Lights, camera, Thiems! Dramashop Artistic Director Zach Flock chats with the stars of our next production, Kate and Patrick Thiem. For two nights only, Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 8 pm, Dramashop’s own Kate & Patrick Thiem will perform a live concert including some of their favorite songs, direct from the Dramashop stage. With their signature wit and incredible voices, the Thiems kick off our tenth season with this unique live stream event. Performing live from our stage, we’ll welcome audiences into the theatre – albeit via live stream – for the first time in more than six months. Kate and Pat will be accompanied from a safe distance by Michael Malthaner on keyboard and Robert Martin on guitar. A bare-bones tech crew, all wearing masks, will bring this event live from Dramashop to wherever you are. Tickets: dramashop.org. September 18th and 19th, 2020 @ 8 PM

SHOP TALK

SHOP TALK: LIVE FROM DRAMASHOP, AN EVENING WITH KATE & PATRICK THIEM

This week we have a special edition of Shop Talk featuring the team at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre working on putting up a very unique piece of theater as part of a summer tradition at the university, Shakespeare Summer Nights. Dramashop Artistic Director Zach Flock talks with the group behind TWELFTH NIGHT; an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, directed and adapted by GU alumna Jenna Sulecki. The cast features Gannon students, faculty, and alumni in the cast and on the creative team as well as guests from all across the U.S. - and according to their own description, you'll be welcomed to Illyria; a new social media platform- sort of like MySpace meets Tumblr on which different characters host meetings and you, the audience, gets to view. There has been a shipwreck. Viola is lost. She creates a new profile in order to survive this wild and new online world. The world of Illyria utilizes other forms of social media technology with homages being paid to TikTok and Instagram, Venmo and Twitch. Watch as Viola and the rest of the characters play with identity- online and IRL, and find love and loss in the process. The event will be streamed live on Schuster’s Facebook page at 8pm July 27, 28, 29, and August 3, 4, and 5th at www.facebook.com/gannonschustertheatre. This streaming is free but donations can be made at schustertipjar.com at any time. Donations will be split evenly amongst the cast as well as a portion of these donations will go to Black Lives Matter, an organization that the cast and production team feels strongly about supporting. Also, there will be Shakespeare Summer Nights T-shirts available for purchase online featuring quotes from the show. All proceeds from the T-shirt sales go towards supporting the Schuster Theatre. Shop Talk this season is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

SHOP TALK: TWELFTH NIGHT at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre

Nicole, Zach and Alaina welcome the country's most-produced playwright and author of SILENT SKY - among many others - Lauren Gunderson, to SHOP TALK LIVE! Lauren joins us to discuss her career and process as a playwright, theatre in the age of COVID-19, the importance of making the theatre an affirming space (not just a safe space), and more. Hosted by Nicole Lossie and featuring Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock and creative adviser Alaina Manchester, SHOP TALK LIVE! is recorded live in front of a studio audience at Dramashop (or, in this case, via Facebook Live), featuring conversations with local theatre experts and members of the Dramashop community. This season of SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

SHOP TALK: Lauren Gunderson - Playwright, Screenwriter, Author

This week's episode features a special edition: our latest Director Emeritus lecture with Fr. Shawn Clerkin. The topic: Pandemic: Asserting Community Creativity, originally recorded and broadcast via Facebook Live. Where we are with COVID-19 has a lot of us thinking about the role of theatre and the arts in challenging times, and here Fr. Shawn discusses the impact of pandemic on performing arts’ relationship to the spiritual life of the community and its perceptions of reality and absurdity. Fr. Shawn Clerkin holds a Master of Divinity from Bexley Hall Seminary, a Master of Fine Arts / Theatre Directing from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Bachelor of Arts / Theatre & Communication Arts from Gannon University. SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

SHOP TALK: Pandemic - Asserting Community Creativity, featuring Fr. Shawn Clerkin

Zach Flock and Alaina Manchester talk with Jessica Annunziata about - among many other things - devised theater, a long history of Shakespeare performances, and moving from working from a place of fear to a place of joy. SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

SHOP TALK: Talking Theater with Jessica Annunziata

Go behind the scenes of SILENT SKY, Dramashop's first-ever live-streamed staged reading, as members of the cast and crew talk about the unique experience of rehearsing and performing live from their homes. SHOP TALK is sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

SHOP TALK: Cast and Crew of SILENT SKY

PART THREE: William Shakespeare was undoubtedly one of history’s greatest playwrights, which is why there’s still so much to say about his works 400 years later. Over this series of three episodes, our panel of experts talk about their experiences with the Bard, from their first introductions to directing and performing his works; and they discuss why the works of William Shakespeare continue to resonate today.

SHOP TALK: Much Ado About Shakespeare, Part Three

PART TWO: William Shakespeare was undoubtedly one of history’s greatest playwrights, which is why there’s still so much to say about his works 400 years later. Over this series of three episodes, our panel of experts talk about their experiences with the Bard, from their first introductions to directing and performing his works; and they discuss why the works of William Shakespeare continue to resonate today.

SHOP TALK: Much Ado About Shakespeare, Part Two

William Shakespeare was undoubtedly one of history’s greatest playwrights, which is why there’s still so much to say about his works 400 years later. Over the next three episodes, our panel of experts talk about their experiences with the Bard, from their first introductions to directing and performing his works; and they discuss why the works of William Shakespeare continue to resonate today.

SHOP TALK: Much Ado About Shakespeare, Part One

This time, we’re talking about directing for theatre, and we’re assembling (remotely) a great panel: - Kate Neubert Lechner, Executive Director of the Erie Playhouse - Dr. Brett Johnson, Artistic Director, Mercyhurst Institute for Arts & Culture, and Director of the Mercyhurst Theatre program - Rev. Shawn Clerkin, Co-Director of the School of Communication and the Arts at Gannon University and Dramashop Director Emeritus Hosted by Nicole Lossie and featuring Dramashop Artistic Director Zach Flock, SHOP TALK LIVE! is recorded live in front of a (virtual) studio audience, featuring conversations with local theatre experts and members of the Dramashop community. The live recording will be edited for time and content and posted as an episode of our podcast. Sponsored by Gannon University's Schuster Theatre.

SHOP TALK LIVE: Directing for Theatre

Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock and SHOP TALK producer Nicole Lossie sit down with the cast of GLORIA on opening night - just minutes before curtain - to talk about the implications (and benefits) of a short rehearsal period, why actors return to Dramashop and what you can expect from jumping off a diving board without goggles. Originally released: February 2019

SHOP TALK REWIND: GLORIA

Family dysfunction at a holiday gathering. Parents treating their adult children like kids. Adult children treating their parents like kids. Secrets kept, secrets revealed, and, crap, where did grandma go? For the Blake family of Pennsylvania, Thanksgiving in Manhattan throws the family into turmoil, and as the play unfolds in real time, things may never be the same. Laughter, tears and enough wine to make it through a family gathering are just a few of the things you’ll see on stage in THE HUMANS. Originally released: January 2019

SHOP TALK REWIND: THE HUMANS

In this episode, Zach talks to Alaina Manchester and Shawn Clerkin about Gannon University's bold, captivating original production, APE/ESSENCE. From a novel by Aldous Huxley to a treatment by Clerkin and finally, an ever-evolving devised piece by Manchester and cast, the result is a dangerously relevant theatrical experience. Originally Released: January 2018

SHOP TALK REWIND: APE/ESSENCE

Zach Flock, Alaina Manchester and Michael Haas discuss our production of MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY, what influenced the production, the evolution of storytelling, the death of Homer Simpson, the journey of devised theatre, masks and much. much more. Originally Released: March 2018

SHOP TALK REWIND: MR BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY

Dramashop artistic director Zach Flock talks with associate artistic director Alaina Manchester about Dramashop's THE LARAMIE PROJECT and TROJAN WOMEN at Gannon University's Schuster Theatre. Originally Released: September, 2018

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SHOP TALK

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