I Interview Playwrights Part 1122: Corey Allen

Corey Allen

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Current Town: Austin, TX, and Brooklyn, NY

Q:  Tell me about Methods in Madness and Polly, a dumbshow for smart people desperate to survive the fallout.

A:  Methods in Madness is an interdisciplinary “salon” investigating the connection between mental health and creativity. It grew out of research I began two years ago into a growing mental health crisis plaguing the Black community. I was interested in interrogating the ways this largely silent struggle specifically impacts artists and chose to look at four 20th-century artists who publicly or privately battled with mental health. As a multidisciplinary artist who is also neurodivergent, I have often felt a certain fragmentation or compartmentalization in my work, so Methods became a container to integrate various facets of my creative practice into one violent confrontation.

It is an experiment, a meditation, and an autopsy of sorts. I use the word experiment because it’s an evolving examination of a constantly changing relationship across various artistic disciplines. It’s a work in flux, which has been radically supported by my creative home, FLUX Theatre Ensemble. Through a series of collaborations with a mix of artists, Methods is an art installation, an immersive audio experience with filmed and live performance components that invites audiences to enter the mind of an artist and consider the ways their own “madness” informs their art and vice versa.

Polly, a dumbshow for smart people desperate to survive the fallout is a unicorn of a play. Largely written during the “Great Reset” of 2020, it worked its way out of me as I watched the world unravel. In it, we follow the eponymous character through a series of disorienting confrontations as she navigates a brutally absurd upside-down world and fights to survive the fallout of her life.

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  I’m forever tinkering with something and love experimenting with new forms. Flux produced a sprawling immersive audio drama, Our Options Have Changed, which I wrote for. Methods in Madness contains a fair bit of poetry and scene fragments that I find interesting. There are a few short films gestating at the moment, and I am about to return to my vault… I have a Baldwin-inspired feature screenplay, Negrosis, I’m looking to produce, as well as a Sartre adaptation that was workshopped at The Cell in 2021.

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

A:  You know, funnily enough, I don’t have lots of precise memories from childhood. Much of it feels like a wet watercolor painting. I was an only child and a latchkey kid, so I mainly remember spending time on my own, much of it in front of the television, which I suppose does explain something about me… But the first story that comes to mind happened when I was about 13. I was visiting my aunt and cousins in this remote desert town in California. She was my favorite aunt, and I loved spending time with her and getting away from home. Well, my two cousins were a few years older than me and were tasked with watching me while their mom worked the nightshift. One evening, although we were supposed to stay at home, being teenagers, we had plans of our own. My cousins had friends who lived in a town twenty or so miles away, and they wanted to go hang out.

Now, Ridgecrest, where my aunt lived, was really out in the boonies, so there was very little around. I remember us piling into someone’s Ford Escort hatchback and riding with both windows down as we traveled about 45 minutes to an hour away. It was a blur of teenage shenanigans I don’t really recall—I was an NPC tagging along after all—but I do remember at some point, we realized we had to get back before my aunt got off work. That’s when we discovered the person who drove us there couldn’t drive us back. It was late at night, and because we weren’t supposed to have left the house, my cousins didn’t want to call their mom. And, being teenagers, none of us had much money (or cell phones), so my eldest cousin decided we could walk back or at least get close enough to afford a taxi.

I don’t know how many miles it was, but I remember walking along this two-lane highway in the middle of the night, with very few cars passing. One of my cousins was crying because she knew we were going to be in deep trouble. We eventually came to a gas station, called a taxi, and waited 30 or 45 minutes, but it never came, so we walked some more and eventually made it home—after my aunt. They got grounded.

Wow! I haven’t thought about that in a very long time. I suppose it explains my appreciation for an unplanned adventure. I love road trips—really, all trips—and long dark roads with hints of danger. These things find their way into my work, I think. I often feel like that backseat passenger, watching tales unfold.

Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  So many, and for various reasons. In no particular order: I adore Lorraine Hansberry. I love Beckett, Brecht, and Pinter. I appreciate William Inge and Tennessee Williams. I have tremendous respect for Adrienne Kennedy, August Wilson, and Tony Kushner.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Visceral, embodied, uncomfortable, messy, intimate, or epic storytelling is what I long to experience in the theater. I like being challenged and completely immersed.

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

A:  I think too many playwrights are concerned with getting it right. The only way to discover your work is to identify the mysteries you’re most interested in solving and then allow them to guide your work. Chase what you can’t quite grasp—it’ll lead you somewhere you never expected. Yes, that pursuit may be long, and you may have to spend a lot of time in the wrong places, but those answers will eventually reveal themselves. If you follow them and write the things that only you can write in the way that only you can write them, you’ll do fine. And don’t worry about getting lost. That’s where the magic happens.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Check out Our Options Have Changed and Sharing Power!

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1121: Kristen Doherty

Kristen Doherty  

Hometown:

I was born near the beach in Glenelg, South Australia. I still live in South Australia, but now in the Adelaide Hills with my husband, three daughters, two oodle dogs and two cats. We have been renovating a rambling old Tudor home for the past eight years, and I imagine we will never finish, but that's ok, because I love it, it makes me think of Shakespeare, so it's a very inspirational place to write.


Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I am currently on long service leave after 21 years of Drama teaching. I am trying to use my time well to do lots of writing. I recently finished my newest play, ‘The Playhouse’, a time traveling romp around Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It will have its premier at a school in New York in November. I am also working on a play that I actually started researching and co-writing as a screenplay about ten years ago, ‘Push’, a historical drama about the gangs of Sydney in the late 1800s. I am also attempting to finish some of my plays for young people including Ten Minute Hamlet and Thirty Minute Midsummer Night's Dream. I also have a vaudevillian murder mystery in the early stages of development.

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 was a die-hard theatre kid growing up. Like many of us I had dreams of one day becoming a well-respected actor. But I was also the slightly awkward, chubby, kid that talked too much and always got the crap roles; whereas the pretty, popular, academic girls always got the main. They didn’t want to make it their life like I did, and that stung. In my graduation play for my Drama degree I had three lines.

Hence, when I first became a drama teacher, (almost 25 years ago now. Eek!!) I wanted to give all of my students an opportunity to shine. But I too suffered, (and still do) the eternal quest to find a suitable play for my classes. I wanted good, meaty roles for all actors, with no stars, but I struggled to find plays that were true ensemble pieces. It seemed that every school still did the same plays that I did when I was in high school. So, I started writing my own....

I would love to tell that awkward kid that she would end up spend her life working in theatre. I think she'd like that.

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

A:  I would like to see more value placed upon children's theatre and would like to see Drama taught in every primary (and high) school. I believe that theatre is magic for children. The benefits to their cognitive learning, their sense of importance, their self-esteem and their connection to community is immeasurable. Being a part of a company, whether that’s in a classroom or a theatre group, can be incredibly empowering; it gives young people a home, a sense of belonging, a purpose. I believe finding a love of theatre and the arts enriches lives.

Q:  Who are your theatrical heroes,

A:  My number one theatrical hero is William Shakespeare. I think I’m actually bordering on obsession with this one. I take a lot of inspiration from Shakespeare and his stories and currently have eight plays that are either inspired by Shakespeare and his works, or adaptations and parodies of it.

As an Australian writer I grew up with David Williamson, Michael Gow, Stephen Sewell, Ray Lawler and Louis Nowra. At uni I really got into absurd writers such as Samuel Beckett, Antonin Artaud and Harold Pinter. Right now, I am enjoying the work of contemporary Australian Playwrights, Finegan Krukemeyer, Melanie Tait and Andrew Bovell as well as the brilliant British comedy writer, Patrick Barlow. I also admire writers who specialise in Theatre for Young People such as Tracy Wells, Don Zolidis and Jason Pizzarello.

Q:  What kind of Theatre excites you?

A:  I really enjoy great storytelling - something that takes the audience on a journey. I like clever stories with strong emotional content; witty, engaging dialogue and well-rounded character arcs. I enjoy visually exciting theatrical design and an interesting or alternate space for theatre to be performed in.

As a writer, I get excited by the actual mechanics of storytelling, the process of writing. Coming up with ideas, researching, developing characters, storyline, dialogue, solving problems, working out puzzles, back-stories, twists, finding humour, drama, tragedy, and finally seeing the whole thing eventually unfold into a beautiful piece of theatre. I love seeing the audience's reactions as well as that of the actors who have just experienced the magic.

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

A:  For this question I can only speak to my own experiences, that of someone who came into writing through teaching Drama. So, I think this answer will be slightly skewed towards the drama teacher or directors who work within the realm of Theatre for Young People.

As a playwright who specialises in Theatre for Young People, I find myself in a privileged position to also work as a drama teacher. I spend my days in a theatre, workshopping plays with my students. (If I’m not there, I’m home, in my office writing them). Sometimes these are my own plays, quite often they are works of other writers - Still, a rich exposure to work that inspires my writing.

Playwrights can be solitary figures who can spend years working on a piece without the opportunity to workshop regularly with actors to develop their plays. As Drama teachers, we can refine our craft every day. We work in classrooms and theatres where we can workshop and rehearse and be able to hear our words back, with actual humans to fill the acting roles. No matter how rudimentary our spaces and resources are; and how challenging our students can be, this is still exposure that independent playwrights rarely and sometimes never have. As writers we can be inspired by our students, their stories, their language and their views on the world which makes our writing more relevant and authentic for young people. And as Drama teachers we have the ability to give our students a voice to help them to tell their own stories; to experiment, to play, to create. We have such an insight into young people’s worlds; we see how they think, talk, move, relate to others, their struggles, their joys, their language, their humour, their heartbreak. We (try to) keep current with their ever-changing lingo, we understand what kids are going through, we speak to them, we understand them… Sometimes, anyway….All of which gives us authenticity in our writing.

I will also add that as a playwright you need to invest in yourself, timewise and financially. I have attempted to do this by working part time, setting myself up an office in my house, (away from noise and household business), purchasing a laptop with a bigger screen, I have invested in screenwriting software and joined playwriting unions. I spend time learning and finding inspiration by reading plays, watching theatre, travelling for research and conferences, watching webcasts about playwriting, doing short courses, connecting with other playwrights, examining other playwrights and their practices, as well as mastering formatting, and writing and writing and writing.

Some tips:

When writing theatre for young people listen to them, hear their words, their language, their terminology.

Make it relevant. Current. Or for different genres/settings/eras, make it interesting/juicy.

Write what you know, or what fascinates you.

Formatting is important - Research into how to properly structure a script.

Make your characters engaging, make the audience love or hate them.

Pour ideas into something - A notebook.

Create a beat sheet of moments. Character synopsises. Scene by scene breakdowns.

Make your dialogue real/witty/engaging.

Keep stage directions to a minimum. Don’t direct from the page, that’s not the writer’s job, that’s the director’s.

Just write. Don’t delete anything. Come back to it later. Free flow write and refine later. The best writing is in the editing.

Read out loud – it changes everything.

Be progressive, inclusive and innovative.

PLAY.

Look into the Hero’s Journey. REVISE, REVISE, REVISE – Writing is rewriting.

Read out loud. Edit. Cut. Cut. ‘Kill your darlings’. (Getting rid of an unnecessary storyline, character, or sentences - elements you may have worked hard to create but that must be removed for the sake of your overall story)

Workshop with actors. Revise again and again.

Be adaptable/flexible with character numbers and gender.

Attend playwriting conferences.

Send off for publication and look out for submission opportunities and competitions. (It does help to have had plays with a track record of them being performed by other schools/theatre companies when submitting them to publishers, however, competition submissions generally call for unproduced plays)

Get used to being rejected.

Build communities. Collaborate – Find someone to write with, read each other’s work, be a sounding board. Be each other’s cheerleaders!

Send your work out to the world :)


Q:  Plugs please.

A:  I endeavour to write fun, inclusive, engaging, but also challenging plays which span multiple genres; Comedy, Drama, Shakespearean Adaptation and Parody, Magical Realism, Naturalism, Melodrama, Historical, and Educational Theatre (with a good amount of angst that teenagers love so much)
There have been around 400 productions of my plays performed globally, mostly in Australia, America (I only have a few states that I haven’t ticked off yet) the UK, and Europe, but also in China and South Africa and places as remote as Costa Rica, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Albania and Uganda. The best part about writing for young people is that I have made wonderful friendships and connections with teachers and their students all over the world. I get sent beautiful pictures and videos of productions and get to see behind the scenes and do midnight Zooms with schools in far off places. I get to see beautiful emotional reaction videos when a troupe win their One Act Play competition or do a costume unveiling. I receive so many heartfelt messages from teachers, directors, students, and sometimes even parents, and I get to see hundreds of different interpretations of something that I created in my brain… It’s quite a thrill really…

www.kristendoherty.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/PlaysbyKristenDoherty/ 

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1120: Mathilde Dratwa

Mathilde Dratwa


Hometown:  Brussels, Belgium

Current Town:  Brooklyn, NY


Q:  Tell me about Dirty Laundry.


A:  I found out the day my mom died that my dad had been having an affair for six years. So I wrote about it.


Q:  What else are you working on now?


A:  I'm adapting a New Yorker short story into a feature film with my writing partner, Gillian Robespierre. I'm also working on a couple projects about marriage. And also a play about my maternal grandmother, a Jewish woman who went into hiding in a convent during WWII. She was dressed as a nun. Unfortunately, she was pregnant, and started showing. But really that piece is about schizophrenia, and the strange and uneasy interplay between faith and mental illness.


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'd draw random treasure maps — completely made up — and then try to follow them in the woods. My mom would drop random objects at the base of trees for me to find when I got to the "X". I thought I was magical. I think a lot about that — the ability to dream up something real. Really this is a story about my mother, and about love.


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


A:  I'd like to see a way for time-sensitive plays — plays that address the current moment — to be produced. Something quick and maybe unpolished but responsive. I hate how long it takes for shows to come through the existing pipelines. It means plays that have an in-built shelf-life are often, unfortunately, DOA.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?


A:  Actors are my heroes. The best ones are selfless, and transformative. What they do is a gift.


Q:  What kind of theater excites you?


A:  I like stuff that's visceral, raw, and theatrical. Plays that can only be plays (as opposed to, say, TV shows).

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


A:  Don't be precious. Write a play, then write another one. Then another. Nothing will happen until you have at least three of them.

 

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1119: Lour Yasin

Lour Yasin


Hometown:  Jerusalem, Palestine.

Current Town:  New York City, NY.

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I’m currently involved in several exciting projects. One of them is Under The Sheet, a new musical I composed that blends Hip-Hop, Rap, Mariachi, and Aztec music with Broadway elements. It recently debuted at Green Room 42, The Dramatist Guild Foundation, and IRT Theatre.

I’m also thrilled about AREA D, a Palestinian Pop/Punk musical that I’m developing. AREA D emerged from a playful idea to shake up the musical theater scene and experiment with blending Middle Eastern music with Broadway and pop in innovative ways. The inspiration struck me during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Israel, where Palestinians were excluded from participating. This sparked the concept of imagining a Palestinian pop-punk band in a Eurovision-like competition, flipping the script on traditional narratives.

The plot of AREA D follows a Palestinian band as they navigate an absurd, whimsical competition filled with political satire and unexpected twists. It’s not about winning the competition but rather about the journey, the challenges they face, and how they challenge stereotypes through their music. AREA D explores themes of identity, belonging, and the power of music to break down ideological borders.

Additionally, I’m developing a new folk musical set to debut off-Broadway in early 2025. It’s a playful folk tale with a lot of magic, and while I can't reveal too much yet, I’m excited about how it’s shaping up.

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

A:  Growing up in Jerusalem, I was always surrounded by stories—both in the form of cultural folklore and the everyday experiences of my community. I remember sitting with my family, listening to tales that transported me to different times and places, making me realize the power of storytelling. My fascination with these narratives pushed me to start writing my own stories and, eventually, to explore how I could blend my cultural roots with contemporary art forms like theater and music. It’s this blend of the traditional and the modern that defines my work today.

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

A:  I would make theater more accessible to diverse voices, both in terms of the stories being told and the people telling them. We need more platforms that support underrepresented artists and more opportunities for marginalized communities to see themselves represented on stage. It’s not just about inclusion; it’s about ensuring that the full spectrum of human experiences is reflected in our art.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Lin-Manuel Miranda has been a huge inspiration for me, not just because of his groundbreaking work in musical theater but also because of his dedication to promoting diversity and representation. I also admire the work of artists like Suheir Hammad, whose poetry and performances deeply resonate with my own cultural experiences, and Sarah Kane for her raw, boundary-pushing plays.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I’m excited by theater that takes risks, challenges norms, and isn't afraid to push boundaries. I love works that blend genres, such as musicals that incorporate non-traditional music styles or plays that use multimedia elements to enhance storytelling. Theater that makes you think, question, and feel deeply—that’s what excites me the most.

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

A:  Be fearless and authentic in your storytelling. Write about what matters to you, even if it feels risky or unconventional. Don’t wait for permission to tell your story—just start writing. And surround yourself with a supportive community that believes in your vision. Collaboration and feedback are invaluable, so seek out other creatives who inspire and challenge you.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Exciting things are happening! Under The Sheet, a musical I composed that blends Hip-Hop, Rap, Mariachi, and Aztec music with Broadway elements, is having its world premiere at IRT Theatre this August. I'm also thrilled to announce that AREA D, my Palestinian Pop/Punk musical, will have a run at The Tank in September, followed by a run at Joe’s Pub/The Public Theater sometime in late October/ Early November.

Additionally, I’m developing a new folk musical set to debut off-Broadway in early 2025. It’s a playful folk tale with a lot of magic in it, and while I can’t reveal too much just yet, I’m excited about its premise.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1118: Tracy Wells

Tracy Wells

Hometown: Sterling Heights, MI (metro Detroit)

Current Town: Macomb Township, MI (also metro Detroit)

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I’m currently finishing up a western melodrama for schools with an optional dinner theatre component called Spaghetti Western: Or…Mission Im-Pasta-ble at the Hoot N Holler Hotel. It’s silly fun, and my first time playing around with the melodrama genre. I love the challenge of using the stock characters and storylines in a new and different way.

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 grew up seeing a lot of theatre…from local children’s productions to larger shows that toured through Detroit. It seeped in and became a part of me without me realizing. So when I was about 10, and the movie Dick Tracy came out, the first thing that occurred to me was, “this should be a play, and I’m going to write it!”(forgive a 10 year old for not understanding copyright law) So I pounded out a script, and together with my best friend Julie, my younger brother Jeff and his friend (also named Jeff), we staged my adaptation of the film in my parents’ basement, all 4 of us playing the various roles in the style of Shakespeare Abridged, while our parents watched and probably laughed themselves silly. It was amazing (and probably horrible) and I’m pretty sure my mom still has pictures of me as Breathless Mahoney. I didn’t write another play for many years, and when I did, it was another adaptation (this time legally and from the public domain.) But when I did write again I took with me that amazing feeling from when I was 10 years old and hearing my words being spoken by an actor for an audience, and that is a feeling I have since never tired of.

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

A:  I love that more shows are being written by or about women, with interesting storylines and character arcs so that’s something I’d want to see continue. As someone who writes primarily for the high school/college market, I would love for that market to be recognized for what it is, which is an important pathway for future theatre practitioners and that providing students with good material at their level is not only worthwhile, but necessary.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 

A:  So many…in my youth acting on the high school stage I loved Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen and Thornton Wilder and Marsha Norman. As a theatre goer I love what Heidi Schreck and David Lindsay-Abaire and Lynn Nottage and Kate Hamill are doing. And as a high school playwright, you have to admire Don Zolidis and his body of work and what he’s done to elevate this market.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you? 

A:  For me, whether it’s in a large, professional theater, or a small high school cafetorium, I’m most excited by new ways to tell a familiar story in a way that highlights any challenges that a company or venue faces. For example, earlier this year I saw a production of Into the Woods at Encore Musical Theatre Company in Ann Arbor, MI. They have a very small stage with seating for around 100 on three sides of the stage and a tiny balcony. And yet they chose to tell this story as a band of traveling actors who came together to tell a tale, complete with a tiny airstream camping trailer that doubled as the bakery and on top of which Rapunzel climbed to let down her hair. And for the giantess…a nearby electric lift and megaphone made the actress larger than life. It was a spellbinding retelling of a story I knew well, told in a way I had never imagined. And so many directors are looking at stories in different ways. It’s very exciting and encouraging for the future of theatre.

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

A:  Probably the same as many others have said…keep writing. The more I write, the more ideas I have, the more directions I discover in my stories, and the easier it becomes. For those interested in writing for the high school market, I would recommend pulling out those photos and yearbooks and remembering what it was like when you were up on that stage (as many of us were). What kind of shows did you wish you were performing? What kind of roles would you have liked to play, no matter the size of the role? And if you can, find your way to a high school stage and see the incredible work these kids and their teachers are doing, because I’m telling you, it’s truly remarkable and inspiring.

Q:  Plugs, please: 

A:  I have several new plays about to be released, mostly for the middle/high school market, including a historical drama about WWII nurses called Angels of Bataan and a fairytale villain/Clue-style murder mystery mashup called Rotten Apples, both with Playscripts/Broadway Licensing; a fun retelling of Greek myths called Myth-Guided and an easy to stage vignette comedy called Hot Lunch with Stage Partners; and a comedic retelling of the classic Christmas tale, The Night Before Christmas and a fairytale courtroom comedy called Storybook Court: Full of Beans from Pioneer Drama. For anyone who isn’t familiar with my work, two of my most popular shows are One Stoplight Town and A Trip to the Moon, both of which are available through Dramatic Publishing. You can also check out all of my work at https://www.tracywellsplaywright.com

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1117: Paola Alexandra Soto

Paola Alexandra Soto


Hometown:

I was born in and grew up in an impoverished community in Santo Domingo the capital of the Dominican Republic. Although at the time I did not realize how poverty stricken the community I lived in was because my family gave me all that I needed. Though I must admit that recently I have become preoccupied with how I was potty trained when the shack I lived in had no indoor plumbing and only had access to one dilapidated wooden outhouse that we shared with another dozen or so families. This was in the 80s and 90s when the internet existed.


Current Town:

When I was about seven years old my mother brought me to the US. When I arrived and saw the NYC skyline I thought this was a land of giants. We settled us down in Harlem, which is one of the best choices that she could have made. If for no other reason than within walking distance I had access to both a large Dominican population a few blocks north in Washington Heights. I was also within walking distance of 125th street and access to one of the most beautiful and historic neighborhoods in the city. Filled with people that looked just like me but spoke a different language, but once I learned English, as they say, “it was on, like Donkey Kong”.


Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  Right now I’m working on what I hope will be my first full length play, La Sosa Sisters, which was a semifinalist for the National Black Theatre Playwriting Fellowship. It is a play about two sisters who are mourning the death of their mother. In the process of burying they uncover the secrets that their mother had been keeping from them. The play is about how death changes a person and transforms relationships. I am currently in the middle of rewrites. Every time I think that I know where the play is going I am surprised by a new turn, a new development that leads down a completely different path. I find myself in this state of start/stop, with the whiplash effect of when one is learning to drive a car. The more I write the less I know. As much as I love playwriting I am in that stretch of time where I’m struggling as a playwright. After spending so much time and money it seems that all that I learned is that I have so much to figure out. The irony of this paradox is not lost on me.

It seems that for many the pandemic was inspirational and they were able to start and finish projects with ease. For me I found it to be incredibly harmful to my process. Playwriting is an isolating endeavor but COVID-19 really took it to another level. A very sad and depressing level.

I think that finally I’ve cracked the structure of the play and now have the difficult work of figuring out the new flow of the story. The play is about two sisters who have lost their mother to cancer and unearth the secrets that their mother hid while in the process of burying her.

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 a toddler, my mother left me in the Dominican Republic while she came to New York City in the hopes of finding employment. Before she left I remember we were in one of the rooms in my aunt’s two room concrete shack, it was a sunny day, with the sun’s rays bouncing off the aqua blue walls. My aunt was painting my nails to distract me as my mom left for the airport. One minute I was with my mother trying to paint her nails, and the next minute she was gone. I didn’t see her for another three years. The loss and pain I felt when I realized that she wasn’t coming back, the thought that I would never see her again, I broke down, I started crying and in a way, it’s like I never stopped. I think in a way that experience has defined both my way of being in this world and the work that I do. That’s why I’m fascinated with telling stories about the mother and daughter dynamic.

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

A:  Theater is a healing process, or at least for me when it’s done well the experience can be cathartic. It’s a space that has great potential to help entire groups and communities heal. More and more theater is starting to feel like a commodity as its primary function rather than the artistic journey that it is. It feels more and more like a product instead of the communal process that it is. I think it’s time to decolonize theater. Time to center the artists, workers, and audience. To create a more holistic path it is essential and timely to engage with indigenous and BIPOC communities. Who better to address theater’s flaws, than those that have been overlooked and ignored for far too long.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  There’s so many people that I can list that I look up to and have loved their theatrical career Lynn Nottage, August Wilson, David Henry Hwang, Chuck Mee, Lorraine Hansbury, Carmen Rivera, Joe Papp, James Houghton, Paula Vogel, Katori Hall, Emilio Sosa, Danny Hoch, Kamilah Forbes, and Maria Irene Fornes. I know there’s so many that I’m forgetting.


Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  For me the most exciting theater is when it’s a small intimate space and it’s really about the story that the characters are telling. Of course a reveal or theatrical revelation is always so much fun. I think one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time was the theatrical effects in Fat Ham. A great song and dance is pure joy and a great fight or physical sequence is truly exciting. One of my favorite part of watching a play is sitting in a dark room. There's a surprising moment where folks gasp, or laugh, or when we applaud after a particularly wonderful section that communal experience is the reason I go to see plays. Flex is a great example, there are moments where I’m not sure if I was watching a play or a basketball game.

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

A:  I would say the same thing that my mentors and professors told me: go to see and read plays to really get an understanding of the work that is being done and the legacy that you’re inheriting as a theater maker. Go to the theater in your community or the one that you love and find a way to work there. This is also a great way to get to see plays. Make sure to take care of your physical and mental health.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  On September 15, 2023 I will have a reading of my play La Sosa Sisters at the NoMAA Studies located in the United Palace in Washington Heights. I am one of Oye Group’s Resident Artists for 2023-2024 where I will be developing two of my plays, Lucha Libre and D’Carnaval.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 1116: Julia B. Rosenblatt

Photo Credit:Seina Shirakura Photography

Julia B. Rosenblatt


Hometown: Hartford, CT

Current Town: Back in Hartford!

Q: Tell me about Can't Make This Sh*t Up


A: About two months ago Tjasa Ferme introduced me to Transforma Theatre and The Science in Theater Festival. While I believe in science thoroughly, (which is actually something one has to make explicit these days), I am terrifyingly intimidated by the subject. My freeze response kicks in and I assume I am incapable of understanding any of it. So when Tjasa said she needed a play about an eco-toilet connected to a laboratory that uses excrement to produce biogas, my head started spinning.


Jaewon Cho's BeeVi toilet is nothing short of mind blowing. And yet it makes so much sense, I can only assume the reason we haven't heard more about it, is that it involves acknowledging what the great children's author, Taro Gomi, has been telling us for decades: everyone poops. As we get closer to the point irreversible climate change, it's clearly time we get over ourselves and insist on sustainable forms of energy, no matter what (or whom) it comes from. Can't Make This Sh*t Up, is loosely based on my home, a small urban commune once known as the Scarborough 11. The play imagines the year is 2030. After yet another devastating natural disaster has wiped out the city's plumbing and sewage system, we decide to build a Biological Anaerobic Digestion System in our backyard. Our NIMBY neighbors go nuts, and drag us before the zoning commission, bringing national attention to our family once again. It's a comedy.


Q: What else are you working on now? 

A:  Group! (lyrics by Eloise Govedare, music by Aleksandra Weil) is a musical that follows six women through intensive outpatient therapy for drug and alcohol addiction. The show has had two workshops and a brief run at Passage Theatre in New Jersey. We are now in the process of rewrites, and looking for the next development opportunity.


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

A:  Like many other playwrights, I have been "devising theater" in my parents' basement since I was in elementary school. I spent hours creating and rehearsing epic plays and musicals with anyone who was willing (most often my younger sister). I am eternally grateful to my parents, older sisters, aunts and uncles for sitting through our "performances."


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

A:  Purpose and access. Theater is essential to the human condition. It should not be something that is elite or reserved for specific times and places. Theater should be made and enjoyed by whomever chooses to do so.


Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 

A:   August Boal's Theater of the Oppressed changed my life. It set me on a path that I have rarely veered from in the last 30 years. As far as current playwrights, I fall in love with everything Lynn Nottage creates.


Q: What kind of theater excites you? 

A:  Real, complex stories that use humor to challenge the status quo and demand systemic change.


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

A:  Oof, this is a hard one because every day I feel like I'm "just starting out." I guess I would say write with passion and seek feedback with humility. We should always be learning.


Q: Plugs, please:

A:  Well of course coming up, Science in Theater Festival.
I am a co-founder and ensemble member of HartBeat Ensemble.
Check out the professionally immersive theater training program at Capital Community College!

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