Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast

Stage actor Shannon Cochran (August: Osage County) brings her horror movie bona fides (The Ring; The Hand That Rocks The Cradle) to the phenomenal new stage play Paranormal Activity, an original new story based on the successful film franchise now running at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (followed by the Ahmanson Theatre in LA, American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington DC). Shannon discusses the precision with which playwright Levi Holloway and director Felix Barrett ratchet up the tension; how everyone has demonic qualities they struggle to suppress (or, as actors, tap into); how to not play the ending; the importance of keeping audiences literally and metaphorically in the dark; and how making audiences laugh in a theatre is not even as great as making audiences jump, scream, and then laugh in a theatre! (Length 20:13) The post Shannon Cochran’s ‘Paranormal’ appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

A hundred years on from the Harlem Renaissance, Gerrad Alex Taylor has adapted Langston Hughes’s Shakespeare in Harlem, which is having its world premiere this month at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, running from October 30 to November 9, 2025. Taylor shares how he's collaborating with both Hughes and Shakespeare to canonize the Black experience; how we call upon our ancestors, both personal and literary;  the power of the written word, from dramatic poetry to a letter written to your city council; how Shakespeare takes us, in his "Seven ages of man" speech through a man's life, while Hughes takes us through a man's blues; and finally, Taylor’s mission to turn Shakespeare into a verb! (Length 21:48) The post Shakespeare In Harlem appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

The Q Brothers Collective (Othello: The Remix; Funk It Up About Nothing) have created Rome Sweet Rome, a wild and satirical new “add-rap-tation” of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar now running at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through October 19, 2025. Bri Sudia and Danielle Davis are stand-out members of a glorious ensemble, and they discuss how they've gotten comfortable with rapping and the “Q Vibe”; how having a percussion background really helps; how joy and satire are sometimes the only tools we have in troubled times; and how a comedy about the unintended consequences of political violence feels more necessary than ever. (Length 13:40) The post Rome Sweet Rome appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

RSC artistic directors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor are directing college productions of their comedies William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) and The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel), and they discuss the differences they discover in their scripts when other actors are performing them. Reed and Austin share how different actors bring different energies; the difference between a vaudeville and a play; how directing these young actors is like looking in a mirror; and how certain things just aren't necessary when you cast more than three actors. (Length 19:37) The post Directing Our Scripts appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

RSC artistic directors and co-authors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor discuss how they've updated All the Great Books (abridged), which embarks on a US tour this fall. Reed and Austin share what changes they've made to this script (and all the RSC scripts) and how our scripts, like all plays, develop new meanings depending on the personnel performing them and the times in which they’re being performed. (Length 15:04) (PICTURED: Tré Tyler (Coach), Michael Faulkner (Professor), and Doug Harvey (Doug) in the Reduced Shakespeare Company production of All the Great Books (abridged), written and directed by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor.) The post Updating Great Books appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Our conversation with Nina Ruscio, the production designer of The Pitt, continues this week with further details of how unprecedented her design for HBO's Emmy-winning Best Drama really is. Nina compares her work on this show with other large projects she's designed; reveals the incredible amount of interior and exterior detail she puts into her designs, and how shooting The Pitt is very much like filming a play that’s happening live; gives props to fellow Cal alum Cathy Sandrich Gelfond on her Emmy win for casting The Pitt; shares the pleasure of working with star and executive producer Noah Wyle; and revels at how highly regarded The Pitt is by the medical community they’re depicting. (Length 15:14) The post Nina Ruscio Designs appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Nina Ruscio, the Emmy-nominated (for The Flight Attendant) production designer of The Pitt on HBO, discusses how her design helped create this enormous – and enormously popular – show. Nina reveals how producer John Wells (The West Wing; E.R.) tasked her with creating a ground plan before the writers even started writing episodes; the joy of living a freelance, project-based lifestyle; how her background as an English major allows her designs to express literature visually; how memories from the musical she designed in college remain in her sedimentary layer; and the remarkable privilege of creating the world in which stories are invented. PART ONE OF A TWO-PART CONVERSATION. (Length 18:11) (Photo of Nina on her set for The Pitt by cinematographer Johanna Coelho.) The post Designing The Pitt appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Playwright James Sherman (Chagall in School) returns to discuss his new play The First Lady of Television, now having its world premiere at Chicago's Northlight Theatre. Jim shares his inspiration for the play; how his subject Gertrude Berg, creator of The Goldbergs (1949-1957) on both radio and television, was the second most famous woman in America (after Eleanor Roosevelt); his gratitude for his amazing cast, and how they've helped shape the script's development through several readings and workshops; and how in rehearsals, he considers himself the head of the script department and lets the best suggestion win. (Length 20:44). (PICTURED: Cindy Gold as Gertrude Berg in the Northlight Theater production of The First Lady of Television, directed by BJ Jones. Photo by Greg Inda. Used by permission.) The post Television’s First Lady appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Actors and now playwrights Michael Doherty and Will Mobley have written the wonderful new comedy Dogberry and Verges Are Scared, which is having its world premiere at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival from September 5-14, 2025. Mike and Will took time out from rehearsal to discuss the play's inspirations and origins; how clowns do table work in rehearsal; how they pitched each other ideas and realized they wanted to write a play instead of a clown show; how not all laughs are created equal; the value of believable characters driving even the silliest comedy; and the importance of finding a director who’s as heart-forward as they are comically fine-tuned. (Length 20:28) The post Dogberry And Verges appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Joe Liss (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Strangers With Candy; Home Alone 2) and Dee Ryan (The Office, 10 Items Or Less, United States of Tara) are bringing their improvised horror parody Misery Loves Company to the Rochester Fringe Festival this September 12 & 14, and they discuss the wine-soaked origins of this "cockadoodie" good time. These two improv gurus share why this is the first time they've worked together; how you improvise a fight scene; the importance of age-appropriate casting; the value of not planning what you’re going to do; how and where they'll be teaching workshops in Rochester; and the glory of performing with a home-field advantage. (Length 21:49) The post Misery Loves Company appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

