Artwork

Content provided by Paul Kalburgi. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Paul Kalburgi or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

Telling Epic Stories with Marjorie Chan

53:23
 
Share
 

Manage episode 307990924 series 2996196
Content provided by Paul Kalburgi. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Paul Kalburgi or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

In this episode, I meet Toronto-based playwright and librettist Marjorie Chan. Best known for her epic dramas focusing on Chinese history, including; China Doll, A Nanking Winter, and The Madness of the Square, Marjorie is also the Artistic Director of Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille - Canada’s original alternative theatre. We talk about her practice and process and how she balances artistic leadership with a prolific writing career.

Words of Wisdom

Marjorie Chan on making time to write... "I think it comes to the urgency of the stories I want to tell. When I feel that urgency, whether that’s because a story is timely to me, or it has an emotional urgency... I figure out a way to move it forward and tell it. I always advise when I talk to writers… if you’ve carved yourself out forty minutes, then make sure for those forty minutes you’re at the very least thinking about your work. You might be researching and not actively putting words on a page, but that’s the time you’ve given yourself, so you better take it".

Conversation Highlights & Links

  • [03:03] Welcoming back audiences and online offerings
  • [05:40] Juggling a writing life and artistic leadership
  • [09:55] Finding the right space to write
  • [13:12] Epic stories and how to tackle them
  • [17:35] Finding the form of A Nanking Winter
  • [20:15] Reimaging Cao Yu's Sunrise
  • [24:50] China Doll - from China to Canada... and back again
  • [34:17] Making opera accessible with M'dea Undone
  • [37:27] What on earth is a 'cell phone play'?
  • [40:41] Audience Accessibility at Toronto's 'theatre beyond walls'

Connect with Marjorie

Connect with Paul

Next time...

I talk to Gary Goldstein, a successful screenwriter and playwright, celebrating the publication of his debut novel. Gary Goldstein. Be sure to follow or subscribe and we'll let you know when the next episode is published.

Support the show!

This podcast is fuelled by coffee. If you'd like to support the show, please send some writing juice via the link below.

Want to advertise or sponsor the show?

Click here to get in touch


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-writers-toolkit/donations
  continue reading

21 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 307990924 series 2996196
Content provided by Paul Kalburgi. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Paul Kalburgi or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

In this episode, I meet Toronto-based playwright and librettist Marjorie Chan. Best known for her epic dramas focusing on Chinese history, including; China Doll, A Nanking Winter, and The Madness of the Square, Marjorie is also the Artistic Director of Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille - Canada’s original alternative theatre. We talk about her practice and process and how she balances artistic leadership with a prolific writing career.

Words of Wisdom

Marjorie Chan on making time to write... "I think it comes to the urgency of the stories I want to tell. When I feel that urgency, whether that’s because a story is timely to me, or it has an emotional urgency... I figure out a way to move it forward and tell it. I always advise when I talk to writers… if you’ve carved yourself out forty minutes, then make sure for those forty minutes you’re at the very least thinking about your work. You might be researching and not actively putting words on a page, but that’s the time you’ve given yourself, so you better take it".

Conversation Highlights & Links

  • [03:03] Welcoming back audiences and online offerings
  • [05:40] Juggling a writing life and artistic leadership
  • [09:55] Finding the right space to write
  • [13:12] Epic stories and how to tackle them
  • [17:35] Finding the form of A Nanking Winter
  • [20:15] Reimaging Cao Yu's Sunrise
  • [24:50] China Doll - from China to Canada... and back again
  • [34:17] Making opera accessible with M'dea Undone
  • [37:27] What on earth is a 'cell phone play'?
  • [40:41] Audience Accessibility at Toronto's 'theatre beyond walls'

Connect with Marjorie

Connect with Paul

Next time...

I talk to Gary Goldstein, a successful screenwriter and playwright, celebrating the publication of his debut novel. Gary Goldstein. Be sure to follow or subscribe and we'll let you know when the next episode is published.

Support the show!

This podcast is fuelled by coffee. If you'd like to support the show, please send some writing juice via the link below.

Want to advertise or sponsor the show?

Click here to get in touch


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-writers-toolkit/donations
  continue reading

21 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Quick Reference Guide