Arlene Hutton and Heather Adams are playwrights, and so much more. Arlene may be best known for her award-winning Nibroc trilogy of plays - Last Train to Nibroc, See Rock City, and Gulf View Drive. Heather is the founder and director of AU Quills and Capes, a group dedicated to supporting young playwrights at American University. We talk about what it's like to take part in Synergy Theater's and Freestyle Rep's Write Away - event that combines writing, improv, and acting.
And there's Winnie the Pooh, Sriracha, and Haiku!
In this episode, we talk to Nikki Vilas and Karen Harrell. Nikki is a performer with Synergy Theater. Karen, like me, is a student. We talk about stagefright, self-doubt, bouncing back from mistakes, and the fun that keeps drawing us back to improv with Synergy Theater and director Kenn Adams. You must see Nikki in her many roles in Synergy Theater's free online shows. Just go to synergytheater.com and click on WATCH LIVE. ...
No matter who your family is, you have a matriarch in your life. A matriarch, to me, is someone who supports you with their warmth, their wit, and their enthusiasm for your dreams. Within the Synergy Theater family, I consider Deb Kern Synergy Theater's matriarch. I've heard Kenn refer to her as his longest-running student. Lynn Shields is another powerful force for good within Synergy Theater. Lynn is a Synergy Theater player, and we talk about her foray into directing the spontaneous soap opera series Days of our Wives. Deb and Lynn are wise, funny, and dedicated to the art of improvisation. They inspire everyone around them to be their best selves on and off the stage. ...
The Vukasin Theater inside the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California is where Synergy Theater performed full-length improvised plays before the Lesher shut its doors, temporarily, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I talk with General Manager Scott Denison about the history of the Vukasin Theater, its possible future when the Lesher reopens, and Scott's own view in bringing us all back to in-person theater. ...
