About ASBX
What, Who, Why is Artist Soapbox?
Established in 2017, Artist Soapbox (ASBX) is a podcast production studio based in North Carolina.
What We Do:
Recent audio fiction projects include: Jesus Pancake (Fall 2022), ASBX Shorts (2021), Declaration of Love Anthology (2020), The New Colossus (2020), and Master Builder (2019). Affiliate projects: Creekside with Winona (2021), Trailblazer: Mabel Lee (2022). ASBX always has projects in development.
Our projects have received grants from the Manbites Dog Theater Fund, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Durham150, and the Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artist Award (Durham Arts Council).
ASBX team members have presented workshops at the National Women’s Theatre Festival, HOME BREW (Honest Pint Theatre), Triangle ArtWorks Lunch & Learn, Dramatist Guild NC, Beltline to Broadway, Justice Theatre Project, Musical Theatre Factory (MTFxR), UNC Humanities, The Clayton Center, and North Carolina Writers Network.
If you'd like to watch as you listen, take a look at two episodes of our Declaration of Love anthology. Declaration of Love was released in the fall of 2020.
Meet Our Founder and CEO
Tamara Kissane is a playwright, parent, and podcaster based in Pittsboro, NC. She was the 2020 Piedmont Laureate and received Outstanding Contribution to the Arts from Chatham Life & Style.
Through her podcast production studio, Artist Soapbox, Tamara has produced, written, and directed a variety of audio dramas including Jesus Pancake (2022), ASBX Shorts (2021), Declaration of Love Anthology (2020), The New Colossus (2020), Master Builder (2019), Creekside with Winona (2021), Trailblazer: Mabel Lee (2022), with several in development.
Her plays and monologues have been presented by PlayMakers Repertory, University Theater at NC State, Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, Burning Coal Theatre, Seed Art Share, and Mad Cow Theatre.
Her play NICE WHITE PARENTS 2016 is the winner of the 2023 New Play Project and Mark Gilbert Award, and was selected and featured in the first annual Sips & Scripts New Works Festival 2021 (NC Playwrights Lab). Tamara’s new musical AWAY HOME, is in development with Honest Pint Theatre.
Along with Aurelia Belfield, Tamara leads a yearlong lab for aspiring audio dramatists. She also leads Soapbox Audio Collective Writers’ rooms, Public Works events, and Creative Accountability Groups. Tamara is a co-founder and playwright for the YA theatre company Curious Theatre Collective.
Tamara has been a panelist, workshop leader, or speaker at the National Women’s Theatre Festival, HOME BREW, Triangle ArtWorks Lunch & Learn, Dramatist Guild NC, Beltline to Broadway, Justice Theatre Project, Musical Theatre Factory (MTFxR), UNC Humanities, and North Carolina Writers Network.
Our Team
Aurelia Belfield
Lormarev Jones
Lormarev Jones is an Educator, Director/Choreographer, and Actor and Intimacy Director. She received her MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College. Lormarev has worked at many theatres and high schools in the Triangle, including Playmakers Repertory Company, Raleigh Little Theatre, and many others. Lormarev currently trains with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC). She is also a deviser, playwright, and solo performer. Lormarev currently teaches at Meredith College while continuing to freelance in all her areas of expertise. ASBX: ASBX Shorts, Jesus Pancake, guest host for Artist Soapbox.
Mara Thomas
Mara Thomas has been following their curiosity down many different paths for the past 20 years. In that time, they have been a musician, actor, voiceover artist, creativity coach, and playwright. Mara's original plays have been performed in the Triangle and NYC and they have held creative writing residencies in Hudson, NY and Martha's Vineyard. Mara believes in the power of our unique forms of self-expression and that creativity takes many shapes. Along with their creative pursuits, Mara is a somatic therapist in private practice in Durham. ASBX: Declaration of Love, Jesus Pancake, multiple ASBX blog podcasts and solo podcast episodes, guest host for Artist Soapbox.
