Are you a writer interested in exploring the podcast medium? Join us Saturday, March 19 from 11am-1pm ET for a free online workshop led by Erin Lerch, Al Parker, and Andrew Siañez-De La O, three artists who have bridged the mediums of theatre and audio producing.
Learn what drew these theatre artists to the podcast format, the process of adaptation between these forms, and what it's like to be inside the process of creating an audio play.
RSVP required; this is a Pay-What-You-Want experience with $0 minimum. All proceeds support C1's mission to build community at the intersection of art and social change.
>> About the Guests
Erin Lerch (they/them) is a Boston-based playwright and stage manager who can’t/won’t stop writing deeply queer sci-fi. Erin’s plays focus on themes of free will and connection, and finding hope in dark times. They appeared on ArtsBoston’s July 2020 list of 10 Boston Playwrights You Should Know.
Erin’s play Shrike received its world premiere production with Fresh Ink Theatre in February 2022, directed by Josh Glenn-Kayden. Shrike was originally written as part of Company One’s PlayLab Fellows program in 2018, and has also been developed with TC Squared Theatre Company. Their first play, Crossing Flight, first in the Legion Cycle, received its premiere with TC Squared Theatre Company in January 2018. Erin is also the writer and co-producer of The Legion Tapes, a sci-fi podcast/audio drama series.
Erin’s short plays include World Line, a one-act that received a digital reading with TC Squared Theatre Company in July 2020 and a staged reading with Blunt Objects Theatre in New Orleans in 2016. Their ten-minute play Random Access Memory received a reading with TC Squared in April 2020, and was performed as part of the 2020 Boston Theatre Marathon with Flat Earth Theatre. Their other ten minute plays, which include Don’t Look Back, Event Horizon, and Clockwork have been read and produced in Texas, West Virginia, Florida, Washington, and throughout Massachusetts.
As a stage manager and technician, Erin has worked with many Boston theatres including TC Squared, ART’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, Emerson College, Company One, Escena Latina Teatro, and more. They currently serve on the volunteer board of TC Squared.
Al Parker (they/them) is a creative producer, dramaturg and audience services manager based in New York City. Al is the Associate Artistic Director of The Parsnip Ship, where they produce audio theatre works, dramaturg new plays in development and facilitate the Radio Roots Writer’s Group. In addition to their work in audio, they are the Producing Assistant at Page 73 Productions, a proud member of National Queer Theater’s Artistic Collective, a facilitator on Theater in Asylum’s inaugural Curation Team, and an alum of the 2020-21 Ars Nova Emerging Leaders Group. They have produced, stage managed and audience coordinated projects with Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, Ars Nova, MCC, National Queer Theater, the Civilians, Colt Coeur, the Billie Holiday Theatre, ArKtype Productions, New Light Theater Project, the 2018 Red Bull Music Festival, the Nova Frontier Film Festival, Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence Dance Company, the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, and Maimouna Keita School of African Dance, Inc. Originally from South Dakota, they completed their studies in Dramatic Literature and Creative Writing at New York University. When they’re not buzzing around a theater, Al enjoys working as a freelance editor and reading everything from gothic fiction to queer theory to fandom discourse.
Andrew Siañez-De La O (he/they) is a Mexican-American writer from El Paso, Texas. He is currently a Huntington Playwriting Fellow at Huntington Theatre Company. His work, often centered around the culture of the US-Mexico Border, has been developed across the country with the support of companies such as The Playwrights Realm, Pipeline Theatre Company, Milagro Theatre, Company One, and Echo Theater Company. Additionally, he is an organizing committee member for the WGA Audio Alliance, helping organize for a more equitable future for creators of audio drama. He is a scriptwriter for the Latinx children’s fiction podcast, TIMESTORM, with Cocotazo Media and his play, THE ORTIZ TWINS ARE COMING HOME, is currently being adapted for audio in partnership with Stormfire Productions and slated for an early 2022 release. Also, thanks to the support of Latinx in Publishing, he is starting work on his first young adult fantasy novel. Learn more about Andrew here.
>> About C1's Open Circuit Programs
C1's Open Circuit Programs are free, alternating monthly Saturday morning meetings open to all theatremakers dedicated to new work. Virtual Open-Write months feature guest writers who lead attendees through exercises and writing time. Field Work months feature a professional development topic relevant to building a career as a civic-minded theatre artist, with guest artists providing a teach-in on that theme, and time for attendees work on their own materials.