 See what's new on the Burlington Waterfront. Hi, welcome to On the Waterfront. My name is Mariah Riggs and I'm your host today and I'm the director of the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center. Today I am extremely excited to be having my friend and one of my favorite people on earth here on the show, Christina Alasea, who is the producing artistic director of Vermont Stage. Yay! Thanks Mariah, thanks for having me. Thank you. So I guess let's start at the beginning. For all of our viewers who are not familiar, what is Vermont Stage? So Vermont Stage has been around since 1994. This is our 28th season and we do contemporary theater in Vermont. So we call ourselves Burlington's home for contemporary theater. And so we've been doing that for some time now. Wait, how many seasons? 20, I think it's our 28th season. I don't know, the flip, you know, with COVID it's sort of like a nebulous number. But yeah, it's like 27, 28. That's amazing. That's a long time. That's great. So it's an institution. It's totally an institution. That's some diehards that have been with us for forever. That's wonderful. Who remember things before I arrived, which is really, really great. Which kind of leads me into my next question. So it's been about 28 years, which means we also have to talk about your 30th anniversary, which is coming up. Super exciting. You ever thought about that? But how did you end up becoming involved with Vermont Stage? Cause you're not from Burlington. I'm not from Burlington. I grew up actually in the DC area and went to college in that area for theater, moved to New York and was pursuing that freelance directing for a number of years and producing. And then this job opened up actually and I applied. They did a national search and I was like one of over a hundred candidates and thankfully they picked me. So that was 12 years ago. Now did you have a lot of experience in Vermont? I had zero experience in Vermont. I've always wondered. I literally knew nothing about Vermont. I have like a very vague memory of when I was like right out of college going with a friend of mine who was who had friends in Burlington and said let's go for a weekend adventure with my friends and we came into town and we went like snowboarding and we had a great time and so I had this very vague but fond memory of like Vermont. I think Vermont's cool and then I applied for the job and then so the first time I was really here like was when I was for my final interview and it was January and the snow pile was like humongous high. And you still wanted the job? Yeah. Wow. I was crazy. You were meant to be in Vermont. Yeah, that was totally crazy. It was like super high and actually I have a funny memory of like the board chair at the time was like giving me a little driving tour of downtown Burlington and we pulled in right in front of like where Main Street Landing is at the waterfront and it was really snowy so the entire lake was frozen over covered with snow. This was like 2011 and I was like wow, that's a big field. What is that? And he was like that's the lake. I had no idea. I had no idea that was the lake and I was like it's a lake town. Yes, it is a lake town. That's like how little I knew about Vermont. It does kind of resemble Siberia. Yeah, yeah. At the time I was like this is a big field. Totally ridiculous. That would have been impressive actually. Yes, yes. Impressive field. Yes, exactly. So that's what I thought that was. Oh my gosh. I've learned a lot since I've moved here. And it's really nice in July. Yes. It's a very different place in July. Yeah. That's a great story. I had to nerd that one. That's funny. So to kind of get back to Vermont stage, because, all right, so you got up here. And so I kind of want to help our audience understand because there's a lot of different theater companies and you're talking about contemporary theater. They might not be as familiar with what that means because it is sort of a lexicon of the industry. Right, yeah, I didn't think about that, right. Yeah, contemporary theater, for me, I mean, for some people it's different, but I really see it as doing work that is representative of now. And more often than not, it's by writers that are still alive and they're writing plays about our culture and our life now. And so Vermont stage in terms of what we do as an art form is I always say that this isn't just entertainment. We're not, yes, at the baseline thing we have to do, right, if someone comes to a show of ours and they have to at least be entertained. But we're also trying to start meaningful conversations with our community about relevant social issues, the things that are impacting our daily lives. And we do that through these beautiful stories, fun entertaining stories and that are teeing up these conversations that we should all be having amongst ourselves as conscious beings that have to interact with each other every day, right? And so I find that it's the best way to do that is through this contemporary theater lens where the writers are just writing about what's happening now. And when they're doing that, it really feels like it's representative of where we are as a nation. And that's something I've always been drawn to in regards to Vermont stage, is that for me, especially contemporary art is an art in general is a reflection of the society that created it, right? Exactly, exactly. And so what I find so poignant about the work that Vermont stage and what's specific to it as a group, is that they are talking about relevant subjects that are reflexive of our society at this point. Right. And that's really special I think in the state of Vermont. You know, Vermont has a lot of historical stuff. We tend to like our comfort stuff, but actually having stuff that's out in the forefront of things that are coming out of New York that are at the forefront of art and being in a place where we can actually have access to art that is current is a very special thing for a town our size. Yeah, absolutely. And that's something