Playwright's Spotlight

07/03/2024

New Episode. Believe it or not, this is episode seven of season three!!! We're so behind posting on the socials, but we hope you've been keeping up to date with each and every episode. Thanks to Steve Fife for sitting in the spotlight and sharing his insight and stories. We both hope you enjoy the conversation.

This week playwright Steve Fife sat in-studio in the Playwright's Spotlight. It was a reflective conversation of his experience in New York and on Broadway i...

27/08/2023

New Episodes!!! Playwrights and stopped by to talk about their approach to the craft. Wendy’s new play Exit Wounds just opened this weekend in Long Beach at and Howie’s play Freud on Co***ne opens September 8th at the in Sherman Oaks. You can catch their episodes on , , , or watch them on . Link in bio.

28/06/2023

New Episode!!! I always find something to learn in an episode of Playwright's Spotlight. However, Bernardo Cubria's insight to playwriting was nonstop. Every minute turned another corner of knowledge. His approach and insight to playwriting was intimidating that I'm not sure I could keep up - from a naivety to submitting plays that could lead to success to paying for opportunities to extracting knowledge from workshops. Bernardo shares his steps from completing the first draft, what consists of smart, intelligent feedback, Liz Lerman's critical approach to feedback, and hitting the flow state of creativity. We also tackle telling the best story, staying the course, how to approach rewrites, and the benefits of Clown School as well as "staying in the s**t," not to mention compensation outside of money and what makes a brilliant director. It's only a small sample of topics that could have gone for much longer. As with playwriting, I encourage you to stay the course and listen to the entirety of this episode. You won't walk away empty handed, or headed, and will hopefully be a much better playwright by the episode's end. Either way, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Bernardo as much as I did. His energy and humor is contagious. Enjoy!!!

14/06/2023

New Episode!!! Vanessa Stewart graces this episode of Playwright's Spotlight. Taking a biopic musical approach to her playwriting, Vanessa features historical figures in most of her pieces, delving into depths of research and focusing on the minute nuances of their lives, starting off with the jazz couple Louis and Keely, and silent film legend Buster Keaton. In our discussion, her writing compulsion and choice of taking the musical route with these characters. We talk about how she sifts through information and, in turn, what to include, being an economic writer, expressing action vs projecting intent, how to write for specific actors, and the use of zodiac signs for character description. In addition, she shares three important rules for dialogue, assets and flaws of characters, specificity in humor, relenting to creative changes and fighting for important moments as well as what makes a good story  It amazes me how much I learn from every episode of Playwright's Spotlight, and this one is no exception. I hope you enjoy it and discover as much insight as I did. Enjoy.

12/06/2023

Getting ready to catch Under the Influence by Pamela Quinn Eberhardt. First show of the Hollywood Fringe Festival for us. Break legs, everyone.

01/06/2023

New Episode!!! Playwright and publisher Jonathan Dorf () sits in the Playwright's Spotlight and shines a light on the publishing aspect of playwriting with his experience as co-founder of YouthPLAYS touching on some of the criteria they look for as publishers of plays for younger audiences. We also touch on what makes powerful writing, in-depth characters through the tension of opposites, and the difference between internal and external conflict. Jonathan shares his insight into handling exposition, emotional summarizing,  the purpose and timing of monologues, how best to support playwrights, his opinion on submission fees, high context relationships, the worst sins in playwriting, and the importance of promoting your own work. There are a lot of interviews I say could have gone on for even longer, but I really feel my conversation with Jonathan could've gone on for three hours if not longer. It definitely deserves a follow up conversation and has motivated me to break out some past work. I hope you feel the same. Enjoy!

17/05/2023

The charming Bob DeRosa swings by Playwright's Spotlight fresh off the relaunch of his play - Gifted. Bob shares his experiences with starting in sketch writing, its benefits in learning to write quickly and the basic rules of structure, writing dialogue that's easy vs dialogue that's bad, and stories as transformation machines for the character. We also touch upon the depth of playwriting, finding your community, the benefits and process of developmental workshops, recognizing failure and dealing with criticism, playing your audience's emotions, and the thrill of the setup and the payoff. It's a simple discussion engrained with nuggets of knowledge. It's hard to imagine you won't take away a gem or two. Enjoy!

