Podcasts about The Sisters Grimm

Ash Flanders made his reputation with wildly funny, often surreal queer theatre made under the name Sisters Grimm with his creative partner Declan Greene. Now, Ash has put the glitter and wigs aside and written a new, naturalistic play called This Is Living.Also, multidisciplinary artist and "radical mischief-maker" Candy Bowers shares the works of art that have most inspired her journey on Top Shelf and we explore the themes of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Fleet Street with the Sydney Opera House cast.

Ash Flanders made his reputation with wildly funny, often surreal queer theatre made under the name Sisters Grimm with his creative partner Declan Greene. Now, Ash has put the glitter and wigs aside and written a new, naturalistic play called This Is Living. Also, multidisciplinary artist and "radical mischief-maker" Candy Bowers shares the works of art that have most inspired her journey on Top Shelf and we explore the themes of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Fleet Street with the Sydney Opera House cast.

Our heroes set out to explore the holy of holies, the favourite flava, the inner sanctum of the strip club – the changing room. On the way they're knocked off course by a billionaire at a sex party but settle down to celebrate the United Nations of Naked – Brazilians, Ukrainians, Russians, Moldovans, Essexians and Cockeny's all gathered to gossip, swear, shave, share and howl with laughter while creating glamour from chaos. We meet Disco Dan, Mandy's burger handbag, the clit ring initiation and a forest of pleasers at the top of the stairs. It's like a stripper fairy tale from the Sisters Grimm.This episode is bought to you by SITA Podcasting Ltd, Hosted by Buffy and Heaven, produced by Stephen Armstrong and Sophie Cohen, edited by Adam Grigg, original soundtrack by Myron Cohen and Hart McNee.Follow us! Instagram & Twitter Press Enquiries- Madelaine@gingerbreadagency.comEmail us your questions & confessions! strippersintheattic@gmail.com

Ash Flanders is a multi-award winning playwright and screenwriter from sunny Melbourne. In 2006 he and Declan Greene formed theatre company Sisters Grimm and together they have written a dozen shows including Summertime in the Garden of Eden (Theatre Works, Griffin Theatre), Little Mercy (STC), The Sovereign Wife (MTC), Calpurnia Descending (Malthouse/STC) and Lilith: The Jungle Girl (MTC). Ash has also created the solo shows Meme Girls (Malthouse), Special Victim (Feast Festival), Playing to Win (Arts Centre Melbourne), Ash Flanders is NOTHING and End Of (Darebin Speakeasy) as well as SS Metaphor at The Malthouse Theatre. Ash has been invited to present work for the Emerging Writers' Festival, The Wheeler Centre's Show of the Year as well as Women of Letters, where his letter was chosen to be published in the book Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Women of Letters. His erotic Golden Girls fan fiction became the short film Divine Decadence of Cheesecake which played Frameline, Out On Film, LLFF Canada and other international film festivals. He co-wrote the web series FRIENDLY (over 10K views) and has a slate of fresh screen projects in development, including a series taken from the world of his solo shows. Ash will premiere a new play, This is Living, at The Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, in 2023. Over the next 2 months, Ash will be performing a solo show, also penned by Ash; titled End Of. It plays the Griffin Theatre in Sydney from October 13th to November 5th. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Recipient of Best New Podcast at 2019 Australian Podcast Awards. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages). www.stagespodcast.com.au

Declan Greene is the Artistic Director of Griffin Theatre Company and works as a playwright, dramaturg and director. He was previously Resident Artist at Malthouse Theatre. As a playwright, his work includes Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography, The Homosexuals, or ‘Faggots', Melancholia, Moth, and Pompeii L.A. Declan co-founded queer experimental theatre company Sisters Grimm with Ash Flanders in 2006, and has directed and co-created all their productions to date, including: for Griffin Independent and Theatre Works: Summertime in the Garden of Eden; for Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company: Calpurnia Descending; for Melbourne Theatre Company: Lilith: The Jungle Girl; and for Sydney Theatre Company: Little Mercy. As a director, his credits include: for Griffin: Dogged, Green Park, Whitefella Yella Tree; for Malthouse Theatre: Wake in Fright; for Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company: Blackie Blackie Brown; for Sydney Theatre Company: Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark; for ZLMD Shakespeare Company: Conviction. Declan has won awards including the Malcolm Robertson Prize, the Max Afford Playwright's Award, an AWGIE for Theatre for Young Audiences and the Green Room Award for Best Original Writing. Declan has just launched the 2023 season for the Griffin Theatre Company. He joined STAGES to elaborate on the season and to reflect on his unique role as an Artistic Director and as one of our most exciting and inventive theatre-makers. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Recipient of Best New Podcast at 2019 Australian Podcast Awards. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages). www.stagespodcast.com.au

Welcome back, Literary Slummers! This week, we're continuing our listener slubmitted grabbag unit with a book sent to us from listener Sam: The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag. Is this book a fairy tale retelling even? Who can say. How old are the main characters? Who can say. Did we even like this book? Who can say. Recommended Reading: Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri Join us next week for another Material Monday, and make sure to check out our 2022 reading challenge on our Twitter or Storygraph! Twitter: @shelfawarecast, @amdeebee, @emnoteliza Instagram: @shelfawarecast Email: shelfawarecast @ gmail

Welcome to Season #3 Episode #8 of That Pretentious Book Club!In this week's episode, Spoons and Wheezy are joined by host of sister podcast The Scripturient Society Karissa Harlow for a nostalgic throwback to middle-grade favorite The Fairy-Tale Detectives, book one in the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley.  If you loved Scholastic book fairs, cup stacking, and other middle grade things, this episode is bound to unlock some core memories for the little reader in each of us. Pour yourself a cup of tea, raise a pinky, and join the club for this discussion of The Fairy-Tale Detectives.Skippers jump to 23:42Visit us at storysirensstudio.com or find us on social media @thatpretentiousbookclubCheck out our sister podcast The Scripturient Society for writers!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/storysirensstudio)

Ella Spira and Pietra Mello-Pittman are the co-creators of Sisters Grimm https://sisters-grimm.co.uk/ and they were joining CreativeMornings to share their story. Things happen and Pietra flew solo and shared the INALA story and more. This is a truly inspiring talk that will make you laugh and pause in the same breath! #creativemornings #dubai #talk #sistersgrimm #cmfree --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thejamescast/message

