325 Playwright Interviews (alphabetically)

Rob Ackerman
Liz Duffy Adams
Johnna Adams
Tony Adams 
David Adjmi
Derek Ahonen
Zakiyyah Alexander
Luis Alfaro
Lucy Alibar
Joshua Allen
Mando Alvarado 
Sofia Alvarez
Terence Anthony
Alice Austen 
Elaine Avila   
Rachel Axler
Bianca Bagatourian   
Annie Baker
Trista Baldwin
Jennifer Barclay 
Courtney Baron
Abi Basch 
Mike Batistick 
Brian Bauman
Chad Beckim
Nikole Beckwith 
Maria Alexandria Beech 
Alan Berks
Brooke Berman
Susan Bernfield
Jay Bernzweig
Barton Bishop
Martin Blank  
Lee Blessing
Jonathan Blitstein
Adam Bock
Jerrod Bogard
Emily Bohannon
Rachel Bonds
Margot Bordelon
Deron Bos
Hannah Bos
Leslie Bramm
Jami Brandli
George Brant
Tim Braun
Delaney Britt Brewer
Erin Browne
Bekah Brunstetter
Sheila Callaghan
Darren Canady
Ruben Carbajal
Ed Cardona, Jr.
Jonathan Caren
Aaron Carter
James Carter 
David Caudle
Eugenie Chan 
Clay McLeod Chapman
Christopher Chen
Jason Chimonides  
Andrea Ciannavei
Eliza Clark
Alexis Clements  
Alexandra Collier
James Comtois
Joshua Conkel
Kara Lee Corthron
Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas
Erin Courtney
Cusi Cram
Lisa D'Amour
Heidi Darchuk
Stacy Davidowitz
Philip Dawkins
Dylan Dawson
Gabriel Jason Dean
Vincent Delaney
Emily DeVoti
Kristoffer Diaz
Jessica Dickey
Dan Dietz
Lisa Dillman
Zayd Dohrn
Bathsheba Doran
Anton Dudley
Laura Eason
Fielding Edlow
Erik Ehn
Yussef El Guindi
Libby Emmons
Christine Evans 
Jennifer Fawcett 
Joshua Fardon
Catherine Filloux   
Kenny Finkle
Stephanie Fleischmann
Kate Fodor 
Sam Forman
Kevin R. Free
Matthew Freeman
Edith Freni
Patrick Gabridge 
Anne Garcia-Romero
Gary Garrison 
Madeleine George
Meg Gibson
Sigrid Gilmer 
Peter Gil-Sheridan
Gina Gionfriddo
Michael Golamco
Jessica Goldberg
Daniel Goldfarb
Jacqueline Goldfinger
Jeff Goode
Christina Gorman
Craig "muMs" Grant
Katharine Clark Gray
Elana Greenfield   
Kirsten Greenidge
Jason Grote
Sarah Gubbins
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Lauren Gunderson 
Jennifer Haley
Ashlin Halfnight   
Christina Ham
Sarah Hammond
Rob Handel
Jordan Harrison
Leslye Headland
Ann Marie Healy
Julie Hebert 
Marielle Heller
Amy Herzog
Andrew Hinderaker
Cory Hinkle
Richard Martin Hirsch
Lucas Hnath
David Holstein
J. Holtham
Quiara Alegria Hudes 
Les Hunter
Sam Hunter
Chisa Hutchinson
Arlene Hutton
Laura Jacqmin
Joshua James
Julia Jarcho
Kyle Jarrow
Karla Jennings
David Johnston
Nick Jones
Julia Jordan
Rajiv Joseph
Aditi Brennan Kapil
Lila Rose Kaplan  
Jeremy Kareken 
Lally Katz
Lynne Kaufman
Daniel Keene 
Karinne Keithley 
Greg Keller
Sibyl Kempson 
Anna Kerrigan
Kait Kerrigan
Boo Killebrew
Callie Kimball
Johnny Klein 
Krista Knight
Andrea Kuchlewska
Larry Kunofsky
Deborah Zoe Laufer 
J. C. Lee
Young Jean Lee
Dan LeFranc
Andrea Lepcio
Victor Lesniewski 
Steven Levenson
Barry Levey
Mark Harvey Levine  
Michael Lew
EM Lewis
Sean Christopher Lewis
Jeff Lewonczyk
Kenneth Lin
David J. Loehr 
Matthew Lopez
Stacey Luftig
Kirk Lynn
Mariah MacCarthy
Laura Lynn MacDonald
Maya Macdonald
Cheri Magid
Jennifer Maisel
Martyna Majok 
Kara Manning
Ellen Margolis
Ruth Margraff
Sam Marks
Tarell Alvin McCraney
Daniel McCoy 
Ruth McKee
James McManus
Charlotte Meehan
Carly Mensch
Molly Smith Metzler
Charlotte Miller
Winter Miller
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Yusef Miller 
Rehana Mirza
Michael Mitnick
Anna Moench
Honor Molloy  
Alejandro Morales
Desi Moreno-Penson
Dominique Morisseau
Itamar Moses
Gregory Moss
Megan Mostyn-Brown
Paul Mullin
Julie Marie Myatt
Janine Nabers
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Brett Neveu
Qui Nguyen
Don Nigro
Dan O'Brien
Matthew Paul Olmos 
Dominic Orlando
Rich Orloff
Marisela Treviño Orta

