350 Playwright Interviews (alphabetical)

Rob Ackerman
Liz Duffy Adams
Johnna Adams
Tony Adams 
David Adjmi
Keith Josef Adkins   
Derek Ahonen
Zakiyyah Alexander
Luis Alfaro
Lucy Alibar
Joshua Allen
Mando Alvarado 
Sofia Alvarez 
Christina Anderson  
Terence Anthony
Alice Austen 
Elaine Avila   
Rachel Axler
Jenny Lyn Bader
Bianca Bagatourian   
Annie Baker
Trista Baldwin
Jennifer Barclay 
Courtney Baron
Abi Basch 
Mike Batistick 
Brian Bauman
Chad Beckim
Nikole Beckwith 
Maria Alexandria Beech
Kari Bentley-Quinn 
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
Jessica Brickman  
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
Kia 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 
Darcy Fowler  
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
Miranda Huba  
Quiara Alegria Hudes 
Les Hunter
Sam Hunter
Chisa Hutchinson
Arlene Hutton
Laura Jacqmin
Joshua James
Julia Jarcho
Kyle Jarrow
Rachel Jendrzejewski   
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
John Kolvenbach 
Andrea Kuchlewska
Larry Kunofsky
Eric Lane 
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
Heather Lynn MacDonald 
Laura Lynn MacDonald
Maya Macdonald
Cheri Magid
Jennifer Maisel
Martyna Majok  
Karen Malpede   
Kara Manning
Mona Mansour
Israela Margalit 
Ellen Margolis
Ruth Margraff
Sam Marks
Katie May
Oliver Mayer  
Tarell Alvin McCraney
Daniel McCoy 
Ruth McKee
Gabe McKinley 
James McManus
Charlotte Meehan
Carly Mensch
Molly Smith Metzler
Charlotte Miller 
Jane 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
Daniel Pearle 
christopher oscar peña
Brian Polak 
Daria Polatin
John Pollono 
Chana Porter
Craig Pospisil
Jessica Provenz
Michael Puzzo
Brian Quirk 
Adam Rapp
David West Read 
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
Lydia Stryk  
Gary Sunshine
Caridad Svich
Jeffrey Sweet
Adam Szymkowicz
Daniel Talbott
Kate Tarker 
Roland Tec 
Lucy Thurber
Paul Thureen
Josh Tobiessen
Catherine Trieschmann 
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

350 Playwright Interviews

Jane Miller
Eric Lane
David West Read
Katie May
John Pollono
Mona Mansour
Miranda Huba 
Lydia Stryk
Rachel Jendrzejewski 
Karen Malpede 
Darcy Fowler
Daniel Pearle
Heather Lynn MacDonald 
Gabe McKinley
Keith Josef Adkins 
Brian Quirk
Israela Margalit
Kia Corthron
Christina Anderson
Jenny Lyn Bader
Catherine Trieschmann
Oliver Mayer
Jessica Brickman
Kari Bentley-Quinn
John Kolvenbach
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 350: Jane Miller

Jane Miller

Hometown: Manhattan, NY.

Current Town: Brooklyn, NY

Q: What are you working on now?

A:  I’m working on a production of my play Feedback with Squeaky Bicycle Productions that will go up in July. I’m excited to be working with director Laura Pestronk who I’ve known since high school when we did theater together. Feedback is about a woman coping with a death and a breakup who decides to get “re-branded” by a personal marketing firm. I’ve always been kind of fascinated by self-help gurus and the idea of how you frame yourself to the world.

I’m also preparing to go to the Last Frontier Theater Conference in Valdez, Alaska in June – so preparing myself mentally to get no darkness for two weeks!

I’m also working on a play called Seeking Participants about a retired couple who participate in an experiment where they both get fMRI’s to show what their brains look like having been in a loving, long term relationship for years. Suffice to say, the play is about when our brains know things about us before our heart does.

And, I’m co-founder of Theater ++, a yearly one-act festival centering on the role of technology in people’s lives. We’ll be requesting submissions soon!

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

A:  I’d like more theater companies (and MFA programs!) to take chances on new(er) playwrights who aren’t already well known. I see the same names over and over at theater companies. And I’ve learned that MFA playwriting programs seem to be equally competitive and exclusive.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  I love the work of John Patrick Shanley, Tina Howe, Christopher Shinn, Annie Baker and Adam Bock. Their work resonates with me.

Also, Ryan Gilliam of Downtown Art really changed my life. She has a youth theater company on East 4th street in NYC that I was a part of in high school. Most memorably, I played Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Arguments, which was Star Wars adapted for the stage. My Obi Wan costume was a beige towel cape and an umbrella as my light saber. She made a family out of us, and I’m so happy to have been a part. She’s endlessly inventive, and really made me see what a theater community was.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theater with lyrical language and meaning – theater that gives me the shivers, and makes me question my own life. Any play that offers illumination into the things I’m grappling with or thinking about is exciting. Also, simply - theater that makes me want to start a conversation.