Ella Spira and Pietra Mello-Pittman are the co-creators of Sisters Grimm https://sisters-grimm.co.uk/ and they were joining CreativeMornings to share their story. Things happen and Pietra flew solo and shared the INALA story and more. This is a truly inspiring talk that will make you laugh and pause in the same breath! #creativemornings #dubai #talk #sistersgrimm #cmfree --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podaholiks/message

Pietra De Mello-Pittman MBE and Ella Louvaine Spira MBE are the co-founders of Sisters Grimm and this is a conversation this dynamic duo had with James Piecowye. Motivating, inspiring and WOW are all words that you might use to describe these ladies. Ella Louvaine Spira MBE is a London & Dubai-based Grammy-nominated composer, theatre producer and painter. She has dedicated her life to cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary, global collaborations spotlighting and celebrating different cultures through the arts. Her passion and drive for representing other cultures, has seen her work and those cultures be celebrated by millions all over the world. To write about everything Spira has done and achieved would be a book, but there are Grammy nominations, award-winning world-touring live cultural theatre productions, millions of YouTube hits, mass participation social Impact initiatives and now a Golden Jubilee Fine Art Series and exclusive NFT drop. Pietra Mello-Pittman was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Brazilian mother and English father. Growing up in England she trained in both Ice skating and Ballet to the point at which Pietra had to choose her path. Pietra was one of the rare few to win a place with the Royal Ballet Company after entering full-time ballet training, with the Royal Ballet School, at the latest possible stage at 16 years old. She performed all the classics, created roles in new productions and has performed all over the world with the Royal Ballet including at The Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theatres in Russia and in Cuba with Carlos Acosta. After winning the Ursula Morton Choreography Competition in 2001, while at the Royal Ballet School in London, Pietra started on the path to becoming a producer through her subsequent choreographies. Passionate about cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary collaborations and carrying with her, the high standards she is accustomed to from her 13-year professional life as a ballerina, Pietra retired from the Royal Ballet in 2015 to focus on producing for Sisters Grimm. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podaholiks/message

Pietra De Mello-Pittman MBE and Ella Louvaine Spira MBE are the co-founders of Sisters Grimm and this is a conversation this dynamic duo had with me. Motivating, inspiring and WOW are all words that you might use to describe these ladies. Ella Louvaine Spira MBE is a London & Dubai-based Grammy-nominated composer, theatre producer and painter. She has dedicated her life to cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary, global collaborations spotlighting and celebrating different cultures through the arts. Her passion and drive for representing other cultures, has seen her work and those cultures be celebrated by millions all over the world. To write about everything Spira has done and achieved would be a book, but there are Grammy nominations, award-winning world-touring live cultural theatre productions, millions of YouTube hits, mass participation social Impact initiatives and now a Golden Jubilee Fine Art Series and exclusive NFT drop. Pietra Mello-Pittman was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Brazilian mother and English father. Growing up in England she trained in both Ice skating and Ballet to the point at which Pietra had to choose her path. Pietra was one of the rare few to win a place with the Royal Ballet Company after entering full-time ballet training, with the Royal Ballet School, at the latest possible stage at 16 years old. She performed all the classics, created roles in new productions and has performed all over the world with the Royal Ballet including at The Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theatres in Russia and in Cuba with Carlos Acosta. After winning the Ursula Morton Choreography Competition in 2001, while at the Royal Ballet School in London, Pietra started on the path to becoming a producer through her subsequent choreographies. Passionate about cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary collaborations and carrying with her, the high standards she is accustomed to from her 13-year professional life as a ballerina, Pietra retired from the Royal Ballet in 2015 to focus on producing for Sisters Grimm. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thejamescast/message

In this episode, Joziah takes a look at the Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley. He's also joined by Ms. Pat, who is the librarian that facilitates his book club at the Ypsilanti District Library for the Discuss segment.

In this episode of The Sisters Grimm, Morgan and Holly discuss the Fear Street Netflix movie trilogy.

26 May 2021: You've been telling Mark about your favourite dishes that your mum makes. Wednesday Wanderings with Nada takes us to Satwa for lots of bargains on food and arts and crafts.  When We're Together: UAE-based singer Danny Aridi releases a new song and we absolutely love it. Just for Kids: Karim Beidas of Kidzapp tells us where to take the kids for under AED50. The Art of Practice: A new performing arts training programme is launched in the UAE.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

⭐ Welcome to Episode 3! This episode is all about one of my favorite pastimes: reading! I'll go through a list of my favorite books, giving a short summary from Goodreads and my own commentary along the way. In this episode, I cover a ton of genres: everything from action to romance to sci-fi, and even a bit of historical fiction! *To my Muslim listeners: Ramadan Mubarak (even though we're almost halfway, haha)!

Learn about how and why Holly and Morgan started this podcast and the first times they experienced horror movies and true crime. Please rate and subscribe!

This book is awesome!!

