The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK, sponsored by the Dramatists Guild Foundation

In part 2 of Christine's conversation with Amanda Green and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, they continue to dish the dish on demystifying compensation, holding on to inspiration, and more. Amanda Green is a 2-time Tony nominated, Grammy nominated lyricist and composer, and the first female President of the Dramatists Guild. Her Broadway shows include “Mr. Saturday Night”, “Hands on a Hard Body”, “Bring it On”, and “High Fidelity”. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Pulitzer Prize, 2-time Tony award winning playwright and Vice President of the Dramatists Guild. His plays include "Purpose", "Appropriate", "The Comeuppance", and "An Octoroon". The Dramatists Guild of America is the national, professional membership trade association of theatre writers including playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, whose mission is to protect the economic, legal, and creative interests of professional writers in the American Theater. Visit www.dramatistsguild.com to learn more. This podcast is supported by the Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF), a national charity that fuels the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF fosters playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at all stages of their careers through educational programs; awards, grants, and stipends; free space to create new works; and emergency aid to writers in need of immediate support. DGF is a 2024 recipient of a Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. By supporting and nurturing the creators of today, we protect the stories of tomorrow. Visit www.dgf.org or follow @DGFound to learn more about DGF's grants and programs or ways to donate. Talkback is executive produced by Christine Toy Johnson and edited and recorded by Bruce Johnson. Our theme music is by Andrea Daly. Distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Christine sits down with another one of her fellow Guild officers, Kristoffer Diaz, to talk about what it takes for a theatre writer to make a living, some of the nitty gritty on how writers get paid on Broadway, and keeping grounded in spite of the unpredictable nature of the theatre. Kristoffer Diaz is an associate professor at New York University, Pulitzer finalist for “the elaborate entrance of Chad deity”, Tony nominee for Hell’s Kitchen, which kicked off its first national tour in the fall of 2025, and Secretary of the DG. The Dramatists Guild of America is the national, professional membership trade association of theatre writers including playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, whose mission is to protect the economic, legal, and creative interests of professional writers in the American Theater. Visit www.dramatistsguild.com to learn more. This podcast is supported by the Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF), a national charity that fuels the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF fosters playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at all stages of their careers through educational programs; awards, grants, and stipends; free space to create new works; and emergency aid to writers in need of immediate support. DGF is a 2024 recipient of a Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. By supporting and nurturing the creators of today, we protect the stories of tomorrow. Visit www.dgf.org or follow @DGFound to learn more about DGF's grants and programs or ways to donate. Talkback is executive produced by Christine Toy Johnson and edited and recorded by Bruce Johnson. Our theme music is by Andrea Daly. Distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, host Christine Toy Johnson talks to award-winning playwright Lloyd Suh about his “speculative future” plays, uplifting other writers through service, and the shift in new play development. Lloyd Suh’s works include The Chinese Lady, The Heart Sellers and the Pulitzer finalist The Far Country. He teaches playwriting at Princeton University and serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild. The Dramatists Guild of America is the national, professional membership trade association of theatre writers including playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, whose mission is to protect the economic, legal, and creative interests of professional writers in the American Theater. Visit www.dramatistsguild.com to learn more. This podcast is supported by the Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF), a national charity that fuels the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF fosters playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at all stages of their careers through educational programs; awards, grants, and stipends; free space to create new works; and emergency aid to writers in need of immediate support. DGF is a 2024 recipient of a Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. By supporting and nurturing the creators of today, we protect the stories of tomorrow. Visit www.dgf.org or follow @DGFound to learn more about DGF's grants and programs or ways to donate. Talkback is executive produced by Christine Toy Johnson and edited and recorded by Bruce Johnson. Our theme music is by Andrea Daly. Distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're giving you a special gift for the holidays. A never before released live episode that we did at BroadwayCon in New York City in July of 2023. I had the great joy of sitting down with my longtime pal and colleague, Danny Burstein. Danny is a treasured and prolific actor on film, television, and Broadway. He's been in 19 Broadway shows, with the latest being Pictures from Home by Char White. Which he was starring in at the time of this recording. In this special episode, Danny and I talk about how his career as an artist intersects with his passion for activism. He also shares lots of stories from behind the scenes of some of his most famous roles. In the fifth season of The Dramatists Guild Presents: Talkback, we examine how we can expand the canon and challenge the status quo. How can we be intentional in the ways that we make space for diverse, and inclusive stories, while also reimagining the often produced ones, so that the American landscape of storytelling is truly reflective of the gorgeous tapestry of people who inhabit it? Talkback was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, playwright and activist Roger Q. Mason speaks with podcast host Christine Toy Johnson about how power influences the canon. Roger shares how spirituality plays a key role in their writing process and also discusses the importance of thinking critically -- especially when facing both canonical and new theatrical works. In the fifth season of The Dramatists Guild Presents: Talkback, we examine how we can expand the canon and challenge the status quo. How can we be intentional in the ways that we make space for diverse, and inclusive stories, while also reimagining the often produced ones, so that the American landscape of storytelling is truly reflective of the gorgeous tapestry of people who inhabit it? This season of Talkback was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does theatre help a neurodivergent artist navigate the challenges of being on the spectrum? In this episode, playwright Harmon dot aut speaks with Talkback host Christine Toy Johnson about their writing process and their experience at Spectrum Theater Ensemble, where Harmon is a playwright in residence. Discover how the theatre's NICE program supports neurodiverse, inclusive theatre practices and what it means to create sensory friendly entertainment. In the fifth season of The Dramatists Guild Presents: Talkback, we examine how we can expand the canon and challenge the status quo. How can we be intentional in the