Griffin James
Griffin James is an interdisciplinary theatre maker and writer local to the triangle area. They have a degree in English Creative Writing from NC State where they were involved with the university theatre as a performer, stage manager, and more. When not working on creative endeavors Griffin can be found watching horror movies with their cat Mr. Mocha Latte. ASBX: ASBX Shorts, And Eat It Too, I'm Not Here Right Now, Crocodile Twins, guest host for Artist Soapbox.
Juliana Finch
Juliana Finch has spent almost two decades writing and performing songs and getting up to various theater- and film- adjacent shenanigans. She has released five albums, performed at music festivals and venues all over the country, and loves having Durham as her home base. She is on the writing team for Artist Soapbox's Jesus Pancake and can be heard as a voice actor in several other audio dramas. Juliana's favorite place to write is on her porch with a good cup of coffee. She can be found on social media @writeplayrepeat. ASBX: Jesus Pancake, Crocodile Twins, guest host for Artist Soapbox.
Edith Snow
Edith Snow is an actor/filmmaker/musician. She digs trees, the seaside, and splashing around in all the puddles. Edith lives in Chapel Hill with her partner, Paul, and their three cats. www.edithsnow.com ASBX: Master Builder, The New Colossus, ASBX Shorts, Jesus Pancake.
Barbette Hunter
Barbette Hunter is a freelance theatre artist located in Raleigh, NC. As a professional actress, she has performed with numerous theatre companies in the Triangle, including Seed Art Share, Justice Theater Project, Raleigh Little Theatre, Manbites Dog Theatre (Durham, NC), North Carolina Theatre and many others. She has served as stage manager for several theatres in the Triangle area, including Cary Applause! Youth Theatre, Pure Life Theatre and The Women's Theatre Festival, and many others. ASBX: The New Colossus, ASBX Shorts, And Eat It Too, Jesus Pancake.
Rachel Klem
Rachel Klem (she/her) has been a theatre artist in the Durham/ Chapel Hill/ Raleigh area since 2001. She ran Common Ground Theatre for 10 years and taught and directed at NC State’s University Theatre for 15. Rachel has only recently started learning about the wonderfulness of audio drama and really enjoys the collaborative process that it allows. ASBX: ASBX Shorts, I'm Not Here Right Now.
Kyla Lassiter
Meredith Bartmon
Meredith Bartmon is a dramaturg based in South Florida where she specializes in new play development. Her dramaturgy credits span over fifty works, a dozen theatres and three coasts; as well as many freelance clients. Discovering emotional resonance through intellectual curiosity is her jam and she is committed to the active facilitation of vital storytelling. Check out www.MeredithBartmon.com/Dramaturgy for more information.
Our History
After the birth of her second child in 2015, Tamara Kissane engaged in some deep soul-searching. She felt isolated and cut off from the theatre, her long-time creative outlet and passion, yet she still yearned to make creative work and engage with her community. Tamara had been a podcast and audio book fan for years, always preferring to listen to stories and conversations rather than watching them on a screen. She was also passionate about the artists and creatives in North Carolina and yearned to give them a broader platform to showcase their skills and stories.
Thus in 2017, Artist Soapbox was born.
Tamara felt strongly that podcasts were FANTASTIC for pushing out original content.
Podcasts are:
She designed the Artist Soapbox interview podcast to empower artists to use their own voices to discuss their work, their plans and their manifestos. Through the power of the podcast, Artist Soapbox has intentionally supported artists, built relationships and engaged community -- pushing back against the isolation and 'creating in a vacuum' feeling that can often accompany making creative work.
Since our humble beginnings in 2017, the ASBX production team has grown into a roster of awesome audio fiction and podcast experts. Our team is comfortable recording in-person and remotely, and are skilled at writing, directing, casting, producing, and designing.
Today, Artist Soapbox is a podcast production studio based in North Carolina.
We create Stories that Speak.
Artist Soapbox: