This week on The Scene Podcast, we’re joined by writer, actor, and director Ngozi Anyanwu, whose work bridges generations, continents, and artistic disciplines. From her breakout play The Homecoming Queen to the deeply personal Good Grief and her acclaimed performance in The Last of the Love Letters, Ngozi brings a fierce emotional honesty to every story she tells. In this episode, she shares her journey from performer to playwright, how she captures the specificity of memory and migration, and why she’s driven to tell Black stories that aren’t centered in trauma but in complexity, joy, and love.

This week on The Scene Podcast, we’re joined by playwright Jonathan Spector, whose work blends sharp political insight with dark humor and daring theatricality. From Eureka Day to This Much I Know, Jonathan has built a reputation for tackling polarizing subjects with nuance, empathy, and a touch of absurdity. In this conversation, recorded prior to his 2025 Tony Award win, we talk about writing satire in polarized times, the Bay Area as a creative influence, and how he builds plays that ask big questions without prescribing easy answers.

This week on The Scene Podcast, we’re joined by Madeline Sayet, playwright, director, performer, and a powerful voice in contemporary Indigenous theatre. From her solo piece Where We Belong to her advocacy for language revitalization and decolonized storytelling, Madeline invites us into a conversation about lineage, responsibility, and crafting theatre that speaks across generations. We explore how her Mohegan identity shapes her work, why Shakespeare still matters, and how storytelling can be a form of reclamation, resistance, and radical hope.

This week on The Scene Podcast, we sit down with acclaimed playwright Anna Ziegler, whose work explores identity, memory, and the intimate collisions between the personal and political. From Photograph 51 to Actually and The Wanderers, Anna shares how her background in poetry shaped her voice, how she approaches ambiguity on stage, and why she’s drawn to characters who exist in tension with themselves. It’s a thoughtful, layered conversation that celebrates quiet power in theatrical storytelling.

This week on The Scene Podcast, we’re joined by the dynamic writing duo Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy, partners in both life and theatre. Known for their sharp wit and genre-blending scripts, the pair shares how their collaborative process evolved from comedy sketches to critically acclaimed plays. We talk about teaching theatre, navigating adaptations, and what it’s really like to co-write with your spouse. Plus, we debut a brand-new segment inspired by Letterboxd’s “Four Favorite Films”, but this time, it’s all about the plays that shaped us.

In this special episode of The Scene Podcast, we’re joined by theatre commentators and content creators Liz Gutridge, Ashley Hufford, and Maggie Hill for a lively roundtable breaking down the 2025 Tony Award nominations. From thrilling surprises to frustrating omissions, we dig into the major trends, record-setting shows, and rising stars shaping this year’s Broadway honors. Plus, we highlight past Scene guests who are now Tony nominees, celebrating their achievements and discussing their standout contributions to the season.

Season 3 premieres with boundary-pushing storyteller Kate Douglas—playwright, librettist, composer, and creator of The Apiary. Kate’s work spans music, immersive theatre, and environmental advocacy, making space for stories that are deeply human and defiantly unconventional. In this episode, she opens up about her early artistic journey, the personal and ecological inspirations behind The Apiary, and her recent research trip to Poland exploring physical therapy through movement. Plus, we dig into her analog immersive project Wilderness Neo, and her alt-folk-infused music that bridges chamber opera and indie soul.

The Scene Podcast is back for Season 3, and we’re raising the curtain on a brand-new lineup of bold voices, breakout talent, and behind-the-scenes brilliance. From Tony-winning writers to rising playwrights shaking up the stage, this season is packed with unfiltered conversations, career insights, and the craft behind the curtain. Whether we’re live from the International Thespian Festival or diving into the future of Broadway, this season isn’t just about what’s onstage—it’s about who’s creating the scene.

The second part of our 2024 Texas Thespians coverage! New episodes of The Scene podcast are coming soon.

It’s the first part of The Scene Texas Thespians episode. Join us for interviews with the Scene team and special guests from the conference floor. Plus, we’ll offer some plays that would be perfect for the UIL One-Act play competition!

An Exclusive Interview with Lauren Gunderson

An exclusive interview with Michael Cotey (ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence)

An exclusive interview with Candrice Jones

An exclusive interview with Kate Hamill

An exclusive interview with Jaclyn Backhaus

An exclusive interview with Alvaro Saar Rios.

An exclusive interview with Sandy Rustin

An exclusive interview with Brooke Maxwell & Jacob Richmond (Ride the Cyclone Team)

An exclusive interview with Douglas Lyons (Chicken & Biscuits, Fraggle Rock)

An exclusive interview with Jeanna de Waal (Diana: The Musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)