Unapologetically Original: Recent Episodes
Priyanka Shetty
Unapologetically Original is a weekly interview series that highlights inspiring individuals from the Theatre, Film, and TV world who have been agents of change in their own lives and in the lives of others. Tune in live on Instagram @priyankashettyactor every Thursday at 11 AM EST to get to know these amazing individuals and their incredible contributions as artists and leaders!
An engaging conversation with Chicago-based director, adaptor, and advocate Lavina Jadwani about:
- Dismantling anti-black language in Shakespeare
- Identity Conscious Casting
- Challenging the idea that Shakespeare is accessible to only certain people and claiming the label "Professional Shakespeare Nerd"
- Bringing text to life vs "getting it right" in plays with heightened language
- The awareness that needs to go into how stories are told on stage.
Unapologetically Original is a weekly interview series that highlights inspiring individuals from the Theatre, Film, and TV world who have been agents of change in their own lives and in the lives of others. Tune in live on Instagram @priyankashettyactor every Thursday at 11 AM EST to get to know these amazing individuals and their incredible contributions as artists and leaders!
Lavina Jadhwani creates work that is well-crafted, rigorously researched, compassionately curated, and radically inclusive. As a second-generation immigrant, Lavina constantly investigates the question, âWhat does it mean to be an American?â and through her work, she strives to expand the definition of that word to include more minority voices.
Lavinaâs directing credits include work at Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, Teatro Vista, Writers Theatre, and Rasaka Theatre Company (where she served as Artistic Director for 6 years). In 2013, Time Out Chicago named her their âBest Next Generation Stage Director.â
Lavina is a proud graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University (MFA, Directing), Carnegie Mellon University (BFA, Scenic Design; Masters, Arts Management), and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. www.lavinajadhwani.com
An engaging conversation with Paige Hernandez about her artistic journey, the incredible projects and collaborations she's been a part of, and how she navigates the scene and the challenges associated with it. Here are some highlights from the interview:
1:45â - How she came to be a multidisciplinary artist
4:58â - Directing the Queens Girl Trilogy and how unprecedented and meaningful the experience was
8:10â - How solo shows are the actor's marathon and the ultimate platform
14:05â - The challenges associated with joining organizations in moments of transition
15:35â - How her solo show changed the trajectory of her career
19:20â - Starting her own company B-Fly Entertainment
40:34â - The importance of teaching and the ability to articulate the craft to anyone at any age
1:01â - How artists can gain more control and agency over their careers
A Baltimore native, Paige Hernandez is a multidisciplinary artist who is critically acclaimed as a performer, director, choreographer, and playwright. She has nearly twenty years of experience in arts administration, creating new works, producing, and performing.
As an AEA equity actress, Paige has performed on many stages throughout the country including Everyman Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Arena Stage, Folger Theatre, Wharton Center for Performing Arts, Manship Theatre at Shaw Center for the Arts, Paramount Theatre, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
A critically acclaimed director, Paigeâs direction has been seen throughout the country including Everyman Theatre where she directed all three shows of the 'Queens Girl trilogy' as well as 'Proof' which received critical acclaim from The Wall Street Journal. As a playwright, she has collaborated with the Lincoln Center and has been commissioned by several companies including the National New Play Network, the Smithsonian, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, La Jolla Playhouse, and The Glimmerglass Festival. She is the recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council as well as four Helen Hayes nominations for choreography, directing, and performance.
Paige has also been named a âclassroom heroâ by the Huffington Post, a âCitizen Artist Fellowâ with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, "40 under 40" by the Washington Post, and one of âSix Theatre Workers You Should Knowâ by American Theatre magazine. With her company B-FLY ENTERTAINMENT, Paige continues to develop and tour original work internationally. Paige is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts and the University of Maryland. www.paigehernandez.com
Unapologetically Original is a weekly interview series that highlights inspiring individuals from the Theatre, Film, and TV world who have been agents of change in their own lives and in the lives of others. Tune in live on Instagram @priyankashettyactor every Thursday at 11 AM ET to get to know these amazing individuals and their incredible contributions as artists and leaders.
A conversation with the exceptionally talented playwright Will Eno - a deep dive into his writing style, things that inspire him, and the process of establishing a connection between the words on the page and your identity and soul. Here are some highlights from the interview:
2:45 - Letting down your guard and not hiding yourself as a writer
8:18 - Samuel Beckett's influence on his writing and differences in their form and content
20:28 - Being drawn to the idea of one person plays, how the audience becomes a character, and the mystery and unpredictability of group consciousness
26:00 - The journey through the world of Thom Pain, working with Michael C. Hall and Oliver Butler
29:30 - Rainn Wilson in the role of Thom Pain and how they met
34:30 - How he came up with the opening Prologue of Middletown
38:50 - Finding beauty in the mundane and ordinary and where the appreciation for it comes from
45:03 - The element of outer space and the universe in his writing
50:45 - His writing process
53:00 - His daughter Albertine's drawing!
1:00 - Things that bring him joy.