We hear from Brendon Fulton of Dubai British School about their decision to go back to physical classroom learning. Plus, Emirates has announced plans to introduce premium economy but we discuss why now. And, we speak to one half of the Sisters Grimm who have been awarded an MBE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today I talked to Menna Van Praag about her new book The Sisters Grimm (Harper Voyager, 2020)... In a set up reminiscent of the show Orphan Black, four feisty young women struggle to make their way in the world, unaware that they are related. Rather than having genetically identical material from a cloned person in common, these women all have the same father, a demon called Wilhelm Grimm. They differ from each other not only in their culture of origin, and their appearance, but in their element affiliation. Each sister is magically aligned with one of the four elements, though not all of them are aware of their powers. Like many a villain, the incestuous Wilhelm wants only the strongest to survive and become his lovers and fellow fighters, so he will test his daughters, before inviting them to join the dark side. Unbeknownst to them, assassins wearing the forms of appealing young men are drawing closer, to study their victims and assess their weaknesses, in preparation for combat on their eighteenth birthdays. The sisters met as children in a strange otherworld named Everwhere, but when they reached thirteen, they forgot their time there. Now they must remember, so they can find and support each other before it becomes too late. Some of the sisters have had childhoods marred by sexual abuse or the mental illness of a mother. Will they all choose the light, or will Wilhelm Grimm find himself a new favorite daughter who will turn against the others? Assuming any of them survive their assassins… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I talked to Menna Van Praag about her new book The Sisters Grimm (Harper Voyager, 2020)... In a set up reminiscent of the show Orphan Black, four feisty young women struggle to make their way in the world, unaware that they are related. Rather than having genetically identical material from a cloned person in common, these women all have the same father, a demon called Wilhelm Grimm. They differ from each other not only in their culture of origin, and their appearance, but in their element affiliation. Each sister is magically aligned with one of the four elements, though not all of them are aware of their powers. Like many a villain, the incestuous Wilhelm wants only the strongest to survive and become his lovers and fellow fighters, so he will test his daughters, before inviting them to join the dark side. Unbeknownst to them, assassins wearing the forms of appealing young men are drawing closer, to study their victims and assess their weaknesses, in preparation for combat on their eighteenth birthdays. The sisters met as children in a strange otherworld named Everwhere, but when they reached thirteen, they forgot their time there. Now they must remember, so they can find and support each other before it becomes too late. Some of the sisters have had childhoods marred by sexual abuse or the mental illness of a mother. Will they all choose the light, or will Wilhelm Grimm find himself a new favorite daughter who will turn against the others? Assuming any of them survive their assassins… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I talked to Menna Van Praag about her new book The Sisters Grimm (Harper Voyager, 2020)... In a set up reminiscent of the show Orphan Black, four feisty young women struggle to make their way in the world, unaware that they are related. Rather than having genetically identical material from a cloned person in common, these women all have the same father, a demon called Wilhelm Grimm. They differ from each other not only in their culture of origin, and their appearance, but in their element affiliation. Each sister is magically aligned with one of the four elements, though not all of them are aware of their powers. Like many a villain, the incestuous Wilhelm wants only the strongest to survive and become his lovers and fellow fighters, so he will test his daughters, before inviting them to join the dark side. Unbeknownst to them, assassins wearing the forms of appealing young men are drawing closer, to study their victims and assess their weaknesses, in preparation for combat on their eighteenth birthdays. The sisters met as children in a strange otherworld named Everwhere, but when they reached thirteen, they forgot their time there. Now they must remember, so they can find and support each other before it becomes too late. Some of the sisters have had childhoods marred by sexual abuse or the mental illness of a mother. Will they all choose the light, or will Wilhelm Grimm find himself a new favorite daughter who will turn against the others? Assuming any of them survive their assassins… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Menna van Praag is the author of 6 magical realism novels, her new one is 'The Sisters Grimm'. It's a story of four girls born on the same day with their fate twisted together, they must find each other to save their lives, but one is destined to die. It's a twist on classic fairytales, and we discuss the first moment the idea for the story came into her mind. We talk about the deal that she made with her husband to become a writer before she was 30, why she self-published and how she managed to convince bookshops to take a chance on her story. You can hear how much she plots and plans, how long it took her to find her voice, and she shares the best writing-tip she's ever been told...I think it best be the best you've ever heard too.If you'd like to buy a copy, have a think about using this link - https://amzn.to/32rbJOn - that way we get a little kick-back from Bezos. This week's episode is sponsored by the 'Garnet and Petunia' series by Captain William Gilbert. They're about the bitter, twisted ex-merchant seaman who runs a private detective agency in Bangkok. Find out more at captainwilliamgilbert.com. Grab a copy of the series here - https://amzn.to/34zaBLfCaptain William sponsored the show on patreon.com/writersroutine, feel free to do that too!@writerspodwritersroutine.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

First Draft Episode #266: Adele Griffin Adele Griffin, two-time National Book Award honoree and author of almost thirty books for Young Adult and middle grade readers, including The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone, The Becket List, and Sons of Liberty and Where I want to Be. Today’s episode is brought to you by Caveda, which leads group focus sessions for a worldwide community everyday on Zoom. First Draft listeners can try a free, three hour cave with promo code "FIRSTDRAFT" at caveday.org/firstdraft This episode is sponsored by Revision Season, a seven-week, virtual master class in revising your novel, led by Elana K. Arnold, author of Printz honor winner Damsel and National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and more. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Agatha Christie, author of Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and more Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery OMG Book Festival Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Great Shelby Holmes, Past Perfect Life, and more Twilight by Stephenie Meyer John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, and many more Nancy Paulsen at Penguin Graphic novelist Lisa Brown collaborated with Adele on Picture the Dead Kate DiCamillo is one of six people to win two Newbery Medals, for her novels The Tale of Despereaux and Flora & Ulysses, and author of Newbery Honor book Because of Winn-Dixie, National Book Award finalist The Tiger Rising, as well as New York Times bestselling novels The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Magician’s Elephant, the Mercy Watson series, and more. DiCamillo was the U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature for 2014 and 2015. Listen to her First Draft interview here. Wilder Girls by Rory Power Sarah Mlynowski, author of Just a Girl and a Boy in a Little Canoe, the Whatever After series, and co-author of Upside-Down Magic Julia DeVillers is the author of Liberty Porter, First Daughter series and the coauthor of the Trading Faces series Michael Buckley, author of The Sisters Grimm series, the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society (N.E.R.D.S.   I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds; Leigh Bardugo, author of Ninth House and the Grishaverse series; Creator of Sex and the City Candace Bushnell; YouTube empresario and author Hank Green; Actors, comedians and screenwriters Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham; author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast Linda Holmes; Bestselling authors and co-hosts of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast, Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow; Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish and co-host of the Sciptnotes podcast; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Track Changes If you’re looking for more information on how to get published, or the traditional publishing industry, check out the Track Changes podcast series, and sign up for the Track Changes weekly newsletter. Support the Show Love the show? Make a monthly or one-time donation at Paypal.me/FirstDraft. Rate, Review, and Recommend Take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!

Join the intrepid Sisters Grimm this week as they talk about horror on the silver screen from The Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Are You Afraid of the Dark? True Blood, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, The Haunting of Hill House and many beloved others. twitter: @sistersgrimmpod, @morganafreeburg, @hollycheesburger facebook: facebook.com/thesistersgrimmpodcast instagram: @thesistersgrimmpodcast

My guest is Amelia Holdsworth, a talented contemporary dancer at the beginning of her career.From the age of 16 Amelia trained at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Whilst there she worked with choreographers like; Martin Lawrence, Mark Baldwin and Sisters Grimm. After graduating last year she joined Emergence, a dance company created by Joss Arnott. She is now working towards an MA in Dance Performance and Professional Practice.Amelia talks to me about:Life at Rambert School - and why she went there.Auditioning for companies after graduation.Why one inch of height made all the difference at an audition!Being in the Emergence dance company.The pieces she performed on tour with Emergence (see videos below).Her hopes for the future - despite the virus.AMELIA'S CHALLENGE!Learn and video yourself performing part of the choreography from When Worlds Collide (2019/20) by Joss Arnott - as shown by Amelia on her Instagram page:https://www.instagram.com/p/CAdVgOtjcLn/Post the video on your Instagram page and tag @ameliaholdsworth and @gbswimstars_gbdancestars (that's me!) with #ameliaslockdownchallengeAmelia will decide the winner - who will get a studio photoshoot in Sheffield for themselves and a friend with me: gbdancestars.com. Amelia's decision is final. Photoshoot date to be confirmed. Photoshoot includes 5 photos per dancer.CLOSING DATE: 20th June 2020GOOD LUCK EVERYONE - AND THANK YOU AMELIA!Videos and music credits:Emergence performing When Worlds Collide (2019/20) by Joss ArnottOriginal Music: James Keanehttps://vimeo.com/382031391Emergence performing An Event by James Wiltonhttps://vimeo.com/368766215Emergence performing Fuel by Wubkje Kuindersmahttps://vimeo.com/365324846Emergence dancers:Emily Barber, Abbi Gilbert, Amelia Holdsworth, Madeliene Jefferson, Shannon Mcloughlin, Joanna Savva, Natasha Simpkins, Alisha Stanley, Millie Thomas, Wenwen Wang, Kirsten Way, Emily Worrall.Emergence dance company website:jossarnottdance.com/emergence

Menna van Praag stops by to talk about her debut fantasy The Sisters Grimm, a dark fantasy story that turns the idea of children rebelling against their parents' plans for their lives sideways. Source

In which the squad talk about Fairytale retellings and adaptations! After a discussion about the entire Folk of the Air Series, Grace and Sara bond over their love of The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley before fighting over The Beauty and the Beast (Sara also goes off on Disney.) Meanwhile, Shruti requests Holly Black write the Taryn sequel and demands more Princess and the Frog retellings. WHERE TO FIND US twitter: https://twitter.com/thebookhoes insta: http://instagram.com/bookhoesquadpod email: bookhoesquadpod@gmail.com curiouscat: http://curiouscat.me/thebookhoes the pod: http://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-hoe-squad-podcast/id149047877

The Sisters Grimm know what you did last summer and in this episode they go into the trilogy of I Know What You Did Last Summer movies. You got Jennifer Love Hewitt, you got Freddie Prince Jr. and you got a dude with a meat hook. Make sure to like and subscribe! twitter: @sistersgrimmpod, @morganafreeburg, @hollycheesburger facebook: facebook.com/thesistersgrimmpodcast instagram: @thesistersgrimmpodcast

Today’s author interview guest is Menna van Praag, author of The Sisters Grimm. The critically acclaimed author of The House at the End of Hope Street combines love, mystery, and magic with her first foray into bewitching fantasy with a dark edge […]

In today’s episode, we are talking to a couple of consummate theatre professionals who are defining a new form of theatrical storytelling. I think we will be hearing about Dance Musicals more and more as The Sisters Grimm keep producing groundbreaking shows. They work with pros at the top of their game including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Jeremy Irons on iconic shows like Inala and Voices of the Amazon. Not only this, but they are constantly engaging in community outreach bringing underprivileged youth into the theatre to experience storytelling in a way that they might not have had access to. Pietra Mello-Pittman and Ella Spiro are an inspiration to listen to, and I caught up with them while they were on an unintentional lockdown in Dubai.

Menna van Praag is the author of THE SISTERS GRIMM (available now from HarperVoyager Books). It's a dark and evocative tale of four seemingly unrelated young women united by a surreal, supernatural origin. Goldie, Liyanna, Scarlet, and Bea are all on the cusp of 18, each burdened by complicated family relationships, and all filled with a deep sense of longing for something they can’t quite remember. As children, they found each other in Everwhere, an unchanging world outside of their world, of magic and perpetual night. Crossing over to Everwhere is a gift only the offspring of a single demonic father possess. But as teenagers, they are torn from each other, and forget their shadowy dreamworld. Now, about to come of age, the powers that are their birthright flare into existence again, and the gates to Everwhere reopen to them. Their father’s other children prowl there, too, though — sons-turned-solidiers, whose all-consuming mission is to kill their father’s powerful daughters. Enemies and alliances form as these half-sisters seek to understand who they really are — and face a choice to die in the light, or join their father’s eternal darkness.

This episode we’re talking Menna van Praag, author of the new book The Sisters Grimm from HarperVoyager. In the book, four girls all about to turn 18, Goldie, Liyana, Scarlet and Bea, all are blessed with elemental powers and are preparing to return to the dimension they came from to face their demon father. We talk about the author's process and the demands of urban fantasy.

This episode we’re talking Menna van Praag, author of the new book The Sisters Grimm from HarperVoyager. In the book, four girls all about to turn 18, Goldie, Liyana, Scarlet and Bea, all are blessed with elemental powers and are preparing to return to the dimension they came from to face their demon father. We talk about the author's process and the demands of urban fantasy.

This week, The Sisters Grimm are back at it with The Brothers Grimm bringing you more infamous tales that as weird as they are disturbing. The sisters tell the stories of Death's Messenger, The Frog Prince, The Grave Mound and The Rabbit Bride.

Bust out your Thin Mints, kick back and enjoy some book talk (once we get past the cookie talk, of course). We’re discussing pretty drastically different books today: there’s a book about an affair, a book about grief with a misleading cover, some thinly-veiled One Direction fanfic, and a fantasy about a whole lot of things all at once. Something for everyone! Let’s also take a quick moment to highlight that Becky has slept with wolves. Casual. Read on for links, bar recs, and more! And if you have a perfect books/bar pairing in your city, let us know! You can email booksandthecitypod@gmail.com with those recommendations or anything else-------------> Libby just read: Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/550263/conversations-with-friends-by-sally-rooney/ Frances and Bobbi, the main characters of this novel, perform spoken word poetry together. We recommend a trip down to the East Village for a drink and poetry performance at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe to feel fully transported into the plot of this novel. Up next for Libby: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang Becky just read: The Sisters Grimm by Menna Van Praag https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062932464/the-sisters-grimm/ The “Grimm Girls” enter the dreamworld of Everwhere in The Sisters Grimm, but we recommend you head to Elsewhere Bar out in Williamsburg. It’s a massive music venue with a dreamy rooftop terrace, so you can kick back with a drink and enjoy this novel in warmer weather. Up next for Becky: Little Women Part II by Louisa May Alcott Kayla just read: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611061/the-two-lives-of-lydia-bird-by-josie-silver/ The GMT Tavern just north of Soho is the perfect place to dive into The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. With an English theme, British entrees, and imported English beer, you’ll feel right at home reading about Lydia and Freddie’s time spent at their local pub. Up next for Kayla: Red Letter Days by Sarah Jane Stratford Emily just read: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250125903 Dive into the artsy, glamorous world of Solène Marchand - the main character in The Idea of You - with a visit to the newly expanded PERROTIN art gallery. Explore this contemporary gallery and grab a drink afterward in the Lower East Side at one of the neighborhood’s many bars. Up next for Emily: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn Music by EpidemicSound, logo art by @niczollos, all opinions our own.

