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Mar 29, 2014

I Interview Playwrights Part 646: Adam Scott Mazer


Adam Scott Mazer

Hometown: Birmingham, AL

Current Town: Brooklyn, NY

Q:  Tell me about The Tower.

A:  Where to even start? Hmm. About five or six years ago, I had the idea that someone (I didn't think of myself as a playwright back then) should write a play about the Donner Party, those legendary frontier settlers who got stuck in the mountains and resorted to cannibalism to survive. As I got increasingly into playwriting over the course of the last few years, the idea was always simmering in the back of my mind. After I finished Motherboard, I sorta just knew that its time had come. Early last summer, Philip Gates, Maya Rook, and I ran a developmental workshop for the show, in which Maya - who just happens to be a PhD student in American History - provided us with historical documents that we then collaboratively brought to life. We also played around with character-based improv and hallucinatory dream compositions, and I came away from those couple weeks with an amazing wealth of material and a new understanding of the project. In the fall, we visited Donner Lake, where we met with people at the historical museum and more generally were able to dive deep into the energy of the place. That trip really kick started my creativity, so I took some of the material we had generated along with certain historical documents and used those as sort of guideposts to write the play. What emerged is certainly the strangest play I've written. Both narrative and experimental, The Tower weaves in and out of reality: ostensibly set in 1846 and 1847, the arc of the play takes us not only over the Sierra Nevada’s with the desperate snowshoers, but also into the characters' minds, the future, and possibly even death itself. Titled after the tarot card for chaos, collapse, and destruction, The Tower uses one of America's most notorious myths to explore some of its foundational values: take whatever you can, kill whoever you have to, and above all else, consume, consume, consume. Sounds dark, I know, but it's actually pretty funny too!

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  Nothing! The Tower pretty much rules my every waking moment, save for the time I'm doing my day job. The end of this process will mark the end of a yearlong sprint in which I wrote and co-produced this play and illustrated my first book, a graphic poetry collection (with poet J. Bradley, published by YesYes Books). I'm looking forward to taking a couple months to recharge, relax, and see what kind of trouble I can get into.

Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A:  Oh god, I really hate telling stories from my childhood - not because it was terrible or anything, on the contrary, I have a pretty excellent family, so it was actually quite pleasant. I don't really have any Batman-esque tragic origin stories, but I can recall an event that in part informed the writing of this play. When I was maybe 10, I had a really terrible fever; to the point where I was pretty much tripping balls. I remember very vividly being inside of what I thought was a dream, frantically ripping various shirts out of my closet. After enduring a variety of other strange events and compulsions, I "woke up" in the bathtub, sitting on a bunch of wet shirts, my mother wiping my brow with a cold washcloth. Now that I think about it, that whole thing is at least partially relevant to "who I am as a writer," because so much of my writing is about the permeable membrane between what's real and what's imagined. Nothing like a little childhood fever delirium to expose the cracks in the material world.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  I only get one? Way to ask the tough questions, Adam. I have a lot of issues with the current state of theater, but I think the biggest issue - as with most other things in America - is one of money. I would change the system that prohibits those without means from creating theater - grad school costs an insane amount, self-producing requires deep pockets or deep connections, and grant money is incredibly hard to come by. I have no idea how to do it, but luckily you didn't ask me that - at base level, there's something pretty deeply wrong with an "industry" in which the makers of the product - actors, directors, and writers - can reasonably expect that they will never be appropriately paid for their work.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Ibsen, Ionesco, Thornton Wilder, Richard Foreman, Caryl Churchill, Martin McDonagh, Qui Nguyen, and Robert Ross Parker

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theater that's alive. It's hard to explain what that is, but you can just feel it. Whether it's a kitchen sink drama or some crazy experimental shit, for me there are ultimately two types of theater: living and dead. Does it generate heat, or is it just sitting there rotting? I like it hot.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  Oh man, let's see. Don't just network, make friends. Ask those friends to read your work, and do the same for them. Give feedback that is supportive, but honest - if we're not helping each other be the best artists we can be, then why bother? Write and rewrite and rewrite again. Don't wait around for people to give you opportunities because they probably never will: produce your own work and prove to them that you're worth their time and attention.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:

My book The Bones of Us came out in March:

More on The Tower at http://antimattercollective.org

Prints of my artwork and more available at adamscottmazer.com
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Mar 25, 2014

I Interview Playwrights Part 645: Adam R. Burnett



Adam R. Burnett

Hometown: Topeka, KS

Current town: New York, NY

Q:  Tell me about Magic Bullets.

