, and that's where the play starts, and um…and I've been developing it for a few years, I went to Israel-Palestine to research for the play, I spent two weeks with interfaith peace builders traveling all through the West Bank and meeting with different non violent Palestinian and Israeli activists. I spent a week interviewing settlers, which was extremely disturbing. Um, and then I’ve been developing this play, and it was gonna have its first public reading at the American Jewish Historical Society in Manhattan and, um, a couple weeks ago -- I guess now around a month ago -- we went to their offices for a meeting and everything was very positive, they were very excited to have us, the staff was very supportive of the work. And we heard that there was a right-wing smear campaign against the organization's new CEO. And we were told, “This is all happening but don't let it bother you. We might have to cancel that other thing, but we're not going to cancel your play, because we, we're really excited about it.” And literally the conversation we had was about raising the budget for our play. Eight hours later, I got an email saying that the play had been canceled. MOTAZ: What? Was there any explanation about it? DAN: Well, I knew that it was... The institution itself never sent me like a formal letter or anything, but I knew that it was because of this right-wing Zionist pressure campaign that they were being pressured to fire their new CEO, and in order to try to get rid of that critique, they were just going to get rid of us. And the staff of the American Jewish Historical Society was very supportive of me, and I don't see them as my enemies at all. It was the board of directors, or at least a small group from the board, met in the middle of the night and made this decision. And this is what happens all the time in Jewish organizations: the people actually doing work are willing to make brave choices, and the people who are funding that work are not willing to let anyone make those choices. MOTAZ: Yeah yeah yeah, this happened with the same thing almost with us. DAN: Yeah, at the Public, right? MOTAZ: Yeah yeah yeah, it's almost the same, I like, I don't know who’s stand with us or who is against us, but we had this question for Oskar, which is the Artistic Director of the Public Theater, and his answer was really diplomatic answer and I respect -- no Oskar, he’s really great guy and he was one of the supporters to bring this play over here, and the most important thing, he says, that's to bring “The Siege” for the New Yorker people and we did it. It’s not about the place. DAN: Well, that was interesting about Oskar Eustis and “The Siege,” is that it was supposed to be at the Public Theater, the board canceled that choice. But Oskar, who is the Artistic Director of the Public Theater, he had notes in the program for “The Siege” production at the Skirball Center. And I was like, this is so unusual that you open the program and you see notes from the director of the theatre that canceled the play! MOTAZ: Yeah yeah. But, I want to hear more about Dan play, man. DAN: Sure, yeah. MOTAZ: I would like to know what is the story? DAN: Well, I can tell you about the story of what happens in the play, but what I also want to say is that, after we were canceled, the New York theatre world became incredibly supportive of us. And people really came out of nowhere to offer support and offer help. We raised our budget that had been canceled from American Jewish Historical Society within three days. MOTAZ: Whoa. DAN: Yeah. And we were offered resources that we couldn't have ever imagined. And to me, that was a huge sign that the people who are trying to censor dissident voices around Israel-Palestine are going to fail in humiliation. Because our work is stronger than ever after having been canceled, because people are so angry about it. People who are, who don't really know very much about it, are angry about it. And there are left-wing Zionists in my life who don't agree with me, but who are so angry that the play was canceled -- and it’s put them in a situation where they are more open to my ideas, and more open to considering the ideas of the play. So, I mean -- and we’re going to do the reading of the play, it's going happen next year, the details aren't confirmed, but it's going to be bigger and more interesting and more spectacular than it would have been if it hadn’t been canceled in the first place. Which is interesting. The play itself -- it’s funny because the people who canceled it never read it. And it's weird, like if they read it I think they'd be like, “Oh, this is weird.” It's a weird play. The first act is like a very traditional living room drama in a family. So, there's the aunt and uncle, who are middle-aged formerly left-wing radical American Jews who live in a settlement. There's their radical nephew, who shares my politics but is not a sympathetic person. He’s kind of...nasty and annoying and neurotic. And he’s there with his partner who’s Colombian and has no context for any of this. So I really wanted there to be a character who doesn't really have any stake in the game, doesn't have any history with Israel-Palestine, just comes from another part of the world entirely, but who has...a personal history of violence. Because he grew up in a part of Colombia that experienced a lot of violence. Whereas, I think a lot of white American Jews, violence, revolution, all these ideas are abstract concepts, and we don't experience them in our real lives. So he's coming at -- that character, who in a way is the central character of the play -- is coming at things from a totally different context. And I don't want to give anything away, but by the end of the first act, things go horribly wrong, and the first act ends with an enormous disaster. And the second act begins, and it's a musical, and it takes place in Moscow in 1905. And it's the same family, but a century before, and the matriarch of the family is building bombs for the socialist revolution of 1905. MOTAZ: So it’s almost flashback? DAN: It’s like a flash -- it's like an ancestral flashback. MOTAZ: That’s interesting. DAN: So you see the ancestor of the same family, and she's like a socialist revolutionary. She's building a bomb, she wants to like blow up the Tsar. And...and the ideas of the first act are sort of filtered through the music of the second act, where you see her with her socialist comrades. And what I want to ask is: How did this family go from here to there? How did it get from one place to the other? And, and the other question that I'm really interested in asking is like: Once you learn that there's an enormous injustice around you, how far are you willing to go to stop it from happening? How much violence are you willing to accept in order to stop something? Which is a huge question, I think, for anti-Zionist Jews when it comes to Palestine, like how...what are we supposed to do, knowing this horrible thing is going on? It's a huge question within Palestinian society, obviously, like what are you willing to do to stop this from happening? And it’s been a huge question throughout Jewish political history, which is full of violent resistance to injustice, and we act like were so horrified by violence, but Jewish history is full of it. So, those are the questions that I'm dealing with, and I don't think that the play offers any straightforward answers. And that's the interesting thing about the play being canceled or censored, is that the play itself is about