ON THIS SEASON OF FORGE THEATER LABS
ON THIS SEASON OF FORGE THEATER LABS
Episode 0.1 “THE INESCAPABLE PLOT, ARiSTOTLE, AND KEVIN BACON”
Record Date: Sunday, April 13th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Brought to you in part by The Circular Series
Recorded live at Cassidy Point, Portland, Maine.
Written by Joshua N Hsu, Rachel Price Cooper, and Maya Williams
Featuring Joshua Hsu, Maya Williams, Sam Rapaport, and Jared Mongeau
Featuring Music by Superorder
SYNOPSIS
Maya and Josh meet “Aristotle” and the inescapability of Aristotelian notions of plot and of Kevin Bacon movies.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved.
Episode 0.2 “BACK TO THE GREEKS: LYSISTRATA EDITION”
Record Date: Sunday, April 26th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Brought to you in part by The Circular Series
Recorded LIVE at Cassidy Point, Portland, Maine.
Written by Alicia Tycer
Featuring Joshua Hsu, Maya Williams, Mark Rubin, and Kendall Cooper
Featuring Music by Superorder, Conor Linehan and Joe Beninati
SYNOPSIS
Doc Brown arrives from the past to our dystopian future to bring Maya and Josh back to Ancient Greece to speak to the basis for Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Lysimacha, and how to use theater for the greater good in these “unprecedented times”
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved.
Episode 0.3 “Dangerous ART: PLATO V. SiDNEY”
Record Date: Sunday, April 27th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Brought to you in part by The Circular Series
Recorded LIVE at Cassidy Point, Portland, Maine.
Written by Andrew J. Henkes
Featuring Joshua Hsu, Maya Williams, Sam Rapaport, Jared Mongeau, and Mark Rubin
Featuring Music by Superorder
SYNOPSIS
We throw down with Plato and Sidney to see what constitutes “Dangerous Art” and the effects of the stories we tell. Maybe one is a Cylon after all.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved.
Episode 0.4 “COUNTER/CURRENT: COLLECTIVE”
SYNOPSIS
Josh speaks to Counter/Current: Collective, Belfast ME’s newest theater company, about how they're finding ways to bring immersive theater to Maine, how they choose their shows, and their experience building a theater that’s rooted in community.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved
Record Date: Thursday, May 29th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Joshua Hsu
Featuring Courtney Hayes and John Jurcheck
Episode 0.5 “REBOOT THEATRE COMPANY”
Record Date: Wednedsay, June 18th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Joshua Hsu and Maya Williams
Featuring Jasmine Joshua
SYNOPSIS
Maya and Josh speak to Jasmine Joshua (they/them) about their groundbreaking work with Reboot Theatre Company in Seattle, WA, their journey developing their new musical Here and Their, and how they go about choosing their next project.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved
Episode 0.6 “DESIGN-OR-BUST: LIFE IS A DREAM”
Record Date: Wednedsay, June 5th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Joshua Hsu and Sam Rapaport
Featuring Liz Carlson, Christopher Sousa Wynn, and Elisha Griego
SYNOPSIS
A crackpot team of directors and designers has ONLY 90 minutes to design Life is a Dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Can they make it?!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SHOW NOTES.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved.
Episode 0.7 “LELAND FAULKER”
SYNOPSIS
Josh speaks to Leland Faulkner, a former artistic director and former co-owner of Celebration Barn Theater in Maine, about his experience with experimentation and how to sustain the spirit of experimentation after all these years.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved
Record Date: Tueday, June 17th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Joshua Hsu
Featuring Leland Faulkner
Episode 0.8 “ROGUE ARTISTS ENSEMBLE”
SYNOPSIS
Chelsea Sutton, interim artistic director at Rogue Artist Ensemble, and Josh explore how Rogue Artists Ensemble brings to life their hypertheatrical pieces with design at its inception. We explore how she and the Rogues approach the "Why Now" test to ensure their work stays relevant.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved
Record Date: Tuesday, July 17th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Joshua Hsu
Featuring Chelsea Sutton
Episode 0.9 “A DRAMATURGY ROUNDTABLE”
SYNOPSIS
Josh asks a team of dramaturgs and playwrights: how do we continue to build upon the roles dramaturgs have in established and new works? How can they better integrate with our teams? How do we nurture the next generation of dramaturgs.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved
Record Date: Tuesday, June 11th, 2025
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Joshua Hsu
Featuring John Patrick Bray, Andrew J. Henkes, Alicia Tycer, and Dr. Janna Segal
Episode 0.10 “GUEST ARTIST”
Record Date: Various
Air Date: Monday, October 13th, 2025
Hosted by Sam Rapaport
Featuring Amanda Eaton, Sam Fin Cutler, Parker Hough, Ryan Higgins, Cory Melancon, Tara McDonough, Megan Tripaldi, and Ashanti Williams
SYNOPSIS
We compile all the performers who joined us for our live tapings to present a snippet of their work.
© 2025 Forge Theater Labs LLC. All rights reserved