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We are proud to present a Scripts Spotlight: Podcast Performance of an excerpt from the folk musical Unplugged by Yasmine Van Wilt.
Scripts Spotlight | Podcast Catalogue
Any attempt to record, reproduce, cover or tamper with any of these copyrighted materials will be considered a breach of copyright laws and will be addressed accordingly. All rights for this recording, including but not limited to the scripted contents, the song, the monologues, etc are the sole property of Yasmine Van Wilt and JEu Limited.
UNPLUGGED, A FOLK MUSICAL BY YASMINE VAN WILT
Presented by JEu Productions
Script and music written and performed by Yasmine Van Wilt
Original dramaturgy and direction by Melina Theocharidou
This podcast is an excerpt from the musical Unplugged. Unplugged is a folk musical disguised as a live music performance. In Unplugged, Yasmine plays Cajun singer-songwriter Antoinette LaFontaine. Antoinette, who has lost her husband and father to oil-related disasters, talks about the inspiration behind her music: the environment and the people she’s loved and lost. Fundamentally, it’s not a heavy-handed piece, it’s a story told from the heart.
‘Yasmine Van Wilt once again takes her talents towards humanising and personalising the largest environmental disaster in US history – the BP oil spill of 2010. While most of the media have long since left the story, casualties continue to mount and the Gulf Coast region remains debilitated. Van Wilt, thankfully, has taken it upon herself to continue to remind us of the heartfelt consequences of BP’s policies in the Gulf of Mexico, and what those policies are costing humanity and the planet. Don’t know anyone affected by BP’s Gulf of Mexico catastrophe? You will after you see this play.’
Dahr Jamail, Producer, Public Liberties and Human Rights Department, Al Jazeera English
The play’s full running time is 1 hour 15 minutes.
PRODUCTION HISTORY AND CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Unplugged originally stemmed from Elle ‘A’ Live and Unplugged which previewed at the Shaw Theatre in August 2012 before opening at the Södra Teatern that same month. The play was an official selection in the 2012 Women Playwrights International Conference hosted by Riksteatern. It was then performed at the Hospital Club in London in October 2012 and then transferred again to Sweden in 2013, with the support of the EU. Yasmine has gone on to perform variations of the play at a number of venues in Europe and the US. In May 2014, she performed excerpts of the track on NPR’s WMNF radio. She then performed the play at St Leo University and the White Bear Theatre. She will perform the entire play live on WMNF later this summer. The play incorporates excerpts from Yasmine Van Wilt’s We’re Gonna Make You Whole published by Oberon Books.
Yasmine’s self-titled new album will be released this summer. It features many of the songs from this production. Melina Theocharidou directed and dramaturged all originating productions of the play between August 2012 and August 2013. Annabel Bates produced and also helped develop the show during this period. It was designed (costume, lighting and set) by Jeffrey Michael.
