500 Playwright Interviews (alphabetical)

Sean Abley

Rob Ackerman
Liz Duffy Adams
Johnna Adams
Tony Adams 
David Adjmi
Keith Josef Adkins
Nastaran Ahmadi   
Derek Ahonen
Kathleen Akerley
Daniel Akiyama   
Zakiyyah Alexander
Luis Alfaro
Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro 
Lucy Alibar
Joshua Allen
Norman Allen
Mando Alvarado 
Sofia Alvarez 
Christina Anderson
Eddie Antar
Terence Anthony
David Anzuelo
Rob Askins 
David Auburn 
Micheline Auger  
Alice Austen 
Elaine Avila   
Rachel Axler
Jenny Lyn Bader
Bianca Bagatourian   
Annie Baker
Trista Baldwin
David Bar Katz
Jennifer Barclay 
Courtney Baron
Abi Basch 
Mike Batistick 
Brian Bauman
Neena Beber
Chad Beckim
Nikole Beckwith 
Maria Alexandria Beech
France-Luce Benson
Kari Bentley-Quinn 
Alan Berks
Brooke Berman
Susan Bernfield
Jay Bernzweig 
Hilary Bettis 
Mickey Birnbaum  
Barton Bishop
Martin Blank
Radha 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
Deborah Brevoort  
Delaney Britt Brewer
Jessica Brickman  
Erin Browne
Julia Brownell  
Bekah Brunstetter
Monica Byrne
Renee Calarco
Zack Calhoon 
Sheila Callaghan
Robert Quillen Camp  
Darren Canady
Ruben Carbajal
Ed Cardona, Jr.
Jonathan Caren
Aaron Carter
James Carter
Lonnie Carter
Nat Cassidy 
David Caudle
Laura Maria Censabella 
Emily Chadick Weiss
Eugenie Chan 
Clay McLeod Chapman
Christopher Chen
Kirsten Childs 
Jason Chimonides
Andrea Ciannavei
John Clancy
Eliza Clark
Alexis Clements
Paul Cohen 
Alexandra Collier
James Comtois
Joshua Conkel
Jennie Contuzzi  
Kara Lee Corthron
Kia Corthron  
Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas
Erin Courtney
Cusi Cram
Lisa D'Amour
Gordon Dahlquist 
Wendy Dann  
Heidi Darchuk
Stacy Davidowitz
Adrienne Dawes 
Philip Dawkins
Dylan Dawson
Colby Day  
Gabriel Jason Dean
Vincent Delaney
Emily DeVoti
Kristoffer Diaz
Jessica Dickey
Dan Dietz
Lisa Dillman
Ivan Dimitrov  
Zayd Dohrn
Bathsheba Doran
Anton Dudley
Laura Eason
Fielding Edlow
Reginald Edmund 
Erik Ehn
Yussef El Guindi
Michael Elyanow  
Libby Emmons
Jennie Berman Eng  
Christine Evans 
Jennifer Fawcett 
Joshua Fardon
Halley Feiffer 
Lauren Feldman
Gina Femia  
Catherine Filloux   
Kenny Finkle
Stephanie Fleischmann
Kate Fodor
Sam Forman 
Dana Lynn Formby  
Dorothy Fortenberry 
Darcy Fowler  
Kevin R. Free
Matthew Freeman
Edith Freni
Patrick Gabridge 
Fengar Gael 
Anne Garcia-Romero
Gary Garrison
Melissa Gawlowski 
Philip Gawthorne
Madeleine George
Meg Gibson
Sean Gill
Sigrid Gilmer 
Peter Gil-Sheridan
Gina Gionfriddo
Kelley Girod 
Megan Gogerty 
Michael Golamco
Jessica Goldberg
Daniel Goldfarb