Jamie Pachino
Kristen Palmer
Tira Palmquist
A. Rey Pamatmat
Kyoung H. Park

Peter Parnell
Julia Pascal
Steve Patterson
christopher oscar peña
Brian Polak 
Daria Polatin
Chana Porter
Craig Pospisil
Jessica Provenz
Michael Puzzo
Adam Rapp  
Theresa Rebeck
Amber Reed
Daniel Reitz
Molly Rice
Mac Rogers
Elaine Romero
Lynn Rosen
Andrew Rosendorf
Kim Rosenstock
Kate E. Ryan
Kate Moira Ryan
Trav S.D.
Sarah Sander
Tanya Saracho
Heidi Schreck
August Schulenburg
Mark Schultz
Jenny Schwartz
Emily Schwend
Jordan Seavey
Christopher Shinn
Rachel Shukert
Jen Silverman
David Simpatico 
Blair Singer
Crystal Skillman
Mat Smart
Alena Smith
Tommy Smith
Ben Snyder
Lisa Soland
Peggy Stafford 
Saviana Stanescu
Nick Starr
Deborah Stein
Jon Steinhagen
Victoria Stewart
Andrea Stolowitz
Gary Sunshine
Caridad Svich
Jeffrey Sweet
Adam Szymkowicz
Daniel Talbott
Kate Tarker 
Roland Tec 
Lucy Thurber
Paul Thureen
Josh Tobiessen 
Dan Trujillo
Alice Tuan
Jon Tuttle
Ken Urban
Enrique Urueta
Francine Volpe
Kathryn Walat
Michael I. Walker 
Malachy Walsh
Kathleen Warnock
Anne Washburn
Marisa Wegrzyn
Anthony Weigh   
Ken Weitzman
Sharr White
Claire Willett
Samuel Brett Williams
Beau Willimon
Pia Wilson
Gary Winter
Stanton Wood
Craig Wright
Deborah Yarchun
Lauren Yee
Steve Yockey
Kelly Younger
Stefanie Zadravec
Anna Ziegler

325 Playwright Interviews

Daniel Keene
James Carter
Josh Tobiessen
Victor Lesniewski
Abi Basch
Matthew Paul Olmos
Stephanie Fleischmann
Chana Porter
Elana Greenfield 
Eugenie Chan
Roland Tec 
Jeff Goode
Elaine Avila 
Ashlin Halfnight 
Charlotte Meehan 
Marisela Treviño Orta
Quiara Alegria Hudes
Kait Kerrigan
Bianca Bagatourian 
Kyoung H. Park
Honor Molloy
Anna Moench 
Martin Blank
Paul Thureen
Yusef Miller
Lauren Gunderson
Jennifer Fawcett
Andrea Kuchlewska
A. Rey Pamatmat
Sean Christopher Lewis
Rachel Bonds
Lynn Rosen
Jennifer Barclay
Peggy Stafford
James McManus
Philip Dawkins
Jen Silverman
Lally Katz
Anne Garcia-Romero
Tony Adams
christopher oscar peña
Lynne Kaufman
David J. Loehr
Julie Hebert
Aditi Brennan Kapil
Elaine Romero
Alexis Clements
Lila Rose Kaplan
Barry Levey
Michael I. Walker

