Playwright Robert Axelrod ("Lifeline"): It Is Hard Work To Help People"

Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright Robert Axelrod to discuss his new play Lifeline, which is a dramedy about a group of new volunteers at a suicide hotline. It was inspired by Robert's own experience as a volunteer for The Trevor Project hotline. Robert talks about what it was like to volunteer there, the extensive training volunteers go through and he recalls some of his more memorable conversations. He also talks about the importance of collaboration and why he loves to be the dumbest person in the room. Other topics include: the moment he got bitten by the playwriting bug, the ancestral magic of theater, how he approaches writing characters that aren't like him, like a neurodivergent Gen Z-er and a trans woman of color and why showing up at work toting a latte from Starbucks and a scone might rub some co-workers the wrong way.