Adventures of an InterAct Intern!

Adventures of an InterAct Intern

I figure it’s about time to update you all on what’s happening at InterAct! I haven't updated in a while so we are about to go WAY BACK!

THE HOW AND THE WHY opened a few months ago to banging reviews! I was lucky enough to act as the assistant stage manager, sound board op AND I got to play the VERY IMPORTANT part of bartender for approximately 7 seconds. I was lucky enough to be able to lead one of the talk backs while Seth was away too! Long story short I learned SO much and received so many opportunities while working on the show. THE HOW AND THE WHY was the first professional production I have ever been a part of so I absolutely learned a lot and had a blast being a part of something that was so successful.

Not long after THE HOW AND THE WHY closed InterAct hosted NNPN’s National Showcase of New Plays. NNPN is an organization where non-profit theatres from around the country join together to produce and develop new plays. The NNPN Conference was held in November. The purpose of the showcase was to show the members of NNPN new production ready plays that may fit their theatre's mission. The intern's played a huge part in the readings serving as ASM's, readers, house managers and the general go-to people for any questions. Being a part of this conference was an absolute invaluable experience. We got to meet so many theatre professionals from all over the place, work with directors we may have never gotten the opportunity to work with and all in all have an awesome, and bust, week doing what we all love to do.

READ MORE ABOUT NNPN HERE!!! http://www.nnpn.org/about_staff.php


It has been a busy few months to say the least, AND WE ARE ONLY GETTING STARTED. I could go on and on with all the other things the past few months have consisted of but that would make for a very long very unreadable blog! So maybe a second update is in order in the near future.

MICROCRISIS opens next week!!! Come check us out!

P.S Don't forget to check out Wildlife Wednesday on InterAct's Facebook! Cause who doesn't live pictures of cats and dogs.... and sometimes Dany?

See Ya Later Alligator!

BroadStreetReview: HOW & WHY is "Crackling... Instantly Engrossing... Ingeniously Realized"

Check out these excerpts from Alaina Mabaso's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from Broad Street Review:

In THE HOW AND THE WHY, Sarah Treem rapidly unpacks a world of interpersonal aspersions, thwarted love, feminist struggle and scientific theory. Although her play is dense with themes and ideas, it’s a crackling two hours, thanks to Seth Rozin’s fast-paced direction and two character-driven actresses... Advancing a brand-new, controversial scientific theory is difficult enough, but it’s a grueling life’s work if you happen to be a woman... So theorizes Zelda (the well-grounded Janis Dardaris), an experienced evolutionary biologist, to her young acolyte Rachel (an achingly volatile Victoria Frings)... Treem sets the audience to the instantly engrossing task of discerning the relationship between Zelda and Rachel... provid[ing] especially fertile ground for many a potent meditation on sexism among scientists. By the time the sharpening personal dynamic between Zelda and Rachel expands to include arguments on marriage, pregnancy, parenthood and career, the play brims over while Zelda and Rachel continue to impugn each other’s intentions... Despite the intellectual weight of Treem’s script, Dardaris and Frings — no doubt guided by director Seth Rozin — deliver a thoroughly character-driven performance that makes two scenes of crackling dialogue the fastest two hours I’ve ever spent at the theater. Meghan Jones offers two ingeniously realized sets. Still, I left the Adrienne ruminating not on the characters’ fraught relationship but on the evolutionary theories advanced in Treem’s script. I wanted to corner the playwright (or some unsuspecting biologist) and pepper her with questions about evolutionary theory. That provocation alone made the evening worthwhile.

Read Alaina Mabaso's Entire Review at BroadStreetReview.com


Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

City Paper: HOW & WHY is a "Symphony of Science... Gripping Production... Fascinating Characters"

Check out these excerpts from Mark Cofta's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from Philadelphia City Paper:

Symphony of Science

... In InterAct Theatre Co.'s gripping production, both women are ambitious professionals whose choices are directly and indirectly influenced by men. Therein lies Treem's theme: In their scientific theories and their life paths, both see women as defined by men... Dardaris and Frings deliver all that Treem's script asks of them. Zelda struggles believably to separate passions personal and professional, while... Frings somehow keeps Rachel grounded and, by the end, genuine and sympathetic.

