Stories Found

In this episode of Stories Found, we’re chatting with Austin-based playwright, Max Langert and hearing his ten-minute comedy, Personality Test.

Take a free personality test here!

Episode Transcript Here.

Max Langert

Max Langert is a playwright, producer and storyteller living in Austin. His plays have been performed in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas and elsewhere. He’s told stories for Listen to Your Mother, The Vancouver Story Slam, Testify and Austin Bat Cave, and is a regular performer at FronteraFest. He’s produced benefit shows for The Autism Society of Central Texas, The SAFE Alliance, and VELA Families. He’s excited to be working with the great team at Stories Found!

Read more of Max’s work on NPX, The New Play Exchange. This is Max's second visit to Stories Found! Listen to his first story: The First Time I Got Naked in Front of a Bunch of People I Didn't Know.

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Personality Test was performed for us by:

Ava Love Hanna is a professional writer, published playwright, and award-winning speaker and storyteller. She is continually amazed by how often she is mistaken for a real grown-up.

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Paul Hanna is an audio engineer, musician, and performer in Austin, Texas. He’s the principal engineer and owner of ELA Studios and co-host of the Stories Found podcast.

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Our featured organization for this episode is Cinnamon Path Theatre, a small collective of artists based in Austin, Texas. Scrappy and well-intentioned, they like site-specific work.

They’ve produced a number of new plays by emerging writers, as well as a handful of variety shows featuring a slew of local artists benefiting The Autism Society of Central Texas, Safe Place, Vela Families and more. You can read more about them and what they do at cinnamonpath.com

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In this episode of Stories Found, we hear the hilarious ten-minute play, The Interview by Mark Harvey Levine.

The Interview is about a completely normal job interview — during a zombie apocalypse. Episode transcript here

Mark Harvey Levine has had over 1900 productions of his short plays everywhere from Bangalore to Bucharest and from Lima to London. His plays have won over 45 awards and been produced in more than ten languages. His work has been published in over two dozen anthologies by Applause, Smith & Kraus, Routledge and Vintage. Full evenings of his ten-minute plays, such as “Cabfare For The Common Man”, “Didn’t See That Coming” and “A Very Special Holiday Special” have been shown around the world, including at the Edinburgh Fringe and in a multi-year tour of Brazil. A Spanish-language film of “The Kiss” (“El Beso”) premiered at Cannes and aired on HBO and DTV (Japan). Two of his plays were adapted for Brazilian television.

Read more of Mark’s work on NPX, The New Play Exchange.

The Interview was performed for us by:

Joe Llorens has been a performer for over twenty years. In that time, he’s done things. Some of those things he’s liked, even. Joe will keep trying to do things he likes and not be as judgy about the things he doesn’t like because he really should cut himself a bit of a break. He loves his wife, children, and pets, though. A lot.

Ava Love Hanna is a professional writer, published playwright, and award-winning speaker and storyteller. She is continually amazed by how often she is mistaken for a real grown-up.

Whiskey Theatre Factory is a theatre collective based in Orlando, FL with the mission to produce meaningful theatrical productions that uplift, develop, and celebrate emerging and untapped voices. We challenge our community through provocative, authentic pieces, examining our culture and revealing the grace of humanity. Interested in reading our Credo or connecting with us? Visit WhiskeyTheatreFactory.com to learn more.

Team Jemini Designs is the place for bold, fun, pop culture themed items. T-shirts, gifts and more!

Appreciate what we do?

Support the show by buying us a coffee!

Want to be a featured storyteller in a future episode?

We’re accepting submissions!

In this episode of Stories Found, we’re talking to the phenomenal playwright and creative polymath, Bethany Dickens and then listening to her ten-minute comedy, What’s in the Basement, Honey?

Bethany Dickens Assaf is a freelance playwright, dramaturg, and theatre artist, the Literary Manager for MadLab Theatre in Columbus, and a co-founder of Whiskey Theatre Factory and the Fragmented Theatre Festival. As both a writer and producer, she is obsessed with plays that deconstruct and take unusual perspectives on gender and sexuality, challenging audiences and serving untapped artistic voices by creating meaningful roles for women.

Other favorite ideas/themes include female seperatism, evangelical Christianity, bisexuaity particularly in period settings, gender complementarianism, women in male-dominated spaces (gaming, cosplay), and the exploitation of women’s bodies for media such as reality television and true crime podcasts. Almost 100 of her plays have been performed or read across the country including her twisty sci-fi play, The Consciousness, which has been performed at over 10 fringe festivals across the country and won Best Play at the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival (director: Liz Colvert, stage manager: Meghan Pratt). She’s also had the amazing honor of working with organizations that are truly making an impact through storytelling such as Threshold Theatre, Theatre Works, FUSION Theatre, Road Theatre, EMBer Women’s Theatre, Central Florida Community Arts, Birdhouse Theatre, the Bechdel Group, and more.

You can learn more through Bethany’s website: www.BethanyDickens.com.

What’s in the Basement, Honey? was performed for us by:

Liz Bernstein (she/her/hers) is a training facilitator and career coach in Central Florida. Her first loves, however, are acting, singing, performing, and creative writing. In the Central Florida area, she has performed with the Gemini Blvd collegiate a cappella group, Orlando Cringe, Phoenix Tears Productions, Central Florida Community Arts, and Playwrights Roundtable. She has also worked virtually with the Fragmented Festival and is excited to continue working virtually with Stories Found. Liz is a core collective member of Whiskey Theatre Factory, a group dedicated to producing meaningful theatrical productions that uplift, develop, and celebrate emerging and untapped voices. With Whiskey Theatre Factory, she has helped with new play development and production, including new works in the Orlando Fringe Festival. Most recently, Liz was honored to perform the role of “Amy” in Ava Love Hanna’s piece, There Will Be Bears for PRT’s production of Launch.

Joe Llorens has been a performer for over twenty years. In that time, he’s done things. Some of those things he’s liked, even. Joe will keep trying to do things he likes and not be as judgy about the things he doesn’t like because he really should cut himself a bit of a break. He loves his wife, children, and pets, though. A lot.

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Whiskey Theatre Factory is a theatre collective based in Orlando, FL with the mission to produce meaningful theatrical productions that uplift, develop, and celebrate emerging and untapped voices. We challenge our community through provocative, authentic pieces, examining our culture and revealing the grace of humanity. Interested in reading our Credo or connecting with us? Visit WhiskeyTheatreFactory.com to learn more.

About This Episode

It's a special Valentine's Day themed Stories Found Micro Monday! Today, we've got the one-minute play, CRIME of PASSION by Ava Love Hanna

About the Playwright / Storyteller

Ava Love Hanna is a professional writer, published playwright, and award-winning speaker and storyteller. She is continually amazed by how often she is mistaken for a real grown-up.

When she’s not co-hosting the Stories Found podcast, Ava can be found producing comedies, hanging out reading plays at NPX, or skulking around these other seedy internet joints: Facebook, Instagram, Post, or Mastodon.

Ava is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild and ScriptWorks.

About the Cast

Viv - Ava Love Hanna

Patrol-Bot - Paul Hanna

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Stories Found was recorded at ELA Studios, deep in the heart of Austin, Texas.