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Self-Producing and Atl Original Works with Tori Weddell
88 Plays8 months ago
In this episode Amber and Tori talk about self-producing, how she was trained to do her own work and how you can train with her through Atl Original Works! Check out this episode for amazing tidbits about producing, directing, and creating shows. Tori Weddell of Atl Original Works is not only excited to produce your next piece, she wants to train you too! To learn more, check out this interview with the awesome Tori Weddell and get involved with Atl Original Works. There's an empty stage waiting for your next story.
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Transcript
Introduction to Table Work Season Two
00:00:07
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome to season two of Table Work. My name is Amber Bradshaw, and I'm your host. I am a new play dramaturg, arts administrator, and educator, and on season two of Table Work, I am going to be interviewing the artists behind the many collectives in Atlanta, people that are bringing the artistic community together to connect.
The Importance of Collaboration in Theater
00:00:28
Speaker
This grassroots work in our field is essential to the development of theater. We can't make it alone. We need collaborators, supporters, and audiences, and we have to meet those folks somewhere, y'all. So I want to lift up the people that are doing this work, often on their own or with just a few other people, because this work has an impact. So let's lift it up, y'all.
Sponsorship and Role at Working Title Playwrights
00:00:50
Speaker
This podcast is brought to you by Working Title Playwrights, a new play incubator and service organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, in which I serve as the managing artistic director. For more about WTP and me, check out WorkingTitlePlaywrights.com.
00:01:07
Speaker
There's so many reasons not to write it. There's so many reasons not to do it. And this is one reason to do it. This is like if, you know, if you have the short film idea, but you don't have enough money to make a short film, but you consider your computer and write 10 pages, we are a reason to do that. Because if you do it and you send it to me, then we'll put it on a stage.
Introducing Tori Weddell
00:01:33
Speaker
I'm excited to welcome Tori Weddell to the show today. Tori is a writer and producer who believes that stories are medicine and that they make the world go round. She has a BFA from AMDA College in LA and New York and has been one course away from completing her MFA in creative writing for several years now. She'll finish it soon, she promises.
00:01:53
Speaker
In 2023, she wrote, produced, and directed an immersive one-act house party in a loft apartment in downtown Atlanta called An Evening with the Fitzgeralds, based on the lives and legends of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald. She has debuted several short plays at Roll Call Theatre. She's the engine behind the monthly performing arts variety show, ATL Original Works.
00:02:14
Speaker
In June, she'll be co-producing Street Fringe with the Atlanta Fringe Festival, and you can find her most Sunday night singing karaoke at Corner Tavern in Little Five Points or playing with her cats, Hingix and Cassiopeia. I'm so happy to have for joining us today. Please enjoy this interview with Tori Waddell.
Tori's Journey and Challenges in Atlanta
00:02:36
Speaker
Hey, Tori. Hi. Oh, I love that. Hi. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for joining me. Awesome. Awesome. Well, let's start with where you're from. I am from here. I grew up in Midtown.
00:02:55
Speaker
And then my parents moved us away when I was 15 to Dallas, which I hated. So as soon as I could, I hopped a plane to New York and I did the first part of college there, finished my bachelor's in LA, lived there for like seven years. And then I looked around and was like, wait, what am I doing? Why am I not in Atlanta right now? And then so I came back and I got back here 2020.
00:03:25
Speaker
Awesome. Just in time for the pandemic. Yeah, that was I. The plan was April of 2020 to move to Atlanta. And then some shit went down in March. I don't know if you. So that plan got postponed until like September, October. And yeah, I thought the hardest part was going to be moving in the pandemic.
00:03:51
Speaker
But the hardest part was, oh, I got here and I have literally no way to make friends and meet people. And I'm in a brand new city and I don't really have any relationships yet, so I'm just gonna be super isolated. But here we are, but we made it out. Oh, yeah. I feel like I've met a lot of people who moved here, like around then. Yeah. I would say Atlanta's a hard city to get to know, even if there isn't a pandemic.
Connecting Within Atlanta's Artistic Community
00:04:19
Speaker
You know, it's just everybody is doing a lot of stuff in their own little silos, but it's so big that it's hard to know what's happening, which is part of why I'm interviewing you today.
00:04:32
Speaker
I mean, I wouldn't have heard about your work unless you had not, you know, you came to one of our events, right, and introduced yourself. So, you know, folks, if you're listening and you want to, you know, get to know the community, come to one of our Monday Night Development workshops with working title and meet everybody and tell them what you're doing, because the people who come to our events love going to events.
00:04:57
Speaker
So if you're putting something together, it just makes sense, right? So, okay, so you grew up in Atlanta. Where'd you grow up? Midtown, Ainsley Park. Ainsley Park, that's a beautiful place to grow up. I was absolutely spoiled. I didn't realize how beautiful it was until I left. And I was like, I came back. And I was like, God, this neighborhood is so gorgeous. I can't believe I was ever mad at my parents.
00:05:25
Speaker
Well, I feel like I had to leave Atlanta to appreciate it. There's some sort of magic to that for some reason. Yeah, we got the best. It was the trees for me. California was so wonderful. I still love all my friends in LA for just looking around and coming back here and seeing those Ben Noy trees the size of buildings, not even houses. It's like, oh, I love you guys.
00:05:54
Speaker
I know, right? I have a friend who was flying in for the first time and she was like, wow, when we were coming down, it was just like trees, just a canopy of trees. Just like I've never seen, like I've never flown into a city and experienced that. And I was like, oh yeah, it's the best part of Atlanta, for sure.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a great way to put it. I joke that I love the ocean, but mountains and trees and forests and rivers, that's really where it's at. I hate the ocean. So that was easy. The beach, I'm like, fuck the beach. Fuck me in a mountain. Surround me with trees. I'm much better. You much prefer the humidity to the salt. Yes, yes. No, I do have salt, dry sand everywhere.
00:06:49
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't I don't tan at all. So yeah, it ends up being Why one day maybe I'll get it I lived in Los Angeles seven years. I think it went to the beach twice. Oh Yeah, I was like why why? Mmm, LA it's like barren and yet there's the ocean right there. Yeah strange place. So you're there seven years.