that I'm always thinking about as artistic director is, you know, we're starting these meaningful conversations, but I really see it as our duty as an arts leader in the state to ensure that we're doing the cutting edge work that's happening nationally. You know, the most exciting voices emerging in the American theater field or really like in Europe as well. And producing their plays here, right, in Vermont. So then you come see our shows at Vermont stage and then you could go to a major city like Washington DC or Chicago or New York and you're gonna see similar titles or buy similar authors that we're doing. And so we're making sure that in terms of people's like artistic, cultural experience here that we're providing as much as any major port city would. Which is amazing. Right. Because we're a very small college town. Right. You know, we are. We're a small college town, but we do have a lot of cultural contextuality. Like there's a lot of, there's a lot happening in our small town. Yeah, absolutely. And I always feel that the Vermont stage is a big part of that. That gives us access to cosmopolitan ideas and things that are forward thinking as opposed to being backwards thinking. Right. And you know, and I just wanna say like prefaces by saying it doesn't mean we're not doing historical pieces too. You know, they're written by a living writer and you know, they're sort of written through a contemporary lens, which I think is the distinction, right? From doing a period piece and then like that was a true classic that was written, you know, in the 1930s versus like a play we just did called The Pittman Painters and that was recently written in the last 10 years, 15 years, and that's about the 1930s, right? So the way that they're dealing with the subject matter is, you know, much more contemporary treatment of looking at the information that's happening, the story that's being told, as opposed to someone coming from the world of 1930s writing a play about that time. It's about the perspective. Right, absolutely. And actually from an audience standpoint, it's a lot easier sometimes to broach historical context pieces through a contemporary lens. Right, right. It's much more approachable. Right, and it's more relevant to what we're talking about now, you know, the way we're, you know, just the way that men and women interact, you know, on stage. Granted, there are some aspects of it that needs to be true to the period, right? The interaction there. But I think there's a little more care that the writers are taking now when they're framing these relationships between men and women than maybe they did, you know, sort of unconsciously back then. Yeah, no, representation tends to be you know, it's definitely a little bit more consistent with contemporary norms. Absolutely. And especially as a female. Right, I mean that's a big part of it, too. Historically, women tend to be support characters. Right, or barely there. Or barely there, I mean right there. They're the wife, the daughter, the mother, and they're sort of a support caregiver that falls into a certain trope and there's not a lot there. Yeah, I mean that's yet another reason why I absolutely just adore contemporary theater because it isn't writers of just sort of what we've historically had in terms of representation is sort of the white male writers. There is space now for writers from all walks of life that are able to participate in this art form and people write what they know, right? And so when we're including people of color or women, they're writing through their perspective and that makes the writing inherently more interesting when we can do a whole menu of different things, both white male writers plus writers of color and women. And we're able to just do a much more interesting and dynamic season of plays now than what we would have done if we were just doing classics. And it also shows a different perspective. And I think your contemporary audience is looking for those perspectives. Because they're more engaging, they're more interesting. I mean, we've heard sort of the narrative consistently of like sort of the white male trope for years and years and years. And getting beyond that and looking at other perspectives is some of the stuff that digs in and it gets interesting. Yeah, it just makes it more fun, right? It's just more fun. Fun is good. Including more people, more voices, you know, you're throwing a party, you don't invite like 10 of the same person. It's like all your friends and they're all different, right? And it's gonna be more challenging too. And for me, I think, I mean, this is my perspective, but I think that it's very important to engage in art that's challenging. It makes you think about the world. And so contemporary art and specifically contemporary theater makes you as an audience member more participatory in it. Because it's something that means something to you that is current. Yeah, absolutely. And it challenges your perspectives and it kind of can reposition the frame of how you think about the world because it comes from your time and place, which makes it unique and valid. Totally. And another thing that we do at Vermont Stage that I think is sort of unique to, you know, what we're bringing to this community is we're also supporting our artists through our work too. So, you know, every artist that works with our company is paid. And, you know, we provide compensation for their artwork, which, you know, a lot of theater companies, organizations in the area, you know, can't necessarily say that. You know, we're making sure that we're showing value, not just from thanking them for their volunteerism, but we're also providing them a stipend to say, you know, we also know that you have bills to pay. And so here is some compensation for that. Yeah, and I think that's an important point too that I don't think a lot of people realize is the fact that Vermont Stage has a model that's much more of a professional, it's a professionally run theater group. We have a lot of