On today’s podcast, I sit down with local playwright , Josh Wilder to talk about the co-production of his play, “Salt Pepper Ketchup”, which focuses a lens on the gentrification of the Point Breeze neighborhood of Philadelphia where we both live. We talk about the journey of this piece and the changes to the neighborhood that make this piece so relevant right now. Stay Tuned! 

ABOUT SALT PEPPER KETCHUP

Co-Production with Passage Theatre and Interact Theatre Company

Directed By: Jerrell Henderson

A layer of bulletproof glass won’t protect Superstar Chinese Take-Out owners from the gentrification consuming the Point Breeze neighborhood in South Philly. When a trendy food co-op opens nearby, the Wu’s and their customers initially see it as a hipster annoyance, but as tensions mount they begin to recognize the intrusion as an act of war. Tinged with genuine humor and pathos, Wilder’s play examines the very human consequences of neighborhood redevelopment -- who benefits and who gets chewed up and spit out?

ABOUT JOSH WILDER

Josh Wilder is a playwright from Philadelphia. His work has been developed and produced at various regional theaters and festivals across the country including The Fire This Time Festival, New York Theatre Workshop, Great Plains Theatre Conference, The Kennedy Center , Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 2015 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Milwaukee Rep, Company One, and InterAct Theatre Company. Recent commissions include, LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST for Play On! at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; and SHE A GEM for The Kennedy Center. He is the recipient of the Holland New Voices Award, The Lorraine Hansberry Award, and an ASCAP Cole Porter Prize.  Josh is a former 2014 Jerome Fellow and the first national recipient of the Jerome Many Voices Fellowship at The Playwrights’ Center. Josh has been in residence at  The Royal Court Theatre in London; Sundance at UCross;  and served as Co-Artistic Director at The Yale Cabaret for its 50th season. MFA: Yale School of Drama.  Member of The Dramatist Guild.

FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION:

http://interacttheatre.org