00:07:15
Speaker
Yes, yes, seven years.
Tori's Shift from Actor to Producer
00:07:17
Speaker
And that's because you work in the film industry, right? I didn't in LA. Okay. I started out as an actor. Okay. And then I started, I got pretty heavily involved with an organization called Story Pirates. And that's also where I started producing, which I think was sort of my secret heart wish all along. As life does,
00:07:17
Speaker
Oh
00:07:44
Speaker
you know, and then I started doing some intense therapy and was like, who signed up? Who signed me up for being a professional actor? I don't know if I decided this. I feel like I just picked like, you know, a career that I felt like I could be a mom and also have and like actress was the
00:08:05
Speaker
You know, social conditioning, we love that, right? Yeah, I started producing with them and fell in love with it. And then I was flying back to Atlanta all the time just because I loved it. And I got involved with the MFA playwriting program at Zawani, the University of the South, which is where my parents went. So I got into their grad program and I kind of started doing playwriting more professionally.
Story Pirates and Creative Adaptation
00:08:34
Speaker
And then it just didn't make sense for me to live in LA anymore. So I kind of officially quit acting, floated, looked up at this guy and screamed a bunch of questions for like a year and a half. And then I was like, wait, I do want to do this. And now I work in the film industry production company. Got it. So story pirates. Yes.
00:09:01
Speaker
So you got into it as an actor and then you started helping out putting the shows together. Yeah, I think Story Pirates is, I use it as a model, I think, for what ATL Original Works does because what Story Pirates would do would
00:09:17
Speaker
we would take stories written by kids and turn them into an awesome sketch comedy musical. How cute. Yeah. So it's a lot of lifting up the voices of children. And we would perform a lot at elementary schools. But we would also do public shows. We had a partnership with the Geffen. And so one of the many, many things I love about the organization is that it lets you, there's a lot of different ways to be involved.
00:09:46
Speaker
So almost everyone gets in as an actor or.
00:09:50
Speaker
possibly a teacher. And yeah, I went through their producer training and that, you know, we just talked about the whole process of the company. I went through their director training and that was a lot about how to build, because it's basically a variety show. These stories that kids write get adapted into little like three to five minute sketches. And so the directors of the show
00:10:18
Speaker
have to learn how to structure the pieces and how to use the actors to keep the audience engaged throughout the show, how to bring the audience into the show sometimes, and how to work with them. And I feel like I've learned that with that organization. And then I just immediately fell in love with that whole process. That's very cool. Yeah, I have so many questions.
00:10:48
Speaker
the director and producer training. So they brought you all in and trained you to do the work. Yeah. So the director training was, I think it was shorter and it was more based on like how to cast stories, you know, how to
00:11:07
Speaker
structure a show so that it makes sense how to work with actors when there might be challenges. But the producer training, I might be misremembering this because I just liked the producer training. So much more. The producer training was, I think it was a week. And that was like, okay, bones up, here's the company. And this is like a much, much bigger company than I've ever worked with.
00:11:37
Speaker
Um, you know, like here are the numbers. This is our overhead. Like this is how we make this work. You know, these are our two tax entities. I was like, Oh my God, I'm selling to this. Um, and, uh, Oh, I just love five. Oh, yeah. Three letters. So great. One arm is nonprofit in the office for profit. That's so cool. Um, uh, yeah. And then, you know, just how to, uh,
00:12:06
Speaker
how to kind of pitch what we do and how to talk about it, but training with that and how to get schools interested, get people interested when people are interested, how to keep them involved. That's amazing. Yeah, it was wonderful. I mean, it sounds like the producer training especially sounds producer-y, but the director training sounds kind of like dramaturgy.
00:12:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Right. Because that's dramaturgy, all that structuring the script and, you know, which is so great because I thought you were going to say like staging and stuff and you didn't say staging. You were talking about taking something written by a child and making it into a short little play. Right. Yeah. Which is so dramaturgical. Interesting. Yeah. It's I hadn't thought about it like that, but it's like adaptation kind of right.
00:12:59
Speaker
I guess primarily the sort of legwork of story pirates is done by, you know, you read the story and then the actors kind of come in and they're typically like improvisers. And so the story is sort of built like in the room with people, but the director absolutely like guides the process.
Reflecting on Artistic Fulfillment
00:13:20
Speaker
And yeah, I know that you pointed out. Now, and then do the kids get to see their own shows?
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, and then we go back to the school, you know, so if there are eight stories in a show, maybe two or three of them are like ones that the whole company, you know, it's like, we know this works, we've like honed it. And then the remaining pieces are from the school. So we get to go back and obviously the kids don't know whose stories got picked. So we're like, this next story was written by someone in this room.
00:13:54
Speaker
that you slowly hone in and then like the one kid that they're like, oh my God, that's me, I wrote this to them. That is incredible. So fulfilling, yeah. I'm just like. Trying to get them out to Atlanta. I'm sort of blown away by the impact that that would have on a kid. Yeah. And how much empowerment they would feel. Yeah, and I think story pirates, you know, I found an organ, I found out about it through nannying. Like most, almost everyone, almost all the other actors,
00:14:25
Speaker
find out about it through like the improv or sketch comedy space. But I mean, I think in it, I found an organization where their guiding principle was about similar to dramaturgy, let's find what the kid wants to say. Like the story that this kid is trying to tell and bring it to life in a way that honors their vision. And I think that has informed
00:14:54
Speaker
how I work with writers and everybody else. If I have to suggest cuts or adaptations, it's all about being extremely respectful and going back to what is your vision? And I know that that's kind of a value that you and I share.
00:15:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it has to go back to what they want to say. It always has to be, which is why I always start my conversations with playwrights with like, well, why do you write this? And what's the origin story? And what do you, what is the whole thing? Tell me all of it. And then through the answer to that question, it's revealed like what my mission will be to serve. But sometimes they don't know, or they're still figuring it out, you know?