what happens when two sides of a Jewish family can't communicate, and shun each other. And that’s what’s happened with the play, that we were being shunned just like family members are being shunned. And when I was in Israel, researching the play, and I would tell people what the play was about -- you know, it's about a Jewish family that's separated over Israel, and the Israeli side doesn't talk to the American side -- and every single person I talked to was like, “Oh, that's just like my family. That's my family, that happened to us.” And I was like, oh, right. This is bad for everybody. This destroys families, this injustice is destroying everybody involved in it. MOTAZ: Yeah, I mean like, even if it’s happened, like something like, my grandparents, whatever it takes place, I will not do the same thing in a different place. DAN: Right? This is the big Jewish catastrophe of the twentieth century, that you take one of two decisions, right? You either, you take all the trauma and you say, “This will never happen to us again, and we will do anything to protect us.” Or you say, “This will never happen to anyone again.” MOTAZ: What, like, Jewish used to live in Yemen, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, many Arab countries, there was normal to see like this Muslim, Christian and a Jewish neighbor and eh, like an atheist beside him, and all of them are living in the Arab world like normally, like -- let's be honest, even though the Arab history is not clear, like there is many bad things from the Arab history also like... But eh, we used to live like together, so the thing is not religion. I don’t believe it’s religion, it’s mentality. It’s... DAN: I was talking, I was having an argument in a restaurant a couple years ago with a Zionist Jew, and we were fighting really passionately. And someone, a stranger came up to our table and said, “Guys, stop fighting about this. It's an ancient struggle that's been going on thousands of years.” And we both looked at him, both of us agreed, we were like, “No, it isn't! This is new, this is in the past like less than 200 years that this has happened, come on.” We were like, “Go sit down. Finish your lunch, hon. Get out of our faces.” There's so many lies about it. But this is...I feel like this is the work, this is the cultural work of American Jewishness right now. We've been brought up with such a distorted understanding of the world. And it's gonna take so much cultural work to undo it all. MOTAZ: Yeah, and it's gonna make a lot of enemies at the same time. DAN: Oh yeah. But I think my situation proves that it's also gonna get…it's not gonna be completely a disaster. You know, everyone -- so many people warned me against making work like this. And yeah, I got canceled, but in the process, I have tremendously powerful friends now that I didn't make before. MOTAZ: Doesn't it make you stronger after they cancel it? DAN: Yeah, of course. Yeah. MOTAZ: Didn't it make you more like want to do it? DAN: Oh, yeah. MOTAZ: That's a good thing, then. Okay, what’s the next question? MAX: So, for both of you, why is culture your weapon of choice? MOTAZ: Woo hoo! Because eh… Dan, you go ahead. DAN: ‘Cause its more powerful! Like…violence only ever creates more violence. I think this, like, even when it's necessary, it ends up being true. Culture is the only human practice that can actually dig into the root of a trauma and try to undo it in the first place. Um, and this is why people are so afraid of culture, and in particular theatre. ‘Cause when there's a human being in front of you having an experience, it’s very difficult to ignore them. It's hard to ignore a play. And, and so many…especially, so many American Zionist Jews are under -- on an emotional level, understand that their perspective is impossible. ‘Cause if you ask most American Jews, “Do you believe that it is right for a country to privilege one ethno-religious group over others?” Most of them will say, “No, that’s wrong. That is a wrong thing.” And then you say, “Well, what about Israel?” and they'll go, “Uhhhhhh…” But the fundamental truth, the deeper truth is that none of us actually support this. It's, the the support for Israel is the more superficial belief. The deeper belief is that this is wrong. Good plays, good art, good visual art, good music, good anything about this will help strip away the sort of superficial attachment to the, to the story of Israel, and help people get to the deeper belief that supremacy is wrong. No matter who is supreme in any given situation, it will always be wrong. ILANA: Sorry, I just wanna um, in the conversation about Zionism, I’m wondering... DAN: Do you want me to define that? ILANA: Yeah, I’m wondering specifically if you think any form of Zionism involves supremacy and that kind of thing. DAN: You know, I identify as an anti-Zionist Jew, and a lot of people, a lot of people will say, “Oh, don't say that, because it’s icky, it makes us uncomfortable to say you're anti-Zionist. Because, 'cause what does that really mean.” And for me, if it was the early 1900s, maybe I would have identified as like a Cultural Zionist. But to me, the way the word Zionism functions in the world, it’s support for a Jewish state of Israel. And to me, that means that Zionism inherently requires one to believe that Jews should reign supreme in this land, and I think that that's an untenable option. MAX: I…I sort of wanna respond. DAN: You wanna get into it, Max? MAX: No, I don't -- no, I don’t wanna argue with you…that's not… I will confess that I am skeptical of people who call themselves anti-Zionists who are not Jewish and not Palestinian. I... DAN:  Yeah yeah yeah, me too. I think that part of the, part of what it means to liberate Jews in the world, is to liberate us from our trauma, and to liberate us from that pain that…that distracts us from the reality of the world. And that requires our friends to help us get through that trauma, and to help us liberate ourselves from that trauma, and that requires non-Jewish people who oppose Zionism to make sure that we are emotionally capable of, um, of joining with them and being in community with them. And to me that's always like a challenge to my non-Jewish friends and comrades to be like, if we’re gonna do this together you need to understand that we’re…we just barely made it alive into this century, and a lot of us have like legitimate fears for our lives. I mean, we’re living in the United States where there's like a Nazi problem, right? Like our fear of violence is real and legitimate and um, when people say there's like no anti-semitism on the left in the United States, to me that's like so foolish. Like obviously, there's some anti-semitism in any part of the world, in any community. MOTAZ: Of course, of course…that's true. DAN: And when we pretend it doesn't exist, then we’re...I think we make so many other Jews feel unsafe joining us in this movement, because we're saying something that's obviously untrue and they don't trust us ‘cause it sounds like we’re lying to them. From my perspective, we need to say it: yeah, there's totally some anti-semitism on the left. And we need to deal with it, and our non-Jewish comrades need to deal with it, so that we can see that this is a safe place for us to be. MOTAZ: Nobody called you before, like you are anti-semitic after all the things you did? DAN: Oh yeah. MOTAZ: And you are Jewish. DAN: Oh yeah. Motaz, I need to tell you, I've gotten a lot of hate mail in my life and it's never as aggressive as other