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Apr 17, 2013
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You are cordially Invited
to a reading with Primary Stages
April 23 of
The worst
mistake you can make in high school is admitting you love something. A
new play about adolescent violence and your mother's new boyfriend.
RSVP readings@primarystages.org or Lana at 212 840 9705
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I Interview Playwrights Part 573: James Presson
James Presson
Hometown: Wilton, CT
Current Town: NYC
Q: Tell me about your upcoming show:
A: Words, Razors, and the Wounded Heart is a Jacobean Revenge Comedy set in present-day, suburban Connecticut. It’s the story of the impossible romance between a brother and sister running simultaneously with the return of an iconic ‘prodigal son.’ When their friends get involved… well, you know. It’s dirty and sexy and loud and silly and mischievous and horrifically tragic.
Q: Tell me about Less Than Rent.
A: Less Than Rent is a theatre company that I started with some of my friends in 2010 while we were doing a punk rock Richard III at FringeNYC. WRWH is our 7th production. Time flies when you’re working yourself into the ground! We aim to contribute to the larger discourse through art that is fresh, adventurous, and thoroughly caffeinated. New work by new artists for new audiences all day every day good to the last drop.
Q: What else are you working on?
A: This summer I’m directing Ben Diserens’ Beckett in Benghazi at Under St. Marks with Less Than Rent/Horse Trade. We’re being supported by LMCC, and we’re pretty excited about spending the government’s money. I’m lobbying our production manager for a fly system and live animals. I’ll let you know how it goes. And, of course, I’ve got a couple of my own plays in the works. Similarly to Words, Razors, and the Wounded Heart, they’re comedies about futility, despair, and broken dreams.
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 first theatrical experience was playing Fievel in An American Tail when I was four. Legend has it that during the performance, I mouthed everyone else’s lines while they were saying them. Afterwards, I cried for hours. Legend also has it that I was terrific in the role and “was the only one up there who knew a damn thing about acting.” (My grandfather is the official recounter of said ‘legends’)
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: I want more walkouts (and, by extension, plays that inspire them). I loved The Flick at Playwrights Horizons, but I also loved how much some people hated it. It was exciting. I felt nervous, but it was in the best possible way. A few months ago, I saw Django Unchained in the theater; the whole time everyone was looking around anxious that someone was just going to freak out. That danger… It’s the best.
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: I like troublemakers who tripped into the mainstream: John Osborne, Mike Daisey, Clifford Odets. I also like this up-and-coming theatre company, Less Than Rent.
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: I like the stuff that wears its heart on its sleeve without losing its edge. I’m really into Elevator Repair Service; whoever wrote Gatz is great with language.
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Well, since I’ve been at this for over 20 years, I think I’m pretty well qualified to give advice, but just in case you don’t… CS Lewis says “practice,” Saul Bellow says “start anywhere,’ and Billy Collins says “keep your room clean.”
Q: Plugs, please:
A: I’ve got WORDS, RAZORS, AND THE WOUNDED HEART opening at Under St. Marks any second! April 11-27, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7 PM. Tickets are cheap, and the show is adventurous. And for the latest Less Than Rent gossip, go to www.lessthanrent.org. We have great pictures. Plus, check us out on Facebook (/lessthanrent) and Twitter (@lessthanrent). I’m sure everyone says to do that, but I promise we’re really fun.
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Books by Adam
Apr 14, 2013
I Interview Playwrights Part 572: Jennifer Blackmer
Jennifer Blackmer
Hometown: New Palestine, Indiana. (Although I lived in the Twin Cities for five years, and several friends have given me permission to call myself a native Minnesotan because I absolutely love it there).
Current Town: Muncie, Indiana. I teach at Ball State University.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm a member of the Ingram New Works Lab at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, which has been the most AMAZING opportunity. I'm working on a new play, UNRAVELED, which is about space, time and knitting.
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 twelve (or thereabouts) I decided to teach myself the constellations. So I gathered a blanket, my star chart, an old telescope that belonged to my uncle, some snacks and a little flashlight covered in red cellophane and set myself up in the backyard. I grew up in the country(ish) so the skies were amazing, and as I lay on my blanket I arched my back so that everything in my peripheral vision fell away, and all I could see were the stars. I felt, literally, like I was falling off the earth into the sky. My heart started racing, I lost my breath, and I was exhilarated and terrified at the same time; I wanted nothing more than to keep going, like a never-ending first hill on a roller coaster… But after awhile it was too much, so I ran inside and read "Peanuts" comics for the rest of the night. I think my entire theatrical career has been a quest to recapture that feeling.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: This is an easy one, with a predictably playwright-centric answer: ALL THEATERS, ALL OVER THE PLACE, WOULD PRODUCE MORE NEW PLAYS. No theatre should ever be afraid to experiment. I live in the midwest, and am often disheartened by the lack of opportunities for those of us who don't live in New York. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE NEW YORK, I go as often as I possibly can, but it's hard to be seen as "legitimate" if you don't live there. I know new work is risky for theaters, especially regional theaters, to produce, but there are so many amazing, current, challenging and relevant stories out there that never get told, in lieu of yet another production of CLASSIC-PLAY-FILL-IN-THE-BLANK. It's easy to see why live theater is rarely noticed by younger audiences; I wish that our society were economically equipped to encourage more artistic risk-taking, and that audiences in general sought out new plays. This is one of the reasons why I've become such a huge fan of what Tennessee Rep is doing with the Ingram New Works Festival— over the past few years they've used the project to CULTIVATE an audience for new works in Nashville, and they're turning out in droves! It's exciting, and I'd love to see it happening all over!
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: Too many to list, but here goes: Suzan-Lori Parks, Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, Tom Stoppard, Helene Cixous, Brecht, Beckett, August Wilson, Lynn Nottage, Sarah Daniels, Lisa Loomer, Theresa Rebeck, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Rajiv Joseph, Tracy Letts… my former student Andrew Kramer is in the Emerging Writer's Group at The Public, and is making some gut-wrenchingly beautiful stuff. I'm in awe of directors like Janet Allen, Rene Copeland, Kari Margolis, and Lisa Rothe. My colleagues at Ball State University are some of the most amazing artists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. That said, I think my biggest theatrical heroes are my kids, Ian (10), Eleanor (6) and Lucy (5). When I'm discouraged or stuck in my head, all I have to do is play with them for a few minutes, or lurk in the doorway and watch. The worlds they create are so crazy, marvelous and fantastically detailed, and they remind me every day how lucky I am to do what I do for a living.
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: It has to engage the head and the heart. I love experiences where intelligent ideas and ethical dilemmas are given visceral and immediate life RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU; they smack you in the head and shake you to the core. And theatre does this better than any other platform, because it's LITERALLY ALIVE. Theatre should never apologize for its liveness— space and time in the theatre is elastic and malleable, and I love theatre that embraces and challenges our common-sense understanding of it.
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: I was held back for a long time by the axiom "write what you know." I think this is bad advice; rather, you should "write what you can imagine" and then find the truth in that, by asking the right questions. And consider every piece of writing that you do, even emails and texts, to be a reflection of who you are.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: THE HUMAN TERRAIN will be presented by IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles in a reading on April 21st, directed by Eric Emery.
UNRAVELED will be presented by Tennessee Repertory Theatre at the Ingram New Works Festival on May 11th and May 15th in Nashville, Tennessee, along with new works by the fabulously talented Nate Eppler, Brian D. Walker, Garrett Schneider and Theresa Rebeck. More info here: http://tennesseerep.org/blog/weird-science-ingram-new-works-project/
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Books by Adam
Apr 13, 2013
I Interview Playwrights Part 571: Katherine DiSavino
Hometown: Lancaster, PA – although my mother always told me I should tell everyone I’m a “child of the world.” This makes me sound a little crazy, but at least people don’t ask me if I’m Amish when I tell them this. They just back away slowly.
Current Town: Brooklyn, NY
Q: Tell me about Things My Mother Taught Me.
A: It’s a romantic comedy about a young, unmarried couple moving into their first apartment together. One of the producers of the premiere called it a modern “Barefoot in the Park” which I found really fitting and flattering. It takes a generational look at relationships, the expectations we all have, and the lessons we learned from the people who raised us (even if we didn’t realize they were teaching us anything). And besides all the touchy-feely stuff there’s furniture stuck in doors, stolen property, a delightful superintendent and two very drunk dads at one point. It’s a piece that’s close to my heart because it’s about me, my boyfriend and our families. It’s my love poem to him (and to all of them) and I was so excruciatingly nervous the first time they all saw it because, obviously, a lot of humor comes from these unflattering moments the characters find themselves in – but they all loved it and are still talking to me, and as far as I know I haven’t been written out of any wills!
Q: What else are you working on?
A: My partner and I are working on a new holiday comedy called “Seasonal Allergies” – it’s premiering at The Rainbow Dinner Theatre in November 2013. It’s all about the holidays, relationships, and what happens when a friend in need overstays his welcome during this joyous (and extremely stressful) time of year. I’d tell you more, but we’re honestly just diving into the piece. I’m pretty sure there won’t be any live animals or car chases or anything like that, but it’s really too early to tell.
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 parents own and run a theatre in Pennsylvania, so I quite literally grew up in the theatre. Some of my earliest memories involve sneaking into the ladies dressing room in the middle of a show (when all of the women were on stage) and just raiding their makeup kits like a pill addict set loose in a pharmacy. They’d come back after curtain call and I’d be wearing their clothes, and teasing my hair and my face would look like a cross between Bobo the Clown and Renee, your local hooker with a heart of gold. As I got older, I started finding ways to make secret hide-away spots behind the sets. Any play that required a staircase was, like, a god-send. I’d pull every spare blanket and pillow I could find from our props storage and pack it into the space underneath the stairs and would spend the entire show just hiding in there, listening to the actors clomp around me, and the audience laugh, and thinking that I was the luckiest kid in the world. And you know – looking back? I still think I was. A weird kid, but a really lucky one.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: I’m almost afraid to broach this because I don’t want to sound as if I’m speaking as an authority of any kind, but in my personal experience, I’ve come across a number of people who look down on comedies and comedy writers. I’ve gotten the sense that many people think that comedy is easy to perform, easy to write – a lesser art, if you will. I grew up around comedies. My parents run a theatre that only produces comedies. I’ve spent many of my formative years watching my father and mother get into fights because he stepped on her punch-line, or she didn’t give the right cadence on the set-up.
I especially feel that farces get the shortest end of this stick because it’s so easy to be distracted by the physical comedy and the rapid fire pace – but, structurally, farces are actually some of the most complex theatrical pieces around. There’s the timing, there’s the sheer physical requirements to pull off a farce and there’s a level of acting required – because, let’s face it – a farce is ridiculous. But the characters in a farce need to believe – they need to think that whatever is happening to them is life and death – because that’s where the humor comes from. In BOEING-BOEING, Bernard has managed to have three flight attendant fiancés for years that never knew about each other, until one day they all show up at his apartment and he has to keep them separated. This sound ludicrous, but Bernard (bless his heart) LOVES them, and they CANNOT find out about each other because it would be HORRIBLE – and the more Bernard sells his desire that these three women never cross paths, the funnier all of the antics surrounding stopping that inevitable moment becomes.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that making a room full of strangers laugh at the same thing is not easy. Think of how different people’s senses of humor can be. Rousing an audience to laugh out loud requires an understanding of the commonalities we all share as humans, and utilizing that to get to your joke. If there’s one thing I could change about theater, it would be this perception that comedy is easy. I think Charlie Chaplin said it best, “Anyone can make them cry. It takes a genius to make them laugh.”
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: I’ll stick to playwrights here because if I start naming actors we’ll be here for days, so to start: Neil Simon. Oh my goodness I love Neil Simon. I think if I ever had the chance to meet him in person I’d fall over myself. The way he approaches comedy – that sadness and bitterness that runs underneath “Barefoot” and “The Odd Couple” – it’s something audiences from any generation can relate to. We all get that. And of course Sarah Ruhl is a hero of mine – it’s so easy to say you fall in love with someone’s writing – their dialogue or characters for example – but I fell in love with her stage directions and the way she approaches her vision of a play and communicates that to her readers. Her readers, mind you – not her audience – they don’t see those beautiful words on the page – they feel them through the performance. Amy Herzog would be another one, and Ray Cooney – and Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore (that’s the side of me that worships farces). And my parents, who introduced me to all of these writers (in text form, not in person. They aren’t thatcool).
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: This is so corny – honestly? All theatre excites me. Sitting in an audience, waiting for a play to begin, knowing that what’s going to happen will unfold LIVE right before your eyes? That sense of the unknown – of the potential. Incredible. Theatre that KEEPS me excited tends to surprise me over and over again – comedies, dramas, musicals – the genre never matters. I don’t need to be punched in the gut, or laughing so hard I’m in the aisles – I just love when I don’t know what’s around the next bend.
Specific pieces of theatre that have recently excited me in NYC? HANDS ON A HARDBODY, HEARTS LIKE FISTS, EL AMOR EN LOS TIEMPOS DE COLERA and (these are from a while ago but I STILL obsess over them) THE BEREAVED, TIGERS BE STILL and SHE KILLS MONSTERS. Just to name a few!
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Write. Write an hour every day. Does your day job make you tired? Tough. Drink an espresso on your way home from work and write for an hour before dinner. Or after dinner. Or when you wake up in the morning. Or on your lunch break. It’s not a punishment – it’s a favor. It’s a gift that you’re giving yourself – time to be alone with your characters and to tune out the world and just write.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: You can check out the Facebook page for my first play, NANA’S NAUGHTY KNICKERS here: http://www.facebook.com/nanasknickers, and if you’re ever in Pennsylvania, you should totally see a show at my Mom and Dad’s theatre, Rainbow Dinner Theatre (the only all-comedy dinner theatre in the US!): http://rainbowdinnertheatre.com/
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Books by Adam
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: This is so corny – honestly? All theatre excites me. Sitting in an audience, waiting for a play to begin, knowing that what’s going to happen will unfold LIVE right before your eyes? That sense of the unknown – of the potential. Incredible. Theatre that KEEPS me excited tends to surprise me over and over again – comedies, dramas, musicals – the genre never matters. I don’t need to be punched in the gut, or laughing so hard I’m in the aisles – I just love when I don’t know what’s around the next bend.
Specific pieces of theatre that have recently excited me in NYC? HANDS ON A HARDBODY, HEARTS LIKE FISTS, EL AMOR EN LOS TIEMPOS DE COLERA and (these are from a while ago but I STILL obsess over them) THE BEREAVED, TIGERS BE STILL and SHE KILLS MONSTERS. Just to name a few!
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Write. Write an hour every day. Does your day job make you tired? Tough. Drink an espresso on your way home from work and write for an hour before dinner. Or after dinner. Or when you wake up in the morning. Or on your lunch break. It’s not a punishment – it’s a favor. It’s a gift that you’re giving yourself – time to be alone with your characters and to tune out the world and just write.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: You can check out the Facebook page for my first play, NANA’S NAUGHTY KNICKERS here: http://www.facebook.com/nanasknickers, and if you’re ever in Pennsylvania, you should totally see a show at my Mom and Dad’s theatre, Rainbow Dinner Theatre (the only all-comedy dinner theatre in the US!): http://rainbowdinnertheatre.com/
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Books by Adam
Apr 10, 2013
I Interview Playwrights Part 570: William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.
Hometown: I was born and raised on the Fort Peck Indian reservation located in northeastern Montana. The reservation is often referred to as Assiniboine and Sioux. I’m enrolled as a member of the Assiniboine Tribe. We were the last to sign the Fort Peck Treaty. People will often say how they have never heard of my Tribe, which is fine, because we’ve probably never heard of you. I lived in a small township called Wolf Point. It has a duality of how it was named. I actually mention it in the first play I wrote called, “Sneaky”.
Current Town: Presently, I live in the home town of the great playwright, Eugene O’Neill, New London, CT. It is a small city. Small in populations but facing the problems of a big city.
Q: Tell me about Wood Bones.
Q: Tell me about Wood Bones.
A: “Wood Bones” is not your typical haunted house story. In fact, it isn’t about a haunted house. It is about a form of energy that humans have created over the years inhabiting this one space. It is sort of what is left behind. This energy starts to manifest and becomes conscience. Sort of similar to like a computer become self-aware of itself, a form of artificial intelligence but in this instance an organic intelligence is created. The problem in writing the play was to present a collection of characters that didn’t judge themselves, or the audience would be able to be quick to judge. It is a multi-cultural cast because like America, we are diverse. It is the Native American Tribal communities that bear the weight of these various communities, as does the house energy/spirit character, 121, does in the play.
Q: What else are you working on?
A: I’m working on doing a series of rewrites on several one act plays and some poetry. I’ve been wanting to do a collection of poems in an e-book form. I hope to have it done soon. I’ve also just published a short fiction story, Miracle of 12-12-12, that appears in anthology dedicated to the late Native Scholar, Vine Deloria, Jr.
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 late mother was what people refer to as an ‘elder’. She spoke with fluency the language of our people, practiced the culture, and nurtured the community and environment, but she would never claim the title, or status of being an ‘elder’. She was very humble. I don’t claim any title. I follow her ways in that I try to be a good listener and observer, as she was. This has been a gift to my skills as a playwright. There are so many people to thank in influencing my development. There are so many relatives and friends that made contributions, what an honor it is to say that to recognize them.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A; The biggest issue at the present time is acknowledging American Theater is an art form of privilege. The resources are still limited to a certain group, or groups of people. When is the last time you were in a major city and pointed to the theater that hosts the Native American Theater company? When was the last Broadway play written by a Native American produced? When was the last time you saw a Tony Award being presented to a Native American. In a local reality, when was the last time you saw a Native Tribal play, written by a Native Tribal person, featuring a Native Tribal cast produced? There aren’t that many. In another reality, how many non-Native Tribal people have taken from Native American cultures, spiritualities, and used these exploited elements in their plays, or productions? There are one or three productions a year being done by Native Tribal people themselves and to those folks I am very proud of them and admire their efforts. They give me a strong sense of hope for a better future for all of us.
The other element being introduced and rearing its face in a lot of large theater companies is an element borrowed by the Hollywood cousin. They are now determining what is Native, what a Native looks like, what a Native play should be like, what themes are found in Native plays, all this without any experience working or being involved with a Native community. In other words they have brought the “Poses With Hair” make believe Indian onto the American Stage which is a dangerous precedent.
I don’t speak for all Native Tribal theater artists. These are my observations and there is room for disagreement. The major factor and final one is; communities. You have to acknowledge and respect the communities which are the catalyst for this wonderful work and yes, it is American, not ethnic or minority. Native Tribal theater is Indigenous, we are not ethnic. American Theaters must begin to respect and develop better relationships with the communities that make up their environment.
The other element being introduced and rearing its face in a lot of large theater companies is an element borrowed by the Hollywood cousin. They are now determining what is Native, what a Native looks like, what a Native play should be like, what themes are found in Native plays, all this without any experience working or being involved with a Native community. In other words they have brought the “Poses With Hair” make believe Indian onto the American Stage which is a dangerous precedent.
I don’t speak for all Native Tribal theater artists. These are my observations and there is room for disagreement. The major factor and final one is; communities. You have to acknowledge and respect the communities which are the catalyst for this wonderful work and yes, it is American, not ethnic or minority. Native Tribal theater is Indigenous, we are not ethnic. American Theaters must begin to respect and develop better relationships with the communities that make up their environment.
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: My influences have been diverse. I think the first professional play I saw was a production of O’Neill’s “Moon for the Misbegotten”. It was done by the Montana Repertory Theater. August Wilson’s work has made a major impact on my life. David Henry Hwang’s “FOB and Other Plays”, Philip K.G.s’, “Yankee Dawg You Die,” Jose Rivera’s “The Promise,” Hanay Geiogamah’s “49” and other plays. So many incredible playwrights and plays and theater artists like Lou Bellamy, Hanay Geiogamah, Roberta Uno, the late John Kaufman, Bruce Miller.
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: Original works are always exciting. New voices means new perceptions. Theater is a means to see the heart of a community. New plays and productions allow people to see something fresh and new.
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: For any new playwright just staring out I think the most important step is to start developing a community. A play, unlike published poetry or other forms of literature, needs a community to survive. Start making friends with actors, directors, technical directors, stage managers, literary people. You play will start to help in creating that community.
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