Heroes. They’re not just for comic books anymore. With the rise of more serious, “realistic” portrayals of comic book heroes has come a trend of real people making themselves into superheroes. This is not a joke, and it’s not the movie Kick-Ass, based on the comic book of the same name. Or James Gunn’s film, Super. This week, I spoke with playwright Gwydion Suilebhan, author of Reals, a play about four such ordinary people. The play just finished a production with the Theatre Alliance of DC and will next be part of the new play reading series at Anthem Theatre in NYC on October 1st. You can follow Gwydion on Twitter at @gwydions. We also have a bonus, a short piece by playwright David Lawson about the 13p Implosion Party last Monday in NYC. It’s called “We’re Gonna Die, It’ll Be Okay.” You can follow him on Twitter at @dtlawson. Here’s the trailer for the Theatre Alliance production of Reals, in case you’re curious. You can follow Theatre Alliance of DC on Twitter @ThtrAllianceDC. And follow Anthem Theatre at @AnthemTheatre. The music you heard in this episode of Twenty: Batman: The Animated Series Title Theme, composed by Shirley Walker. Spiderman by Moxy Fruvous. Wish these were available on iTunes. Moxy Fruvous is in the Irish iTunes store, apparently…

Do you know about QLab? It’s the software you want if you’re running sound. Doesn’t matter if it’s a storefront or a stadium, a church or a theatre, this is the program for you. QLab allows you to control audio, video, and MIDI from a single workspace. If you don’t run sound for your venue, ask your sound people–they’ll tell you why this is a big deal. How about Tixato? Sure, you’ve tried other ticketing services and systems, but have you seen what Tixato can do? This week, I talked with Chris Ashworth, the man who brought us QLab and Tixato. His company, Figure 53, makes things with love in Baltimore, MD. (You can follow them on twitter @Figure53.) As long as we’re here, this is a video Chris made one not-so-lazy Saturday afternoon… Silly Saturday Project from Figure 53 on Vimeo. If you feel the muse poking you and decide to make a lazy Saturday video of your own, let us know and we’ll post a collection of them on the site. The music you heard in this episode of Twenty: Powerhouse, a Raymond Scott classic performed by the Faux Frenchmen. Hey, Pocky Way by the Meters.

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast series, Twenty. Why Twenty? Simple. Quick, twenty minute conversations with theatre artists and professionals from around the world. Sometimes, they’ll run a little bit over, but that’s all right. First up, Nancy Kenny, performer and writer of the award-winning solo show, Roller Derby Saved My Soul. You can contribute to her IndieGoGo campaign to take the show on tour–time’s running short, so go now. Seriously. You want to see this show. Better yet, if you’re a theatre company looking to host some #neverbedark programming, here’s a great show for you. Because it was designed for fringe festivals, she can walk in, do the show and walk out, all you have to do is open the doors and turn on the lights. Stay tuned, more episodes of Twenty are on the way…