Leigh Chambers’ studio guest is crime writer, Clare Chase, talking about her new novel Mystery In Hidden Lane. We also celebrate the launch of an anthology of creative writing by students at Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education. And Menna Van Praag chats about her latest magical realism novel, The Sisters Grimm.

The Sisters Grimm continue with the BTK saga. This episode they talk about how BTK claimed the lives of 10 victims and about how he was just an all around dorky loser.  facebook: facebook/thesistersgrimmpodcast instagram: @thesistersgrimmpodcast twitter: @sistersgrimmpod

We're back! The Sisters Grimm are back and ready to dive into the world of Dennis Rader aka The BTK Killer. In this first part of the series, the sisters talk about Dennis Rader's childhood and all of the red flags that marked him as a future killer.

There are many and amazing tours in San Antonio, Texas. Here is a ghostly review of one of them. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week the Sisters Grimm talk about killers from New Jersey including the killer Nurse Charles Cullen, Kathleen Hagen, John List, Latonia Bellamy, Elmer Edward Solly, and Nadiyah Venable. website: TheSistersGrimmPodcast.com twitter: @sistersgrimmpod, @morganafreeburg, @hollycheesburger facebook: facebook.com/thesistersgrimmpodcast instagram: @thesistersgrimmpodcast  

Declan shares an un-inspirational coming of age story. Declan Greene is an award winning theatre-maker and Resident Artist at Malthouse Theatre. As a playwright, his work includes Moth, Pompeii, L.A., Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography, I Am a Miracle, and The Homosexuals, or ‘Faggots’, which have been produced across Australia, Europe, the US, and the UK. Alongside Ash Flanders, Declan co-runs queer independent theatre company Sisters Grimm. In 2019 he is directing and adapting Kenneth Cook's Wake In Fright for Malthouse Theatre. Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and follow Queerstories on Facebook. The new Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased on Booktopia. To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter And for gay stuff, insomnia rant and photos of my dog Frank follow me - Maeve Marsden - on Twitter and Instagram.

"I love performing but actually, I'm overcoming it now, but I really freeze up and get nervous when I have to talk in public. I like the idea of a performance speech to the public but the free, off-the-cuff, point a camera at me, I just don't become myself. When I performed at the Opera House, you can't see the audience, nice big spotlight, only child here got to be a princess for 13 years, when I wasn't being all the other hilarious roles.    Pietra quite often says to me "I know you want to go to Mars but we've only got the petrol to get to the moon".   I always hated it, I always hated performance. I think that it takes a long time for people to realise what their strengths are.   Ella took me to see a concert of Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Cadogan Hall and that was just amazing but we could see a gap at that moment to fill and it had never been done before so there was no challenge at that point for us, we were just so committed that it was a project that lasted five years for us. It had a setback, it had a pilot phase where it wasn't excepted and carried on, we wanted to do it ourselves and at that point, it grew and then had different challenges again.   We were working on Inala, Ella composed the music with Ladysmith Black Mambazo who Nelson Mandela took to collect his Noble Peace Prize, the legends. She sat around a piano, in South Africa and we took ourselves off there to start this project and she sat at the piano, surrounded by nine Zulu men, at the grand age of 22, and just played her music and they co-wrote five songs in that short time that we came back with and presented to the Director of the Royal Ballet.   He (Adam) sent me a message "Congratulations, that's amazing! The Grammy nominations!" And he text me a screenshot of the nominations that had just been announced and we had been nominated for a Grammy award."   Welcome to episode #121 of #Screwitjustdoit. On today's show, it's my pleasure to welcome the Sisters Grimm, that's Ella Spira and Pietra Mello-Pittman.   I'm all for taking #Screwitjustdoit in different directions, shining a light on different industries, different businesses and this is very much the case with Sisters Grimm.   I attended a British-American Business Christmas lunch, back in December, and I was sat at a table sponsored by Virgin Atlantic Delta and sat right next to me was Pietra and Ella. We got talking and I literally spent the entire Christmas lunch enthralled by an amazing business that they'd put together which is just celebrating 10 years and I thought this would be a fantastic subject for the show.   So, who are Sisters Grimm, what do they do? They're two of the UK's most exciting and successful, original theatre-show producers. They're best known for a fusion of the legendary sound of the African male choral group, Ladysmith Black Men Bazoo, with ballet, to create the Grammy Award-nominated show, Inala.   So Inala sold out the Edinburgh festival, the UK tour performed five times in Moscow at the famous Chekhov international theatre festival, returned to the UK for a sell-out tour at Sadler's Wells. In fact, I believe they sold something crazy 80,000 tickets - think of Wembley and you get an idea of the number of people who have been to this show and they're back again for a very limited run in the West End from April the 30th this year as well.    The music from the show, which Ella composed alongside Ladysmith, was released separately and won a Grammy nomination and then they went on, Ladysmith, to win a Grammy award.    The ladies have been to the Grammys, they've also been to the Royal Variety Show alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran, Shirley Bassey, Simon Cowell etc.  Ella has worked with the likes of Bruno Mars, remixing in his music, and David Arnold, the composer of several of the James Bond scores. Whereas Pietra has danced all the classic ballets as a royal ballet ballerina and her ability as a choreographer and creative director has helped the duo win a 'woman of the future' nomination for arts and culture.    They're celebrating 10 years as the Sisters Grimm, an incredible story spanning many different continents, just been up for an export champion award as well, looking at China, Japan and Dubai this year but they are back in the UK for a limited time   I'm going to start off by asking Pietra to explain exactly who the Sisters Grimm are and what they do and the obvious question, of course, about where that name came from.    Let's start up!    