If I leave the theater feeling buoyant and exuberant and want to start writing, then I consider that exciting theater. I felt that way most recently by Adam Bock’s A Small Fire, and Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation.

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

A:  Find time everyday to write, even if it’s just twenty minutes a day. Set a timer if you have to, and just do it. If you’re writing everyday, you’re going to grow as a writer. It’s inevitable.

And I don’t think it’s bad to write about the things that you’re obsessed with in your own life. I wrote a whole lot of plays about female friendships, probably too many – but they were honest and from a deeper place than if I had wrote plays solely because I thought other people would be interested in them. If you’re fascinated by something, other people probably are too.

Q:  Plugs, please:

I’m involved with The Pack, an artists development group, that’s part of Packawallop Productions. They do incredible work and they’re all really nice, fun, talented people. Being part of their monthly developmental group has helped my writing grow tremendously. Check em out, http://www.packawallop.org

Also, check out Feedback this summer, with Squeaky Bicycle Productions!

next

1. 
Reading of Fat Cat Killers at Urban Theater Movement
Directed by Julian Acosta
Featuring: Anthony Gatto, Paolo Mancini and Levi Sochet.

Tuesday May 10, 2011 at 8pm
The Underground Theatre
1314 Wilton Pl Los Angeles, CA

To RSVP a seat or for more information on the reading
please email eve.urbantheatremovement@gmail.com


2.

Reading of Where You Can't Follow at Primary Stages
Directed by Lucie Tiberghien

Monday May 23 at 3pm at Primary Stages

3.

Production of Clown Bar with Rising Phoenix Rep
Directed by Kip Fagan

Seventh Street Small Stage at Jimmy’s No. 43
NYC
June 19.  7pm  (Free performance)

I Interview Playwrights Part 349: Eric Lane

Eric Lane

Hometown:  I was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, about 10 minutes from Jones Beach.

Current Town:  Sunnyside, Queens

Q:  Tell me about “Ride.”

A:  “Ride” was just published by Dramatists Play Service. It tells the story of three teenage girls who take a life-changing road trip. It was first inspired by a local farm stand that my partner and I would visit in Northwest N.J. We would see these kids working side-by-side who normally would never hang out together. They were forced to spend an entire day, week or summer together, talking, not talking, ignoring each other and connecting in ways they never expected.

The play was originally written as a 10-minute piece. As it was first being produced, I started to think about what happens to these girls once the 10-minute play ended. Out of that, the full-length play sprang.

The three girls in “Ride” are 18, 17 and 11 years old. I love writing characters who on the surface seem vastly different from myself. For me, sometimes those are the characters that turn out to be the most personal. Maybe it’s because of that surface separation between their physical reality and my own that I’m able to pour more of myself into the characters. In the end, they often feel the most fully developed, vulnerable and real.

Q:  What else are you working on?

A:  I’ve started working on a new play commission for the Adirondack Theatre Festival. I began my work during a recent residency at the artist’s colony Yaddo, which was incredibly helpful. I needed to let myself not know what the play will be, and Yaddo was the perfect environment to give myself that permission. Two of the characters are well-known figures so it involves a different kind of research that I’ve never done before. That’s very exciting.

Q:  Tell me about the books you edit.

A:  With Nina Shengold, I’ve co-edited 12 contemporary play anthologies for Viking Penguin and Vintage Books. Our newest collection, “Shorter, Faster, Funnier: Comic Plays and Monologues,” was just published. It includes work by 44 wonderful playwrights – from established and emerging writers, to playwrights who are in print for the first time.

In total, our books have sold over 350,000 copies. Drama Book Shop told us, “Your books are the most shop lifted titles in our store.” That really made us laugh.

As editors, we read the submissions hoping they'll be terrific. There’s a real joy in discovering wonderful work. And when a play is great, it jumps off the page from the moment you start reading it. You can feel it from the first stage direction or line of dialogue. That’s incredibly exciting!

Nina and I will read up to 500 plays before deciding on plays included in the collection. As a playwright, it’s incredibly helpful to read that many plays in that short a period of time. It has taught me a lot.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is not to take rejection that personally. You may have written a brilliant play, but it may not match what that publication or theater is looking for at that particular moment. They already may have chosen another play that is somewhat similar. Or they just may not like it. I’m not saying don’t get pissed off when your work is rejected. But it’s important to use that anger or disappointment to fuel you in finding the right place for your work.

Also, be smart about what you send in. For example, an agent submitted a full-length drama for an anthology of short comic plays. Bad idea.

And try to think of it from the point of view of the person reading your submission. If they’re reading over 500 plays, your play needs to stand out in some way – its use of language, humor, depth of emotion, originality, characters, story, theatricality, skill, etc.

I feel very lucky to have edited these anthologies with Nina. And to be in a position to discover amazing playwrights and help put their work out in the world.


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 high school in Wantagh was right next to the pet cemetery where Richard Nixon’s dog Checkers was buried. My friend Shari and I would occasionally cut class and hang out on Checkers’ grave. One day, these wild turkeys appeared from out of the bordering woods, and Shari and I decided to chase them around the cemetery. To this day, Shari will ask me, “Did that really happen or did we both dream that?”

My first play ever produced is called “Dancing on Checkers’ Grave.” I decided Checkers’ grave offered theatrical and emotional possibilities that a living room or kitchen just couldn’t approach. I guess I try not to take anything for granted. Whether it’s the setting, characters, story or language, I try to choose something that’s unique and completely a reflection of the characters’ world and experience.

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

A:  I’d love to see plays chosen for production based on their originality and vitality, rather than how commercial they’re perceived to be.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Shakespeare. Every time I see his plays, I’m amazed that someone actually wrote that. 400 years later, his work remains incredibly relevant, vital and alive. Also Chekhov, Robert Preston in “The Music Man,” and anyone who continues to write plays and maintain a generosity of spirit toward other writers, artists and the world.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Anything theatrical. By its very nature, theater offers unique possibilities for expression, and I love works that explore that potential. Also anything that’s good – dramas, comedies, musicals and works that combine comedy and drama – from Shakespeare and Chekhov to “I Love Lucy.”

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

A:  Be original. If there’s another playwright whose work you love, don’t imitate them, but use their originality to inspire you to find your own unique voice. And most of all, hang in there.

Q:  Plugs, please:

Website:
www.ericlanewrites.com

“RIDE”
www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=4254

“SHORTER, FASTER, FUNNIER”
www.dramabookshop.com/book/9780307476647

“DANCING ON CHECKERS’ GRAVE” and “HEART OF THE CITY”
http://www.playscripts.com/author.php3?authorid=818

I Interview Playwrights Part 348: David West Read

David West Read

Hometown:  Markham, Ontario, Canada

Current Town:  New York, New York

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I’m working on a commission for the Roundabout about the “golden age” of children’s television performers. The play delves into the private life of one such icon, who’s trying to make his comeback in the face of Barney and Dora the Explorer while dealing with some personal issues. It marks the first time I’ve written for puppets.

I’m also developing a commissioned screenplay called THE ROCKETTE, which is inspired by my grandmother, who spent many years performing jazz and tap with an all-seniors’ dance troupe. It’s kind of like Little Miss Sunshine, except the little girl is 76-years-old.

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

A:  For the most part, Canadians watch American TV, but when I was growing up, I was deeply inspired by the Canadian programming for kids (which explains the play I’m writing). I watched shows like Polka Dot Door, Mr. Dressup, Under the Umbrella Tree, Fred Penner’s Place and Today’s Special. This makes it sounds like I was a TV junkie, but I think I just experienced and remembered TV much more vividly then, whereas now, I tend to forget everything I experience as soon as it’s over.

I was extremely shy, and rarely spoke in public, but I used to like to imitate what I’d seen on TV around the house. I think my playwriting is an extension of that; I’m still just imitating things that inspire me.

My ability to regurgitate what I’d learned on television almost got me in trouble when I was about 4-years-old. I was on the elevator at the doctor’s office, with my mom, when a black man stepped onto the all-white car. Being a big fan of Sesame Street, I started singing “One of These Things is Not Like the Others.” Fortunately, the man had a sense of humor. I don’t think I could get away with that now.

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

A:  It seemed like a lot of people were vomiting onstage last year. I don’t know if that’s factual or not, but I seem to remember seeing three plays in a week, all of which featured someone puking. I think we could do with less of that.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  I wouldn’t be writing plays if not for the encouragement of my teachers at Juilliard and NYU – especially Marsha Norman, Christopher Durang, and Daniel Goldfarb. They’re my heroes because I know how much I hate reading other people’s work, and they do it all the time, with such generosity and care.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I like big-hearted plays. I like the idea that the playwright might be sitting in the back, crying his or her eyes out, even if the audience is bored to tears. I like to think that it really means something to the person writing it, and that that “something” isn’t praise, or recognition, or money. Also, when the turtle started walking in Arcadia, I basically freaked out. I also really liked the chickens in Jerusalem. So, I guess I should add “moving animals” to the list.

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

A:  I think it’s more important to be a nice and respectful person. More important than being really persistent, or schmoozy, or a great networker. I might just be telling myself this because I’m shy and terrified of mingling, but I think it’s true.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  The Dream of the Burning Boy is in its last weeks at the Roundabout Underground, and will close on May 15th. I am incredibly proud of this production, and it’s well worth $20 to see Reed Birney’s incredible performance.

I Interview Playwrights Part 347: Katie May

Katie May

Hometown(s): Casper, Wyoming and Boise, Idaho

Current Town: San Francisco, California

Q:  Tell me about your commission from SF Playground.

A:  This is tough to answer right now. For six months of every season Playground releases a topic to its writers pool of 36 playwrights, everyone has four and a half days to write and submit a ten minute play based on the topic, and once a month Playground gives staged readings to the six “best” plays from that month. At the end of the season there is a Best of Playground Festival featuring productions of six of the strongest plays that were read in the previous six months, as well as staged readings of full length commissions awarded at the end of the previous season. This year they are commissioning three full length plays (to be read in next year’s festival) and each commissioned playwright has proposed three plays that he/she would like to write. Because the commissions are read together as part of a festival, the commissioning process is a little like building a season. So, currently Playground is in the process of figuring out which plays will fit together thematically with out too much overlap. I’m in a holding pattern right now, waiting to see which one they want, which has been an interesting experience unto itself. My plays tend to have long gestation periods. I usually have two or three ideas on the back burner and eventually one will bubble to the surface demanding to be written. Right now I’m keeping all three of them boiling. It’s making me feel a little schizophrenic with all these characters’ voices so consciously on my mind, but I like it. I’ve never had so many plays so ready to go at the same time before. I’m hoping it will make for a productive year.

Q:  What else are you working on?

A:  I have a ten minute play, Rapunzel’s Etymology of Zero, in the Best of Playground Festival this year. I’m in rehearsals for that right now. It’s a math based fairy tale about how Rapunzel is in fact a genius mathematician locked away in her tower. She originates the concept of zero as an actual number—that nothingness is something. It is overtly, unapologetically feminist, but funny too. What’s funnier than math and feminism?

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 in a small town in the middle of Wyoming. It’s the least populated state in the country. I am strangely proud of that. I spent my childhood hunting horned toads, and going hiking on Sundays because my parents (who both came from different, but fiercely religious backgrounds) shunned church in favor of being outdoors. I still have to explain to people that we didn’t ride horses to school (though I can ride a horse), and how hunting funds more conservation efforts than just about anything else (yes I’ve been hunting). Even though I am a giant liberal, which I in turn defend to my family and to everyone else where I grew up. The weird dichotomy of going into the liberal arts after growing up in the two most conservative states in the country, vs. my pride in having grown up there, vs. the interesting mythology projected upon those places, informs a lot of what I do. I guess that’s more of a setting than a story.

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

A:  Big west coast regional theater companies would invest in, develop, and champion west coast writers and the western aesthetic. I feel a lot of pressure to go East to get produced in order to be taken seriously out here.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Tony Kushner, because I have a background in fiction and he does everything with language that my playwriting professors tried to get me to stop doing. Sarah Ruhl, for her use of stage space, the way her plays move in time, and for giving us a great example what theater can do that film can’t. Lee Blessing for being a structural genius and by all accounts a great teacher. Bill Irwin, Suzan Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, Marsha Norman, Caryl Churchill.  I’m also a big fan of other types of performance outside of theater. I’m hugely inspired by stand-up comedians Bill Hicks and Demetri Martin. Also, the late Tom Proehl who co-founded Signature Theatre Company, among many other giant contributions to theater, but mostly because he was a fantastic human being.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  There’s a scene in Jurassic Park (the book) where the dinosaur with the poison spit, spits in a guy’s face and then slices him across the belly. He runs away into the jungle with his hand pressed against his stomach trying to keep his organs from falling out. I like plays that eviscerate me like that. The last scene of David Mamet’s Oleanna does it, so does Topdog Underdog by Suzan Lori Parks. Those are two plays where you get up, and you stumble out of the theater holding your guts in your hands.

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

A:  I’m pretty much the definition of just starting out, so really I have no idea. Find a theater community, put down roots, talk to everyone. I’m more qualified to give advice from the bottom up, which is this: Treat students and the interns like the professionals they will someday become, learn their names, listen to their input. We’re talented, we know how to use social media, and we are incredibly loyal to anyone who made us feel valued on the way up.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Best of Playground Festival runs May 5th to 29th at Thick House in San Francisco. www.playground-sf.org. It’s really a fantastic company that is doing more than just about anyone to commission and develop new work, as well as to invest in their playwriting community.