Jacqueline Goldfinger
Jeff Goode
Idris Goodwin
Tasha Gordon-Solmon
Christina Gorman
Craig "muMs" Grant
Katharine Clark Gray
Elana Greenfield   
Kirsten Greenidge
D.W. Gregory 
David Grimm
Rinne Groff 
Jason Grote
Sarah Gubbins
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Lauren Gunderson
Laurel Haines 
Jennifer Haley
Ashlin Halfnight   
Christina Ham
Sarah Hammond
Rob Handel
Trish Harnetiaux 
Jordan Harrison
Megan Hart 
Leslye Headland
Ann Marie Healy
Julie Hebert 
Marielle Heller
Charity Henson-Ballard 
Amy Herzog
Ian W. Hill  
Andrew Hinderaker
Cory Hinkle
Richard Martin Hirsch
Lucas Hnath
David Holstein
J. Holtham
Miranda Huba  
Quiara Alegria Hudes 
Les Hunter
Sam Hunter
Monet Hurst-Mendoza 
Chisa Hutchinson
Arlene Hutton
Lameece Issaq 
Tom Jacobson  
Laura Jacqmin
Joshua James
Julia Jarcho
Kyle Jarrow
Rachel Jendrzejewski   
Karla Jennings
David Johnston
Daniel Alexander Jones  
Marie Jones
Nick Jones
Julia Jordan
Rajiv Joseph
Ken Kaissar 
Aditi Brennan Kapil
Lila Rose Kaplan
Stephen Karam  
Jeremy Kareken 
Lally Katz
Lynne Kaufman
Daniel Keene 
Karinne Keithley 
Greg Keller
Daniel John Kelley 
Sibyl Kempson
Jon Kern 
Anna Kerrigan
Kait Kerrigan
Jeffrey James Keyes  
Boo Killebrew
Callie Kimball
Alessandro King 
Johnny Klein 
Krista Knight
Josh Koenigsberg 
John Kolvenbach
Kristen Kosmas 
Sherry Kramer
Adam Kraar 
Andrea Kuchlewska
Larry Kunofsky
Aaron Landsman 
Eric Lane  
Jennifer Lane
Deborah Zoe Laufer
Jacqueline E. Lawton 
Ginger Lazarus
J. C. Lee
Young Jean Lee
Dan LeFranc
Forrest Leo  
Andrea Lepcio
Victor Lesniewski 
Steven Levenson
Barry Levey
Mark Harvey Levine  
Michael Lew
Alex Lewin  
EM Lewis
Sean Christopher Lewis
Jeff Lewonczyk
Kenneth Lin
Evan Linder 
Ethan Lipton 
Michael Lluberes
David J. Loehr 
Matthew Lopez
Tim J. Lord 
Alex Lubischer 
Stacey Luftig
Kirk Lynn
Taylor Mac  
Mariah MacCarthy
Heather Lynn MacDonald 
Laura Lynn MacDonald
Maya Macdonald
Samantha Macher 
Wendy MacLeod 
Cheri Magid
Jennifer Maisel
Martyna Majok  
Karen Malpede   
Kara Manning
Mona Mansour 
Warren Manzi 
Israela Margalit 
Ellen Margolis
Ruth Margraff
Sam Marks
Katie May
Oliver Mayer
Tarell Alvin McCraney
Mia McCullough  
Daniel McCoy 
Ruth McKee
Gabe McKinley  
Ellen McLaughlin 
James McManus
Charlotte Meehan
Carly Mensch
Molly Smith Metzler
Dennis Miles
Charlotte Miller 
Jane Miller
Susan Miller 
Winter Miller
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Yusef Miller 
Rehana Mirza
Michael Mitnick
Chiori Miyagawa 
Anna Moench
Honor Molloy
Claire Moodey 
Alejandro Morales
Desi Moreno-Penson
Dominique Morisseau 