Maya Macdonald
Mando Alvarado
Adam Rapp
Eliza Clark
Margot Bordelon
Ben Snyder
Emily Bohannon
Cheri Magid
Jason Chimonides 
Karinne Keithley
Rich Orloff
David Simpatico
Deborah Zoe Laufer
Brian Polak
Kate Fodor
Sibyl Kempson
Gary Garrison
Saviana Stanescu
Brian Bauman
Mark Harvey Levine
Lisa Soland
Sigrid Gilmer
Anthony Weigh 
Maria Alexandria Beech
Catherine Filloux 
Jordan Harrison
Alexandra Collier
Jessica Goldberg
Nick Starr
Young Jean Lee
Christina Gorman
Ruth McKee
Johnny Klein
Leslie Bramm
Jennifer Maisel
Jon Steinhagen
Leslye Headland
Kate Tarker
David Holstein
Trav S.D.
Chad Beckim
Ruben Carbajal
Martyna Majok
Sam Marks
Stacy Davidowitz 
Molly Rice
Julia Pascal
Yussef El Guindi
Meg Gibson
Daniel McCoy
Amber Reed
Joshua Fardon
Dan O'Brien
Jonathan Blitstein
Dominique Morisseau
Fielding Edlow
Joshua Allen
Peter Gil-Sheridan
Tira Palmquist
Sarah Hammond
Charlotte Miller
Deborah Yarchun
Anna Kerrigan
Luis Alfaro
Jonathan Caren
Jennifer Haley
Sofia Alvarez
Kevin R. Free
Ken Weitzman
Michael Golamco
J. C. Lee
Ruth Margraff
Kirk Lynn
Tanya Saracho
Daria Polatin 
Delaney Britt Brewer
Alice Tuan
Alice Austen
Jeffrey Sweet
Dan LeFranc
Andrew Hinderaker
Brett Neveu
Christine Evans
Jon Tuttle
Nikole Beckwith
Andrea Lepcio
Gregory Moss
Hannah Bos
Steven Levenson
Molly Smith Metzler
Matthew Lopez
Lee Blessing
Joshua James
Chisa Hutchinson
Rob Ackerman
Janine Nabers
Cory Hinkle
Stefanie Zadravec
Michael Mitnick
Jordan Seavey
Andrew Rosendorf
Don Nigro
Barton Bishop
Peter Parnell
Gary Sunshine
Emily DeVoti
Kenny Finkle
Kate Moira Ryan
Sam Hunter
Johnna Adams
Katharine Clark Gray
Laura Eason
David Caudle
Jacqueline Goldfinger
Christopher Chen
Craig Pospisil
Jessica Provenz
Deron Bos
Sarah Sander
Zakiyyah Alexander
Kate E. Ryan
Susan Bernfield
Karla Jennings
Jami Brandli
Kenneth Lin
Heidi Darchuk
Kathleen Warnock
Beau Willimon
Greg Keller
Les Hunter
Anton Dudley
Aaron Carter
Jerrod Bogard
Emily Schwend
Courtney Baron
Craig "muMs" Grant
Amy Herzog
Stacey Luftig
Vincent Delaney
Kathryn Walat
Paul Mullin
Kirsten Greenidge
Derek Ahonen
Francine Volpe
Julie Marie Myatt
Lauren Yee
Richard Martin Hirsch
Ed Cardona, Jr.
Terence Anthony
Alena Smith
Gabriel Jason Dean
Sharr White
Michael Lew
Craig Wright
Laura Jacqmin
Stanton Wood
Jamie Pachino
Boo Killebrew
Daniel Reitz
Alan Berks
Erik Ehn
Krista Knight
Steve Yockey
Desi Moreno-Penson
Andrea Stolowitz
Clay McLeod Chapman
Kelly Younger
Lisa Dillman
Ellen Margolis
Claire Willett
Lucy Alibar
Nick Jones
Dylan Dawson
Pia Wilson
Theresa Rebeck
Me
Arlene Hutton
Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas
Lucas Hnath
Enrique Urueta
Tarell Alvin McCraney
Anne Washburn
Julia Jarcho
Lisa D'Amour
Rajiv Joseph
Carly Mensch
Marielle Heller
Larry Kunofsky
Edith Freni
Tommy Smith
Jeremy Kareken
Rob Handel
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Kara Manning
Libby Emmons
Adam Bock
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Liz Duffy Adams
Winter Miller
Jenny Schwartz
Kristen Palmer
Patrick Gabridge
Mike Batistick
Mariah MacCarthy
Jay Bernzweig
Gina Gionfriddo
Darren Canady
Alejandro Morales
Ann Marie Healy
Christopher Shinn
Sam Forman
Erin Courtney
Gary Winter
J. Holtham
Caridad Svich
Samuel Brett Williams
Trista Baldwin
Mat Smart
Bathsheba Doran
August Schulenburg
Jeff Lewonczyk
Rehana Mirza
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
David Johnston
Dan Dietz
Mark Schultz
Lucy Thurber
George Brant
Brooke Berman
Julia Jordan
Joshua Conkel
Kyle Jarrow
Christina Ham
Rachel Axler
Laura Lynn MacDonald
Steve Patterson
Erin Browne
Annie Baker
Crystal Skillman
Blair Singer
Daniel Goldfarb
Heidi Schreck
Itamar Moses
EM Lewis
Bekah Brunstetter
Mac Rogers
Cusi Cram
Michael Puzzo
Megan Mostyn-Brown
Andrea Ciannavei
Sarah Gubbins
Kim Rosenstock
Tim Braun
Rachel Shukert
Kristoffer Diaz
Jason Grote
Dan Trujillo
Marisa Wegrzyn
Ken Urban
Callie Kimball
Deborah Stein
Qui Nguyen
Victoria Stewart
Malachy Walsh
Jessica Dickey
Kara Lee Corthron
Zayd Dohrn
Madeleine George
Sheila Callaghan
Daniel Talbott
David Adjmi
Dominic Orlando
Matthew Freeman
Anna Ziegler
James Comtois

I Interview Playwrights Part 325: Daniel Keene

Daniel Keene

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia.

Current Town: Melbourne, Australia.

Q:  Tell me about The Killing Room.

A:  The play was commissioned by One Year Lease. My brief was simply to write something based on the story of Thyestes. I focused my work on the idea that tyranny devours its own. I imagined a world in which oppression had triumphed, where there was no one left to resist the cruelty and dominance of the ruling elite. And yet these rulers still have the urge, the desire to dominate. The only victims that remain are themselves. They devour each other.

Q:  What else are you working on?

A:  I am currently writing a play (another commission) for the Melbourne Theatre Company, who premiered a play of mine at last year’s Melbourne International Arts Festival. Once that’s finished, I will be starting work on an adaptation of Goethe’s Faust for Theatre de la Commune in Paris.

Q:  How would you characterize Australian theater?

A:  Energetic, intelligent, highly skilled, adventurous. There is a strong European influence in Australian theatre, and quite a few of our major directors often work in Europe. Indigenous theatre has established a strong place in the culture and continues to grow and exert its influence. We have an extremely strong design culture (lighting, set design and sound) that sets the bar very high. The best Australian theatre (and there is a lot of the best) is fearless, with very broad horizons. I know I’m painting a very rosy picture, but I genuinely believe that at this moment in time Australian theatre is some of the best you’ll see anywhere in the world. A generational change is happening. There are young, well-trained and highly skilled artists working in all aspects of theatre; and they are connected to each other through a generous culture of exchange and debate.

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

A:  The theatre needs to attract a younger audience; it needs to speak to the desires and the concerns of young people. And it needs to be brave enough to confront the brutalities and hypocrisies of the contemporary world. These things are happening, but they need to keep happening.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  The list is long, and various. Here are a few: Beckett, Pinter, Mamet, Miller, Chekhov, Kroetz, Fosse, Churchill, Kane, Ibsen, Shakespeare, Brecht, Barker, Koltés, Müller . . . .

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theatre where something ‘happens’, that is part of my experience of reality not an escape from it. Theatre that effects the emotions and the intellect.

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

A:  Read plays, anything you can get your hands on, read plays continuously. And read poetry, of every kind. Go to the theatre as often as you can, see every kind of theatre that you can, including dance

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  
theatrenotes.blogspot.com will tell you everything you need to know about Australian theatre.

I Interview Playwrights Part 324: James Carter

James Carter

Hometown: Canton, IL

Current Town: Brooklyn, NY

Q:  Tell me about Feeder.

A:  “Feeder: A Love Story” reveals Jesse & Noel, who meet online, fall in love and get married. They share in a lifestyle called feederism. Typically, one partner feeds and assists the other partner in gaining weight. It’s sexually stimulating for both, and it’s a fringe subculture struggling to obtain acceptance. The play is about communication, acceptance, media, and of course, love.

The play is a transmedia storytelling experience told on multiple platforms – stage, blogs and Twitter. The audience can visit http://www.jessennoel.blogspot.com before the show (or after) to find out more about the characters.

It’s a leap of faith to depart from a traditional play format, but so far it seems to be working. People from feederism blogs, groups of transmedia storytellers, and theatergoers are all attending the show, which means we’re expanding terraNOVA Collective’s (http://www.terranovacollective.org) audience base and web traffic.

Q:  What else are you working on?

A:  I’m researching for a play about memes, or memetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme). It’s a time consuming process asking questions like: What is creativity? Do we drive it, or does it drive us? Is there free will? Light stuff.

Transmedia storytelling will certainly be an aspect of it, but I’m not sure in what fashion, yet. The stage play/experience is at the center, and then I’ll build the other media elements once the story is firm.

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 high school, I wrote poetry, plays, and short stories. Once, I created this teenage wet dream fantasy playboy short story featuring all my friends as characters. More like bizzaro versions of my friends. It was episodic, and I even illustrated a few comic panels. It was dirty, uninhibited and extreme. I wrote a new chapter every day, and I read it to my friends at lunch. We all sat around howling at the sophomoric silliness, and my friends couldn’t wait for the next chapter the following day. It was the first time I entertained with my writing.

My parents found the notebook containing the story, and they were mortified. I grew up in a very conservative household, and I didn’t do anything “bad” – no drinking, no drugs, and no breaking curfew. I created the story to act out all the badness I wanted to be. The shame I had when my parents confronted me about the story was intense. I understood why they were so angry, but I didn’t understand what was wrong with what I wrote.

Something cracked open in me that day – people aren’t always going to like what I write. They might be offended, they might be angered, but there are others who will wait eagerly for the next chapter. Those are the people for whom I write.

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

A:  Every artist, administrator, and laborer would be paid what they’re worth.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  I have tons of theatre makers I admire: Athol Fugard, Diane Paulus, Jordan Roth, Danny Hoch, Lily Tomlin, and Scott Morfee.

However, the true theatrical heroes of the world are people like my mother, Ilene Carter, who taught high school theatre for years. All teachers who work to instill love of the arts and cultivate the next generation of artists are my heroes. We need to make arts education a priority.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  If I laugh, cry, re-think my morals or want to dance, I’m over the moon. The audience should be involved with the process. If the audience is on stage with the performers, awesome. If the audience can interact with characters before and after the theatrical experience, stellar. Theatre has roots in religious rites, yet now it is spectacle for tourists and star-gazers. Theatre should be communal. The cult of personality dominates theatre, and we need to return to an experiential congregation where theatre makers move, challenge and delight the audience.

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

A:  It’s a fickle business, and you’ll rarely make a living as a playwright. Think seriously about this. If you want to make money, don’t write plays. My parents told me this when I was young. I didn’t believe them. They were right. Write plays because you love it.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  “Feeder: A Love Story” runs 3/7-3/26/11 at HERE
Begin the story: http://jessennoel.blogspot.com
Tickets: http://here.org/shows/detail/453/

terraNOVA Collective: http://www.terranovacollective.org

Website: http://www.onemuse.com

Blog: http://one-muse.blogspot.com/

I Interview Playwrights Part 323: Josh Tobiessen

Josh Tobiessen

Hometown:  Schenectady, NY

Current Town:  Brooklyn, NY

Q:  Tell me about your show at Alliance.

A:  ‘Spoon Lake Blues’ is a comedy about two brothers living in a small lake town in the mountains, two white guys, who start robbing their wealthy summer neighbors to try to save the house that they grew up in. One of the brothers falls in love with the daughter of an African American family that they’ve robbed and tries to start up a relationship with her and things get a little wacky from there.

I started writing this play a few years ago when I was living alone in a cabin in the woods for a few months. The town that I was living in had a mix of locals and summer residents and I found the differences between these two groups really interesting. This was also the summer of Obama’s presidential run and the collapse of the economy so all these things affected what I was writing. Including the fact that the plumbing in the cabin started backing up.

Q:  What else are you working on?

A:  I’m working on a large cast comedy called ‘Crashing the Party’, which is about a family business that’s going belly up. As the family tries to throw a birthday party for the father, he’s trying to escape the country before the cops show up. I was really interested in exploring our country’s financial collapse in a way that didn’t let anyone off the hook. All kinds of chaos ensues but I think it has a lot of heart too. I’m doing my best to channel the zany vibe of the Kaufman and Hart comedies while keeping the subject matter current.

