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The Addicted Mind Podcast

288: Humor, Recovery, and the World of Playwriting with Gregg Ostrin

The Addicted Mind Podcast

Duane Osterlind, LMFT

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7655 Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Gregg Ostrin, the brilliant playwright behind "The Spy Who Went Into Rehab," shares his incredible journey of recovery, maintaining sobriety since 1987, and how his personal experiences inspired his writing. Duane sits down with Gregg to discuss his fascinating career transition from acting to writing, his impressive work in film and television marketing, and his triumphant return to playwriting. The conversation takes a humorous turn as they explore the concept of his latest play that reimagines a James Bond-like character grappling with addiction and anger management issues, shedding light on the cultural implications of addiction through the lens of a spy character.

They also tackle the challenges of producing original plays in smaller theaters, especially in Los Angeles, where revivals of well-known works often take center stage. Gregg shares valuable insights on attracting audiences to new plays and the impact of critical reviews. They reflect on how his play resonates with both the recovery community and those outside it, using familiar spy movie tropes to craft a narrative that connects with all generations. Join Duane and Gregg for this engaging episode that blends comedy, cultural commentary, and the profound journey of recovery.

In this episode, you will hear:

  • Reimagining James Bond in rehab
  • Exploring personal history and freedom
  • The challenges of producing original plays in smaller theaters
  • Consumer culture and its pervasive influence on our behaviors and choices
  • Nostalgic movie tropes in modern culture

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Supporting Resources:

https://pacificresidenttheatre.org/the-spy-who-went-into-rehab/

NovusMindfulLife.com

Episode Credits

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Addictive Mind podcast. My name is Dwayne Austerlund, and I'm your host.

0:12.3

Today we have a special episode or a bonus episode. We're going to interview Greg Ostrom.

0:18.8

He is the playwright of the new play, the spy who went into rehab.

0:24.7

And we're going to talk a little bit about the play he just wrote and it's production. And it's

0:31.0

really interesting because he is in recovery himself. He's been in recovery for quite a long time.

0:36.5

And this idea came to him a little bit

0:39.8

on a whim and he started to put all the pieces together. They put it in a workshop. It got a really

0:46.0

strong reception and they decided to make it into a full play. And it's going on right now.

0:53.7

Greg's going to talk a little bit about the play and what's

0:57.4

really interesting about it, how the play evolved into not just talking about rehab and addiction

1:05.6

from the lens of a spy like James Bond, but also looking at the whole cultural context behind it.

1:12.8

So it's really interesting. Check it out. And I hope you enjoy this bonus episode.

1:22.4

All right, everyone, welcome to the Addicted Mind.. And today we've got a wonderful

1:29.2

guest, Greg Ostran.

1:32.1

And he's going to talk about his play that he

1:35.3

wrote called The Spy

1:38.3

Who Went Into Rehab.

1:39.8

That's correct.

1:41.3

And we're going to go from there.

1:43.5

So, Greg, it's running right now, right?

1:47.1

The play is running right now.

1:48.5

First of all, Dwayne, thank you for having me.

...

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