Susan Mosakowski  
Hannah Moscovitch 
Itamar Moses
Gregory Moss
Megan Mostyn-Brown
Kate Mulley 
Paul Mullin
Carlos Murillo  
Julie Marie Myatt
Janine Nabers
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Brett Neveu
Don Nguyen   
Qui Nguyen
Don Nigro
Dan O'Brien
Matthew Paul Olmos 
Dominic Orlando
Rich Orloff
Marisela Treviño Orta
Sylvan Oswald
Jamie Pachino
Kristen Palmer
Marc Palmieri 
Tira Palmquist
A. Rey Pamatmat
Kyoung H. Park
Jerome A. Parker  
Peter Parnell
Caitlin Montanye Parrish
Julia Pascal
Steve Patterson
Greg Paul 
Daniel Pearle 
christopher oscar peña
Anne Phelan 
Greg Pierce  
Greg Pierotti 
Begonya Plaza 
Brian Polak 
Daria Polatin
John Pollono
Larry Pontius
Chana Porter
Max Posner  
Craig Pospisil
Jessica Provenz
Michael Puzzo
Brian Quirk
Marco Ramirez 
Yasmine Beverly Rana
Adam Rapp
David West Read 
Theresa Rebeck
Amber Reed
Daniel Reitz
M.Z. Ribalow
Molly Rice
David Robson  
Mac Rogers
Joe Roland 
Elaine Romero
Lynn Rosen
Andrew Rosendorf
Kim Rosenstock
Ben Rosenthal 
Sharyn Rothstein
David Rush  
Kate E. Ryan
Kate Moira Ryan
Riti Sachdeva 
Trav S.D.
Sarah Sander
Tanya Saracho
Heidi Schreck
August Schulenburg
Sarah Schulman  
Mark Schultz
Jenny Schwartz
Emily Schwend
Jordan Seavey
Adriano Shaplin 
Erika Sheffer
Katharine Sherman
Kendall Sherwood 
Christopher Shinn
Rachel Shukert
Jen Silverman
David Simpatico 
Blair Singer
Crystal Skillman
Mat Smart
Alena Smith
Matthew Stephen Smith  
Tommy Smith
Ben Snyder
Sonya Sobieski  
Lisa Soland
Octavio Solis
E. Hunter Spreen 
Peggy Stafford
Diana Stahl 
Saviana Stanescu
Susan Soon He Stanton  
Nick Starr
Deborah Stein
Jon Steinhagen
Caitlin Saylor Stephens  
Vanessa Claire Stewart 
Victoria Stewart
Andrea Stolowitz
Steven Strafford 
Lydia Stryk
Gwydion Suilebhan  
Gary Sunshine
Caridad Svich
Jeffrey Sweet
Adam Szymkowicz
Daniel Talbott
Jeff Talbott 
Kate Tarker 
Roland Tec 
Lucy Thurber
Paul Thureen
Melisa Tien   
Josh Tobiessen
Joe Tracz
Catherine Trieschmann 
Dan Trujillo
Alice Tuan
Jon Tuttle
Ken Urban
Enrique Urueta
Jean-Claude van Itallie
Karen Smith Vastola 
Francine Volpe
Kathryn Walat
Ian Walker
Michael I. Walker 
Malachy Walsh
Kathleen Warnock
Anne Washburn
Marisa Wegrzyn
Anthony Weigh   
Ken Weitzman
Sharr White
David Wiener  
Claire Willett
Samuel Brett Williams
Beau Willimon
Pia Wilson
Leah Nanako Winkler 
Gary Winter
Bess Wohl
Tom Matthew Wolfe  
Stanton Wood
Craig Wright
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig
Anu Yadav
Deborah Yarchun
Lauren Yee
Steve Yockey
Kelly Younger
Stefanie Zadravec
David Zellnik  
Anna Ziegler

