Brenna Thummler's Original Play, Stall, at Meadville Community Theatre

This week on Spotlight 814, Ryan talked with Brenna Thummler about her brand new original play, Stall, going into it's closing weekend at Meadville Community Theatre.

Brenna is already known for her work as the author and illustrator of the Sheets trilogy and Gumshoegraphic novels, but Stall shows another side of her storytelling. It is funny, painful, strange, deeply human, and set entirely in a college dorm bathroom, which is somehow the perfect place for a play about identity, pressure, art school, toxic relationships, and the inner voice that knows exactly how to mess with you.

We talked about how the first draft came together in ten days, the notes she received from Oskar Eustis of The Public Theater, what it means to see your work come alive for the first time, and why original theatre in small towns matters.

This is one of those episodes that reminds me how much talent is sitting right here in our region. New work does not have to start in New York to matter. Sometimes it starts in Meadville, with a group of artists who believe in it enough to build the thing from the ground up.

Listen to the full episode of Spotlight 814, then go see Stall while you still can.

Stall closes this weekend at Meadville Community Theatre’s Penny Smith Theater at Cussewago Square:

Friday, June 12 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, June 14 at 2:00 PM

Tickets are available online at MCTBackstage.com/tickets, in person at the box office, or by calling 814-333-1773.