volunteer theater groups that are absolutely exemplary across the state, but one of the things that does make Vermont Stage unique is the fact that they use equity acroctor sometimes and they have a pay scale for all of their acting and crew. Correct, yeah. And, you know, it's something that we believe in supporting the art for our community, but the community also consists of the artists too. And so if we're really interested in truly bringing art to our community, we also need to kind of put our money where our mouth is. And also show, you know, show some love to our artists too, who are working really hard and what we do wouldn't exist without their creativity and hard work, so. But it's nice to know that you give, I mean, there's something about, there's not a lot of options in Vermont for people to professionally act and to make money doing so. And Vermont Stage is one of those outlets for people to actually make a living doing what they wanna do and act or in crew. Yeah, well, and, you know, I don't know, we don't do quite enough shows per year to provide full time jobs for people, but certainly at least we're showing, you know, when they're in a Vermont Stage show, we're showing that, you know, that we wanna make sure that we're also showing that we care as well. Which is a big deal. It's tough in Vermont. I mean, I hear about that a lot. And so everybody appreciates it. Thank you. Thank you. So I'm kind of, we kind of discussed, I think, a lot of what sets Vermont Stage apart in the state, but I would like people to understand what, you know, like we talk about a season before we kind of get into that. A traditional theatrical season at Vermont Stage. What does that look like? So we typically do four, what we call main stage productions at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center and as well as two special events. And we do, like one of the special events is called Winter Tales. We've been doing that for, oh gosh, I think this year was the 18th season that we've done, 18th year we've done Winter Tales. It's a one week holiday show that we do, evening of stories and songs. And then in the spring we do a show called The Bake Off, which is like an experimental theater fundraiser that we do in June. And so our four main stage shows are these pieces of contemporary theater that we were talking about. So it's six shows. We end up doing around 90 performances. Approximately 10,000 people come to our shows annually. Which is significant for a state with 600,000 people. Right. That's a pretty good number actually. It's pretty good, pretty good. And so now that we understand, you know, in the season to, just so people know, it starts in the fall and it goes through the spring. That's a theatrical season in case anybody was wondering. So we've launched the season this year. What are we looking for this winter? Which shows are we? So we're doing a play called Airness by a woman named Chelsea Markentale. And it is like this big, joyous comedy about an air guitar competition. And when I first read the play, I was sort of like, what is this strange world that this woman has created? And then I realized, I dug in deeper and realized like, this is actually something that's real that happens in our country. Like it's an ESPN sponsored sporting event where people have competitions that are voted on by the audience as like best air guitar routine. And so this is like a play that pays homage to this very strange underground nerdy- Especially American thing to do. Well actually, you know, it actually started, I believe, in Norway or something. Oh okay, because Norway is a huge metal scene. Right, yes. So that's not surprising. Right. And throughout the whole play, there's music from the 1970s, 1980s, big hair bands, like, yeah. And that's what they're doing their air guitar routines too. Like it's, I'm calling it a play with music. It's not musical, there's no singing or anything. It's basically like just this feel good like rock show with a story. Also the performers must love this. Oh yeah. Yeah, I mean, they're like, they're very earnestly dancing and doing air guitar throughout a huge portion of the show. That is so much fun. Yeah, and we're setting up the theater, you know, the black boxes, configurable and whatever we can imagine. And we're setting up cabaret style with cabaret tables and we're building a stage. And so it's gonna be like, you know, as much of a rock event as we can. And we're like doing sort of moving lights and we're really going all out. Oh, it's gonna be fun. But no glitter, don't worry. Thank you. No glitter. Yeah, that's right up there with the rice from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Yeah, but maybe confetti, we'll see, bubbles. All right, bubbles are awesome, love bubbles. Yeah, so it's just gonna be this big spectacle. Like, you know, I've just been saying, it's like this just, you know, just amazing, joyous event. You know, and it's really just like celebrating, finding your passion and just, you know, going with it, whatever it may be, right? And then in the circumstances. Are there different, are there different like styles of air guitar? Oh, totally. So it's like a whole nuance. And there's a little representation of the styles in the story. You know, there's like the newbie and that's the character you follow in it where, you know, she's first learning about air guitar. Didn't really know it was a thing. And then by the end, she's like really into it. And then there's, you know, the various other characters. Some are, you know, you can embody different things when you're doing air guitar. You can really do it earnestly and like treat it like it's like, you know, something like really difficult. And then there are some people who it's all about style, you know, big wigs and ridiculous costumes and, you know, creating like a character, right? You know, some that are much more like, you know, bringing the audience in and getting them super excited about it in terms of that kind of performance. And some are doing like something that intimate and personal. It's really like, and on YouTube, you've got to, you just go down that YouTube rabbit hole. It's real. Like, there's just like. Did you do some research? Oh, yes. We're like have so much fun going down the rabbit hole to see like, who's won the national air guitar competition sponsored by ESPN? Like, yes. And yes, there's all this footage of these like crazy things. If you get a chance, make sure you go down the YouTube rabbit hole and check out ESPN's air guitar competition. Really? I will be sending that to my friends. Or they can go to our website and we have like a link to, you know, because it's one of these things where, you know, you have to see it to believe it, that this is a real thing that people are doing. Well, it sounds like it's intense. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely, it's definitely an event. Well, that sounds like a really fun play. But it's super fun. And it's a comedy, obviously. And it's just like, yeah, it's just, it's just like a big ball of joy on stage. Which is fabulous in the middle of winter to go see. So by the way, this show is, I believe the, now when is the first performance? It runs for three weeks from March 8th through the 26th. Okay, so this is perfect timing. When you're in the doll drums of the end of winter. Right. Looking at your calendar, what you're gonna do, just feeling kind of myopic about the entire world. Right? And like spring really hasn't come yet. And going, doing sugar on snow is like the highlight of your week. Okay? This is the time of year where like late, like March is when I'm like, why am I ever, every other time of the year, I'm like, I love it here. And then start in March, I'm like, what's happening to my life, you know? But that's when we need an air guitar. Right, and that's when we need. Stage play. Yes, exactly. Yes, so you're wondering how you get out of the doll drums. Make sure you go see the air guitar stage play. Now, what is it called? It's called Airness. Oh, Airness. It's called Airness. And it's a whole thing in the script where they talk about like, you know, the best air guitar performances achieve quote, unquote, airness. Yes. So lighter than, yes, right? It like rises above. There's so much metaphor you can go with. Oh, absolutely. Oh, and I'm sure they have fun with that. Cause it really, that's great. The holy airness, I mean, there's a lot. Yeah. There's a lot you can take from that. That's the life. Totally. Okay, so that's important. So again, mark your calendars. It sounds like the second week of March right after town meeting day. It kicks off for the entire month of March. Make sure you go check it out because it's gonna completely drag you out of the March doll drums. Very, very important. So true. So after we get out of March, I know you guys always do a second show. Yeah, so we're doing a play called Venus and Fur by David Ives. Oh, wow. And this is actually a remount of a hip production of it. We did back in 2014. So like seven or eight years ago, we did that. Did the show. It went really amazingly. And I wanted to revisit it because the world has changed a lot since we did it the last time. So this one is, I don't wanna give too much away about this place. What can I say about it? I feel like what I can say it is a comedic thriller. Ooh. So it's very funny, but also it's a bit of a thriller and really the- You feel like murders in the building stuff? Well, not, I mean maybe, I don't know. It's hard to describe. It's a comedic thriller and it, but the heart of it and the themes that it's exploring is really like sort of abusive power in the workplace. And as we know, you know, back in 2014 when we produced this play, sort of this was my, through bringing this to light, was just like, let's talk more about like the imbalance of power when, you know. Was that pre-Me Too? And that was pre-Me Too. That's what that's- And then Me Too came about like maybe two years later. And so, you know, when I was thinking about revisiting this play, I just liked the idea of going, how will audiences now, seven years later, perceive this play, take this play and talk about this play. And it's themes, when we've been through this huge evolution, you know, of thought around workplace relationships. And so, I'm just fascinated to see like the conversations that are gonna be had around that. Yeah, how the dynamic, because the paradigm and the dynamic have shift. It has, absolutely, it has. Like the way we talk about it, the way we're, you know, the care with which I think people are, you know, interacting with each other in the workplace. Certainly, it's something that both men and women are thinking about much more than they did prior to it. Well, there's a sensitivity. Right, absolutely. I feel like there's a sensitivity and an acknowledgement. Right. You know, in a point of self-care. And for your fellow work people. I mean, it's a real, it's a real thing. It'll be interesting to see how that works. Yeah, I'm really excited. And when we did it before, that was when we were sort of doing shows at Flynn Space. And so, I'm really excited to see what it will look like, sound like, feel like at the block box at Main Street Landing, because it's just, you know, a completely different space. And so, I'm just, I'm really... Space and time. Absolutely. And change everything. Right, I mean, really. I'm just like, you know, rereading it and, you know, talking to the cast about it. And it's been something where like, wow, this is gonna feel really different, even though it's the same, but it's not the same. But it's also still a very relevant and important conversation. Right. Because I also feel, and maybe this is just me as a woman, but I feel like me too as an important kickoff towards a conversation that needed, you know, that needs to grow and move. It's just a part of a movement. Right. Right? It's like a wave. It created the wave and the ripple, but, you know, things are changing and it's gonna take, you know, a generation or two