03/05/2023

New Episode! Playwright Kathryn Keats () visited Playwright's Spotlight to talk about her solo beat musical, The Hummingbird, and the tragic events that led her into going into hiding, coming out on the other side, and the development of the piece, and the catharsis of playwriting. We also discuss the importance of knowing your material, structure in performance art and what it looks like on the page, the difficulty in defining beat poetry, piecing together your play, adding missing elements, the wonderful world of writing and playing with its elements. She also shares how being an acting coach has helped her as a playwright by knowing a characters wants and drives, the need of a reaction if a character doesn't achieve it, and who deserves a seat at the table. A wonderful and uplifting story that sure to motivate all to share their stories. Enjoy!

21/04/2023

Tony Award Winning Playwright Itamar Moses stopped by Playwright's Spotlight. Chock full of humorous moments, Itamar shares his experience adapting the cherished animated film An American Tale for the stage, children's ability to suspend disbelief, and avoiding dumbing down the material for a younger audience. We also discuss when it's time for a table read and recognizing when the pace is slowing down during the developmental process. In addition, we talk about the impact of Tony Kushner's Angels in America in Itamar's playwriting career, his journey through NYU and pathway to the Tony's, craft vs voice and ambition, how to make something work, and the importance of always getting the story right first. We close the conversation with getting commissioned and what it entails as well as the death of theatre. I hope you enjoy this latest episode with Itamar Moses.

21/04/2023

If you haven’t listened or watched yet. You can catch Sunny Drake’s episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/je2TUS-OyPA or listen on your favorite podcast platform such as Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/episode/1io14TEP7z5BUVz0TWB7H2?si=Ge0FaJVMSJCIbubZ2Y2XIA&dd=1. Hope you enjoy the episode.

April is here, which means our podcast launches this month! 🙀 In the meantime, you can hear Sunny Drake on another podcast: James Elden’s Playwright's Spotlight. They recently talked about the creative process, how Sunny manages to get his writing done, artist residencies and, of course, Climate Change and Other Small Talk.

24/03/2023

New episode!!! Dropped Tuesday, Australian born and Canadian artist, Sunny Drake (), stops by Playwright's Spotlight. In this episode, we discuss developing the artist within and how to grow as a playwright without formal training, how much involvement the playwright has at a table reading, the benefits of previews, rehearsing in repertory theatre and how to submit as well as breaking down and submitting to residencies. Within the latter, we talk about "good" vs "bad" retreats, matching your work to appropriate residencies in addition to building a case as to why one's work may be more appropriate that the contrary. We also discuss the genre of the radio play, absurdity in playwriting, teaching yourself growth, and the role of humility when it comes to criticism. Sunny is a charming playwright who brings a lot of new information to the Playwright's Spotlight and provides wonderful resources for playwrights of all levels. Enjoy!

08/03/2023

Without a doubt the most important episode of Playwright's Spotlight to date. If in the past you've never made it through an episode in it's entirety, this is the one to sit through until the end. A story of diligence, perseverance, over coming adversity, Faye Widjaja tells the story of her high school drama club staging a production when it seemed the universe was against them. We discuss breaking down and writing a performance art piece, the timing and structure of a play set in real time, rehearsing and making the most out of the worst situations, and celebrating the old adage "necessity breeds creativity." Faye's is a story of inspiration and motivation fighting against all odds. I hope this episode makes you all remember why we fell in love with theatre in the first place and what keeps drawing us back. Enjoy!!!

19/11/2022

New Episode. This episode is chock full of information, education, and insight, I could've gone on for another hour and a half. Michael Wright shares so much information throughout our chat.

The plethora of topics we cover is immense and his knowledge is never ending. His exercises, or as he calls them "etudes", will help any playwright or writer struggling or weak in any particular playwriting element from technique, character, plot, structure, collaboration, and writer's block.

We also cover the "jobs" of the playwright, adding texture and layers, sensory elements in writing, creating solid dialogue, getting to know your characters, and making the audience a "partner."

The information in this discussion is so extensive, any writer will benefit form the first minute to the last. Listen or watch, and then get to writing. I'm sure you'll be inspired.

03/11/2022

New episode. New season. Episode 1, Season 2 features ten-minute play virtuoso and author Gary Garrison.

In this discussion, we discuss progressing as a playwright, structuring a ten minute play, the differences between a sketch and a ten-minute play, and developing characters. We also touch on the necessity of artistic statements, what should be included in character descriptions as well as submission letters. And that's just the start. We cover a wide range of terrain that any playwright will find beneficial. As with each episode from Season 1, I hope you enjoy this conversation.

You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcssts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/james-eldens-playwrights-spotlight/id1592813027?i=1000584678180 or your favorite podcast platform.

Or watch it on YouTube at - https://youtu.be/5tk2GYoug4M