Treem's science-heavy dialogue isn't the quippy nonsense of The Big Bang Theory, but seemingly viable notions about the "why" of menstruation and menopause... Woven through the science and university research's thorny politics in THE HOW AND THE WHY are meaty yet familiar mother-daughter issues. Facts are revealed, tears are shed, and apologies follow condemnations, yet Treem wisely stops short of happily ever after for these two driven, conflicted, fascinating characters.

Read Mark Cofta's Entire Philadelphia City Paper Review

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

Staged Blog: "Dardaris’ Poise and Frings’ Energy... is Fascinating and Enthralling"

Check out these excerpts from Leah Franqui's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from Staged Blog:

The Origin of the Species

... despite all of the many accomplishments of the female of the species, it seems that women are forever in the position of defending their worth, as we see in Sarah Treem’s THE HOW AND THE WHY... And not just to men, but to each other... When these two brilliant, ambitious, flawed female scientists meet for the first time as adults, it’s as much a chess match as it is a reunion...

Dardaris’ excellent Zelda is a wise, wry and utterly mature foil to Rachel’s spastic nature; she is measured where Rachel is erratic, thoughtful where Rachel is impulsive, and yet, somehow, the more daring one of the two... in Zelda, Treme has placed the self-awareness of age, and the confidence that comes with knowing that you can and do live with the choices you have made... Played with consummate grace and skill by Frings, Rachel is smart, calculating, and more than a little manipulative, but also deeply damaged.

But where Treem’s smart but somehow lacking text fails, these two actresses succeed, and then some. The play itself is messy, often unclear, and sometimes flat-out contradictory, but the combination of Dardaris’ poise and Frings’ energy create a momentum that is fascinating and enthralling... It is the strong and engaging work of both of these tremendous and fantastically matched actresses that keep this play in motion... It is Frings' fantastically fractured but defiantly determined performance paired with Dardaris’ knock-out strength and elegance that make this play work...

Read Leah Franqui's Entire Staged Blog Review

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

STAGE Magazine: HOW & WHY is "Convincing & Elegantly Crafted... Powerful... Delightful"

Check out these excerpts from Christopher Munden's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from STAGE Magazine:

InterAct’s THE HOW AND THE WHY is
Well Written and Full of Ideas

... like much else in Sarah Treem’s well-crafted THE HOW AND THE WHY, now receiving its second-ever production by Philadelphia’s InterAct Theatre, oceans of meaning lay just below the surface... with convincing and elegantly crafted dialogue, [Treem] has created a dramatically engaging and surprisingly funny piece that never feels didactic or heavy-handed.

Credit for this goes also to director Seth Rozin (also InterAct’s artistic director), who... draws powerful performances from both actors. Dardaris particularly gives a spot-on and consistent interpretation of a seasoned academic...

The play is not without its faults... But as a vehicle to express provoking ideas it is a resounding success. All of the science in THE HOW AND THE WHY is real, and it’s delightful to see so many interesting thoughts presented so accessibly... in short, THE HOW AND THE WHY is a strongly feminist work that just feels strongly human.

Read Christopher Munden's Entire STAGE Magazine Review

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

UWishUNu Blog: HOW & WHY is "Astounding... Talent Pours Off the Stage"

Check out these excerpts from Allison Stadd's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from UWishUNu Blog:

InterAct Theatre Company opens its 2011/2012 season with an astounding play by HBO screenwriter Sarah Treem... a tale of evolution, of feminism, of adoption, of mother-daughter relationships, generational clashes and modern America... Treem’s screenwriting chops are evident, as you feel as though you’re on a TV set, watching an episode being filmed. The talent pours off the stage, the content is thoroughly thought-provoking and you’re left contemplating everything you heard from the production’s start to finish.