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

A:  Once when I was kid my family and a friend’s family went on a camping trip together somewhere in the Adirondacks. Near our campsite my friend and I found an entrance to a Gnome house. We were smart enough to know that this hole in the ground was a Gnome residence because I had recently read the book “Gnomes” by Wil Nuygen, which had pages of helpful illustrations about how Gnomes lived. So my friend and I spent the day making a crude barn for the Gnomes out of sticks from the forest and covered the roof with fern leaves. Then, to secure our position as leading Gnome benefactors we collected a small pile of acorns and left them as a gift outside the entrance to their humble residence. The next morning the pile of acorns had disappeared (obviously removed to their underground food pantry) and the Gnomes had left for us two tiny wooden swords to show their appreciation for out generosity. We were absolutely thrilled. We played with those swords all morning until my friend got a little over zealous and tried to cut through one of the ropes holding up the rain tarp. The sword broke. He was crushed. Fortunately (and this was how cool my dad was) my dad was able to quickly whittle a pretty good approximation of a Gnome sword to replace the real one that my friend had broke. It was actually amazing how closely it resembled an actual Gnome sword. But still, it was just a replica, and I had the real thing.

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

A:  All playwrights would get a six-figure salary and a unicorn.

There are a ton of things that people talk about changing in theater but I don’t know how many of them are realistic. Playwrights don’t get enough money because there are so many playwrights out there dying for a production (in a neighborhood full of middle school kids you can’t make much money mowing lawns). The normal rules of capitalism don’t apply because we do something that not enough people care about. Most professional theater in this country happens thanks to a small number of generous individuals who pay a lot of their own money to make it happen. I guess if I were going to change one thing about theater it would be that I would convince our benefactors to focus more on supporting the art rather than the architecture of theater. We get these massive architectural spaces with people’s names on them, but if they are just filled with dusty old plays then what are we really contributing to our nation’s theatrical future? Maybe we keep the old theater space but you get to put your name on a decent size play commission? Or a new play festival. Or a residency. This is happening in a few places, but I think that theater companies need to continue getting creative when someone comes to them with a big check.

That felt more like half of a thing I would change so here’s something else. I think we need figure out how to make theater cool for more people. This is hard because theatre people aren’t used to being cool except around other theatre people. You hear complaints (maybe once or twice from me) that no one wants to leave their homes anymore what with computers and televisions, but they leave their homes for music concerts and sporting events. Why? Because they like being in a crowd but also they have a pretty good idea that they’re going to like what they see. I think that theatres need to do a better job of branding themselves and creating a distinct aesthetic vision rather then trying to keep everyone happy. You go and buy the new Radiohead album (imagine for a second that you’re a Radiohead fan) if you liked what they’ve done before and you trust that their next album is also going run in a similar aesthetic vein. This isn’t saying that theatres need to do the same thing over and over again, and it isn’t saying that audiences need to go to the same theatre all the time. But audiences need a theatre that they can trust, that they can become fans of, that they can confidently tell their friends about, and that produces plays that they can’t wait to see. Theaters need to generate that kind of deserved loyalty from a core group of passionate audience members and stop worrying about making everyone sort of happy some of the time. Passionate audience members will attract new audience members with their passion, which is what we all want. Some places are already good at doing this and they’re usually the theatres that people get really excited about.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Stage managers.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I need to be surprised somehow, which sometimes means swinging on cables over an audience (I’m sorry haters, but there were some very exciting moments in Spider-man) and sometimes means making me laugh out loud. But it’s not all death defiance and punch lines, plays can also be intellectually or philosophically surprising (as long as they don’t beat me over the head with their superior world view). If I’m watching a play and I know where it’s going, or if I don’t care where it’s going, then I just feel bad for all those people in the audience who paid full price for tickets. An exciting play keeps me on my toes and activates me as an audience member.

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

A:  Every playwright has taken a completely different route to get where they are today so stop comparing yourself to other writers. Just keep writing, keep making meaningful connections with directors and people who produce plays, and try to write plays that aren’t boring.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A: 
Spoon Lake Blues at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta. Previews start April 1st. Davis McCallum is directing, we have a great cast and it’s going to be a fun show.

I Interview Playwrights Part 322: Victor Lesniewski

 
Photo credit: Joshua Bright for The New York Times

Victor Lesniewski

Hometown: Torrington, CT

Current Town: Brooklyn, NY

Q:  Tell me about Where Bison Run.

A:  I wanted to write a play exploring the political situation in Belarus. We really only hear about it in our media when there's an election (like in December of 2010) and then it's only in the news cycle a couple of days and everyone here forgets all about it again, for years until the next election. Plus all we get is coverage skewed toward those protesting the restrictions on their civil liberties. Not that this is all bad. The more coverage on a global scale for them the better. But these protestors are a small part of the country's population and this kind of coverage does seem to be lacking in a deeper analysis of what the population as a whole is experiencing in that country. Calling a thinly veiled dictatorship out for what it is is fine, but we must also accept that those people in power are very good at what they do and that the average Belarusian is not veiwing his/her life through the same lense we are. The majority of Belarusians support their government because they've seen improvements in their standard of living compared to what came before. Not even assuming that we have any right to do so, but asking the question anyway, how do we approach a whole country of people who see their lives as improving over time and attempt to convince them that they are actually lacking in certain key civil liberties that may lead to an even better livelihood? Not only this, but when taking into consideration an area of the world where the land itself has been trampled upon by such a variety of people and nations over various extended periods of time, how do we expect one nation to unify itself and prosper? And how could this happen without an extremely strong organized government force? I am in no way defending the crimes committed against the civil liberties of the citizens of Belarus, but simply asking, if we are going to look on with what we feel is justified horror for a couple of days every few years, don't we owe it to ourselves to investigate the real issues at hand in the country everday on a more social, economic, and cultural level? Isn't their more to be gained by trying to understand the country's people than by simply disavowing the country as a whole due to its government?

And if all that sounds really boring, well, the play is also about hockey. I'm a big hockey fan and the sport is huge in Belarus, so it seemed like a natural way in to exploring the politics from a more personal level.

The play just had a reading at Ars Nova which was really tremendous. The cast's wealth of talent was completely unreal. I know Adam and many others out there know this already, but Ars Nova is such a great place to work. In addition to featuring powers that be who are really intelligent and great with new work, the community overall is fantastic. The shows that go up there are in such a wide range of styles. They embrace new and exciting work no matter what it looks like and that really helps build relationships among artists/musicians/performers from all walks of life.

Q:  What else are you working on?

A:  I have another play that had a public reading a few months ago. It's called Cloven Tongues. It's set in a small town in upstate New York and deals with an immigrant woman with an unknown past who gets picked up at the Canadian border for running drugs. A priest and a social worker take her in and try to figure out how best to help her. Like Bison it has a certain global element to it where American characters come into contact with someone from a culture they may not completely understand. In the end though, this play is also about those American characters and for what reasons we in this country sometimes go about trying to help others.

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'm not sure if high school can be considered childhood. I know when I was in high school, I certainly didn't consider it so, but... In high school I was lucky enough to go on a class theatrical outing and see Long Wharf's production of David Rabe's A Question of Mercy. This was when Doug Hughes was there. The production was brilliant and the play really struck a chord with me. It was such a political play yet it was completely personal and heart wrenching. It examined and considered very big questions without lecturing. It was truly powerful and inspiring. At that point I thought, if theatre can do that, that's what I want to do.

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

A:  Creating more opportunities for playwrights to have their work produced on a professional (not just do-it-yourself) level. There is so much creative talent in NYC when you look at all of the directors and actors both working and not working. I think the city could support even more theatres, productions, etc on a very high level. Of course all this comes back around to the ability to actually produce at that level. So I suppose a variety of things would have to change, we'd be talking about growing younger audiences, finding production dollars, etc. I have an infinite amount of respect for those people who are already taking up these tasks on a day to day basis. Theatre administrators and staffs (not just in NYC, but across the country) have dedicated their lives and livelihoods to fighting a very difficult war and they are truly heroic.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Gorky, Chekhov, Havel, Pirandello.
Rabe, Shinn, Baitz, Sorkin.
Beckett, Artaud, the Italian Futurists.
Dostoevsky, Calvino, Faulkner.
Etc.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  New plays. Plays that deal directly with where we are right now as people, or as a culture, or as a world. Plays that deal with our humanity on a global scale.

And given the subject matter of Bison I'd be remiss not to add my admiration for the Belarus Free Theater. They make a kind of political theatre that I don't know I would approach myself, but that is very powerful, poignant, and very necessary given the current circumstances under which they operate. With members who have been arrested, beaten, and chased underground (and I'm sure that's only part of the story), it is simply amazing what these people have sacrificed in the name of art and freedom.