00:15:52
Speaker
As the dramaturg, you can often be a question-asker that gives them an opportunity to discover something they wouldn't have without you, which is really why I do it, right? That's the really fun part. So people are always afraid to give feedback, but feedback is just a way to activate new ideas, right? Yeah, I just
Supporting Artists through ATL Original Works
00:16:15
Speaker
got that. It's like sharpening. It's an expression from the Bible, but like I'm in sharpness.
00:16:19
Speaker
iron. It's like, you know, a good dramaturg can really kind of sharpen blade of the play and the voice of play, right? Oh, for sure. Like, what's your intention? Let's get really specific about it. Yeah. But it's also a very like,
00:16:37
Speaker
weird journey, right? There's so much discovery and I mean, you're a playwright. So, you know, like the journey is wild. It's different every time. It's that I love too. I'm working with someone who's really just writing something for the first time and they're like, this is crazy. Like I am loving this process with you. This is so interesting. And I'm like, yeah, because it's not one thing and I'm not looking for something and I'm not trying to get you somewhere except for to the next step.
00:17:06
Speaker
Right. Yeah. That sounds like a really amazing program. Really, really cool. Like, why isn't somebody doing that in Atlanta? Because that's brilliant. Yeah. And we do so much children's programming here. I mean, for obvious reasons, right? You know, children's programming sells and is very popular and is extremely delightful. So why not more?
00:17:29
Speaker
So Story Pirates sounds amazing. And you already said that it has really influenced what you're doing with ATL Original Works. So tell me a little bit about what that is. Yeah. I mean, I think Story Pirates is an incredible organization, and everyone, especially if you have kids, should look them up. But I like to think that in its kind of highest and best use, ATL Original Works
00:17:53
Speaker
does the same thing, except instead of the third graders, we do it with artists, whether they're emerging or established, but the same concept of we're gonna take an idea, a story that you have and put it on stage and mount it and give it back to you in this practical, magical, realistic way. And I think one of the things I love
00:18:24
Speaker
most about what we do is you know I think everyone has like a story that they want to tell just like kids have one million stories that they want to tell and there are so many reasons
00:18:37
Speaker
And I'm, you know, I'm speaking as a writer myself. There's so many reasons not to write it. There are so many reasons not to do it. And this is one reason to do it. This is like if, you know, if you have the short film idea, but you don't have enough money to make a short film, but you consider your computer and write 10 pages.
00:18:58
Speaker
we are a reason to do that because if you do it and you send it to me, then we'll put it on a stage and people will come see it and you can see like how it plays and then you've done it instead of letting it, you know, grow dust in your little idea drawer. That's amazing. That's amazing. I was actually saying in the last episode that the opportunity to just write something and throw it up is an extremely unique opportunity.
00:19:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's I mean, you know, for me, I got started with the show with I had a friend who was an actress who, you know, as, as she'll say it, you know, was sick of people not picking her. And we just as friends had a lot of conversations about like making your own work. And she started this show really just to kind of make her own work and
00:19:49
Speaker
She started getting burnt out because she was doing it all by herself. And she was like, Tori, I don't know if I can keep doing this show anymore. And I mean, as a writer, I was like, this is so valuable to me personally. Like, I have a deadline to get these ideas that I've had out. Like, I have an excuse to practice. I have a reason to get myself to do this stuff. You can't. You have to keep doing the show because I personally need it.
Creating Immersive Theater Experiences
00:20:19
Speaker
It's so helpful to have a deadline. Yeah. I mean, I was like, I can't tell you how many times I've written my journal, like, okay, new writing routine, part five, wake up, 6 a.m., the journal. And it just never happens. But then if I'm like, hey, I told the director, I will email you this script on Tuesday, then guess what I will be doing on Monday night and Tuesday morning, I will be finished.
00:20:46
Speaker
I did not do it at 6 a.m. every morning for the past month, but I'm doing it now and it's done and I think it's important to note that you are You know, there's like there's lighting and there's projections and there's like, I mean, it's sort of workshop production style It feels like there's some design element. Yeah, I I hope that you know while we do have a series of stories that we are putting up we are also
00:21:16
Speaker
you know, the part that I love, we are producing a show, we are producing an experience. I know the show, so I wrote, directed, and produced an immersive show called An Evening with the Fitzgeralds, and that was sort of the first ATL original work show, and that was last fall.
00:21:33
Speaker
and I mean I'm obsessed with immersive theater and so I really try to bring that element into the shows we do that yes it is a stage it is a series of stories but as an audience member you're coming in and like you're a part of an experience like you whatever you know these writers directors actors bled out and put on the stage for you
00:21:55
Speaker
This isn't just like for your entertainment, like you, although it is, it's also here to feel what it feels like to go through the things that these people are going through for your entertainment. Yeah, and you're doing it at Push Push Arts. Yes. And it was, it kind of had sort of like a coffee house vibe. Yeah.
00:22:17
Speaker
It was like cocktail seating kind of around sort of a thrust stage, very tight, very small, a lot of fun. And, you know, there was somebody who sang and played a keyboard and there was like a lot of sketches. There were some that were sort of, they felt more sketchy than others. Some of them felt like sort of complete little one acts and others felt like scenes. Yeah, some were more clearly, this is a 10 minute play.
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah, more clearly like this is a comedy sketch. And then there was like a monologue that was amazing. That was great. You had a comedian doing some really great stand up throughout as the host. So can word
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, and we're continuing with our next show, March 30th, Breaking Up With Yourself. We're continuing, you know, we, it is like our most non-traditional show yet. I guess a lot of the pieces we got really sort of broke the form. So, you know, we're continuing to play with
00:23:18
Speaker
Like, is it performance art? Great. It counts. We'll put it on the stage. Like, it does not have to be, you know, a 10 minute play or we need to get out of all those labels anyway. Are you telling a story? My performance is led performance. Exactly. Yeah. I love that. That's great. I mean, that's what I just need personally. If I'm going to buy a ticket and see something, I want it to challenge me a little.
00:23:44
Speaker
Right. And I think, too, the opportunity for people to submit a huge swath of artistic materials is really cool. Yeah. We've got one thing that we're doing in this upcoming show. I had a friend who I wanted to work with. And she sent me kind of a one sheet of a concept. And it had some text in there that felt sort of like a diary entry and sort of like a poem.
00:24:13
Speaker
had a conversation and now we are sort of recording that with music. I think we're gonna do sort of a nonverbal scene underneath it, because it's kind of about a woman's relationship with her partner. And it's like, we sort of took something that didn't exactly have a form, you know, and just through collaboration and talking it out. And again, like we talked about keeping like the aim
00:24:39
Speaker
you know going back to the text keeping the aim of the artist as like the highest goal we came up with this form that you know I haven't seen I don't know the last time I've seen this particular type of form like a VO with a with a nonverbal scene that's really cool yeah that's I mean that that's the kind of stuff that I love and like if you don't know what it is I don't care just send it to me let's do something weird let's put it on the stage
00:25:05
Speaker
So that's the process is, you start, you do a call for submissions the month before,
Submission Process and Flexibility
00:25:11
Speaker
right? Talk a little bit about that process.
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, so we have a mailing list and we ask for submissions up until the first of the month. So far the shows have been kind of a mixed bag. We'll definitely get several on the first of the month that we're like, great, awesome. We'll put that on stage. Sometimes it's also me or if someone is kind of working with me knowing that
00:25:36
Speaker
themes in advance and kind of like Pussy Juice, the one that you saw in the February show, I had seen that as a short film last fall, I think. And so I knew with the February show, the dating game, I was like, that was great. I loved that. So I, you know, specifically reached out to lens of Judy who wrote it. And I was like, Hey, let's wonder where to put this on a stage. So it's,
00:26:00
Speaker
um you know a lot of it is stuff we get on the day and some of it is stuff that me and people I know are kind of have our listening ears open as we're sort of moving through the world and thinking about you know I think this is neat let's find a way to incorporate it into a show and that's you know one of the reasons why I love working for the playwrights and demanding they count the workshop
00:26:22
Speaker
You guys do the same thing. You can use yourself. Well, I think one of the cool things is that you're offering a lot of dramaturgical support to the people that are submitting, which is pretty incredible and not very common.
00:26:38
Speaker
You're just saying you found something that was a movie and you asked the writer to create a live piece. That is so fantastic and very much the work of dramaturgy adapting. And that was probably my favorite piece. I mean, it was fantastic.
00:26:56
Speaker
a super fabulous piece about using pussy juice as cologne, really funny and like delightful in so many ways. And fun fact, you know, I have heard from people who've seen it and spoken to that it does indeed work.
00:27:16
Speaker
I was sitting in a table with a couple of women and they were like, oh my god, would that work? And I just kind of looked at one of them and was like, why wouldn't it work is the question. I haven't tested it personally yet, but maybe I should. I mean, why not? Well, yeah, we'll get serious. Hilarious.
00:27:33
Speaker
So yeah, and that was a monologue and then there were songs and then there were just some really funny comedy too. So I had a great time and it was really neat to see artists of so many different disciplines working together. That's good, that's what I love too.
00:27:53
Speaker
I mean, it's this idea that dance and theater and film and television is siloed. It's like it's all the same tools. It's just like putting them together in different ways and they can so teach each other and speak and have and be in conversation with each other all the time.
00:28:10
Speaker
and yeah I mean I love just seeing you know art comes out of different people in different ways and I love kind of seeing like you know and it's so fun for me too to get to know people's personalities and be like oh your art manifests in that way and that makes sense because that you know like
00:28:29
Speaker
Like me, my art manifests in like kind of campy, you know, really tight like musical theater-ish ways. And then there are some people whose art manifests in like these slow, meaty dramas, you know, and some people whose art manifests in these like extremely loose scenes that are largely unscripted.
00:28:52
Speaker
I feel like one of my favorite things is just witnessing all these artists and watching them splash around in the ways that are fun for them. I'm like, look, it's little magic. Everyone has their own little thing. Yeah, it's so true. It's that creative magic, for sure.
00:29:12
Speaker
That's cool. So your next show is on the 30th, you said. Okay. So you get on the email list and then you send out a call for submissions and then you start collecting stuff and then you kind of start working with the people who are submitting and you don't really, it doesn't sound like, it sounds like you accept most of what is submitted. Is that correct? I don't think we've had to, you know, if there is something that for whatever reason we think might not work, you know, we really try to
00:29:42
Speaker
get everything we can, then, you know, we may have to go back to the writer and say, okay, this might not work. You know, like, no, this is not about the piece. This is about the show. Like for this particular medium, these parts might not work. So if you can adjust that within a couple days and send it back, then we'll put it up. If not, you know,
00:30:07
Speaker
We can use it later if you want more time. And some pieces come pretty fully flashed. There are people who have worked with us before who write and direct their own stuff, who just are like, here's my piece. And I'm like, great, it's awesome. I'll see you at the tech.
00:30:25
Speaker
So it really, you know, it depends on what the pieces need. But yes, by the first of every month, we will, in theory, have gotten all the pieces. We sort of have a firmish set list by...
00:30:38
Speaker
the first week. And then we start working with the host, you know, to kind of develop, okay, how can we make this, you know, experience for people, instead of just a series of
Emotional Connection and Host Role
00:30:51
Speaker
stories? Is the is the MC always different? Okay, great. Yeah. And, you know, we'll kind of pick the host based on their strengths.
00:31:00
Speaker
related to the theme. You know, so this upcoming show, Emily Safi's our host. She's very emotionally available. She's great at, you know, for me personally walking people through kind of emotional and psychological stuff. And our show is about that. It's breaking up with yourself. It's about walking through those emotional journeys. So I have a conversation lined up with her and our co-producer for the show, you know, to kind of figure out how she can
00:31:30
Speaker
be who she is to many people in life to a crowd on a stage.
00:31:37
Speaker
I love that so much. I think that's really the kind of producing thinking, like the richness and the depth of that. You're like, I'm not just gonna choose an MC that's great and funny or whatever. I'm gonna choose an MC that connects and aligns with the theme of the show, which is really fantastic. I think also what you're acknowledging is that artists have certain things that they're especially great
00:32:03
Speaker
And because that is something they've experienced a lot or talked about a lot. So I think that's fantastic. It's very specific. Yeah. Yeah, that's really cool. So it's a different person every time. Very neat. And I like that you have an MC so you don't have to do all of that. Oh, boy. You know, you introduced it, you know, I think there were a few different points where you jumped on stage.
00:32:26
Speaker
Yes, yes, you were. And you mentioned immersive. And I definitely want to mention that you handed out lines for people to speak. And the theme was dating. The dating game. The dating game. So who wrote? Did you write the lines? Who came up with the conversations? No, those were real. Those were real hinge and bumble conversations. Hinge and bumble conversations that were real. And so you just printed those out, handed the A and B to people. Yeah, I had cast and crew.
00:32:56
Speaker
basically begged them to like just send me screenshots of conversations that they'd had on dating apps. We're like, look, the dating game, it's about the dating game. And there may be a lot of people in the audience who were married.
00:33:11
Speaker
you know, we're like, we're gonna make you guys go through the dating game. And, you know, you obviously read for one of the- Yes, of course. I should have known. Walked in and I got handed lines, yes. Yeah, we had, you know, the cast, like, you know, send me screenshots. I pulled some from, you know, my own dumb dating apps and then typed them up and- Love it. That's so fun and so very dramaturgical of you.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Community Contribution in Theater
00:33:42
Speaker
I think too one of the fun things about working in live performance art and theater is
00:33:49
Speaker
is getting to collaborate with people like that. Being asked to share personal things like that and being a part of the research project that that is. There's just so much. The teams that provide development, the actors and the dramaturgs and the directors and all the people in those rooms are so special.
00:34:12
Speaker
I don't know if they even realize what they're contributing to the process, but like being willing to like, yeah, I'll share some awkward conversations I had on Tinder and Bumble and a million number of apps, you know, and being willing to share those and let them be public, you know, it's fantastic, what a gift. Yeah, like the raw vulnerability of it, you know, we're doing a show in May,
00:34:38
Speaker
If anyone saw an evening with the Fitzgeralds, Akila Waldenbrine played Josephine Baker. You know, she's a former sex worker and God, 10, 15 years, like most of her adult life and
00:34:52
Speaker
You know, I was just like, I'm so fascinated with your life story and people don't know what this is. So we're built. I mean, we're building a show and it's like her real experiences that, you know, we're building a show around. She's posting it. And I feel like that kind of raw
00:35:10
Speaker
you know, vulnerability is one of the things that I think that I love about theater. One thing that I think is so much more powerful in live performance as opposed to other mediums, it's when someone is
00:35:26
Speaker
standing there naked in front of you, you're like, oh, I can, this person right here that I can reach out and touch is like sharing these vulnerable parts of themselves with us. And that back to me is really what theater magic can be.
00:35:41
Speaker
Mm hmm. Yeah, sharing this space and the energy and all that vulnerability. Yes. Being able to see yourself mirrored. Yes. In that. Yeah, I mean, it's terrifying. You know, who does it, but it's, I feel like the payoff for those who get to be a part of it is universal.
00:36:00
Speaker
I was recently in a class and there was an incredible actor who was teaching just sort of like the art of spontaneity to all these dancers. And he was trying to describe to them how he gets to his emotional place. And like he was explaining it theoretically and they didn't fully grasp. So he just did it. And he said something like, well, I just think about my wife. And it was like the whole room dropped
00:36:30
Speaker
into his energy of loss, the idea of loss. And I like felt like I was going to cry all of a sudden because he started to cry like in a second.
00:36:43
Speaker
And I was like, just sort of blown away by the wave that I could feel in the whole, there were like 40 of us. And it was like, everyone was just, it was like a shock wave that everyone felt his loss. And it was like, wow. That's why I love doing original work too. Like it's, you know, what we're seeing on the stage, someone in this room, someone in this city wrote that.
00:37:10
Speaker
You know, like that's, it's not like Shakespeare. It's like, this is someone's story that you know, you know, and that, yeah. I mean, I think it's just so personal.
00:37:27
Speaker
And I actually think the infusion of film and television people is really exciting, especially now, because so many of y'all are theater people at the core too, right? And it's like, there is so much to be said for the practical. We can turn anyone. Yes, I love it. Well, I think if you kind of love to geek out on how stories are made,
00:37:51
Speaker
then you're just gonna be drawn to it, right? Because film is so practical and methodical and there's so much, there's so much other stuff to worry about, but I think those are production tools that you can bring to the theater that you do bring to the theater, right? Like that show was very professional that I saw, you know, and yet felt very fun and community driven and like soft and it didn't feel edged out by a structural system.
00:38:20
Speaker
but I was extremely entertained the whole time, everything moved really smoothly, and those are sometimes things that people forget matter. Yeah, and I think, you know, I like to say that film is much more accessible to the viewer, that theater is much more accessible to the maker, that, you know, film requires, maybe not requires, but like there's just a lot more technical parts to make it, you know, successful, but I think,
00:38:47
Speaker
you know, having worked in film for like three-ish years, you know, especially working in production, it's like 1000% made me the theater producer that I am, like made me a stronger, better, more capable, you know. And so I mean, I'm super also glad that the film industry is here in Atlanta, not only because it pays my bills, you know, but I feel like it's, there is much more crossover than I think
00:39:18
Speaker
you would think than people realize. If I go to an event and there's a bunch of artists I've never met, I'm like, what's happening? Who are these people? Where are they coming from? And that was the case. I was at Push Push Theater, which is a theater that's been around in Atlanta for a very long time, although the space they're in is a little bit newer for them. But I didn't know anyone.
00:39:41
Speaker
You know, except you, which was amazing. And I just I love that. You know, we talked about earlier how I think sometimes and you would know more if this is an accurate statement, but it can feel like the artistic communities in Atlanta are sort of siloed a little bit. Definitely. Yeah. And I think, you know, at least like one of my goals is to kind of my goal by the end of this season is to have someone
00:40:06
Speaker
in each one of these little silos be one degree separated from someone who has been involved or attended the ATL original work show. Because I think that it can be so easy to sort of stick in your pockets and it's so valuable to find a way to bring a bunch of new people in the same room.