A: MAGIC BULLETS completes Buran Theatre’s triptych of works initiated with 2010’s The House of Fitzcarraldo. The piece is primarily about health, wellness and, in a greater sense, sanity and the sublime of suffering. In the piece we find ten people trying—reaching for answers in the midst of their pain and loss. Their hopeful destination is wellness but what happens along the way— psychologically and philosophically—is what we jump around in for the length of the show. In Buran fashion, the tempo is staccato with boisterous and unapologetic, bounding madness and fever-fits. MAGIC BULLETS will be more comprehensive and dynamic than previous efforts. The company has filled out: working with a choreographer, for the first time, and the musical compositions more defined and well-articulated. I think folks who have been following our work will find this to be a logical next step but also be very surprised as to where the piece ultimately lands. It goes without saying, it’d ridiculous to miss this show.

Q:  What else are you working on now?
A:  I’m working on a very large-scale installation-theatre piece about de-extinction and the psychology of romantic love called MAMMOTH. The work pulls from the very real scientific possibility of de-extinction (reviving species) and the ecology of the Siberian tundra since the wooly mammoth disappeared. More so than in the past I am really trying to pull together worlds that I’ve never seen live together: taxidermy and puppetry, live video and nature, specifically, a stage designed of melting ice and lush, colorful tundra. It’s going to very different from anything I’ve done with Buran or otherwise. My work has been chaotic, charged with an anxious, manic energy. The challenge now—and it scares me, quite frankly—is to see if I can use that energy to achieve something longer and, potentially, more static and sustained.

Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A: I spent the majority of the summer, before I was old enough for camp or to be left alone, with my grandma. She owned a very large, old apartment complex that we’d spend our days working in, doing odd jobs. I loved the musty smell of the place and all the people she had to collect checks from or set up maintenance appointments with. Watching her work had a huge influence on me. It was invigorating to hear her get frustrated, her tropes, and the things she repeated over and over as she tinkered and talked to the washing machine and furnace as if they were people, imbuing the property with her personality. It made me understand what real ownership meant: renting something that is tended to for the care of others.

Twice a week we’d travel an hour out of town to visit her mother, Oleva, who had dementia, in a nursing home. Each visit my grandmother would reintroduce herself as her daughter and me as a great-grandchild. It was the same script twice a week. The only thing my great-grandmother ever directly said to me during these visits was, “Adam and Eve and Pinch Me went down to the river to bathe. Adam and Eve jumped in. Who was left?” And thus, twice a week, I was pinched.

I sat quietly during these afternoon visits and listened to mother and daughter sing the same songs: “Won’t you Call me Sweetheart,” “Mairzy Dotes,” and “My Merry Oldsmobile.” My grandma and great-grandma taught me all the old songs from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. In this way I have always been an old soul. It was cultivated in me, the way your hips move to that music—that where I feel most at home.

Growing up Roman Catholic, despite women not being allowed to enter the priesthood, there was always the strong veneration of the Madonna. I felt more secure in my prayers to the Virgin Mother than I did to Jesus. The miracle of a virgin birth seemed more astonishing than rising from the dead. Anyone Joe Schmoe can rise from the dead, but the mystery of the birth always left me in awe. How does that work? What did Mary say to everyone? How did she endure the doubt and criticism? The strength and resolve, in light of a decision that others thought mad or impossible, made the Virgin Mary a source of inspiration from a very early age.

The rest of my life I have been blessed by the company of very strong and compassionate women: teachers, relatives, friends, and artistic collaborators. It’d be silly to say I attempt to populate the stage in honor of the women in my life: there is no attempt; it is simply what I do. You really have to push me to create a role for a male in my work. I am not interested – there is no mystery in a man, nothing lyrical or beautiful, devastating or dramatic. I think this is the hallmark of my work and my modus operandi as a person: a constant veneration and awe of the women in my life. It’s the well to which I will forever return.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  I would like to see a culture of equality and transparency, where actors can request to see a budget if they aren’t getting paid, without fear of the director or producer. Especially within the realm the majority of us are creating theatre: more warmth and compassion. You don’t make profits from the type of theatre we create. The pursuit is for a lifestyle and that should be reflected in how we treat one another.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Chuck Mee, Ron Willis, Jo Huseman, Radiohole, Augusto Boal, Vesvolod Meyerhold, Eugene Ionesco, Ellen Stewart, Alicia Gian…the list is very long and ever-expanding. But really, my theatrical heroes are the folks that work with Buran Theatre. I have the privilege and honor to hand pick every designer, performer, writer, choreographer and musician involved with Buran and so I always choose those who know more and are more capable than I am. They are a constant inspiration and I work to make sure they are treated with respect and feel a sense of community. Since Buran tours the United States, it’s so important to create the connective tissue from NYC to Minneapolis to Kansas City to Albuquerque to Las Vegas to Los Angeles and know that there is a community, a purpose to this model: the performers and donors and audiences are interchangeable. The more I work in this model, the more charged I am to make this satellite system of communities flourish so that my heroes have good friends, a roof over their head, and a creative home wherever they travel.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I am excited when something doesn’t know or doesn’t tell me what it is. I am generally not very fond of narrative in theatre. The minute I see a “plot” being set up, I tune out and am readying myself to leave. If we’re coming to a space together, presenting ourselves to an audience, then let us mutually go someplace we’ve never been before. Theatre is a vehicle for community invested ideas: so don’t just tell me a story—I hear those all the time—change my rhythm, wake me up, startle me, make me angry, confused, and definitely make me laugh. When all these elements come together, the experience can be transcendent and I grow because I’ve gone through something with others. I am reminded that this is not an isolated experience.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  My writing mentor, Ron Willis, always said to me, “Your project is the play. My project is you.” This has stuck with me. So my advice is: find someone who is interested in cultivating your humanity and leaves the work and process for you to discover.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A: 
BuranTheatre’s MAGIC BULLETS
Incubator Arts Project
May 2-11
Tickets: $18



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Mar 22, 2014

Upcoming Productions


First off I have 2 one minute plays going up at Primary Stages in NYC April 2 along with many much fancier playwrights. http://www.primarystages.org/ompf

Then

Nerve (production #15)
Paper Wing Theater Company, Monterey, CA.

Hearts Like Fists (productions #7, 8, 9, 10)
Lost Flamingo Company, Athens, OH.
Ad Astra Theatre, Topeka, KS. 2014.
Common Ground, Tiny Engine, Durham, NC.
California State University, Fullerton, CA. 2014.

but the big news is the remount of

photo by Ahron Foster

Clown Bar this May (and beyond) at Parkside Lounge again by Pipeline.




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Mar 21, 2014

What I'm up to writingwise

I did a blog post for Primary Stages about it:

http://primarystagestheatercompany.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/adam-szymkowicz/


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Mar 14, 2014

I Interview Playwrights Part 644: Brian Otaño



Brian Otaño

Hometown: Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY

Current Town: Harlem, New York, NY

Q:  Tell me about your Amoralists reading.

A:  Between the Sandbar and the Shore is the first play in a trilogy about two young couples who move in next door to each other, start families, get close and eventually start to cannibalize each other, figuratively speaking. Play one is set in the early 80’s in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, which was such a nutty time. On the surface, everything seemed pretty idyllic, but every now and again, you'd find a corpse shoved between two cars. This entire trilogy takes place outside the bounds of the digital age, when people knew their neighbors, had way less distractions and, you know, had to really face each other! It’s crawling with ghosts, there are a couple of creepy puppet children in it-- it’s got a real horror streak. It’s a fun, heartfelt, vicious play, which puts it right in the Amoralists' sweet spot!

Q:  Why did you decide to write a trilogy?

A:  I set out to reckon with how a person’s relationship with the truth changes when they become a parent. That’s where What We Told the Neighbors (play two) comes from. Then, I wrote Sandbar (play one). While developing play one, Superstorm Sandy hit and I got the inspiration for The Ocean At Your Door (play three). I made some changes to the origin stories while writing play three, so I had to go back to play one and do some adjusting. I don’t know why I decided to write a trilogy. It’s kind of a huge gamble, but I’ll say this: if I were to drop dead after putting the finishing touches on play one, I’d be happy that I left these behind. You know?

Q:  Dark. What are you working on now?

A:   I’m in the thick of writing a new play called Clean Work, or Zero Feet Away. It’s about a gay couple that decides to explore non-monogamy and how that warps their relationship with each other and their friends. There are hook-up app interactions. There’s a botched threeway. There’s some unexpected romance. And paint. One of the major settings in the play is a scenic art shop.

Q:  A scenic art shop?

A:  A shop where theater scenery is built and painted. It’s dirty work, hard work, it’s where fine visual art and construction meet to play dominos and throw shade.

Q:  Do you believe in non-monogamy?

A:  Yes, for those who can do it without hurting anyone. HA! There’s the rub.

Q:  Did you watch Looking on HBO? Will there be some similarities?

A:  I’m sure there’s an overlap in the territory covered but I’d like to hope our voices are distinctive, yet harmonious? I’m waiting until I have time to binge-watch the entire first season. I’m excited to get into it.

Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A:  I won't tell a story, I will tell you this... I'm a gay Puerto Rican who was raised on thirteen years of Catholic education and a steady diet of horror movies. Make of that what you will.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  JESUS, ADAM. One thing? One... I want to say something about access here. Access to funding for artists and projects, access to affordable theater, but most importantly, access to affordable theater education. OH MY GOD. Hello! Education! Can we get some BFA Dramatic Writing programs in NY that won’t run students into six-figure debt? I’m from one of the last BFA Dramatic Writing graduating classes to come out of SUNY Purchase College. I went on my own dime and came out without a mountain of loan debt because the school was affordable. The President and Provost of the school (along with the Chair of the School of Humanities) TORPEDOED that BFA DW program, despite some uproar from Conservatory students and faculty, because they wanted to save the school some money. For a few extra bucks, they basically priced out kids who may have to forego pursuing a BFA in Dramatic Writing if they can’t find the means to pay what it costs to attend BFA programs at private colleges and universities. The dramatic writing teachers up there are top shelf and having access to them on a consistent (often one-on-one) basis in a conservatory setting made a HUGE difference. BA programs: larger class size, less access to overworked teachers, less workshop time, no showcase… There are many, many strengths to the freedom and flexibility of a BA writing program— which Purchase offers— but it’s a shame that a BFA in Dramatic Writing is no longer an option there. Rant over.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  I’m gonna list my heroes, period. Some are theatre makers. Some are just theatrical. In no particular order: JT Rogers, Mimi O’Donnell, Emily Morse, Stephen King, Daniel Reitz, Nick Gandiello, David Nellis, Francine Volpe, Kris Diaz, Kander and Ebb, Leonard Bernstein, Adam Bock, Tonya Pinkins, Karen O., Doug Lebrecht, Butch Vig, Mark Englert, Stephen Adly Guirgis, scenic designers Christine Jones, Rob Jones and John Macfarlane, Emily Shooltz, Billy Corgan and Alan Ball. To name a few.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I’ve become one of those people who can fall asleep in the theater once the house lights go out. I'm 31. Sad sad. At this rate, if you can keep me awake, you're ahead of the game.

That said... hmm... I'm excited by theater that requires engages with a range of elements-- language is our main ingredient, sure, but I'm also excited by ingenuity with puppets, video, site-specificity. When I write, I think about the juicy bits I'm offering for actors as well as the designers, dramaturgs and directors.

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  Some of your other previous interviewees have given some awesome advice so my first thing would be to READ THIS BLOG.

ALSO, figure out what your best writing model is-- where can you concentrate best, what’s the ideal time of day, amount of hours per day, etc-- and facilitate that as much as possible. Your work and state of mind will totally improve. I’ve tried different models and I’ve found that the one I’m working with now needs some overhauling.

Lastly, I leave you with the Manhattan Theatre Source house rules: Clean up after yourself, practice generosity of spirit, share your information, principles before personalities.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  OK, I leave you with a plug: Between the Sandbar and the Shore, directed by the illustrious Jay Stull!

Monday, 3/17, 8pm, Walkerspace @ 46 Walker Street! Get into it.


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Mar 5, 2014

I Interview Playwrights Part 643: Sarah DeLappe


Sarah DeLappe

Hometown: Reno, Nevada

Current Town: Brooklyn, New York

Q:  Tell me about your upcoming Amoralists reading.

A:  Well it’s this play called PARABOLA. It’s a triptych spanning the history of Western popular culture as we know it. We follow one woman, one man, and one inanimate object on this gonzo journey through reincarnations, metamorphoses, gender roles, that sort of thing. I don’t want to give too much away but there will be brain freezes.

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  A couple of secret plays. One is about an Alaskan radio station. It’s called THE PIONEERS. Another one is actually about secrets. Top Secrets. It’s called NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Oh and also a young adult novel about an opossum. Because that’s what the youth is clamoring for, you know?

Q:  Tell me a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a person or a writer.

A:  I have a twin sister. We both used to lucid dream. I thought it was just how everyone dreamed: with total and complete control. And I distinctly remember sitting with my sister in the back of our Subaru and having this philosophical debate about how to wake up. Since that was always a struggle, and frankly, sorta terrifying. We decided the solution could only be to fall asleep within the dream.

That night, I ended up in our local supermarket. I wanted to test our theory. So I lay down in the middle of the cereal aisle, right by the eggs, and closed my eyes. All of these shoppers came up to me and asked what I was doing. I tried to explain but they told me I was crazy, this wasn’t a dream, and who did I think I was lying down next to the eggs. And I swear to god I can picture all of these sneakers and grocery cart wheels moving around me. It took forever. But I was patient. I woke up.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  The price of tickets. My god. It’s no wonder the audience is all gray hair.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  There are so many. Caryl Churchill, Thorton Wilder, Wallace Shawn, Spading Gray, Suzan Lori-Parks. And, you know, Chekhov. Shakespeare. And all of my teachers: Paula Vogel, Amy Herzog, Donald Margulies, Deb Margolin, Marc Robinson. And really anyone who persists in writing plays.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theater that's not a sitcom with curtains. Theater that acknowledges and plays with time. Theater that’s got a real voice, iridescent and surprising. Cause that’s all plays are, really: people speaking. I want to hear words in a way that forces me to listen.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Amoralfest! Seven readings by seven writers over the next two weekends. Come on out.

PARABOLA
Written by Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Stefanie Abel Horowitz
Featuring Penny Bittone, Judy Merrick and Haley Sullivan
Sunday March 16 at 4 pm
Walkerspace at 46 Walker St

RSVP here: http://www.theamoralists.com/amoralfest2014

And here’s the whole bunch:

Saturday, 3/8

4:00 pm: FAT CAT KILLERS
Written by Adam Szymkowicz
Directed by Jay Stull
Featuring Wade Dunham, Matthew Pilieci & Mark Roberts

After getting laid off, Michael and Steve decide to kidnap the CEO of the company that gave them the boot.

Sunday, 3/9

8:00 pm: THE LUCKY LADIES
Written by Dominic Finocchiaro
Directed by Jeremy Duncan Pape
Featuring Jennifer Fouche, Janette Johnston, Kat Murphy & Vanessa Vaché

Cindy, Dina, and Gina are contestants on America's longest-running and most beloved reality television dating show. However, when the camera crew stops showing up and their Prince Charming is suddenly nowhere to be found, the girls are forced to ask themselves: how long am I willing to wait for love? And just what am I willing to lose?

Monday, 3/10

2:00 pm: NYLON
Written by Sofia Alvarez
Directed by Jess Chayes
Featuring Luke Forbes, Elena McGhee, Nick Lawson, Anna Stromberg & Kelley Swindall

An estranged couple, Anna and Matthew, meet for the first time in four years. Throughout the evening, their joint history is dredged to the surface in a way that threatens to damage their individual futures as well as those of everyone around them.

8:00 pm: TRIPLE BEAM WET DREAM
Written by Ian Daniel
Directed by Mia Rovegno
Featuring Byron Anthony, Danielle Davenport, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Nick Lawson, Cassandra Paras, Matthew Pilieci & Jordan Tisdale

Speed freaks. Hustlers. Star-fuckers. Down-and-outs. Everyone at the Jack in the Box on Sunset Boulevard is looking for a way out. A drug-dealing street shaman named Candy is convinced that she’s got the fix that will set them free. But, what price are these Hollywood outcasts willing to pay to get their hands on the ultimate high? A play of hallucinations, booty grinds, and cheesy fries in the dark underbelly of the City of Angels.

Sunday, 3/16

4:00 pm: PARABOLA
Written by Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Stefanie Abel Horowitz
Featuring Penny Bittone, Judy Merrick & Haley Sullivan

Leta uncovers a conspiracy in the Coliseum. Dolly hitchhikes across the USA. Mediatrix fulfills a man-child's every bawdy and bodily need. Follow one woman, one man, and one inanimate object on a gonzo journey (in three parts) through gender roles and popular culture.

8:00 pm: DEATH FOR SYDNEY BLACK
Written by Leah Nanako Winkler
Directed by Kip Fagan

Three women are trapped in a narrative that degrades them. A dark comedy about six teenage girls navigating the treacherous landscape of Northeast Valley High. When the new girl, Nancy, comes to town she must channel her entire self-worth into overthrowing the most popular girl at school: Sydney Black. As she takes this journey, led by her quirky Asian sidekick Jen, she discovers both the overt and covert girl-on-girl violence perpetrated throughout the school.

Monday, 3/17

8:00 pm: BETWEEN THE SANDBAR AND THE SHORE
Written by Brian Otaño
Directed by Jay Stull
Featuring Byron Anthony, Reuben Barsky, Kim Gambino, Sarah Lemp, Emma Meltzer, Cassandra Paras, Jim Rees, Will Sarratt & Dale Soules

1981.

Jack and Linda return home to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn after a disastrous turn living as punks on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. They find unlikely friends in Oscar and Gertie, their new neighbors. Life on the grid is sweet— the two couples botch renovations, burn dinner, play records, light bottle rockets, dub video cassettes, drink Budweiser, sneak joints on their back porches and raise their kids as best as they can. Some years later, a tragedy strikes on Dooley Street that forces the two young families to face down the pull of their addictions, the ghosts that plague their love nests and in the end, the fatal lengths two mothers will go to for the sake of protecting their young.

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Mar 3, 2014

I Interview Playwrights Part 642: Renee Philippi


 
Renee Philippi

Hometown: Flint, Michigan

Current Town: New York, NY

Q:  Tell me about Alone in Triptych.

A:  Alone in Triptych was written as a reaction to the Ohio kidnappings and the acts that Ariel Castro committed against the three young women. It is not a retelling of that story. More, it is about when terror befalls the innocent and is a subtle quandary of abuse. The three characters in Alone in Triptych are each struggling to have a relationship. Remi with his friend’s 12-year old daughter; he has kidnapped her so that she can live her life alone free of other people. Lori is trying desperately to make her relationship with her abusive husband work. Leeann’s relationship seems ideal, until she discovers that her partner has raped a teen-age girl.

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  Extraordinary Extremities, which was seen last June at Here and titled at that time Geppetto, will open Off-Broadway at Soho Playhouse Friday, April 4th. Extraordinary Extremities was inspired by a NPR story on Hugh Herr; the biomedical engineer whose legs were amputated after a climbing accident and who now designs technologically advanced artificial limbs. Geppetto (the puppeteer and puppet-maker) has recently lost his wife and performing partner, the other half of the Mythic Puppet Theater, a company dedicated to adapting classic Greek myth. The play centers around Geppetto attempting to perform, solo for the first time, the couple’s signature piece based on the grand love story of Perseus, who slays a sea monster to save his beloved Andromeda. Extraordinary Extremities is a tale of resilience, adaptation and ingenuity. I am the writer and director of the Extraordinary Extremities.

We are also working on Grey Green Canals and will preview the show fall 2014. Grey Green Canals is about water and women: each being a metaphor for the other: flowing, connecting, giving life.

Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.

A:  My Grandparents lived next door to my Mother. As a child and even as a teenager, I spent most afternoon with my Grandmother, listening to her tell stories: from the rattle snake in the linen closet to standing in the ocean bleeding, with her first menstruation, believing she would die.

Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A:  I would change accessibility. I feel sometimes that America is a land of cultural deprivation. People lack access to diverse well-done theatre.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Ingmar Bergman, Peter Brook, William Kentridge, Thomas Mann, Pina Bausch and on and on….

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Poetic, visual, mythic – Ingmar Bergman wrote in his autobiography Laterna Magica, in describing what he did while his Father preached: "I devoted my interest to the church’s mysterious world of low arches, thick walls, the smell of eternity, the colored sunlight quivering above the strangest vegetation of medieval paintings and carved figures on ceilings and walls. There was everything that one’s imagination could desire — angels, saints, dragons, prophets, devils, humans." That kind of theatre!

Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?

A:  I would advise: Believe in yourself! Be the student! Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Don’t miss Concrete Temple Theatre’s Alone in Triptych: “Emotional, vivid and hauntingly lyrical, this exploration of isolation and connection promises to be an evening of intense, intimate revelations.”

Thursday, March 13th - Sunday, March 30th at HERE. For tickets: http://here.org/shows/detail/1405


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Mar 1, 2014

Reading of Fat Cat Killers





The Amoralists is doing a reading of my play Fat Cat Killers Sat March 8 at 4pm

Walkerspace
46 Walker Street, NY, NY 10013

https://amoralfest2014.eventbrite.com/

Directed by Jay Stull and starring Wade Dunham, Matt Pilieci and Mark Roberts.



This play has had readings at Working Theater, MCC Theater, New Group Theater, LAByrinth summer retreat and Firework Theater and was produced in Philadelphia by Flashpoint Theater.

 What?  You missed all those?  Come see this one.  

It's about a couple of guys who get laid off who plot to kidnap the CEO of the company who let them go.  It's comedic.











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