500 Playwright Interviews

Susan Miller

Ben Rosenthal

David Auburn

Jean-Claude van Itallie
Tom Matthew Wolfe
Halley Feiffer
Marie Jones
Ivan Dimitrov
Gordon Dahlquist
Evan Linder
Steven Strafford
Anne Phelan
Vanessa Claire Stewart
Diana Stahl
Gina Femia  

D.W. Gregory
Samantha Macher
Laura Maria Censabella
Megan Gogerty
Colby Day
Jeffrey James Keyes
Carlos Murillo
Yasmine Beverly Rana
Greg Pierotti Megan Hart
John Clancy 
David Zellnik
Lonnie Carter
Sarah Schulman
Micheline Auger
Greg Pierce 
Susan Mosakowski 
Chiori Miyagawa
Daniel Akiyama
Caitlin Saylor Stephens
Greg Paul
Jacqueline E. Lawton
Nastaran Ahmadi 
Max Posner
Tim J. Lord
Adrienne Dawes
Susan Soon He Stanton
Kendall Sherwood
Wendy Dann
Ken Kaissar
Norman Allen 
Larry Pontius
Rinne Groff
David Robson
Zack Calhoon
Jennie Contuzzi
Monet Hurst-Mendoza
Marc Palmieri
Adriano Shaplin
Adam Kraar
Trish Harnetiaux
Michael Elyanow
Forrest Leo
Ginger Lazarus
Daniel John Kelley
Fengar Gael
Katharine Sherman
Alex Lubischer
Robert Quillen Camp
Lauren Feldman
Dorothy Fortenberry
Ethan Lipton
Riti Sachdeva
Melissa Gawlowski
Aaron Landsman
Joe Tracz
Nat Cassidy
David Rush 
Josh Koenigsberg
Philip Gawthorne

Eddie Antar

Begonya Plaza

Lameece Issaq

Reginald Edmund

Erika Sheffer

Kristen Kosmas

Jennifer Lane

Tasha Gordon-Solmon

Leah Nanako Winkler

Matthew Stephen Smith

Jerome A. Parker

Caitlin Montanye Parrish

France-Luce Benson

Kirsten Childs

Jennie Berman Eng

Anu Yadav

Sherry Kramer

Ian Walker

Sean Abley

Emily Chadick Weiss

Charity Henson-Ballard

Idris Goodwin

Hilary Bettis

Melisa Tien  

Julia Brownell
David Anzuelo
David Wiener
M.Z. Ribalow
Neena Beber
Joe Roland
Radha Blank
Kelley Girod
Sean Gill
David Bar Katz
Daniel Alexander Jones
Taylor Mac
Sharyn Rothstein
Jon Kern
Sylvan Oswald Mickey Birnbaum
Jeff Talbott
Deborah Brevoort
Rob Askins
Paul Cohen
Stephen Karam 
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig
Karen Smith Vastola
David Grimm
Claire Moodey
Bess Wohl 
Wendy MacLeod 
Kate Mulley
Octavio Solis
Ian W. Hill
Monica Byrne
Don Nguyen 
Dana Lynn Formby
Dennis Miles
Marco Ramirez
Warren Manzi 
Mia McCullough 
Ellen McLaughlin
Tom Jacobson
Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro
Hannah Moscovitch
Alessandro King
Alex Lewin
Laurel Haines
Renee Calarco
E. Hunter Spreen 
Michael Lluberes
Kathleen Akerley  
Sonya Sobieski 
Gwydion Suilebhan 
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 500: Susan Miller

Susan Miller

Hometown: Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Born in Philadelphia.

Current Town: New York

Q:  Tell me about Anyone But Me.

A:  It’s only been my life every day for the past 4 years! One of the most artistically freeing and satisfying pieces of work I’ve ever done. Because I didn’t have to wait for anyone else to tell me I could.

“Anyone But Me” is a drama webseries I write and executive produce with creative partner, Tina Cesa Ward. In three seasons we’ve grown to over 13 million views worldwide. And in 2011 we won the first Writers Guild Award ever given for Original New Media. It’s a show about young people, gay straight and ethnically diverse, struggling with identity and modern relationships. We got very lucky in casting our leads just a year out of NYU and Rutgers. The chemistry was there, and we just mined it. The stories we tell speak to people who aren’t used to seeing themselves represented in the mainstream, so we developed a huge niche audience. The main characters are two girls in love. You don’t see that too often in any real way. Though, I think the reason our reach goes beyond age and gender is that none of us ever really gets over the drama that is high school. I mean, do we?

If anyone’s interested in the full story of how a playwright such as myself got into this webseries business, I wrote a piece for American Theatre about my journey with the show and how I think playwrights are beginning to understand and seriously consider writing for the web. Here’s the link: http://susanmillerplaywright.com/Main/ArticlesbySusanMiller.html

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I have a commission to write a new play. But, I can’t tell you what it is. Actually, I still don’t know what it is. Except to say that if I can pull it off, it’s something that will bring some of the most powerfully talented, sexy women on stage together. In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of walking around the city and sitting in cafes to see if any of them inspire me to do more than drink double espressos.