Will Eno is an award-winning playwright and a Pulitzer-finalist described by The New York Times as "a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation."
Will's critically acclaimed 'The Realistic Joneses' appeared on Broadway in 2014. A winner of the Drama Desk Awards, the play featured Michael C Hall and Toni Collette, was named USA TODAYâs âBest Play on Broadway,â topped The Guardianâs 2014 list of American plays, and was included in The New York Timesâ âBest Theatre of 2014.â
His play 'Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)' ran at Los Angelesâ Geffen Playhouse in 2016 and starred Rainn Wilson, with the production serving as the basis for a film adaptation directed by Oliver Butler and Will Eno, which is available to stream on BroadwayHD. The play was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Some of his other plays include 'Title And Deed', and 'Gnit', an adaptation of Peer Gynt that premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2013. 'Middletown', the winner of the Horton Foote Award, premiered at the Vineyard Theatre and was staged subsequently at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, among other US theaters and universities. Will Eno was also awarded the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Award. His plays are published by Samuel French, TCG, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, and Oberon Books. www.willeno.com
Unapologetically Original is a weekly interview series that highlights inspiring individuals from the Theatre, Film, and TV world who have been agents of change in their own lives and in the lives of others. Tune in live on Instagram @priyankashettyactor every Thursday at 11 AM EST to get to know these amazing individuals and their incredible contributions as artists and leaders.
An insightful conversation with Raymond Caldwell, Producing Artistic Director at Theatre Alliance in Washington D.C. about:
- Theatre Alliance's Strategize, Organize, Mobilize - A Protest in 8
- Creating socially-conscious thought-provoking work that is relevant
- New play development that moves us into community conversations
- Curating and presenting work that's creating intentional conversations
- Moving people to action, investing and working with our communities
- Working internationally, and with activists and storytellers on the ground
- Issues that plague PWIs w.r.t the experiences of students of color
- Thought that needs to go into season-selection at theatres
- Working on 'Blood at the Root' and talking openly about our own biases
- The need to get specific and local in conversations about race and racism
- Advice for artists about being in a constant place of creation
- Creating work that adds to conversation vs. creating about the problem
- Reimagining our relationship with feedback as artists
and his favorite board games!
Raymond Caldwell is the Producing Artistic Director of Theater Alliance and was also a resident-director and lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts at Howard University. He holds an MFA in Acting with a focus in community outreach and developing new work from The Ohio State University and a BFA in Acting from the University of Florida. In 2009 he was the recipient of the Arena Stage Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship, after which he joined Arenaâs staff for six consecutive seasons. A DC-based director, his directing credits include Blood at the Root at Theatre Alliance that received the 2020 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction, Notes on Notes of A Native Son at Mosaic Theater Company of DC, The Frederick Douglass Project at Solas Nua Inc. that received the 2019 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Ensemble, and All the Way Live!, a co-production with B-Fly Entertainment and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has toured nationally and internationally as a performer and directed/developed work throughout the United States, India, Ukraine, Greece, Germany, and the UK.
UnapologeticallyOriginal is a weekly interview series that highlights inspiring individuals from the Theatre, Film, and TV world who have been agents of change in their own lives and in the lives of others. Tune in live on Instagram @priyankashettyactor every Thursday at 11 AM EST to get to know these amazing individuals and their incredible contributions as artists and leaders!
An amazing conversation with the incredibly talented Frank Ferrante! We spoke at length about:
- Comedy, improvisation, and the importance of creating solo plays
- Specificity and believing in the character without inhibition
- his love for the Marx brothers and Groucho Marx
- performing at the Walnut Street Theatre 70 years after the Marx brothers performed at the venue
- his vision for the future
- and a great improvisational moment thanks to the fire alarm!
Frank Ferrante is an actor, director, and producer described by The New York Times as "the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx's material." Chicago Tribune named Frank as one of the top ten performances of 2019 for his work in the cirque spectacular Teatro ZinZanni. Frank recently directed and performed in the Walnut Street Theatre's production of Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors. He also directed and played the lead role, Pseudolus, in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum acknowledged by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top performances in the country for 2017.
Discovered by Grouchoâs son Arthur when Frank was a drama student at the University of Southern California, Frank originated the off-Broadway title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue(written by Arthur) portraying the comedian from age 15 to 85. For this role, Frank earned New Yorkâs Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle nomination. He reprised the role in Londonâs West End and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Awards for âComedy Performance of the Year.â In Boston, he played the Huntington Theatre in the record-breaking run of Animal Crackers that landed Frank on the cover of American Theatre magazine. Frank directed MAS*H star Jamie Farr in the Kaufman & Hart comedy George Washington Slept Here and at the Walnut revivals of Simonâs Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound and Lost in Yonkers. In 1995, he directed and developed the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Old Wicked Songs. In 2001, Frank directed, produced, and starred in the national PBS television program Groucho: A Life in Revue. For more information on Frank Ferrante's Groucho, log on to www.eveningwithgroucho.com