Is this even an episode? Who knows. Y'all haven't heard from The Sisters Grimm in a while so we decided to put out a minisode where we talk about upcoming horror movies, tell one sentence scary stories, play a horror version of would you rather, and you get to hear a fart whistle. What more could you ask for? website: TheSistersGrimmPodcast.com twitter: @sistersgrimmpod, @morganafreeburg, @hollycheesburger facebook: facebook.com/thesistersgrimmpodcast instagram: @thesistersgrimmpodcast

Mara and Josh solve a fantastical crime with The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley. Be prepared for many parallels to Fablehaven. Contact us at hfkpodcast@gmail.com or @hfkpodcast on Twitter. Theme music composed by Ben Ash. Visit him at www.benash.com. Mixing and drums by Chaz Bommarito, guitar by Jakael Tristram.

Happy Halloween to one and all! Listen to Morgan talk about her trip to Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights, some Halloween history, pranks, razor blade infested Snicker's, Halloween murders, and more. The Sisters Grimm wish you all a safe and spooky Halloween!

Children’s book author Michael Buckley talks about the 10th anniversary edition of his series The Sisters Grimm and Wendelin Van Draanen introduces her new book, Wild Bird and shares her mission as an author.

Amanda and Jenn discuss under the radar favorites, witchy reads, beautiful prose, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. This episode is sponsored by OwlCrate, The Assignment (Lessons in Control series) by Jade A. Waters, and Ploughshares. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, or via Apple Podcasts here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here.   Questions   1. My husband and I are venturing to Montreal, Quebec this summer and I find myself questioning if I have ever read a book set in Canada let alone Quebec or Montreal. I am looking for an engrossing book to take with me on the trip and would love your help finding something set in Canada or more specifically Quebec or Montreal. I will read just about anything but tend towards fiction, and this summer especially mystery and other page turnery type novels. Thank you in advance! --Abby   2. Hello Bookriot! As part of my reading goals, I am trying to read more diversely, so I decided to try and mirror America's racial dynamics in this year's 100 books (12% African American, 16% Hispanic/Latino, 5% Asian American, etc.) So far I've read some fantastic classics - Beloved, The Color Purple, etc., but it's been a bit of a struggle to find books in my favorite genres. I read almost exclusively science fiction and science nonfiction, which are both dominated by white male authors. Do you have any suggestions for science fiction or nonfiction by non-white authors? I'd especially like to hear about some Hispanic/Latino authors, which I have been especially struggling to find. Thank you! --Tia   3. I am looking for books for my 12 year old son. He used to be a 'reader' but he now he is only obsessed with playing video games. He loves all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and I have tried giving him books that have to do with video games like Ready Player One and Ender's Game. He started reading Ready Player One and he really liked it but he said it only makes him want to play more video games. He is very interested in History and Politics. He bought a History book just to read on his own and he watches the news and presidential debates. Can you recommend any books that will appeal to him? Thank you! --Denise   4. I recently looked at my daughter's reading list for school and noticed very few had female protagonists- and this is something my daughter has complained about before. She's in the fifth grade and an avid reader, but she keeps getting recommended and given books with male main characters. As a middle aged man children's books aren't admittedly in my wheelhouse, but I want to give my daughter books with strong female characters. Her favorite books are Harry Potter (obviously), Peter Pan, and The Once and Future King. She loves fantasy and adventure stories, and goes crazy over anything with witches. A friend recently gave her The Sisters Grimm and she finished all ten books within the month. She reads at a fairly high reading level (she recently read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and all three Lord of the Ring books) so I'm not afraid of giving her something a bit more difficult to read, but I would like to give her some fun children's books. Thanks for the help- your show is wonderful and I look forward to hearing your recommendations. --Adam   5. Hello Jenn and Amanda, I would like to start by saying that I adore this podcast and I look forward to it every week so thank you for that :) Now on to my question: I have a YouTube channel called Under The Radar Books and I am always looking for books that are lesser known. I tend to read mostly literary fiction, but I am open to all kinds of genres. Some of my favorite 'under the radar' books are Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis and In The Mean Time by Paul Tremblay. I am hoping you guys can recommend some books that you think are extremely underhyped but wonderful. Thank you in advance! I cannot wait to see what you come up with :) --Brittany   6. I recently read Coffin Hill because it was recommended on this show, and I loved it. It didn't just remind me of my love of witches, but also family heritage/curses. Do you know of any good supernatural books that involve old families, and magic, and maybe curses? I look forward to hearing your recommendations! --Maggie   7. Hello! I'm a huge, huge fan of the show and I thought maybe you could help me with a problem I've been having, even though it isn't the most straightforward of questions. I would like to know what are some contemporary authors you would recommend based solely on their writing style. I've read mostly classics for ages and I'm afraid I'm missing out on a lot of good stuff. One of the things I like most in a book is unique and beautiful writing, so: where can I find that in contemporary lit? I'm sure it's everywhere, I just don't know where to look and could use some guiding. I know it's a vague question, sorry for that and thank you in advance! --Liliana   8. Hi! I love the show (and have compiled a massive TBR list, thanks). I find I've been having a hard time really enjoying YA like I used to. It's not that I'm older (although I am); it's because I find I now get annoyed by love shapes--triangles and squares where the heroine has all these men vying for her affection. Can you recommend any YA books that don't have love shapes? I usually like a bit of romance, but maybe just one-on-one relationships or keeping the romance way off to the side of the plot would help. Or possibly the solution is reading a YA that has no romance. Some YA books that I love: - A Girl of Fire and Thorns series - The Raven Boys series - The Mediator series (old, I know, but still a fav) Thanks for your help!   Books Discussed Moon Called by Patricia Briggs Death Going Down by María Angélica Bosco All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews Bone & Bread by Saleema Nawaz I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi Prophecy by Ellen Oh Problems by Jade Sharma Pym by Mat Johnson Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake 100 Must Reads About Witches post The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland The Graceling series by Kristin Cashore

The Sisters Grimm talkin' 'bout The Brothers Grimm. Some of our beloved Disney Princess have terrifying origin stories written by our namesake. We talk about everything from foot mutilation, pigeons, cannibalism, f*ck boys, more pigeons, and the proper way to eat an apple. website: TheSistersGrimmPodcast.com twitter: @sistersgrimmpod, @morganafreeburg, @hollycheesburger facebook: facebook.com/thesistersgrimmpodcast instagram: @thesistersgrimmpodcast  