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 that’s impossible, right?

Okay, so I’m five. I live in a small town. On a street with a haunted house on one corner and a garment factory on the other. This one afternoon my parents have to make a quick run to the neighborhood store. I beg them to let me stay by myself. I promise I won’t go outside. I wont answer the door. I’ll stay right here on the couch. But, I don’t. I can’t. I’m drawn to the world. So when I think it’s safe, I unlock the door and take my little self to where it’s forbidden to go. And, to feel what it’s like to be on the street without anyone to catch me if I fall is completely thrilling. So, then, of course, I fall. I’m running with abandon and I fall, skinning my knees bloody. When my parents come home, I’m on the couch, as I said I’d be, crying with shame and need. My parents, on the other hand, are just glad I’m alive. They didn’t punish me. They gave me comfort. And I guess they understood that this is who I’d be. The good rebel. A badass struggling with her badassity. Which says as much about my mother and father as it does about me.

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

A:  I’d do it all in a garage.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Joseph Papp. He wasn’t afraid to say yes. One day, some time after he’d produced two of my plays, and after I’d sent him the latest one, I got word he wanted to meet me in his office. His wife, Gail, who was head of play development at the Public, was there. And I brought my friend actress/writer Kathryn Grody along as a witness to whatever might happen. Joe began to read my play out loud. After he got through the entire thing, he said to me, “You know I’m doing this play?” I didn’t. Neither did anyone else in the room. “It’s the first one I’ve chosen for the new season.” I could see he’d made up his mind on the spot. No other readings in development hell necessary. On opening night, he sent me this handwritten note, which I keep on my desk to this day: “Dear Susan - I love your play and probably enjoy hearing your distinct voice more than almost any living creature. Best of luck, Joe.”

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Work that’s palpably original and takes it on. Something that stirs the air and leaves me wanting to make something that good of my own.

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

A:  Write plays only you can write, goddamit!

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Watch “Anyone But Me” on Hulu, YouTube or on our website: www.AnyoneButMeSeries.com

For more about my work: www.susanmillerplaywright.com

I Interview Playwrights Part 499: Nate Rufus Edelman

Nate Rufus Edelman

Hometown: Northeast Los Angeles

Current Town: Loz Feliz, by way of New York and Ireland.

Q:  Tell me about The Belle of Belfast.

A:  "The Belle of Belfast" is a comic tragedy about a forbidden love affair between an orphaned seventeen year old girl and her parish priest in 1980s Northern Ireland. It was a part of Cherry Lane Theatre's Mentor Project and is receiving its world premiere at EST/LA in Atwater Village. I wrote an article for LA Stage Times that illustrates its journey that can be found here:

http://www.lastagetimes.com/2012/10/an-angeleno-examines-the-belfast-troubles/

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  I have several plays in different stages of development. I have written a trilogy of black comic plays about murder in the contemporary American West that I hope to polish and one-day get staged. I have also just finished producing and co-directing the inaugural production for the Savage Players, a new company in Los Angeles of which I am a founding member. It was a terrific collaborative experience and I am eager to help mount something with the company in the winter. I also have a couple of screen projects in the works that one day I would like to direct.

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

A:  I wish that theater in America was subsidized federally. It is a vital part of our national culture and should be treated with the respect it receives in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  John Millington Synge. Sean O'Casey. Samuel Beckett. Harold Pinter. Anton Chekhov. Lady Gregory for founding the Abbey Theatre and the many people who followed in her path-- courageous Artistic Directors who have dedicated their own money and lives to showcase new work on stages across the globe.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theater that fully transports me somewhere I never expected to go.

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

A:  Try and write your favorite play-- no one else's. And I am partial to courier as a font.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  "The Belle of Belfast" opens on October 6th at Ensemble Studio Theatre LA. It runs in rep with Keliher Walsh's powerful "Year of the Rabbit." Please come and check them out!

http://ensemblestudiotheatrela.org/