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The Subtext: Jennifer Blackmer

Brian James Polak interviews the playwright/professor about writing science-based plays and fostering the next generation of writers.

The Subtext is a podcast where playwrights talk to playwrights about the things usually left unsaid. In a conversation that dives into life’s muck, we learn what irks, agitates, motivates, inspires, and ultimately what makes writers tick.

Jennifer Blackmer

In this month’s episode of The Subtext, host Brian James Polak travels to the campus of Ball State University to speak with playwright, director, and teacher Jennifer Blackmer (Human Terrain, Unraveled, Alias Grace).

Jennifer was the 2015 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Emerging American playwright. Based in the Midwest, she is a professor of theatre and associate provost for entrepreneurial learning at Ball State University. Her plays have been seen in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Berkeley and St. Louis, and her work has been developed by Seven Devils, Activate Midwest, Nashville’s Ingram New Works Lab, Illinois Shakespeare Festival and The Lark.

Jennifer also describes her journey from being a kid interested in science to a playwright creating scientific plays. She also discusses the opportunities being a professor provides to her as a writer, and how running a classroom like a writers group helps set up students for life as writers once they leave school.

Download the episode here.

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