Jews. They’re the ones that tell me I should die. What they always say is, “You should go to Palestine, where they’d kill you.” They say this all the time, and I’m like, “I’ve been to Palestine, dude!” MOTAZ: So if some of the guys gonna hear this interview, Dan, you more than welcome in my house in Jenin. Nobody gonna kill you, you gonna love it. So come back to the first question? MAX: Yes, yes, finally... MOTAZ: Why cultural... Because I'm fed up. I have seen like many people got killed in this entire world since I was born. And see blood everywhere, why it’s need to be violent? Why that question? Why don't we turn the opposite question: why we have to be violent? Because it's like, we fed up, we are like, we are human. There is many people that think, like, “Oh, they was born like this.” No, they was not born like this. There is something happen to them. Like, if you watch there is a really important and good movie, it’s called “Arna’s Children,” Little kids, he talking about this story a lot, little kids. And they was dreaming about to be a Romeo of Palestine, them want to be Juliet, one of them he want to be Al Pacino. They wanna be actors. Suddenly, in a moment in 2002, you see those people got killed. And they became a freedom fighter before. Why? One of them his mother got killed by a sniper. One of them, after they bomb a school, he went to the school and he grabbed the body of a girl and she was almost alive, while he was running through the hospital, she died. So, his...of course he was gonna have a flip in his mind, and he gonna hold the gun and fight. So those people, they didn't like came from nothing. There is a reason always to do this. Even like I'm not into like guns or things, that's why I choose also art because I believe art is more stronger than a gun. And I don’t want to see any person on earth suffer. Like death is coming anyway, like you gonna die, but why we have to kill each other? Destroying, destroying. Like, I can make art which is strong, I can bring the messages, not just from my place, from all over the world and develop it to the stage. And eh… I think it's, let's make it, let's be cultural more. Let's let the art talk. And eh, we not gonna fake history, we not gonna fake stories, we gonna bring the story as it is. DAN: And this is why they’re so afraid of theatre. MOTAZ: Yeah! DAN: Because theatre shows the reasons why a person does something, and they don't wanna look at the reasons. MOTAZ: Man, I start to believe in this thing in 2012. I was going to the theatre in a taxi and there was checkpoint, and they stop me. ‘Cause I have no ID. I told him, like “I’m late for my theatre.” And he said, “Oh, you’re going to the Freedom Theatre.” He said like, “Come on man, they killed Juliano, they could kill you too.” And I said like “Why?” He said like, “Art will not change anything man. Why you need it?” And I said, “It's fine, for you it's nothing, but for me...” And he told me, “If you don't have your ID next time, you go to prison. And I promise you.” So since that time I just realize how much art is strong, and how much they afraid from art.   MAX: Here’s Motaz in a scene from “Return to Palestine,” devised by graduates of the Freedom Theatre acting school. [Excerpt from "Return to Palestine," in Arabic]   MAX: So, the work I do here in New York City is mostly with an organization called Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. MOTAZ: Yeah, I know. MAX: Where I work with a lot of different groups of people. Right now I’m working at Housing Works, which is an organization that um…I think this is the blurb from their website, “works to end the twin crises of HIV/AIDS and homelessness.” MOTAZ: Whoa. DAN: Easy. MAX: Yeah, right? I’m working with a group of folks from Housing Works on a play that they created about their experiences trying to keep and get affordable housing, with housing vouchers that they have because of their status. And… that’s just one example, I’ve worked on a lot of plays, and the way that sometimes I think about what those plays are meant to do, is is kind of in two areas: there’s the sort of, I mean, the way that I talk about it with my family, which is very much in the kind of like raising awareness camp, in the sense that people come to see these plays, they don’t know anything about tenant harassment in New York City and they learn about it. And then, really what it was designed to do by the folks who came up with this stuff in Brazil in the seventies, which is to build capacity in that community. Um, these theater tools are tools for people to work together to make change. I’m wondering if that resonates with you at all, and sort of -- what do you see your work in theater doing? DAN: Obviously I like plays that do all of these things at the same time. MOTAZ: Yeah. DAN: But, as a playwright, if you go into a project with too much of a vision of like what kind of responses you want from your audience -- an audience knows when you’re trying to manipulate them, and at the end of the day, an audience knows when something is authentic. So, being a playwright is about balancing your vision for what you want to happen in the room, and your relationship to your own imagination and your own impulses. MOTAZ: And the thing is like, if you don’t believe it, the actors will never believe it, then the audience will never believe it. DAN: Yeah, totally, and a lot of political theatre gets a bad rap, because I think a lot of political theatre is only thinking about, how can we make an impact with this audience? And it feels false. MOTAZ: I’m interested to know about, Dan, like -- normally, when you write, you give solution for the people? Or you give them a question to find the solution? DAN: I don’t give solutions, no. MOTAZ: You give a question. DAN: I give the questions. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. MOTAZ: Good, yeah. DAN: If I feel like I know concretely an answer to something, then I don’t need to write the play. I will just write an essay.   [MUSIC: Cheese on Bread, “All Your Sisters”]   MAX: Motaz had to leave, and I got to talk to Dan for a little while longer about the difference between boycott and censorship, and why he wants to start identifying as a “liberationist Jew.” If you’re not already subscribed, SUBSCRIBE to Unsettled on your podcatcher of choice -- because, in a couple weeks, you’ll get a bonus episode with the rest of our conversation. In the meantime, you can find Dan’s work at his website, danfishback.com, and follow Motaz on Instagram @motazmalhees, that’s M-O-T-A-Z-M-A-L-H-E-E-S. The song you’ve been hearing is "All Your Sisters" by Dan Fishback’s band, Cheese On Bread, from their forthcoming album "The One Who Wanted More,” coming out next year. You can find the song, a full transcript of the episode and other resources at our website, unsettledpod.com. Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Asaf Calderon, Yoshi Fields, Ilana Levinson, and me. This episode was edited by Ilana Levinson. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. We recorded this episode in a studio for the first time -- shout out to Cast Sound Lab in Brooklyn, New York. Go to our website, unsettledpod.com, for more show information. We want to bring you more content in more different forms, and to make that happen, we need your support! So you can become a monthly sustainer at Patreon.com/unsettled. You can like Unsettled on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts, to make sure you never miss an episode of Unsettled.