James Shapiro wears many hats – author, scholar, cultural historian, consultant to New York's Public Theatre – discusses his work with actors and students, as well as his invaluable books A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606, and Shakespeare in a Divided America. Shapiro also shares experiences of working on this summer's Twelfth Night in New York's Central Park; working with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal on Broadway in Othello; how he first discovered Shakespeare; what he learns from working with actors; the power of knowing whether a thou is a formal thou or an eff-you thou; being scolded (rightly!) by F. Murray Abraham; whether he prefers to be known as a historian, a mensch, or the Shakespeare Guy; how his thoughts about America have evolved since he wrote Shakespeare in a Divided America; how his correspondence with a Supreme Court justice was the Shakespeare in the coal mine; and how we look at the news for what’s happening today but turn to Shak

Tiffany Keane Schaefer is the writer and director of Twihard! A Twilight Musical Parody, now running at Chicago’s Apollo Theatre for a limited time. Tiffany discusses the origins of her musical at the Otherworld Theatre Company, which is dedicated exclusively to science-fiction and fantasy programming (and which she runs with her husband – and friend of the pod – Dylan Schaefer); how Twilight represents a time of hope; the metaphorical power of sparkly vampires and bare-chested werewolves; and how the parody musical genre was the only way to properly express her affection for the source material. (Length 22:31) (Photos from Twihard! A Twilight Musical Parody by Nadir Waxali.) The post Twihard! The Musical appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson returns to discuss her new play Billie Jean, about tennis and civil rights legend Billie Jean King, now having its world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Gunderson reflects on the similarities between sports and theatre and how they inform this spectacular new work; its surprisingly fast and enviable development process; the parallels to her earlier plays; the echoes of Shakespeare’s Henry V and how Wimbledon resembles Agincourt; and how Billie Jean, as Brandi Carlile said, "came out at 50 so that come out at 15.” (Length 18:56) (PICTURED: Chilina Kennedy as Billie Jean King in Chicago Shakespeare’s world premiere production of Billie Jean by Lauren Gunderson, directed by Marc Bruni. Running July 18–August 10, 2025, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Justin Barbin.) The post Writing ‘Billie Jean’ appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Amanda Giguere is the director of outreach for Colorado Shakespeare Festival and her research and work putting together touring productions of Shakespeare in schools has resulted in her new book Shakespeare & Violence Prevention. Amanda discusses how valuable this work is and how it began; addresses the counter-intuitive notion that Shakespeare – the author of such violent plays – can be so useful in this kind of work; how Twelfth Night is a perfect tool, even for elementary school students, and why Titus Andronicus really isn't; the importance of climate awareness; the vital distinction that it’s not the “Shakespeare Prevention Program,” it’s the “Violence Prevention Through Shakespeare Program;” and how violence, like heart disease, is preventable. (Length 20:44) The post Shakespeare Prevents Violence?? appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Author and professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner returns to talk about his new biography, Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist, which charts the growth of the award-winning 21st-century composer, lyricist, and cultural juggernaut, and details the many ways in which "artistic genius is a team sport." Pollack-Pelzner shares how he wanted to write something that would inspire his students; and reveals how Miranda agreed to open up his digital rolodex; how he can cite formative influences going back to elementary school; how early book buyers in the UK can win two tickets to see Hamilton in the West End; and most importantly, he stresses the extreme value of editors, especially if they’re related to us. (Length 26:00) The post Lin-Manuel Miranda appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Breon Arzell is the choreographer for the Goodman Theatre production of The Color Purple, directed by Lili-Anne Brown with musical direction by Jermaine Hill, and he shares how their extraordinary Chicago cast transforms a show this team has worked on before. Breon reveals the importance of making art with the artists you’ve actually got in the room; how this show honors our ancestors; how we find find community both in the story and in life; how the Greek chorus breaks the fourth wall and cues the audience that they’re allowed to laugh; and the ultimate grace and blessing of finding divinity within. (Length 21:33) (PICTURED: Brittney Mack (Celie) and Shantel Renee Cribbs (Nettie) in the Goodman Theatre production of The Color Purple, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, choreographed by Breon Arzell, and musical directed by Jermaine Hill. Photo by Brett Beiner.) The post The Color Purple appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Playwright and screenwriter Madhuri Shekar returns to talk about Dhaba on Devon Avenue, now having its much-delayed world premiere at Chicago's Writers Theatre in a co-production with Timeline Theatre. Shekar reveals the comic book origin stories of both herself and the play; the happy accident of writing a family play that resonates with older audiences; how Shakespeare and Bollywood have much in common; how superhero films have taught us important history our schools have missed; embracing the unintentional gift of time; and the Proustian power of a saag grilled cheese sandwich. (Length 20:32) (PICTURED: Anish Jethmalani and Tina Munoz Pandya in the Writers Theatre/Timeline Theatre co-production of Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar, directed by Chay Yew. Photo by Michael Brosilow.) The post Dhaba On Devon appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

'Tis the season for Shakespeare in the park(s)! Ian Gallanar, the founding artistic director of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in Baltimore, discusses CSC's touring program Shakespeare Beyond, which is taking Ian’s highly localized but still mostly Shakespeare adaptation It’s the Comedy of Errors, Hon to parks and outdoor venues all over Maryland. Gallanar reveals how Shakespeare Beyond combines the best of Shakespeare, vaudeville, and circus; the beauty and versatility of the Shakespeare Wagon; the art of deploying local slang and specific Maryland references; having to deal with the withdrawal of already-earmarked NEA funds; shout-outs to the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern; and the importance of blurring the false distinction between "Shakespeare" and "entertainment." (Length 20:42) The post Shakespeare Goes ‘Beyond’ appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Actor, improviser, and founding member of Upright Citizens Brigade Matt Walsh (Veep, Manhunt) is touring this summer with Bluebird Improv and returns to the RSC Podcast to discuss how improv differs from acting (and sometimes doesn't). Matt reveals how improv is less about creation and more about discovery; the importance of and method for learning the value of patience; how he combined both acting and improv on Veep; why scripted punchlines are sometimes not as funny as improvised punchlines; the challenge of playing a racist monster in Manhunt; and (to unintentionally paraphrase Austin Powers) the importance of remembering that when onstage, just behave. (Length 27:46) The post Improv Is Magic appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Host Austin Tichenor returns to Chicago's Back Room Shakespeare Project to perform in their production of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus on June 16, 2025 at the Hideout, and he discusses with the show's captain and first mate Sam Pearson and Gage Wallace how this cast and crew came together to embody the Project's ethos of "Serious actors. No director. One rehearsal. In a bar." Building on co-founder Samuel Taylor's notion these productions are "bad ideas," Gage and Sam reveal the core values that guide every Project production; how modern bars most resemble Shakespeare's original rowdy playhouses; how "youthful arrogance" is just another word for "incredible generosity;" and how audiences continue to flock to BRSP productions because they know their presence is not simply important, it's required. (Length 20:20) (Logo art by Collin Quinn Rice.) The post Preparing For Coriolanus appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.