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

A:  Go see new plays. Successful artistic communities have always thrived when contemporary artists are in conversation with one another through their work.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  My girlfriend just happens to be the incredibly gifted playwright Janine Nabers. Her play Annie Bosh Is Missing is going to Sundance this spring. So keep an eye out for that one when it gets back to NYC and anything else with her name on it. For more info on Janine, check out Part 180 of this blog. Yes, that's right, I just plugged the blog from inside the blog...

I Interview Playwrights Part 321: Abi Basch

Abi Basch

Hometown: New York City

Current Town: San Francisco (by way of Austin, Minneapolis and Berlin)

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  Arctic Circles, a new play I am developing with my company (Kinderdeutsch Projekts). We recently got a grant from the Creative Work Fund for its 2012 premiere with Climate Theater, so now everything is about the geographic challenges of gathering the international lot of us for rehearsals, planning and production. This summer we will meet at Odin Theater in Holstebro, Denmark to do a development workshop with the magical Else Marie Laukvik. The first draft is done and I am hammering away at draft two with my dramaturg/genius Duca Knezevic. Then the very brilliant Paula Matthusen, electroacoustic composer/installation artist, will take over and transform the piece into some uncanny, frosty landscape in time for the summer workshop. I am hugely excited to start working with the group of collaborating artists, which includes German scholar extraordinaire Caroline Weist and my very bizarre and beloved actors from Kinderdeutsch Projekts Molly Shaiken, Thorsten Bihegue and Stefanie Fiedler. Did I butter my collaborators with enough compliments? I don't think so. They really are incredible.

I've also been doing dance dramaturgy, most recently for a piece by Tiit Helimets for the Estonian Ballet premiering this October. And I'm starting to write screenplays -- short form to warm up, now heading into a feature length. I sucked it up and bought Final Draft and let me tell you the part of the program that makes your computer read your plays back in crazy robot voices is well worth the investment.

Q:  Tell me about kInDeRdEuTsCh pRoJeKtS. How do you create work together?

A:  I write the scripts (either from scratch or in response to actor explorations) then cut the hell out of them to make room for movement. Then we all get together for lengthy processes to uncover the unique (dark, deranged, comical) movement, visual and sound worlds of the play. I rewrite the scripts in response, we carve out the worlds' specifics in response, and then we premiere. Then we tour.

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 father used to blast 8-tracks of South Pacific on family roadtrips and sing along at full volume. This is probably the origin of my love for theater. How this became experimental physical theater is a mystery of my brain and its dark sense of humor. It could have to do with my profound wish to dance and sing in the face of atrocity - actually that sums up my aesthetic pretty well.

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

A:  I wouldn't. It is the perfect experience of being most alive in a room of strangers, especially in the 21st c. However, if I could change one thing about theater in the US, I would make tickets affordable and find a way to get younger, more diverse spectators in the seats. Oh and I would bring back the Federal Theatre Project. And while I'm at it, let's revivify Ethel Merman.

Q: Who are your theatrical heroes?

A:  Russian revolutionaries (Meyerhold, Mayakovsky, Bulgakov), German contemporaries (Jelinek, Pollesch, Stemann, Schlingensief), Theater Laboratory visionaries (Grotowski, Barba, their child companies Dah and ZID), hoofers and female impersonators of the vaudeville circuit, Mae West, Charles Ludlam, Eva Le Gallienne, Mary Martin as Peter Pan, Mei Lanfang and Chinese Opera performers in general, Inuit derision song poets, San Francisco Ballet dancers, new play development organizations that spoiled me (Young Playwrights Inc, The Playwrights' Center, Playwrights Foundation), my teachers and mentors (Sherry Kramer, Alice Tuan, Jill Dolan, Daniel Alexander Jones, Honor Molloy, Suzan Zeder, Paula Vogel, Chuck Mee), my colleagues (too many to mention, but to start Trista Baldwin, Jordan Harrison, Kirk Lynn, Steve Moore, Dan Basila, Carlos Trevino, Peter Nachtrieb) and my collaborators (see question one).

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Anything with a clear aesthetic and bodies moving through space. Most of the work being made right now in Berlin.

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

A:  Travel. See as much work as you can internationally to experience what is possible. And find your people, work with them as much as you are physically able, make each other better artists.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  

My website: www.abibasch.com
Kinderdeutsch Projekts: www.kinderdeutsch.org
Our collaborators, colleagues, mentors: http://www.kinderdeutsch.org/links.htm
Voices Underwater plays in D.C. through April: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/02/AR2011030207490.html

Interview and play of mine

Here:

http://www.connotationpress.com/drama/781-adam-szymkowicz-drama