The Homosexuals, Or Faggots, is a new stage production at the Malthouse written by local theatre maker Declan Green, of Sisters Grimm, and directed by Griffin Theatre Companies artistic director Lee Lewis. I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve seen of Declan Greens works, and The Homosexuals, Or Faggots is no exception. It is a contemporary farce, set in a luxury apartment in Sydney owned by a married gay couple Warren and Kim, played by Simon Burke and Simon Corfield, Kim and Warren are both white cis gay man, Warren is a journalist and Kim is a university lecturer on gender. The events of the play take place over one night, during mardigra, Warren is setting up to do a photo shoot with a young male model Lucacz, played by Lincoln Younes when Kim unexceptedly arrives home from a conference after being ‘cyber bullied’ by a student Bae Bae played by Mama Alto, Bae Bae, publicly critisized Kim for using the term ‘biological gender’ during one of his lectures. Warrens friend Diana arrives, played by Genevive Lemon, a older trans woman, and is keen to get to a party with Warren. Warren then is informed that he will be interviewing Bae Bae, and it all goes a bit wild from there. Pam, a young woman who Kim and Warren have a past with is also chucked into the mix, who is also played by Mama Alto. The performers work together beautifully as an ensemble, but Mama Alto, for me, was the stand out performer. Her unique performance style was extremely refreshing to see on a mainstream stage. If you see this show just for Mama, it would be worth it! The Homosexuals is pretty full on, and at times I felt like it was too much for me, I actually had ‘nightmares’ that night about myself somehow being homophobic and transphobic and being ostracized by my friends, which is funny because I identify as queer and trans. I wonder what reaction cis, hetrosexual people had to this piece, I’d be interested to know because it really stuck with me. On a subconscious level at least, it evoked feelings of fear of being politically incorrect and hurting people. I find the show quite difficult to explain and talk about maybe because of its complexity or maybe because I’m scared of saying the wrong thing, or maybe both or another reason completely different, but it was a hell of a journey, which left me feeling exhausted, intellectually stimulated and generally satisfied with what happened, even though I’m not quite sure what happened internally for me, it was a clever story and very engaging. I was definitely invested in what was going to happen. This is a fast paced, intense, riot of a show, and it on at The Malthouse Theatre in Southbank until March 12th. Written by Finley FletcherSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Homosexuals, Or Faggots, is a new stage production at the Malthouse written by local theatre maker Declan Green, of Sisters Grimm, and directed by Griffin Theatre Companies artistic director Lee Lewis. I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve seen of Declan Greens works, and The Homosexuals, Or Faggots is no exception. It is a contemporary farce, set in a luxury apartment in Sydney owned by a married gay couple Warren and Kim,  played by Simon Burke and Simon Corfield, Kim and Warren are both white cis gay man, Warren is a journalist and Kim is a university lecturer on gender. The events of the play take place over one night, during mardigra, Warren is setting up to do a photo shoot with a young male model Lucacz, played by Lincoln Younes when Kim unexceptedly arrives home from a conference after being ‘cyber bullied’ by a student Bae Bae played by Mama Alto, Bae Bae, publicly critisized Kim for using the term ‘biological gender’ during one of his lectures. Warrens friend Diana arrives, played by Genevive Lemon, a older trans woman, and is keen to get to a party with Warren. Warren then is informed that he will be interviewing Bae Bae, and it all goes a bit wild from there. Pam, a young woman who Kim and Warren have a past with is also chucked into the mix, who is also played by Mama Alto. The performers work together beautifully as an ensemble, but Mama Alto, for me, was the stand out performer. Her unique performance style was extremely refreshing to see on a mainstream stage.  If you see this show just for Mama, it would be worth it! The Homosexuals is pretty full on, and at times I felt like it was too much for me, I actually had ‘nightmares’ that night about myself somehow being homophobic and transphobic and being ostracized by my friends, which is funny because I identify as queer and trans. I wonder what reaction cis, hetrosexual people had to this piece, I’d be interested to know because it really stuck with me. On a subconscious level at least, it evoked feelings of fear of being politically incorrect and hurting people. I find the show quite difficult to explain and talk about maybe because of its complexity or maybe because I’m scared of saying the wrong thing, or maybe both or another reason completely different, but it was a hell of a journey, which left me feeling exhausted, intellectually stimulated and generally satisfied with what happened, even though I’m not quite sure what happened internally for me, it was a clever story and very engaging. I was definitely invested in what was going to happen. This is a fast paced, intense, riot of a show, and it on at The Malthouse Theatre in Southbank until March 12th.   Written by Finley Fletcher

Rigor Mortis Paranormal podcast episode 12 stories include an interview with Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours in San Antonio, A haunting at Perrin Crest Apartments (part 2), a man’s Father-In-Law comes back from the dead for one last smoke, and more ghoulish tales from the morbid minds of our captive audience.

"The weird thing is that LGBTIQ exists as a category of being, that’s designated by mainstream culture, when actually it’s unbelievably fragmented. And there’s so much intra-group conflict because everyone actually has really, really different aims, and different objectives, and their struggle doesn’t mirror that of the other groups at all.” – Declan Greene "You find these little things that help... 'If I can channel Judy Garland, If I can channel the strength of this survivor'... For some reason, it usually is a female survivor, because you don't want to identify with the straight men that are making your life hell, or that you don't relate to. You relate to the women who are outsiders as well." - Ash Flanders In the third episode of season four, we discuss what queer is and isn't with playwright Declan Greene and performer Ash Flanders, who together make up Sisters Grimm, Melbourne-based queer performance collective par excellence. Sisters Grimm have risen through the ranks of Melbourne's independent theatre with a series of extremely well received shows, very quickly progressing from backyard performances for friends to sold-out shows at Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney's Griffin Theatre and Belvoir. By now, they have, together and separately, performed in all of Australia's major theatre houses, and won an incredible number of awards. They have been described in The Age as 'treading the line between the frivolous and the furiously political better than anyone in Australia right now'. And it is their brand of frivolous, furiously political queer theatre that we talk about today. Drag, the way it speaks gender as a foreign language, and its undercurrent of dissecting, enabling, and owning, victimhood, as well as its central position in queer culture, is one of our great topics. Drag features prominently and aggressively in the Sisters Grimm oeuvre, which features every kind of cross-casting imaginable, most notably when appropriating Euro-Australian colonial narratives. The queer eye is particularly suited to dissecting national and colonial myths because it is an outsider eye, say Ash and Declan, giving numerous examples of the ways in which the queer individual grows up interested in aesthetics, in surfaces, in the performativity of identity, and the way in which oppressive power is exercised through cultural myths - and perhaps becomes particularly fluent in ways to dismantle that power. "I think you develop critical facilities, as a queer person, because you learn to question the texts that you receive culturally... You know that those narratives don’t articulate your experience of being, so you have to figure out how to dismantle them, and to insert yourself into them in order to identify with them.” – Declan Greene Today's conversation was yet another slightly ridiculous endeavour, recorded between Melbourne and a handmade recording teepee in a house in Brussels. It was also a feat of scheduling: we have been talking about recording a conversation for over two years, but Declan and Ash have been so busy making excellent theatre across Australia, sometimes together, sometimes separately, that finding a time when we are all in the same city was harder than trying to synchronise the schedules of four busy divas. As their new show, Lilith: The Jungle Girl, opened at Melbourne Theatre Company, Declan and Ash found one free evening to join us for a conversation, and for this we are immensely, immensely grateful. The conversation you are listening is very dear to our hearts, and not only because of the punk spirit in which it was recorded. These two men are dear friends of the Audio Stage team, extraordinary theatre-makers, and brilliant minds. While Sisters Grimm are easy to like for the dazzling wit and deceivingly effortless cool of their shows, there is real rigour in the thinking behind their work. It comes to the fore as they speak,

Sep. 5, 2015. Michael Buckley discusses "Undertow" at the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Speaker Biography: Michael Buckley is the author of two New York Times best-selling series for children, “The Sisters Grimm” and “NERDS.” He has also written and produced the animated series “Robotomy” on Cartoon Network. Before writing children’s books, he worked as a stand-up comic and copywriter for television and advertising. His newest book, “Undertow," depicts 16-year-old Lyric Walker’s life-changing encounters with a civilization of undersea warriors who suddenly reveal themselves on Coney Island. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6948

"At the end of Keating's prime-ministership, he was talking about embracing complexity and multiculturalism, and the difficulties there. Howard's masterstroke was to come in and say: "I want Australians to be comfortable about their past, their present and their future." Which is to say, "we're not going to talk about this anymore." And I feel like, since that period, we have not had a robust national conversation. Where is the cultural discourse about any of this stuff? We've had the apology, great; but that is not the end. Kevin Rudd's apology should have been the beginning of this, kind of, great evolution in the way Australians see themselves. But I think that's failed." - Mark Wilson "I would characterise the Australian experience as, unfortunately, having to reflect a majority, and a popular view - more than art is required to in other cultures." - Marcel Dorney In episode four of Audio Stage, our studio is full. We have gathered some of our favourite people, to talk about what it means to work in contemporary Australian theatre, and operate without history. Fleur is away for a wedding (luckily, not hers!), but the magic of technology, and Kieran's amazing production skills, keep her present. Meanwhile, Jana is joined in the studio by: Marcel Dorney, Artistic Director of Melbourne independent theatre collective Elbow Room Productions; John Kachoyan, Co-Artistic Director of MKA: Theatre of New Writing; and Mark Wilson, independent theatre-maker and dramaturg. "[The ruthlessly contemporary adaptations of classics] reflects - in a strange way - a kind of fantasy that white Australians have about themselves: that we can be the subject of great drama without coming to terms with our history." - Marcel Dorney Discussed in this episode: the first European play ever performed in Australia, Oriel Gray's The Torrents, the 'state of the nation' play, John Howard and Paul Keating, the curse of the binaries of 'Australian' and 'unAustralian', watching theatre for information, Barrie Kosky and all our greatest theatre exports, being allowed to fail, generational warfare, Sisters Grimm and Declan Greene, killing art with egalitarianism, Lally Katz, and the theatre-enhancing properties of cheap airfares. "I find it interesting that we know more about a theatre culture that is so different and so vast, and so removed, than we do about 10 years ago. [It creates] people that think they've invented the wheel. Every 10 years a generation stands up on stage and applauds itself for inventing, I don't know, postdramatic theatre, or moving away from the text, or rediscovering the text." - John Kachoyan Enjoy and stay tuned: we have more exciting and intellectually rigorous conversations to come. Podcast bibliography: Julian Meyrick: Trapped by the Past, Why Our Theatre is Facing Paralysis (Platform Papers, Quarterly essays on the performing atrs, No 3, January 2005) Photo credits: Sarah Walker (Wilson), Ponch Hawkes (Dorney).

Michael Buckley appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Michael Buckley is the author of two New York Times best-selling series for children: "The Sisters Grimm," a "Today" show Al Roker Book Club pick, and "NERDS." He has also written and developed shows for the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Discovery Channel.

Welcome to Kid Power Radio. I'm your host Max and each week I review what's happening on TV, at the movies, books and music I like ….You get the idea We have one of my favorite authors on the show today...Michael Buckley. He is the author of the book Nerds and many other books. Welcome to the show Michael. As a kid did you know that you were going to be such a great author when you grew up? For the book Nerds how did you think up the idea for nerds being top secret spies? I took the code name generator quiz on the Nerds website and my code name was Funky Monkey since I smelled so bad. If you were a member of Nerds what would be your code name and power be? In the book Nerds, Duncan is the only one who is nice to Jackson at the beginning. Why is that? How did you write Nerds. Did you just sit there waiting for ideas to pop in you your head? Did you only write when and idea came to mind? How long did you work on Nerds before it finally came out to stores? Did you base any of the characters off of you or anyone you know? Are you working on any new books? (Are you going to write a sequel for Nerds?) Do want to tell our listeners where they can get Nerds? NERDS Book Website www.teamnerds.com Do you have any shout outs? Thanks for the interview! Bye! National Espionage Rescue Defense Society  Remember, you can email me at RADIO STAR MAX at YAHOO.COM and Follow me on Twitter @radiostarmax That's it for now. See you next week.  Bye!! Wait! I want to congratulate the people who won my 1st contest ever! These people are Zack, Jack, Caitlin, Will, John Henry, William, Emily, and Caroline. We have another contest! I have 2 Nerds books! Tell me why you are the biggest NERD and you may win one of these books.

In this episode:  Armor Games, Moshi Monsters, Review of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, Review of The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley, Catholic Vitamins, Mattie Claire, Voicemail from Mary, Paul from New York Links in this episode: http://www.addicting...