Ted Sod Ted Sod


EDUCATION DRAMATURG


Olivia Jones: Tell us about yourself. How and when did you become Roundabout's education dramaturg? Ted Sod: I was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and educated at King’s College. I have a BA in Theatre. In 2001, I was freelancing as a director, actor, playwright, and teaching artist. I auditioned to be a teaching artist at Roundabout (RTC) under Margie Salvante and Renee Flemings and was hired. Margie decided I should be facilitating the post-play discussions and pre-show talks that were happening at RTC at the time, and the rest, as they say, is an 18-year history.


OJ: Describe your job at RTC. What are your responsibilities? TS: I read all the plays and musicals before the season begins and isolate salient themes. I research the history of the plays/ musicals if they are being revived and read biographies of the writers. For new plays, I read about the author’s life because the great acting guru Stella Adler once said, “If you want to know what a play is about, you must look into the life of the playwright.” I interview many of the artists and RTC staff members who make our productions possible. I edit those interviews and get approval from the subjects before they are published as part of our playgoers’ guide, Upstage. I write and rehearse pre-show talks and facilitate the Lecture Series—which is more of a salon and functions as an in-depth look into specific


aspects of every production. All these jobs sound like fun and they are, but they are extremely labor-intensive and involve excellent public speaking skills. It isn’t easy keeping the attention of 100-200 well-educated New Yorkers, so I must be prepared and on point. I also work very closely with the Community Partnership apprentices and consider myself a mentor to them.


OJ: What is the best part of your job? What is the hardest part? TS: I love interacting with our audiences—many of whom I know by face, but not by name—and whom I find extremely bright and eager to engage in conversations about the plays and musicals they have just seen. The hardest part is when I have gotten to know a longtime subscriber couple and one of them loses their spouse, and the survivor comes up to me with tears in their eyes to explain why their beloved isn’t joining them that evening.


OJ: Why do you choose to work at Roundabout? TS: I have said many times that I have the best job in the world and that I truly love the subscribers at Roundabout and I do. I am often asked by people how they can get a job like mine, and I reply without irony, “Murder me!” •


CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WORKS CITED PAGE FOR THIS GUIDE. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES


ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY • 2019–2020 SEASON


Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO), a not-for-profit company founded in 1965, celebrates the power of theatre by spotlighting classics from the past, cultivating new works of the present, and educating minds for the future. More information on Roundabout’s mission, history and programs can be found by visiting roundabouttheatre.org.


Learn more at roundabouttheatre.org. Find us on: CAROLINE, OR CHANGE UPSTAGE GUIDE 23


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24