We're kicking off season two with 2 episodes about the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Hamilton. Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Director Tommy Kail, Producers Jeffrey Seller & Oskar Eustis, Alex Lacamoire, David Korins, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, and more, these episodes will dazzle both the Hamilton super-fans and the casual ones as we find out how the show developed from a vacation beach read to a genre-bending international phenomenon.  Part 1 takes us all the way back to 2008 when Lin-Manuel Miranda picked up Ron Chernow's book for the first time and, as Lin says, heard hip hop songs rising off the pages. From there, Lin begins work on a concept album called The Hamilton Mixtape. After a fateful performance of the Mixtape, the wheels are set in motion to develop the album into an off-Broadway musical in partnership with The Public Theater. As the off-Broadway production approached opening night, the creative team knew the work was good, but as The Public Theater's Oskar Eustis says, anybody who says they knew what Hamilton would become is lying.   Download the TodayTix app in googleplay or the app store or visit todaytix.com to see what's playing this month and treat yourself to a show. And use the code BACKSTORY to save $15 on your first purchase.  Visit our brand new website todaytix.com/broadwaybackstory to check out the unedited full interviews with David Korins, Jeffrey Seller, and Oskar Eustis.  

We're kicking off season two with 2 episodes about the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Hamilton. Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Director Tommy Kail, Producers Jeffrey Seller & Oskar Eustis, Alex Lacamoire, David Korins, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, and more, these episodes will dazzle both the Hamilton super-fans and the casual ones as we find out how the show developed from a vacation beach read to a genre-bending international phenomenon.  Part 2 picks up on the opening night of Hamilton at The Public Theater. The reviews were ecstatic and the creative team began to plan for a Broadway transfer. Hamilton moves uptown and opens at the Richard Rodgers Theatre just 70 days after closing at The Public. Hamilton becomes the hottest ticket in generations, The #Ham4Ham show is born, and Hamilton earns more Tony nominations than any show in history.  Download the TodayTix app in googleplay or the app store or visit todaytix.com to see what's playing this month and treat yourself to a show. And use the code BACKSTORY to save $15 on your first purchase.  Visit our brand new website todaytix.com/broadwaybackstory to check out the unedited full interviews with David Korins, Jeffrey Seller, and Oskar Eustis.  

