Playwriting

Part one of Terry Gross's interview with Linda and Conrad Bishop, a married couple who write and perform theater pieces for a variety of different settings and audiences.

Part two of Terry Gross's interview with Conrad Bishop and Linda Bishop. They perform two short dramatic pieces and talk about their theatrical influences.

Playwright and Pennsylvanian Albert Innaurato delivers a talk about his life and career to a live audience.

Playwright Ralph Allen discusses the history of burlesque theater and it's influence on his new comedy musical, Sugar Babies.

Kirkwood wrote the book for the musical A Chorus Line and has just published a new novel, P.S. Your Cat Is Dead! He talks about his approach to his craft and the impact various love affairs have had on his life.

Vernel Bagneris is a playwright, actor, and dancer. He wrote, directed, and acts in the musical "One Mo' Time," now playing in Philadelphia. The musical is set in 1920s' New Orleans and draws heavily on the jazz from that time and place. It centers around a touring group of vaudevillians performing at the segregated Lyric Theater. Bagneris describes it as a "piece on Black theater history." He joins the show to discuss the musical, the black vaudeville circuit, black face, and the benefits of live performance.

After a successful off-Broadway run, Goldberg's play has been produced as a made-for-TV movie by PBS. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the experience of being on set during filming, as well as the role of the playwright in a stage production.

Noted playwright Edward Albee is the author of "The Zoo Story" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," which was lated adapted into an Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton film. Albee has won many awards including two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1967 for "Delicate Balance," and one in 1975 for "Seascape."

Wilson's latest work, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, is now in production at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. He discusses how writing dialog-heavy short fiction led him to playwriting.

The playwright's works include "The Zoo Story," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," and the Pulitzer Prize winning "Delicate Balance" and "Seascape."

Athol Fugard is a white South African playwright, director, and actor. His work as a playwright is acclaimed for exploring the social and psychological consequences of apartheid. Fugard formed an integrated theater company in the 1960s in defiance of South African norms. Many of his plays have been produced in the United States.

Deborah Eisenberg began writing short fiction in her 30s, without any formal training, while she worked as a waitress. Her first collection, Transactions in a Foreign Currency, has just been published.

Deborah Eisenberg began writing short fiction in her 30s, without any formal training, while she worked as a waitress. Her first collection, Transactions in a Foreign Currency, received critical acclaim.

The writer's award-winning play, The House of Blue Leaves, enjoyed an acclaimed revival and is being produced for television. The story follows the life of an unsuccessful songwriter in Queens.

Playwrights William M. Hoffman and Larry Kramer are gay men whose recent work has grappled with the effect of AIDS on their communities. They share their frustrations with the inaction both amongst government agencies and gay people themselves to meaningfully address the epidemic.

The playwright and performance artist came from the New York fringe scene--which he believes is too afraid to really push cultural boundaries. His play Talk Radio is being made into a film.

Actor and playwright Rebecca Wells is touring the country with her new one-woman show, about the life of a beautician.

Moms Mabley was a regular performer at Harlem's Apollo Theater, where actress Clarice Taylor saw her perform. Taylor, best known for her role in The Cosby Show, wrote and stars in a new play about the comedian's life.

Foote is best known for writing the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird. A new book compiling the first four plays of his Orphan's Home series, called Roots in a Parched Ground, has just been published.

Hwang's celebrated play dealt with Western ideas of women and Asian culture. His newest work is a musical about alien abductions called 1000 Airplanes on the Roof. Philip Glass composed the music.