to actually... Yeah. Get where it needs to get anyways. Yeah. So. And absolutely like to have it be kind of second nature, the way we're interacting. It's like a healthier fashion than we have in the past, but... When was the play actually run? It was written, I think, in 20, I wanna say we did it in 2014, 2012 or 2011. So it was like post the office, kind of like in that period. Right. Because it's funny, I watch the office now and it seems so dated. Oh really? Well, just the way they look and the way they dress and like the cooler talk and like it's funny. Huh. I just think they've changed. Yeah, well I have a small child who just recently became very obsessed with the office so like, sorry. Anyways, on that aside note, so Venus and first. Yeah. That's very exciting. Yeah, so that's happening April, May. Oh gosh, I don't have the dates off the top of my head, but it's on our website. It's always at the end of April, beginning of May, just when you're kind of coming out of it, the grass is turning green, right? Right. And you know, you just wanna get in there and like watch something really entertaining. It really is. And it's shocking and surprising and you know, that's why I've sort of called it a thriller because it's just, you know, you think it's one thing and then it's something completely different. So it changes the paradigm through it. Oh yeah, throughout, like several times. Which is the best time. This is one of these shows where the folks that have seen this play know what I'm talking about. Like they know what I'm talking about and I can't say more. Okay. But I have to say that the play that I have, that my audience members have come up to me after shows to talk about since, this is the most talked about. Still, still to this day, like last summer, we were producing a show and I had an audience member come up to me and say, you know what I wish we would do as venison fur again. Wow. And little did that person know I was already kind of planning on doing that, but. That's the best kind of art. The best kind of art is the kind of art you can't stop thinking about every day. No matter how it affects you. Right, seven years later. The stuff that comes back, keeps coming back like an earworm. Seven years later, they come up to me and say, you know what, I remember so well venison fur. Can't wait. Yeah, it's exciting. So I wanted to bring up some other stuff really quickly. I, you know, we've talked a lot about like the season, but for some of our audience members who aren't entirely aware, I know that there are other things that Vermont stage does that our audience might not be aware of. What other things in the community does Vermont stage participate in? So we do have an education program called Vermont Young Playwrights. And we've been doing that since our inception. So for 20 years, we've been doing Vermont Young Playwrights. And I think even through the pandemic, we continued the program online, you know, virtually. And we work with local middle and high schools and we teach young people how to write 10 minute plays. And we're basically introducing them to the art of playwriting. And it's for us, it's yet another means of self-expression, you know, there's lots of forms of writing that students are introduced to, but playwriting is like this sort of niche thing that maybe they don't discover until they're older, you know, maybe in college or something. And so we like to try to introduce that earlier because it is in many ways very accessible for a young writer because they're really writing dialogue. You know, they're writing conversations. And it's fascinating to see what they, like the stories that they're writing. And it's interesting to think about how people talk. That's something we don't do, and maybe at that age, to thinking about how conversations happen, what people say, and then having to write it makes you think about how you talk and what you say. Right. Which is so important. Or having to write, like if they're writing an adult voice, like a parent or something, how do they write the parent's voice? How do they write, you know, and it- And how do my parents sound when they talk? And how is it different than how I talk? Because it's also how you show yourself to the world, which I think sometimes young people aren't really aware of. Right, and then also the parts of playwriting that are like inherently interesting, like how do I tell this story with just dialogue? You know, not all the descriptions of the location and the place and all the stuff that happens when you're writing a novel, you can go into like, you know, really flowery language around like, you know, this is set in this and that's that. You know, with playwriting it's really spare and every word is important, yeah. And it also leads to other things, that conversation is natural, it's not narrative. Right, and I just love it because if the things that, you know, these middle and high school students are writing, sometimes they're like extremely profound too. They have some insights that I think we're not really, we don't maybe realize how insightful they can be at 11. I mean truly, it's amazing. I'm gonna quickly make sure that all of you know how to Vermont Stage as an important cornerstone of the fabric of our cultural community here in Vermont. I wanna make sure that all of you have an opportunity to understand how to get involved with Vermont Stage. There are volunteer opportunities at Vermont Stage. You can find out all about them at www.vermontstage.org. They're always looking for ushers and people to volunteer and help. It's an incredible program. Make sure you look at it on the website and check it out. You will also find information there on ticketing and upcoming performances. Christina, it's been great to have you on the show. It's been a lot of fun to talk to you. So good, thank you so much for inviting me. It's been a joy, it's been a treat. Thank you all for being here with us today. Have a wonderful time and I'll see you right back here next month. Take care.