As the Covid pandemic began to shutdown all the usual forms of entertainment in my area, I started to direct radio plays via Zoom with middle-schoolers. This was not an easy task – not because of Zoom, or the actors, but rather because plays strictly for radio (i.e. voice only) were so very difficult to find. A few months later, due to the sparsity of scripts, I decided to hire some playwrights and create my own site for radio drama scripts. Below are the bios for the talented playwrights who have written the shows available on radiodramas.net. Please check back often, as new plays and playwrights will be added often.
Note: Check out how using Radio Dramas meets Language Art Standards for your classroom:
https://radiodramas.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/National-Literacy-Standards-.pdf
–Pauline Jennings
The Playwrights
Kosmo EsplanKosmo Esplan is a 13-year-old boy who loves all things theater and film-related. He’s been writing since . . . forever! At the age of five, he begged his mom to let him write reviews for purchases she made on Amazon. At age eight, he started a website, planetwhizkid.com, where he writes on various topics of interest. More recently, he’s been writing a political fiction book, as well as the Adventures of Stardust series (so you can imagine that he’s a Star Wars fan). Some of his other current writing projects include Quarantine, a comedic sitcom he created; Curtain Call with Kosmo and Pauline, a theater podcast that he co-hosts; and Some Good News Northfield, a show about local good news that he created and produces. And finally, Kosmo is an advocate for the Oxford comma.
Amy Haslett-MarroquinAmy Haslett-Marroquin is a mother and a teacher who loves to write. She and her husband have raised three creative children between a small farm outside of Northfield, MN and the rainforests of Guatemala. She has written for and directed summer youth theater for over a decade and thrives on collaborating imaginatively with children. She is the author of two books and many student inspired scripts. She currently works at Prairie Creek Community School as a 2nd and 3rd grade classroom teacher and brings out the drama in her students every year!
Amy Haslett-Marroquin is a mother and a teacher who loves to write. She and her husband have raised three creative children between a small farm outside of Northfield, MN and the rainforests of Guatemala. She has written for and directed summer youth theater for over a decade and thrives on collaborating imaginatively with children. She is the author of two books and many student inspired scripts. She currently works at Prairie Creek Community School as a 2nd and 3rd grade classroom teacher and brings out the drama in her students every year!
Pauline JenningsPauline Jennings is the creator of this web-site and author of the manuals found on radiodramas.net. She has been on stages as an actor and/or singer for over 40 years. She’s worked in theater as producer, educator, director, writer, stage manager and (primarily) an actress. Pauline has taught creative dramatics to kids of all ages. She also spent 15 plus years as singer in a number of pop/country/rock bands that performed throughout the region. She is married to drummer Steve Jennings, has two grown children, Chris and Sam, and lives in Northfield.
Christine KallmanChristine Kallman is a playwright, lyricist, poet, and musician. Her work has been supported and produced by arts organizations, theaters, schools, colleges and churches, including Renaissance Theaterworks (Milwaukee), Workhouse Theater (Minneapolis), Theatre du Mississippi (Winona, MN), Northfield Arts Guild Theater (Northfield, MN) and the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Her interests within the genre of radio plays include adventure, comedy, history, and the environment. In 2016 and 2017, Renaissance Theaterworks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin presented readings of DUCK, her one-woman play that brings together an elderly woman, a duck, and an oil spill. Kallman’s monologue Cam is published on nonbinarymonologues.wordpress.com. In addition to her work as a writer, Kallman has taught theater and music to young people in the classroom, theater camp, and private studio. She served as director, teacher and playwright for the Young People’s Theater Workshop in Northfield, Minnesota for nine seasons, and she has assisted with the Latino and Friends Play Festival in her local high school. Kallman is a member of the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. For more information please visit christinekallman.com.
Ana Nicktae Marroquin-HaslettAna Nicktae Marroquin-Haslett is a multimedia artist and a recent graduate from Marlboro College, a writing school endorsed by Robert Frost. Born and raised in a multitude of cultures and places including Santa Apolonia, Guatemala and Northfield, Minnesota, her writing is inspired by life experience. While living in Northfield Minnesota she wrote and worked on five plays for the Young Peoples Theater Workshop. In her daily life she has been writing narrative work for around six years, and focuses on contemporary creative nonfiction. Nicktae currently lives in California and spends her days writing as well as creating many other types of artwork.
Wendy Placko
Wendy Placko lives and works in Northfield, Minnesota, where she collaborates with local talent to tell creative stories through interdisciplinary media. She earned her BA in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts from St. Olaf College. There, she studied bassoon and performed with one of the finest collegiate orchestras in the country, developed her skills in 2D and 3D visual arts, practiced theater set design and production while growing as a screenwriter, and began to explore the world of dance. Since college, she has participated in community theatre productions, studied tap and ballet, served on the board of the Northfield Arts Guild and developed her leadership skills at her day job as a sales director in marketing communications.
Placko’s diverse artistic background informs her process as a film and play writer and director. She creates projects that honor art forms coming together to create a more meaningful piece. She has been awarded three grants to support her work, two from her regional arts council and one from the State of Minnesota. Her films have been featured at festivals including MNKino Film Score Fest, Flyway Film Festival, The Mespies and Minnesota WebFest. Media publications Women and Hollywood, The Next Ten Words, The Northfield News and River Valley Woman have written about Placko’s unique process.
Marc RobinsonMarc Robinson earned a B.A. from Purdue University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Russian Literature. He is an Associate Professor in the Russian Department at St. Olaf College. Marc specializes in Russian literature, film and theater. Marc’s passion for the performing arts has brought him into close contact with some of Russia’s premiere film makers, playwrights and directors over the past 16 years. As well, Marc’s interest in Russian physical theater inspires him to look at new approaches to classic theater. He has directed many plays over the years including Cabaret, Death of A Salesman and his own play, The Singer Sisters.
L. Mark Tolle’s interest in theater is driven by his love of the story. We love stories. Our parents start telling us stories before we can crawl. As soon as we can talk, we start telling them back. Theater is one of the most effective and efficient ways to tell a story, make a point, teach a lesson, or simply entertain. Writing is a safe release of the entrapped drama of life. In writing one can create and explore anything and everywhere that our imaginations and past experiences take us. Storytelling is the most efficient method of communication and learning mankind has developed. L. Mark’s mother would tell of her frustration in trying to make him stop lying as a child. She was terrified her little boy would never recognize truth from reality. Too bad his mother never grasped the reality of recognizing truth, and L. Mark is still spinning tall truth tales.