One of Broadway's most acclaimed designers, Clint Ramos, joins Rob and Kevin, via phone, to discuss his illustrious career, which includes collaborating on such recent productions as Sunday in the Park with George, In Transit, Eclipsed, Violet, Six Degrees of Separation, Kid Victory, and countless others. Clint pulls back the curtain on his career to discuss how became the first person of color to win a Tony Award in his category, what was the process of creating the fascinating Kid Victory set design, and why he made five dresses out of metro cards. Plus, Clint opens up about his work with SLAM-NYC, NYC's first ever recovery high school, and FIERCE NY, an organization dedicated to building the leadership of LGBTQ persons of color. Also, Clint shines the spotlight on Liesl Tommy, Oskar Eustis, and the next generation of designers! Become a sponsor of Behind The Curtain and get early access to interviews, private playlists, and advance knowledge of future guests so you can ask the legends your own questions. Go to: http://bit.ly/2i7nWC4

In a city overpopulated with ambitious, brilliant misfits, Oskar Eustis holds his own. The Artistic Director of the legendary Public Theater is somehow directing Julius Caesar with a star-studded cast including Oscar Isaac and Keegan-Michael Key for Shakespeare in the Park, while teaching at NYU, developing new works as far as Hong Kong, and as far, at least politically, as rural and Midwest, Trump voting counties go, while overseeing the mothership with a 120-person staff and at least 4 productions seven nights a week, not including the multiple writing and outreach programs, and stages, including Joe’s Pub. Eustis is an exceptional leader. Eustis is even training and nurtures potential successors. We spoke about how the Public became a global brand, his mission to make theater free and accessible, leadership, and what the windfall from Fun Home and Hamilton’s success on Broadway offers. This episode was produced by Rob Schulte http://robkschulte.com