00:40:28
Speaker
And that actually speaks to why I am interviewing people who are gathering community, you know, because the work is so important. You know, obviously Working Title does a lot of that. So the community knows us as a gathering space and a place where they're probably going to see people they don't often see.
00:40:47
Speaker
be in rooms with people they never get to work with,
Networking and Creative Growth
00:40:51
Speaker
right? And I think it's really helpful for people listening to know that the more you get out and show up at events, especially in places you've never been or produced by somebody you may not know, that is how you introduce yourself to new artists, to new work, to new places. And that's how you keep growing and evolving as an artist, you know?
00:41:14
Speaker
Yes, we have our collaborators we love and they're amazing, but we have to keep building our networks. We have to keep working towards becoming the artist we want to be. And, you know, you can't stay with all the same people all the time, right? You have to start challenging yourself.
00:41:31
Speaker
I love that you're so open to it and there's so many different people and there's just, and you're coming to events, you're showing up at my events and telling people about what you're doing, which of course is so important because Atlanta is really siloed. And I would say too, the siloed aspect of Atlanta isn't just us, it's the nature of the geography of Atlanta. It's just a big city, right? And it's hard to get around.
00:41:58
Speaker
So you kind of have to be willing to traverse the city to go into neighborhoods you've never been to, where you might feel uncomfortable, right? But I think the key is that it is very hard to afford to produce work in this city.
00:42:13
Speaker
And so people are having to find creative spaces in which to do it. And so Push Push has created a space. But it's in College Park. Some people maybe have never been there, right? The Windmill Arts Center, it's in East Point. Some people live an hour from East
Logistical Challenges in Atlanta's Art Scene
00:42:29
Speaker
Point. They live up in North Druid Hills. So some of it is just geography and traffic.
00:42:34
Speaker
right? I mean, you've lived in LA, you know, I feel like LA is kind of siloed in that way, because people don't want to like travel the city, right? It's like two different cities. There's a east side and the west side. Exactly. I went there. Just teeny anecdote. The last time I visited, I was trying to like, I mean, I literally had to divide my time. People that both knew each other. I was like, Oh, we shouldn't buy this person. It was like, doesn't she live on the west side? It was like, it's in the same city. I had the people that I used to live with. Wow.
00:43:04
Speaker
We're on the east side in Koreatown and my former roommate opened a package that he got that had been shipped to him, that his friend spent $8 shipping to him from the west side. And I was like, wait, why didn't he just, I was so perplexed. I was like, it's only, you know, without traffic, it's like 25 minutes.
00:43:26
Speaker
why didn't he just drop it by next time he was in the area or next time you all saw each other and like my grenade was was like oh well he lives on the west side yeah no no wonder he went to the post office and spent eight dollars to send me this in a package that's incredible wow this is la this is yeah i had no idea yes
00:43:48
Speaker
I mean, I know you can get stuck in your car on the freeway for like five hours at a time. But I remember my brother used to live there and he had trail mix and water in his car at all times. Yeah, I had blankets, batteries, you know, whatever you needed to survive the apocalypse on the highway apparently. My car changed clothes, workout clothes. Everything. Yeah. This is so funny.
00:44:10
Speaker
West side, east side. I did not know that is quite extreme. I think Atlanta has that quality too, south and north. And then the west and east is because the west side has actually become quite
00:44:24
Speaker
vibrant, but there's no way to get there. It's insane. Or park. Well, there's no way to park in Atlanta anymore, period. Just wild. Atlanta used to be full of free parking. That's a long time over. But yeah, it is wild. I think unfortunately Atlanta is more like LA than most people like to admit because of our traffic situation and the complete lack of city planning.
00:44:48
Speaker
that we see, which if people want to know why it's a mess, it's because there was no planning. This is not Chicago. There's no beautiful grid that we're living on. None of it makes any sense.
00:45:03
Speaker
And it's imperative in the work that we both do in gathering artists, that the artists show up. Right? You know, I mean, the, the key to grassroots connecting is being in the same space together. And I think that's something that I kind of learned a little bit, like that there's a touch, not a vetting process, exactly. But like, if someone isn't willing to come to the show, or if I say, Okay, I need to know that you
00:45:31
Speaker
know what we are and care about what we're doing you know before not saying that like we don't put on stuff written and made by people who haven't seen the show but I feel like I will sometimes get people who like I want to be involved in the show and then they never you know like okay well
00:45:52
Speaker
Yeah, you gotta be involved in the show. Like, come check us out. It's so important that artists understand that most producers are honestly giving their time. And if they are being paid, it's not a lot.
00:46:09
Speaker
there is an energy exchange that is required among humans, right? And so it's like, well, if I'm going to put your work on, you need to show up for the show that is created so that you can be there and connect with everyone because the mission isn't necessarily to throw the work up.
00:46:29
Speaker
the mission is to connect the artist, right? So that's something I actually have to make very clear with Working Title as well, that if you're not looking for a community and you just want submission opportunities, we can be that for you, for sure.
00:46:44
Speaker
But you're going to get so much more out of working with us or honestly anyone. If you invest your time and your interest and your care into a process, especially as an artist, you're probably going to learn, you're probably going to grow.
Exploring New Skills in ATL Original Works
00:47:00
Speaker
and you get to you might get to like direct something or help somebody do some dramaturgy or something you've never gotten to do and you get to be like you just raise your hand and say can I can I do this and that's yeah that's exactly how I would phrase it like we can be a submission opportunity but we can be so much more than that to people you know and I love there's been a handful of times where someone who
00:47:25
Speaker
considers themselves mostly an actor, mostly an improviser as written or directed. I'm like, yes, this is what this can do. If you were curious about directing, even we're doing stuff with associate producing now. If you think you might be interested in producing,
00:47:42
Speaker
frickin call me like you can I love that like you can you know we'll throw you on the producing team like there's amazing no way to not be involved and if you want to just submit that's great but you can do anything you know we will find a way to use you
00:48:01
Speaker
That is fantastic that you're willing to bring people in and train them as well. That is so needed. That is so needed. So if you're listening and you want to learn how to produce, you need to look up ATL original works and connect with Tori and ask.
00:48:18
Speaker
to get some training. That's fantastic. I love hearing about this. Thank you so much for doing this work. It's really important. It's really, really important. And so this is monthly, right? This program is happening, it happens every month. And the show is always like the last Saturday of the month. Is that how it works? The season is eight shows, February to September. And then the final show in October is like the greatest hits show. And so that'll be- Oh, how cute. Yeah, most kind of loved or appreciated pieces
00:48:48
Speaker
from throughout the season. That'll be a longer, more like two-hour show, but yeah. Last Saturday of every month at 8 p.m. at Push-Push Arts, 1805 Harvard Ave. There's an empty stage that's whispering your name.
00:49:09
Speaker
Oh, that's fantastic. Wow. That's really, really cool. But what a gift to the community. Yeah. And I mean, yeah, shout out to, you know, my friend Joanna Murphy, who started this whole thing. You know, like I said, I kind of got like grandfathered in.
00:49:24
Speaker
Well, it sounds like you were led to do it, right? You know, it's like, it sounds like something you've been wanting to do. Yeah. Yeah. That's fantastic. And you had a great piece in it as well, which was hilarious. Super funny. Yeah. So folks, you know, listening, you can produce a show and you can also put your work in the show. Right. And especially when you're doing a lot of different pieces, you know, it's like, because some people are like, Oh, I don't want to be like producing a show and then doing my own work. I'm like, why not?
00:49:54
Speaker
It's just maybe just don't always do your own work, share the stage, but there's so much sharing of the stage here. I mean, you've got incredible amount of people that are contributing to this.
00:50:06
Speaker
whether they're comedians or musicians. Wow, what if the woman did an incredible version of a Portishead song that had me? That was so good. I was dead. I was like, yes, please bring in the Portishead. I am so happy about this.
00:50:27
Speaker
you know, her section just really dropped the show and opened everyone's heart space. Oh, so true. So true. I completely agree. She's a writer as well. We've featured her, Cherry White as a musician, Tiffany Cherry White as a playwright. We've, in past shows, like she's also just an incredible writer and filmmaker, you know, all day long. Love it. You know, it's very much a labor of love, but I think there's
00:50:55
Speaker
the art ecosystem needs all of these different elements, right? And I think the pandemic has hit some of that, the small collectives because of the pandemic. But I would actually say before the pandemic, I wanted there to be more collective gatherings of artists where the focus was on evolution, development, process, continued education.
00:51:21
Speaker
connection, not working, collaboration, rather than, how do I get my play produced by this theater that won't give me any time, or, you know, there's just no energy coming from that. Like, how do we make the work happen for ourselves so we can develop it for ourselves, and then we can maybe go to a producer and be like, look at this badass thing that I've been developing. It's ready for you. Right? You know, I love what you said, like,
00:51:47
Speaker
making your own work. That's just integral to my belief system for life and how I think anything happens. I wrote a show last fall and I'm not going to a theater saying, hey, we produce this. It's like, no, we're doing it. I'm hugely worried that the only way to, you gotta show people, no one's gonna give you anything. You gotta make them look.
00:52:17
Speaker
I guess. And I guess that speaks also to the nuts and bolts of the production work that you're doing, right? So push-push is the space. Do you pay rent for that or is that space, okay, so you pay a little bit of rent for that? We pay rent, yeah. And we're involved in your sort of seedworks process, so they're not charging us what the actual value of the space is.
00:52:46
Speaker
Because they're well, push push is a resident space, right? So there are artists in residence at push push. Is that correct? Is that how they say it? Yeah. And the College Park space is their their newer home. They've been there some years.
00:53:00
Speaker
through the pandemic, right? And there's more than one space. So the night I went, there was a show going on on the other side of the building as well. Yeah. So they have three spaces. Is that crack or just two black box in the cafe space? Got it. And so we were in the cafe space. Yes. Cute. Okay. Great. Second show ever. No kidding. Yeah.
00:53:21
Speaker
Oh, how fun. If you went back to the green room, you would find just some rolled in nails. Got it. Okay. Building it out and we're actually kind of helping them. Very cool. Well, that's really neat. So you're not just in the space, you're contributing, you're resident artists in the space.
00:53:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, they might use a slightly, I mean, they would call it, like, we're, you know, part of the Seedworks program. Got it, okay. But yeah, we're, you know, I'm endlessly grateful to like their support, also just like their guidance, just person to person. But yeah, we love them. And, you know, we hope to kind of in the same vein when they're like, hey, we need someone to build this. We're like, we know people who have nails and hammers and can build stuff. Love it.
00:54:11
Speaker
which of course you said at the beginning, it's such a gift for people to submit to your process and to this really cool gathering space that you've created. So I think it's important for artists to remember that these collective spaces do not exist without them. So again, going back to showing up, no matter how hard it might be as an artist,
00:54:33
Speaker
being really used to being isolated from the pandemic, loving your comfy space and hanging out with your dog at home. It's like, that's not what's going to activate your creativity and get you going. Yeah, I think that was that's been inhibiting from like, you know, in film, I'm
00:54:49
Speaker
I'm not the top person. I might be in charge of smaller things, but if something goes south, it's not all on me in the way that with ATL original works. It's like, it's me. That's who it is. It's just me right now. I feel that. But yeah, I had to really adjust to being okay with asking.
00:55:12
Speaker
for things and just so important. Showing gratitude when you get it, but it was so uncomfortable for me to be like, hello, will you give this to me? Or like, will you do me a favor? You don't know me yet.
00:55:25
Speaker
I totally agree. Yeah, I had to write in big letters like just ask on my computer when I started getting involved with this because I just hated asking people for stuff and not being like, I'll give you money. It's like, no, it's theater. You can't give them money. Not all of them all at once, not in the same way you can in other weekends.
00:55:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's key to believe that the work you're doing is of value and that you deserve to ask for support. I felt that one. That one's right there. Yeah, exactly. I need to write that one down. I think it's really important that artists understand that sometimes what's holding them back
00:56:08
Speaker
is really giving themselves the chance to succeed.
Trust and Support in Artistic Collaboration
00:56:12
Speaker
I think artists often, you know, chop off their own foot, you know, just like get their own way. And I think I'm grateful for what I'm hearing a lot of people call executive functioning, which we were talking about this ability to produce, to organize, to gather people, to effectively communicate, you know, to stay in touch, to be reliable.
00:56:33
Speaker
All of these things are helpful and kind of needed as a producer because you are asking all these people to trust you with their work. And that's their heart. That's their babies, these little pieces of art that they're making. So I think it's key for people to remember when they're wanting to produce and serve artists that that work is conditional and you can lose trust. And the building of trust is just as important as the repairing.
00:57:02
Speaker
The repairing is key. I think I really work to repair when things have gone wrong, not so that it'll be what it was before, but so that I don't have a rupture with someone that I haven't managed. What is my accountability for that and how do I take responsibility and keep moving?
00:57:21
Speaker
Some questions artists like to ask me in terms of producing is like, well, how'd you get that person to work for you? Or how did you make that happen like that? And it's usually because I asked and because I established a reputation where people knew what to expect from me. So that's in part why when I started running Working Title Playwrights, I created guidelines and structures so that when people came to events, they would know what to expect.
00:57:51
Speaker
Because for me, that's the key to a safe, creative environment is knowing what's going to happen and that whatever you're giving to this face will be returned to you respectfully and with honor, right? So I think a lot of artists struggle to value themselves enough to ask for support.
00:58:17
Speaker
So I often, as a dramaturg, I'm just sort of giving them permission to
00:58:24
Speaker
need things. Yeah. Right. Or, you know, I often say you can call me, you can text me, you can, you know, send me a message on WhatsApp at 3am. Like, I don't keep my phone on, like, you won't wake me up. I'll get it when I get it. But the key is that I'm here for you. And I feel that when you're talking about it, you're like, you're here, you want to, you want to serve these artists and get this work up so much.
00:58:49
Speaker
And as a writer, you know what it's like to never see what you've written performed. And I know it's like to just send a stranger or send someone, send anybody like something you've written. It's just so intimate. And yeah, I mean, I am a producer. I mean, one thing that Tim had push push.
00:59:08
Speaker
kind of validated as he was like, care about everything. So I was starting to feel like, oh my God, I'm caring so much. I'm like depleting myself. I'm worried, I'm going to deplete myself. And he was like, no, yes, care, care about everything. And I think like- That's fabulous. Yeah. Like that's, you know, that's what producing is to me is like, in some ways, you know, I kind of like story parrots. I was in Annie, but it's like, this is,
00:59:37
Speaker
You are nannying what's happening. These are people who are giving you their hearts.
00:59:46
Speaker
That's beautiful. Yeah. I feel like I, I have that skill and, you know, being able to use like the executive combined with like the deep care. It's, I feel like what those are the two, only two muscles. It really is like extreme Excel spreadsheet logistics. Heart emotion.
01:00:09
Speaker
I love that. That is so true, I think. And the idea of care about everything, it really hits me because I think in part that is what nuclei dramaturgy is. Everything matters. Everything is connected.
Aligning Story Elements for Audience Experience
01:00:27
Speaker
And when I see something that I feel like
01:00:31
Speaker
is so specific to the story, everything is completely aligned. I mean, it's one of the most satisfying experiences as an audience member. And you can feel when it's not. And sometimes it's only, you know, a little old thing. Like it's, you have a complete piece of peace and there's one weird stick in the way. And, you know,
01:00:53
Speaker
having someone to help you pull that sticker and just can elevate. Oh, that's a great metaphor. I just saw it like becoming a dam and then picking it up and the water flowing. That's a wonderful metaphor. I love that. That's a great way of describing how a dramaturg can help. I think writers, artists should have dramaturgs at the ready, like people who are there
01:01:16
Speaker
They're people who really think curiously and deeply about story. And I think in everything I've written, I didn't have the word dramaturg for it, but I had people who I could ask questions to who would ask questions of me, who saw the early drafts and I was like, destroy it as soon as you read it.
01:01:42
Speaker
Well, that's the thing. I mean, New Play Dramaturgy is like everything else has been around forever, but it's not been named. So I think that's really key. It's not like we're, it's not like we're the first to do it. It's just more of a, it's a developing ecosystem and you never know what you're going to get. You know, I think what I'm hoping for is a little bit more
01:02:03
Speaker
consistency in the new play field where people don't feel like they're going into another random new play dramaturgy experience where they don't know what it's gonna be like and it's just a wild ride. So that's what I hope. A little bit more structure, a little bit more systems so that people don't end up getting in huge train wrecks and rehearsal and in conversation and production, right? You know, thinking deeply so you don't get caught at the end. So important.
01:02:32
Speaker
So how can folks find ATL Original Works? And what is maybe the newsletter email and the Instagram handle? Yeah. So if you go on our website, scroll down, you can find links, subscribe to our newsletter. Great. www.atloriginalworks.com. Instagram at ATL Original Works. Our email is hello at atloriginalworks.com.
01:02:59
Speaker
Yeah, and tell your friends where I like to say we're like SNL meets if SNL the moth and your seventh grade talent show had a baby. We're all all those things you can find us on all the platforms. And yeah, I mean, my cell phone numbers everywhere.
01:03:18
Speaker
Literally, if you want to get involved, two and four, five, three, eight, ten, ten, ten. Oh, my gosh. Oh, that is so generous of you. Thanks for doing this work. It's really it was a really fun show, you know. So even if you're not in it, you know, check it out. Let's see the shows support the work, support the artists creating the the future classics, because that's that's what I want to see. I want to see our next home ground, our next. Yeah. Our next Tony Kushner.
01:03:47
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, our next pro league, you know, like, let's see it. Let's do it. Who's next? What are you going to write for the future canon? Yeah. Yeah.
01:03:59
Speaker
Awesome. Well, thank you for joining me today. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you listeners for tuning in to Table Work, how new plays get made with Amber Bradshaw. This podcast was brought to you by Working Title Playwrights. If you like what you've heard today, support this podcast and all our initiatives by leaving us a review, following us and or consider making a tax deductible donation to Working Title Playwrights at www.workingtitelplaywrights.com.
01:04:29
Speaker
dum-ba-da!