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It's “That Guy… Who Was in That Thing” meets "WTF" but with people even less well known! Sure it's fun to interview the crazy famous and ask them about the difficult years, but that's been done. Memories are plastic - we're getting the real dirt from people still crawling through it. Laura Scruggs is the playwright and Jake Scruggs is the technical guy who listens to a lot of “This American Life” and thinks that qualifies him to interview people.

May 23, 2016

01:43 - When did Dana start writing/know when she was a writer?

05:02 - The Space Theater in New Mexico

07:26 - A benefit of getting her MFA in Playwriting

14:49 - Dana is a writer who "tells stories about the disillusionment of the American Dream through the context of the lower economic classes of our society," as described on her website.

16:15 - Dana's play, "Frequency 98.6"

20:05 - Dana is also a playwriting teacher; what are some of Dana's favorite parts of her curriculum?

23:54 - How has being a preschool teacher affected Dana as a playwright?

27:45 - "American Beauty Shop" and how Dana sees plays as a puzzle that the audience puts together

36:41 - Instant Theatre at Chicago Dramatists

47:58 - Promotions: American Beauty Shop is being performed at Chicago Dramatists now, get your tickets here. The script of "American Beauty Shop" has been published, buy it on Amazon. Something Marvelous & Chicago Dramatists are producing "Johnny Ten Beers" in 2017. Take a class with Dana at Chicago Dramatists.

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers


Laura Hellwig
almost eight years ago

Thanks for freely sharing a lot of insights, life experiences, teaching-learning-world view-&-process-playwriting-&-play doing to expression of previously untold story/experiences and even more in this interview. In this morning's wee hours, it has inspired a grandma to find out more about what's going on at Chicago Dramatists sooner and where some of Dana's work will be playing next. I found this thru further exploring 16th Street Theater news and info....It would be easier for me to get to to see some of Dana's work performed there, if it's not as sold out as the last play was, even tho sell outs are great for continuing and expanding theater events. Time for a couple hours of rest tho, before grandchild care, and a new sunrise, and another listening to this interview. ☺