No Script: The Podcast

"Peter Pan and Wendy" by Lauren Gunderson | S16.E09

Lauren Gunderson's adaptation of JM Barrie's famous Peter Pan stories is full of humor, imagination, and robust stage challenges! Listen in as Jackson and Jacob discuss "Peter Pan and Wendy," a play in which Gunderson refocuses the narrative on Wendy and Tiger Lily, even while she delivers much of what audience's expect from the story of Neverland. 

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Our first episode about Lauren Gunderson was Season 5, Episode 12, her play "I and You" -- https://noscriptpodcast.podbean.com/e/no-script-the-podcast-s5-episode-12-i-and-you-by-lauren-gunderson

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

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We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"The Best We Could" by Emily Feldman | S16.E08

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss a play which has been called a combination of "Death of a Salesman" and "Our Town." Emily Feldman, a sharp and theatrical emerging playwright, has always wanted to write a play with a Stage Manager character, like in Thorton Wilder's famous play. Now she has. Her play "The Best We Could" explores some of the same themes and structure as Arthur Miller's classic, while taking place in a highly contemporary world. Listen in. 

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

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We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"Woman and Scarecrow" by Marina Carr | S16.E07

In this episode of No Script, Jackson and Jacob discuss Irish playwright Marina Carr. Her play "Woman and Scarecrow" is a gallows comedy about a woman on her death bed, and the strange figures (some supernatural!) which surround her. Listen in!

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"Clarkston" by Samuel D. Hunter | S16.E06

Jackson and Jacob discuss a play from a pair of plays by popular contemporary playwright Samuel D. Hunter. "Clarkston" is set in a small town along the Lewis and Clark Trail. It follows two men working night shift at a Costco. Listen in as J&J discuss the play's complicated discussions of legacy and society. 

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"Mothers and Sons" by Terrence McNally | S16.E05

This week on No Script, Jackson and Jacob (finally) discuss a play by Terrence McNally. "Mothers and Sons" is a small, intimate play about two people meeting nearly two decades after they both lost someone close to them. The play also tracks how the world has changed since the AIDS crisis. Listen in! 

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"Two Trains Running" by August Wilson | S16.E04

Jackson and Jacob discuss one of America's most influential, profound playwrights: August Wilson. Wilson's play "Two Trains Running" is part of the Century Cycle. This play follows a group of regular's at a diner in the Hill District, a diner which is about to be torn down. Listen in! 

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Check out these other voices and their discussions of "Two Trains Running":

Interview with the cast of the 2019 Royal and Derngate production (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc3g35R_vr0)

Director Lou Bellamy talks about the play (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rOBnytq_0)

1991 Interview with August Wilson for the LA Times (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-01-ca-7570-story.html)

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"The Night Witches" by Rachel Bublitz | S16.E03

In this episode of No Script, Jackson is joined by Hope College professor Eric Van Tassell and director Dr. Daina Robins in a conversation about Hope's upcoming production of "The Night Witches," a powerful drama by Rachel Bublitz. The play follows the real-life bravery of the Soviet Union’s all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment during World War II. Listen in!

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Get your tickets to Hope College's production of "The Night Witches" here: https://hope.edu/offices/events-conferences/tickets/index.html.

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"Ballad of Yachiyo" by Philip Kan Gotanda | S16.E02

This time on No Script, Jackson and Jacob explore Philip Kan Gotanda's play "Ballad of Yachiyo." This powerful and poetic drama is set in the early 19th century in Hawaii. The play follows a young Japanese-American woman whose life is shaped by cultural expectations and personal yearning. She leaves home to live with a family who will teach her the graces of traditional Japanese arts like the tea ceremony. J&J discuss how the play weaves ritual, pottery, and puppetry into its narrative texture. 

Listen in! 

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Check out these other voices and their discussions of "Ballad of Yachiyo":

The LATW production

Gotanda's interview with American Theatre

The LA Times Review by Laurie Winer

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"Merrily We Roll Along" by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth | S16.E01

In this episode of No Script, we dive into the fascinating world of "Merrily We Roll Along" — Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s bold musical that turns the traditional Broadway story backward. Based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the show traces the lives of three friends over two decades, but with a twist: it starts at the end and moves in reverse. We explore this reverse chronological structure, the repeated and transformed refrains, and how these three friends' relationship evolves (and devolves) over time.

Whether you love Sondheim, innovative storytelling, or musical theatre’s ability to explore life’s big questions, this episode offers insight into a bold, big musical that asks: What happens when we look back at our choices — and the friends we were once closest to?

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" by Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert | S15.E16

In the final episode of the season, No Script turns its attention to one of Broadway’s sharpest, wittiest, and most unsettling musical comedies: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Based on Shepherd Mead’s satirical guidebook, How to Succeed skewers mid-century corporate culture while exposing timeless truths about ambition, power, masculinity, and conformity. Jacob and Jackson unpack how the musical’s bright score and buoyant humor mask a biting critique of the American workplace — and the myth of meritocracy itself.

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue. 

https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast

 -----------------------------

We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at: 

Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/

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Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.