Sarah Bay-Cheng talks to Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, about the state of non-profit theatres, market thinking in theatre and academia, and what stories should be the next to be told on American stages.

All the people clamoring to get into Broadway shows like "Wicked" and "The Book of Mormon" – or museum shows like the Rain Room at MoMa – are apparently the exception, rather than the rule. That's the conclusion of a new survey of public participation released last week by the National Endowment for the Arts. It shows an overall decline in arts consumption by Americans, with a particular drop-off in museum and theater attendance. There were smaller dips in classical music and ballet audiences too. But it wasn't all gloom and doom: Audiences are growing more racially and ethnically diverse.  And there are hints that technology is playing a larger role in how we consume culture. On Oct. 3, Conducting Business brought a group of prominent arts leaders to The Greene Space to explore these recent findings and their implications. Joining us were Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York’s Public Theater; Robert Battle, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater; Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras; Anne Midgette, classical music critic of the Washington Post, and Graham Parker, general manager of WQXR. Naomi Lewin hosted the event, of which the archived video is below.   What do you think is behind the decline in audiences? What can arts organizations do to attract new patrons? Please leave your comments in the box at the bottom of this page, or Tweet us at @WQXR. Below are three salient findings from the NEA's Survey of Public Participation in the Arts: Please leave your questions in the comments box below, or Tweet us at @WQXR #NEASPPA.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Oskar Eustis, director of The Public Theater in New York City about leadership, ethics, and idealism.  How does Oskar navigate the economic disparity he encounters every day – running an arts institution that has to both market itself to wealthy backers and nurture an often very impoverished community of working artists?  What are the possibilities he sees in the future toward making a better, more sustainable working environment – and ultimately better art – in the American theater?

This documentary tells the story of New York’s indomitable, streetwise champion of the arts, Joe Papp—founder of The Public Theater and free Shakespeare in the Park—who introduced interracial casting to the American stage and nurtured an entire generation of artists, along with their works, from Hair to A Chorus Line. Speakers: Tracie Holder, Oskar Eustis

Just as she departed for Massachusetts and her first season as the Williamstown Theatre Festival's first female artistic director Jenny Gersten discussed her plans for the company under her leadership and tells the story of how she sold herself as Associate Producer to prior artistic director Michael Ritchie, which resulted in her nine year tenure in that previous position at WTF. She discussed WTF's relationship both to its local audience, those who summer in the Berkshires and visitors from New York, as well as how she's reconfigured the season to allow for longer runs, but fewer productions, on the mainstage. She also talks about growing up in a performing arts household (as the daughter of Lincoln Center Theater's Bernard Gersten and The New 42nd Street's Cora Cahan, both previous Downstage Center guests); her post college job with the the highly praised 52nd Street Project; her time as artistic director of New York's Naked Angels as they began their renaissance; and her work as Associate Producer for Oskar Eustis at The Public Theater prior to getting the Williamstown gig. Original air date - June 15, 2011.

Just as she departed for Massachusetts and her first season as the Williamstown Theatre Festival's first female artistic director Jenny Gersten discussed her plans for the company under her leadership and tells the story of how she sold herself as Associate Producer to prior artistic director Michael Ritchie, which resulted in her nine year tenure in that previous position at WTF. She discussed WTF's relationship both to its local audience, those who summer in the Berkshires and visitors from New York, as well as how she's reconfigured the season to allow for longer runs, but fewer productions, on the mainstage. She also talks about growing up in a performing arts household (as the daughter of Lincoln Center Theater's Bernard Gersten and The New 42nd Street's Cora Cahan, both previous Downstage Center guests); her post college job with the the highly praised 52nd Street Project; her time as artistic director of New York's Naked Angels as they began their renaissance; and her work as Associate Producer for Oskar Eustis at The Public Theater prior to getting the Williamstown gig. Original air date - June 15, 2011.

Production Manager Ruth Sternberg is the primary facilitator in executing a stage production within its given financial parameters. She discusses with the director and designers what they want to achieve and provides staffing and resources for each play. After 10 years at Trinity Rep with Oskar Eustis, they both moved to the Public Theater where they work on 6 stages, "Shakespeare in the Park" at the Delacorte Theater, and off-site productions such as "Passing Strange", "Hair", "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson", and "The Merchant of Venice" on Broadway. Sternberg loves that her job always brings a new challenge, such as the one seen here for "Kicking a Dead Horse".

Production Manager Ruth Sternberg is the primary facilitator in executing a stage production within its given financial parameters. She discusses with the director and designers what they want to achieve and provides staffing and resources for each play. After 10 years at Trinity Rep with Oskar Eustis, they both moved to the Public Theater where they work on 6 stages, "Shakespeare in the Park" at the Delacorte Theater, and off-site productions such as "Passing Strange", "Hair", "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson", and "The Merchant of Venice" on Broadway. Sternberg loves that her job always brings a new challenge, such as the one seen here for "Kicking a Dead Horse".

Oskar Eustis

Oskar Eustis, Head of NY's Public Theater and directors from Ma-Yi, TADA!, Hadley, Mud/Bone & Classical Theatre of Harlem discuss the 365 Days/365 Plays Project. Also Peter Bartlett and Lee Roy Reams on the art of being replacement actors on Broadway.

The artistic directors of four major not-for-profit companies - Susan V. Booth of the Alliance Theatre, Oskar Eustis of The Public Theater, Emily Mann of the McCarter Theatre Center and Michael Wilson of Hartford Stage - discuss the unique task of the artistic director, touching upon issues including how they balance their personal artistic goals as directors with the institutional needs of their companies, whether their focus is on the local community or the larger national artistic community, the relationship between not-for-profit theatres and commercial producers, how they measure success, and their responsibility for developing the next generation of theatre artists.

The artistic directors of four major not-for-profit companies -- Susan V. Booth of the Alliance Theatre, Oskar Eustis of The Public Theater (which produced the 2009 Tony-winning revival of Hair), Emily Mann of the McCarter Theatre Center (1994 Regional Theatre Tony Award) and Michael Wilson of Hartford Stage (1989 Regional Theatre Tony Award) -- discuss the unique task of the artistic director, touching upon issues including how they balance their personal artistic goals as directors with the institutional needs of their companies, whether their focus is on the local community or the larger national artistic community, the relationship between not-for-profit theatres and commercial producers, how they measure success, and their responsibility for developing the next generation of theatre artists.

Early in his first season at the helm, Oskar Eustis, the new artistic director of The Public Theater, talks about his plans for that seminal theatrical institution, both on stage and off, lets slip plans to pay tribute to the company's original traveling Shakespeare mandate with new theatrical ventures in all of the city's five boroughs, and reflects on the choice of Rinne Groff's "The Ruby Sunrise" as his first directing project of his tenure. Original airdate - December 16, 2005.

Early in his first season at the helm, Oskar Eustis, the new artistic director of The Public Theater, talks about his plans for that seminal theatrical institution, both on stage and off, lets slip plans to pay tribute to the company's original traveling Shakespeare mandate with new theatrical ventures in all of the city's five boroughs, and reflects on the choice of Rinne Groff's "The Ruby Sunrise" as his first directing project of his tenure. Original airdate - December 16, 2005.

Early in his first season at the helm, Oskar Eustis, the new artistic director of The Public Theater, talks about his plans for that seminal theatrical institution, both on stage and off, lets slip plans to pay tribute to the company's original traveling Shakespeare mandate with new theatrical ventures in all of the city's five boroughs, and reflects on the choice of Rinne Groff's "The Ruby Sunrise" as his first directing project of his tenure. Original airdate - December 16, 2005.