David Meyers
Hometown: Fort Lee, NJ
Current Town: New York City
Q: Tell me about Broken:
A: BROKEN tells the story of a mass shooting from the shooter's perspective. It's a two-character pressure cooker between the shooter and a prison psychiatrist (who also has ulterior motives).
I read a review of The Library last year, which was a play that also touched on the topic of mass shootings. The reviewer praised the play for not making the "mistake" of trying to find clear motivations for the crime.
While I agree that there isn't a single answer or neat explanation as to why someone commits an act like this, I think we need to explore what motivates these shooters if we ever hope to learn why they did it. And if we hope to learn what - if anything - we can do to prevent similar acts in the future.
BROKEN doesn't offer easy answers - but it does offer some troubling thoughts about society's role in these killings. And most importantly, I hope the play will open up a debate on the subject.
Q: What else are you working on now?
A: I've got a few other projects coming up - including a play I'm very excited about called "We Will Not Be Silent." It's an incredible, true story that takes place in Germany during World War II - but has nothing to do with the Holocaust or Jewish persecution. We'll be doing a reading on Cape Cod this summer, and I'm really excited about 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: When I was in elementary school, I loved musical theatre. All I wanted to do was to sing and perform. But the school music teacher hated me. She was never encouraging; in fact, she was the opposite. Once when I was cast in a production, she told me to mouth the worlds during group numbers because my singing voice wasn't strong enough (I was 9).
Then she retired and a new music teacher came in. Not only was he encouraging, but he thought I was talented - and was soon giving me tons of solos and opportunities to perform.
It's a lesson that's been relevant to almost every aspect of my life: one person's trash is another person's treasure. And if someone doesn't like you, there is probably someone else out there who does.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: That there were more opportunities for us to do what we love as a full-time occupation - whether it's act, write, direct, etc. Most people I know (even the very successful ones) are always hustling to find time and money to do these things...
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: I don't want to sound cliche, but I am constantly inspired by everyone I know who is still pursuing a career in theatre despite every reason in the world not to.
Seeing other people continue to write, act, and produce their own work in the face of an industry that is constantly telling so many people that they shouldn't be doing this truly inspires me - almost every day.
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: I've read this blog many times - and people have given so many great answers to this question. I'm also, of course, starting out myself.
Among the advice that has stayed with me: rejection (even lots of it) doesn't mean your work is meritless; spend as much time as possible thinking about things outside the industry; don't give up - the only way you are guaranteed to fail is if you stop trying.
And the best piece of advice I ever got is the one I was most resistant to: don't wait for others to give you opportunities, make them yourself. It's hard - but incredibly worth it.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: BROKEN runs from April 9-26 starring Broadway's Michael Pemberton (who you'll see a lot on "Veep" this season).
All details are at www.BrokenThePlay.com . If the the subject matter interests you, come join us - and please say hi after. My favorite part of working in the theatre is meeting people in the community.
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