Read Allison Stadd's Entire UWishUNu Blog Review

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

Metro Newspaper Features HOW & WHY's Janis Dardaris

Check out Metro Newspaper's feature on Janis Dardaris, who is featured in InterAct's Philadelphia premiere production of THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Metro Newspaper

Janis Dardaris:
The Evolution of a New Role

by Shaun Brady

If her approach to reading scripts is any indication, Janis Dardaris is the type who starts a mystery novel by skipping to the last page. ... when she picked up the script for Sarah Treem’s 'The How and the Why,' Dardaris says, 'The last line of the play got me. It ended on a very human level.' ... Dardaris stars in InterAct Theatre Company’s Philly premiere of the play as a leading evolutionary biologist who faces off with an up-and-comer in the field ... both have to struggle against the male domination of academic science. ... 'There’s this whole patriarchal idea that women came from the rib of Adam,' Dardaris says. 'Women are often thought of as secondary creatures, even in this post-feminist time. I think that this could make people rethink that. It would be great if people leave and they start talking.'

Read Shaun Brady's Entire Metro Newspaper Feature

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

StageReviews Blog: HOW & WHY is "Significant ... Electrifying"

Check out these excerpts from Judy Cohen's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from StageReviews Blog:

... You better not blink, for every bit of dialogue is significant. The repartee between the older, more experienced scientist and the younger, but equally serious one is electrifying. ... Part of the brilliance of this piece is the sprinkling of humor amidst the intense scientific discussions. Victoria Frings ... is focused throughout and gives a very convincing performance. Janis Dardaris, portraying Zelda, is even more than a counterpart and mentor as she skillfully guides Rachel ... Kudos must also be given to Scenic Designer Meghan Jones who did an outstanding job ... Come to learn about the how; come to learn about the why; come to be engrossed in the enticing world of scientific discovery...

Read Judy Cohen's Entire StageReviews Blog Review

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

Read Howard Shapiro's Philadelphia Inquirer Review

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

Philly Inquirer: HOW & WHY is "Robust and Real," "Smart," "Taut and Revealing"

Check out these excerpts from Howard Shapiro's review of THE HOW AND THE WHY from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In The How and the Why, two women meet, discover they are both (of all things) evolutionary biologists -- at the opposite ends of their careers -- and enter into a dialogue that reveals as much about their present identities as it does about their pasts. ... robust and real in performances by Janis Dardaris and Victoria Frings ... The play, a two-scene piece with an intermission, was originally staged earlier this year at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre and is written by Sarah Treem, the writer and producer of HBO’s In Treatment. ...

It’s a smart look — the dialogue is especially taut and revealing ... Together, Dardaris and Frings bring out the strongest points of The How and the Why ... In Dardaris’ face and body language, you discern the power of wisdom that can come only through experience. In Frings’ impulsiveness and quick-changing emotion, you sense the impetuousness of someone on the verge of something big, without a clue as to what that may mean for her life. ...

The play holds much more than a simple young/old juxtaposition to provide its edge, and I won’t spoil it by saying any more. The staging is by InterAct’s producing artistic director, Seth Rozin, who draws from his two performers notably unswerving character interpretations. And the production sports two very different, meticulously designed sets by Meghan Jones...

Read Howard Shapiro's Entire Philadelphia Inquirer Review

Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Purchase Tickets

Watch the Video Trailer

An Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

Video Trailer for THE HOW AND THE WHY

Watch the video trailer for InterAct's Philadelphia premiere production of THE HOW AND THE WHY by Sarah Treem:




Links to more information about THE HOW AND THE WHY:

Find Out More About InterAct's Production

Read an Interview with Playwright Sarah Treem

Purchase Tickets