ways that we make space for diverse, and inclusive stories, while also reimagining the often produced ones, so that the American landscape of storytelling is truly reflective of the gorgeous tapestry of people who inhabit it? This season of Talkback was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first episode of The Dramatists Guild Presents: Talkback Season 5 features a conversation with theatre artists and educators Stephen Kaplan and Julianne Wick Davis. Host Christine Toy Johnson speaks with Stephen and Julianne about how to teach difficult or controversial theatrical works in the classroom, how to include more recent plays and musicals in a school curriculum, how teachers can use scripts and scores for educational purposes without infringing on the writer's copyright, and more. Discover the Guild's additional resources for theatre educators. This season, ourTalkback podcast examines how we can expand the canon and challenge the status quo. How can we be intentional in the ways that we make space for diverse, and inclusive stories, while also reimagining the often produced ones, so that the American landscape of storytelling is truly reflective of the gorgeous tapestry of people who inhabit it? Talkback was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, hosted by Christine Toy Johnson, Michael R. Jackson and Rona Siddiqui share their creative inspirations, discuss their collaboration on the upcoming musical White Girl in Danger, and reflect upon their respective journeys with the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical A Strange Loop, which was recently nominated for a 2023 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. They also discuss the importance of advocating for their community; as active members on the Dramatists Guild Council, both Michael and Rona are passionate champions of supporting and empowering their fellow writers. This episode first premiered in June 2022, in celebration of A Strange Loop's meteoric success at the Tony Awards. A Strange Loop is currently running on Broadway until January 2023. For tickets, please visit: https://strangeloopmusical.com/ This episode was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online, using hashtag #dgtalkback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're excited to welcome back actress and writer Charlayne Woodard. In Season 1, Charlayne spoke with Christine Toy Johnson about her experiences marketing her work. In this episode, Charlayne takes us to the beginning of her career, sharing about how her early experience in the oral tradition inspired her to start creating theatre. She goes on to discuss how she overcame resistance from members of her community when she wrote her first play as a high school student, and how her own encounters with inequity have kept her motivated to help support her fellow community of writers. This episode was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online, using hashtag #dgtalkback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DG Council Vice President Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has made his career by building community with other writers - even if that community started as three blogs in the early aughts. In this episode, Branden tells Talkback host Christine Toy Johnson about his passion for fair and equitable treatment of writers and how his role at the Dramatists Guild enables him to advocate on behalf of his community of fellow playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. He also discusses some of his earliest work as a young writer, revealing how his love of R.L Stine’s Goosebumps led to an interest in theatrical adaptation. This season of Talkback was produced by Amy VonMacek and Christine Toy Johnson, with postproduction by John Marshall Media. The music is composed by Andrea Daly. Talkback is a production of the Dramatists Guild of America and is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Christine talks to Teresa Coleman Wash, Executive Artistic Director of Bishop Arts Theater Center in Dallas, Texas. We discuss the ways individualism and collectivism can go hand in hand in creating true community collaboration, using examples from Bishop Arts Theater Center’s programming and efforts during the pandemic. Teresa Coleman Wash is a producer, playwright, and founding artistic director for the Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC). Under her leadership, the theatre earned Theater Communications Group coveted Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, 13 Irma P. Hall Awards, approximately $4M in philanthropic support, and the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs’ prestigious Stanford Award for demonstrating exemplary fiscal management. She is a National Arts Strategies fellow having studied at Harvard Business School and holds an MA in Arts Management from Goucher College. She is the recent recipient of the Irma P. Hall Theatrical Excellence award, an Obelisk Award for Visionary Arts Leadership, and the National Guild for Community Arts Education Milestone Award. Her plays have been seen in New York, Atlanta, Washington, D. C., Detroit, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) is an award-winning, multicultural, multidisciplinary arts institution with IRC 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt status. We are the recipients of the Dallas Business Journal inaugural 2021 Leaders In Diversity Award. Founded in September of 1993, our mission is to cultivate a diverse and vibrant arts community committed to social impact, while creating opportunities for local and emerging artists to develop new, contemporary, and lasting works that celebrate the diversity and resiliency of our community. We offer a full season of theater performances, jazz concerts, a speaker series, and year-round arts education programs. We are a cultural oasis for the next generation of acclaimed writers, directors, performers, and arts administrators. Governed by ten board members, we impact over 30,000 artists, art enthusiasts, and children each year via virtual and in-person seasonal performances and arts education programs. See the trailer for Profile Theater's audio production of Mlima's Tale https://profiletheatre.org/members-only/mlimas-tale-archive/ TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild. It’s produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and me, Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley. Our guest producers for this episode are Michael Lew and Shellen Lubin. The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK and as always to be continued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine welcomes playwrights Saviana Stanescu, Caridad Svich and recently former Artistic Director of the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe Daniel Gallant (Gallant was still the current Artistic Director at the time of this recording) to chat about ways they have helped amplify the work of immigrant artists. Self identifying "artivist" Saviana created "Liberties Daughters" a monologue series for immigrant women hosted by Nuyorican Poet's Cafe and Caridad created No Passport an unincorporated, artist-driven, grass-roots theatre alliance & press devoted to cross-cultural, Pan-American performance, theory, action, advocacy, and publication. Each discuss how the pandemic taught them to be creative in producing work online and how it lifted borders and led to new audiences. TALKBACK is a production of the Dramatists Guild. It’s produced by Amy VonMacek, Sarah Storm, and Christine Toy Johnson and mixed by Robare Delaney Pruyn. Our theme music is by Andrea Daley.The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK is distributed by The Broadway Podcast Network. Join the conversation online use hashtag #DGTALKBACK and as always to be continued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices