Featured Post

1100 Playwright Interviews

1100 Playwright Interviews A Sean Abley Rob Ackerman E.E. Adams Johnna Adams Liz Duffy Adams Tony Adams David Adjmi Keith Josef Adkins Nicc...

Stageplays.com

Jul 2, 2017

I Interview Playwrights Part 961: Stacie Lents




Stacie Lents

Hometown: I'm originally from St. Louis, MO, but I also lived in London (UK) for a bit as a kid.

Current Town: Manhattan (Harlem), though I teach in New Jersey (at Fairleigh Dickinson University).

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I just finished a play, Run-On Sentence, which was a commission from Prison Performing Arts. It was one of the most revelatory and inspiring experiences of my life, never mind my playwriting career. PPA flew me to Missouri where I had the chance to spend time in the Women's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in Vandalia. I worked with and interviewed a group of twelve women felons and, although the play is fictional, it was inspired by their experiences. The women were some of the most generous collaborators I've ever worked with; they were particularly generous with the truth. Check out more info at http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/new-drama-unfolds-vandalia-womens-facility-thanks-expanded-prison-performing-arts#stream/0. I was also given developmental support for the play by Writers Theatre of New Jersey/New Jersey Women Playwrights Project and Fairleigh Dickinson University, where the play was workshopped with performances by a tremendous student cast and crew in April. The play will be performed through SATE Ensemble Theatre in St. Louis in 2018.

I also just finished a short play commission from Project Y Theatre as part of their WIT (Women in Theatre) Festival. http://www.projectytheatre.org/ 

For The Hrosvitha Project, four women playwrights were asked to adapt a play written by Hrosvitha, the first known woman playwright, writing in the middle ages. My play, BRIGHT PRESENCE, was part of that project. 
 
Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person. 

A:  In first grade, I dressed up as Juliet for Halloween. I was very excited about it. My mom and I even made a headpiece out of what I think was a yamacha and some tulle from a ballet skirt. I looked the part. All day long, people kept complimenting me on my "princess" costume. I was furious. I never trick-or-treated as a Shakespearean heroine again. Instead, I went as Brainy Smurf. Head to toe blue makeup. 

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

A:  I'd get more people to more theatre more often. I don't want to live in a world where people can't actually talk to each other "IRL." In this Twitter Age, it's important that we keep life LIVE. Theatre is an essential way of doing that. 
 
Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 

A:  Ohhhhh, let's see. Geraldine Page, August Wilson, José Quintero, Rebecca Gilman, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Rachel Chavkin, Carolyn Cantor, Bill Esper, Kevin Kittle, Theresa Rebeck, Uta Hagen, Richard Hopkins, many others...

Q:  What kind of theater excites you? 

A:  I like theatre (and television and film) which magnifies voices that might otherwise go unheard. I believe theatre can do some real heavy-lifting, particularly in today's social and political climate. We have to believe that every human being has a perspective worthy of being seen; theatre has a unique way of making that clear through the combination of comedy and drama and by showing rather than telling or lecturing. I would definitely say I appreciate comedy; whether it's a farce or a comedic moment in a dramatic piece, a sense of humor excites me. I think one of the most remarkable things about human beings is the way we are able to laugh about the experiences that are most painful...and I think nothing brings an audience together quite like laughter. 
 
Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out? 

A:  My best advice may sound obvious: be nice; say thank you; be kind to peers and colleagues in your field; compliment other people on work you admire; when you can't pay actors, find other ways to compensate them (free pizza always goes a long way); find ways to support other artists' work. "Networking" is something we talk about a lot in this industry and it's really important, but the more you can connect from a sincere place, the more the connections will pay off. After all, before "network" was a sexy verb, it was a noun, meaning a group of people intertwined by a spiderweb of interest--in this case, a net of plays and theatrical passion. I was recently talking to a gifted playwright, Jack MacCarthy, who said that part of being successful as a playwright is "knowing your people." And he's right.  Theatre is collaborative, so why shouldn't writers collaborate even before our work hits the stage.

Q:  When not writing on a computer, what's your go-to paper and writing utensil? 

A:   Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I write wherever is handy. I have pieces of dialogue and portions of scenes in the backs of paperback novels I happened to be reading and on receipts and post-it notes I found at the bottom of my bag. Of course, now that I actually use the "notes" feature on my phone, I deface fewer bibliographies and end up with fewer weird stacks of tiny paper.
I prefer to write with pen, preferably roller ball (my husband got me hooked), but I'm not picky; I'll use pencil or sharpie, or even crayon if I'm really stuck.

Q:  When on computer, what's your font? 

A:  Arial Narrow, except when I'm using Final Draft, which I leave on its default setting (Courier Final Draft, I think).

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Check out my published plays at https://www.playscripts.com/find-a-play?keyword=stacie+lents

Watch out for the next iterations of Run-On Sentence.
For the next production, visit http://prisonartsstl.or/ or http://slightlyoff.org/ in 2018.

@StacieLents


PLAYS BY STACIE:


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter Your Email To Have New Blog Posts Sent To You

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Support The Blog
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mailing list to be invited to Adam's events
Email:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam's Patreon

Books by Adam (Amazon)

3 comments:

walatra propolis said...

thanks good your article

obat wasir said...

WASIR atau biasa kita sebut AMBEIEN merupakan salah satu kondisi dimana terjadi suatu tonjolan dari anus yang disertai dengan tanda secara umum BAB BERDARAH, PERIH
Obat Wasir

gejala dan tanda darah tinggi said...


Semoga bermanfaat artikel yang Anda bagikan.
Gejala Darah Tinggi
Tanda Darah Tinggi Naik