I Interview Playwrights Part 797: Sofya Weitz

Sofya Weitz

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Current Town: Brooklyn, New York

Q:  Tell me about LADY.

A:  LADY is a play loosely based on Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a powerful woman in the 1500s in Hungary who allegedly killed over 600 young girls and bathed in their blood to preserve her youth, making her the most prolific serial killer in history. My play takes an anachronistic approach, looking at her last days with her two remaining servants. It's a power play, exploring the lengths we go to for beauty, sex and power, and really revolves around these three characters and the way they destroy and rebuild each other, with some blood in there of course.

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  I am helping my boyfriend (Will Arbery, who is the director of LADY) produce his short film, Your Resources, which is really exciting. I recently started a new play about women who have been executed in the U.S. I'm also working hard on revisions for my play The Gleaming which I developed with Steep Theatre in Chicago. Finally, I'm developing a television series that deals with a Jewish American family living in modern day Berlin and explores the mounting anti-Semitism in Western Europe.

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

A:  What immediately came to mind is that between the ages of 8-10 or so, if my family had our friends over for a holiday or dinner or party, I would spend the whole afternoon previous planning a performance for all the kids who would be attending. One year, I remember I wrote a short play, cast every kid I knew was coming, made separate binders for each of them with their scripts, designed costumes and the set from what I could find around the house, basically forced them to rehearse and learn their lines when they arrived, directed and blocked them, and ultimately performed for all the parents. I'm pretty sure the play was about a writer who wasn't spending time with her friends and they devised ways to try to get her to come outside and hang out with them. Oh, and I played the writer.

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

A:  The main things I want are in some ways a contradiction. I want theatre to be able to be accessed by everyone. I really want to contribute to diversifying audiences, in many different ways. I want non "theatre" people to see and love theatre; I want everyone to be able to afford to see the shows they want to see and have access both tangibly and ideologically (by offering up varied viewpoints). And on the other end, I want people who care about contributing to the theatrical world to be able to be paid for what they do, to afford to make art, and to be able to make that a large part of their livelihood.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  My professors from my grad program at Northwestern University that I finished this past June with my MFA really inspire me. Rebecca Gilman, Zayd Dohrn, Thomas Bradshaw, Brett Neveu. They're all continuing to contribute so vastly to the theatrical world all the time, but remain inspiring teachers and mentors. I am drawn to that authenticity; they are all doing what they do not only incredibly well, but they are doing it unapologetically, consistently, pairing hard work with unique talent and passing those skills and that advice to us. I also have been completely obsessed with Charles Mee's plays (especially his Greek adaptations) for many years, and I love the work Beth Henley does (I wrote my first play for her class at my undergrad, Loyola Marymount University.)

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I love theatre that feels immediate, that takes risks and assumes the intelligence of its audience and characters. I love rawness and a feeling of pressing importance, which doesn't always mean a contemporary show. For instance, I saw Luis Alfaro's adaptation of Medea in LA last month and was so inspired by the fresh blood he pumped into that story, which I already loved on its own. Alternately, I just saw The Flick and am consistently impressed with Annie Baker's ability to challenge her audience's attention spans and make this magnificently beautiful piece of theatre in a collection of small but incredibly tragic moments. I crave authenticity when I see plays and I love theatre that uses all its elements to pull me out of my own paradigm and experience for a couple hours.

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

A:  Make your own work. Put it up yourself, however you do it, do it as best you can, and get people there. People are always more excited about coming to see something than reading pages. But more importantly, it will keep you excited about the work you're doing and keep the momentum moving forward. It's so easy to get burnt out with rejection, but as long as you always have something you're working on, it doesn't feel as crushing. And if you're making it yourself, it feels more real, and that's even better.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Come see my new full-length play LADY at the American Theatre of Actors running from October 28th-November 1st as part of the 2015 Araca Project! Sex, beauty, violence, blood, power play, existential questions. All the good stuff. You can get tickets at https://www.artful.ly/lady.

 
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I Interview Playwrights Part 796: Sarah Gancher

Sarah Gancher

Hometown: Oakland, California

Current Town: Queens, NY

Q:  Tell me about your recent piece in Steppenwolf’s First Look Festival

A:  I’ll Get You Back Again is very close to my heart. It’s set in Berkeley, not far from where I grew up in Oakland, and is inspired by the Bay Area 60s culture I was raised in. My parents were part of a very close group of friends who hung out in San Francisco during the Summer of Love. I grew up playing violin with my dad’s band, going to Buddhist teachings, and watching free San Francisco Mime Troupe shows in the park. It’s so disorienting to watch that way of life (which I loved and hated and took for granted) get swept away in a tsunami of tech development. And it’s painful to watch my parents’ friends growing older, to realize that my time with them is limited.

The play centers around a bitter comedian in her 30s, Chloe, who agrees to play bass in her dead father’s seminal psychedelic garage rock band. The play tackles what we inherit from the sixties, the joys and discontents of collaboration, and the search for transcendence in music and comedy. The characters are larger than life, ridiculous, but full of real human emotion. I’m always trying to write plays that have me laughing and crying in the same moment; this one is as close as I’ve gotten.

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  A massive, huge-cast epic called The Place We Built, based loosely on the true story of my friends, who founded a squat-bar-bafe-theater-music venue-arts space in Budapest that became a home for dissent and protest against Hungary’s current right wing government. (I used to live in Budapest, and remain very much in love with the city.) It’s about my friends’ generation, who were children when the Berlin Wall came down, and came of age believing in “European” values of tolerance, diversity, and democracy. Now, they’re having children at a time when Europe is in crisis, and the very idea of progress seems to be under attack.

On the other end of the spectrum, I’m revising a two-woman play currently called Duet. Set one wild New Year’s Eve, the play tracks two life-long best friends as they ricochet through years of shared memories. They shape-shift into scores of other characters as they try to pin down what—and who—they are to each other now. The play asks whether you can ever truly know another person, or even yourself.

A huge part of my life as a playwright is working with devising ensembles. My latest outlet for this type of work is creating a new musical with musical geniuses The Bengsons, commissioned by Ars Nova. So excited.

My day job is writing for Blue Man Group, which is essentially a job as a professional deviser. I’ve had a lot of weird jobs, but this is far and away my favorite so far.

Last but not least, I’m also starting a new play and a television pilot.

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

A:  Man, this question could really take me down a rabbithole. About forty different stories come to mind, but here’s what bubbles to the surface:

The first story I ever wrote (I was probably four years old) was inspired by my hatred of washing my hair. A little girl goes so long without her hair that a family of spiders make a nest on her head. She discovers the spiders are amazing singers, they make a hit record, the girl marries Michael Jackson and lives happily ever after. Weirdly I was already writing about things that made me uncomfortable, already thinking about community, and already fixated on music. I don’t know what to tell you about the Michael Jackson thing. I loved Thriller.

Another story: as a kid I was obsessed with dreaming up alternate worlds. I made maps of imagined countries and cities, designed rituals and national costumes for fictional cultures, wrote pamphlets for schools that didn’t exist, and drew up newsletters for clubs that had no other members.

I know it’s fashionable to claim other peoples’ dreams are boring, but I am always fascinated by the types of dreams other people have. I have close friends plagued by nightmares so vivid, they barely sleep. Another friend regularly wakes himself up laughing. One of my high school buddies only dreamed in patterns; her worst nightmare was just white slanting lines on a black background. I’ve always dreamt about exploring buildings, getting lost in houses or castles or locker rooms that keep revealing more and more rooms, hallways, secret passages, vast basements. I’ve only had one important theater dream. I dreamt I ran an improv troupe—sort of like a Harold team—that improvised entire epic, kaleidoscopic plays. I remember feeling incredibly proud. Someone standing next to me asked how it all worked and I said “We create tiny universes and then destroy them.” Then I woke up. I’m sure my very next dream was about wandering through a parking garage or something.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  At the top of my very long heroes list are Caryl Churchill, Dario Fo, Wallace Shawn, Suzan-Lori Parks, Tony Kushner, and August Wilson. Chekhov, Moliere, Goldoni, and the great traditions of physical comedy from commedia dell’arte through silent film are important to me. Three movies I often think about when writing are Kusturica’s Underground, Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, and Sun Ra’s Space Is the Place.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I just basically want to be jolted out of my mental habits, so that I’m suddenly aware of existing in a living moment. I want to feel that a room full of strangers has somehow become a community. I want to leave the theater seeing the world through new eyes. Any kind of theater that gets me there excites me.

Personal presets: I love devised work, total theater, historical epics, farce, slapstick, and live music onstage. I flip for really good site-specific work, immersive theater, and plays structured like games.

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

A:  I’m still starting out myself, but here is some of the best advice I’ve been given.

Nothing is lost, nothing is wasted. Don’t be afraid to write things you’ll cut, or to offer ideas that might make you look stupid. Don’t mourn too much over cutting writing you love—it’s on its way to its true home, in another project.

It gets said all the time, but it bears repeating—find your people and make work with them. It’s beautiful to have many artistic families that overlap and intermarry.

Business Stuff (this is what I need the most advice on):

Embrace failure, embrace rejection. Take it to heart and then keep moving. Kick your own ass a little. A wise woman once told me that you have to get fifty rejections before you get one yes. Every victory is bought with multiple rejections. Your job is not to win that contest or that fellowship or that residency. Your job is just to apply. If you did that, you’re doing your job. Keep doing it.

Find one good playwright friend to share your successes and your failures — especially your failures—with. I share my playwriting ups and downs with Chisa Hutchinson, and she has saved my sanity on many an occasion. When she succeeds (and she’s good at succeeding), I am so freaking happy. (Check out Dead and Breathing at National Black Theatre this fall!)

You can do anything you want, but you have to know exactly what you want. Envision exactly where you want to be, in your writing, and in your career, with as much specificity as humanly possible, and then make a practical plan to get there. Break your goal down into action steps. Break those steps down into more steps. Remember to approach your path with the same ingenuity you bring to your writing.

Most importantly, know why you do what you do. Remember that you are on a mission that has nothing to do with money or praise or any of that other crap. You know what your reasons are. Keep them close.

Q:  Plugs, Please:

A:  The Place We Built will be read by Mosaic Theater in the Women’s Voices Theater Project, October 19.

And I heartily recommend the upcoming work of these friends:

Stephen Karam’s The Humans at Roundabout
Michael Yates Crowley’s Song of a Convalescent Ayn Rand Giving Thanks to the Godhead in the Lydian Mode at ART in Boston
Eliza Bent’s Toilet Fire at Abrons Art Center
The TEAM’s RoosevElvis at The Royal Court in London
Chisa Hutchinson’s Dead and Breathing at National Black Theater
Lauren Yee’s King of the Yees at the Goodman in Chicago
Sarah Burgess’s Dry Powder at The Public
Emma Goidel’s A Knee That Can Bend at Theatre Exile in Philly
Rachel Bonds’ Swimmers at Marin Theater Company in California
Robert Murphy's Love, Sex, and Death in the Amazon at Paradise Factory

www.sarahgancher.org

Also, check out The Bengsons!

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I Interview Playwrights Part 795: Ron Osborne

Ron Osborne

Hometown/Current Town: Glendale, MO (a suburb of St. Louis)

Q: What are you working on now?

A. I’m revising/editing a new comedy titled GHOSTLY DOINGS IN DIXIE set in North Carolina as well as a poignant comedy set in Virginia titled DREAMING IN BLACK & WHITE. With one exception, all of my plays – a dozen or so and counting – are comedies and all are set in the South. Why comedies? Because comedy comes easier to me, and they’re lots more fun to spend six months to a year with. The South? Because I find Southern characters by their very nature, personalities, situations, etc. offer greater opportunities for humor.

Q. What kind of theatre excites you?

A. I tend to see and read plays that are similar to those I enjoying writing, hoping – I suppose – I’ll pick up something that’ll help me in my next effort. I’ve found that I‘m often motivated by something I’ve seen or read and, boy, does that help when I sit down in front of a computer.

Q. Who are your theatrical heroes?

A. Before concentrating on playwright I had the good fortunate to work for a highly creative person at a major motivation agency who suggested I work up short skits to help sell one of our travel products to a Fortune 500 company. I wrote a skit personalized to the company: together we gathered props, hired equity actors, etc. The response to the show was more than either of us expected, so much so that I went on to write many more, a number of which were presented to the various companies’ distribution organizations. Without this start (thank you, Al Gesimar) I doubt I would’ve ever written the words “Act One, Scene One.”

My other hero – perhaps angel’s a better word – is Rick Rose, Producing Artistic Director at Barter Theatre, the LORT-member State Theatre of Virginia. In 2001 I submitted a play to Rick for consideration in their Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. It went on win the competition, was produced as a mini-production, then moved to Barter’s 500-seat main stage for 44 performances. The play (FIRST BAPTIST OF IVY GAP) was subsequently published by Samuel French and, to date, has been produced by nearly 200 theatres. There’s more … thanks to Rick, Barter premiered another five of my plays, four on the main stage.

Q. What advice do you have for playwrights just starting?

A. Above all, be realistic in your expectations; the fact is, too few theatres take a hard look at the efforts of playwrights without credentials. So consider forwarding the play to groups that can help build credentials that’ll make theatres sit up and pay attention. The best bet, in my opinion, are those that sponsor new play competitions. Chances are, with a little luck and a lot of persistence, one’s efforts with be rewarded. The key, at least for me, was to not give up.

Another piece of advice … consider writing a comedy. Based on my own experience, theaters (as well as competition sponsors) seem more receptive to plays that’ll make their audiences laugh. Which isn’t to say, you can’t treat a serious subject you may want to discuss with humor. One more … because so many (if not most) theatres want to premier a new play, be careful whom you give first-production rights.

Q. Plugs?

A. How about one for Samuel French, Inc., a terrific company to work with and to select plays from? I’m fortunate that seven of my plays are published by them.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 794: Lauren Van Kurin

Lauren Van Kurin

Hometown: Yorba Linda, CA

Current Town: Los Angeles

Q:  What are you working on now? 

A:  Kong in Vegas, a new play in LA and I improvise with my iO West Harold Team MAX!

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

A:   I'm the middle, middle child in a loud family. 4 kids 3 girls, 1 boy and I was middle girl. I'll do anything to make my family laugh or smile. My family made me a fearless performer.

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

A:  Giving standing ovations so often and casting names over talent.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 

A:  I saw Mark Rylance BECOME Olivia in Twelfth Night in London at the Globe when I was 20. I'll never forget that performance. The Second City writer/ performers I watched as an intern and my current Fools. My 2 acting college teachers that encouraged me to not give up even though i'd never done a play.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you? 

A:  I'm obsessed with Hamilton right now, like the rest of the world. The Wooster Group, Steppenwolf, 99 seat theater in Los Angeles!

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

A:  Keep writing and writing and writing and writing.

Q;  Plugs, please: 

A:  Come see our show King of Kong: A Musical Parody at the ONYX Friday, Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm! Serial Killers at Sacred Fools in Los Angeles Saturday's at 11pm, Comedy People's time in NYC!

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I Interview Playwrights Part 793: Michael Kimmel

Michael Kimmel

Hometown: West Chester, PA

Current Town: New York City

Q:  Tell me about Songbird.

A:  Songbird is based on The Seagull by Anton Chekhov and set in the singer/songwriter world of Nashville TN. It’s the examination of a community of people who can break a million hearts if they sing or play an instrument, but have an immense amount of trouble articulating feeling in their own lives.

It’s raucous and funny with some kick ass music.

And there is whiskey. Lot’s of whiskey.

(for them, not for us)

(mostly for them)

(ok... everyone gets whiskey)

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  Todd and Mitzy is my new play about a couple dealing with infertility, and the cost of trying to have a family.

Wildwood is a new musical, inspired by Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird Of Youth, and set in Wildwood, NJ, in the 1950’s.

#Untitledpopmusical is a show I’ve written with Drew Gasparini about the rise and fall of pop star Jenna Styles. All of these are coming to venues near you hopefully soon!

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 think this might sum it up- When I was five, and visiting Disney World, I was extremely eager to meet Mickey Mouse. So, at the character breakfast one morning, Mickey walked in the room. I got so excited and worked up that I vomited. All over the place.

Do with that what you will.

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

A:  I want everyone to come to the theater and fall in love with it the way I did as a kid. I want everyone to be able to escape and get lost in that dark room. I think that starts with arts education at the earliest level of school. We need to broaden and grow the next audiences and that’s two fold- One, putting every kind of story on a stage so that each person feels represented, and two, making sure kids get an appreciation of art and theater from the earliest age so it becomes a part of their lives.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Lauren Pritchard, Jv Mercanti, Kris Kukul, Allison Bressi, Diana Buckhantz, Andre Braugher, Eric Emch, Kate Baldwin, Erin Dilly, Adam Cochran, Ephie Aardema, Eric William Morris, Kacie Sheik, Drew McVety, Andy Taylor, Don Guillory, Bob Stillman, Brian Letchworth, Kristin Stowell, Jason Sherwood Mark Koss, Aaron Porter, Justin Stasiw, Samantha Shoffner, Lee Sunday Evans, Michelle Heller, Rose Riccardi, Shana Ferguson, Kathleen Hefferon, Scott Davis (AKA, every single person killing themselves to bring Songbird to life)

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I truly love when people take something known and adapt it so that it becomes brand new and fresh again. It’s so tricky and hard and so wonderful when it works. I also love when someone makes me cry in the theater. (this is a relatively new development, and could also relate directly to the childhood story answer).

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

A:  Get in the room. Look at everyone around you. If you consider yourself the smartest person there, you are in the wrong room.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Songbird runs October 20 thru Nov. 29th at 59E59. www.songbirdoffbroadway.com.

Look for Todd and Mitzy later this year.

And you can find me on twitter at @mkimml


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I Interview Playwrights Part 792: Kevin Armento

Kevin Armento

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Current Town: Brooklyn, NY

Q:  Tell me about Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

A:  It's about an affair between a math teacher and her student, experienced through the eyes of the student's cell phone. The phone guides us through the story like a modern Greek chorus, attempting to unpack the confusing and irrational human behavior it's witnessing.

Q:  How did you form your relationship with One Year Lease Theater Company?

A:  My first day job in New York was at the Joyce Theater, and Ianthe and Jess from One Year Lease were there frequently. We became buds and I learned more about their company, then saw their production of pool (no water) and really wanted to collaborate. So I started sending over my stuff, and it eventually led to the idea of creating something together from scratch.

Q:  Describe the process of writing for this specific ensemble of artists.

A:  What I loved about it was the total freedom to go write whatever I want, while thinking on the company's aesthetic interests, physical style, love of chorus work, etc. So I gave them a blank text, a story that occasionally pops out into some dialogue, but can really be done a thousand different ways with as many actors as you want - and while I knew roughly who would be involved and how they might do it, it in turn gave them the freedom to divine the play they were interested in from that text. That process really came alive in Greece this summer (at One Year Lease's annual retreat), where we spent two weeks delineating the lines.

Q:  What else are you working on now?

A:  An irresponsibly giant show about the birth of jazz in New Orleans. I'm going there for more research and music in a few weeks, because I don't know how to do it, and we have a super special first performance of it planned. Workshopping a show at Arena Stage this winter, so I'm revisiting that. I'm going to have some fun at Serials at the Flea this month. And I'm working on some television assignments because I'm a playwright in 2015.

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

A:  In third grade I told everyone in my class that Jonathan Taylor Thomas is my cousin. Like most of my writing, I'm not sure the white lie's meaning, but it felt right at the time.

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

A:  Less self-importance, more engagement with non-theater people.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Caryl Churchill is my hero. Really admire SL Parks, Beckett, Pinter, Butterworth, Washburn, Friel, and August Wilson.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  The kind that can only exist on a stage. The kind that endeavors to theatricalize the storytelling just as much as the story itself. The kind that can find the extraordinary in the banal, or the banal in the extraordinary.

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

A:  See lots of shows and get lots of coffees. Everything is rooted in relationships, a conversation between your work and the people who are interested in it. I think it took me an abnormally long time to learn that. Also, find the writers you connect with and talk about all this stuff. Talk about how it feels weird to constantly apply for things, and forge relationships from scratch. We're not fucking suits so it just feels weird sometimes. But those relationships have been so crucial to every fulfilling artistic project I've been involved in so far, and they're genuinely nurturing just as much as they are beneficial to your career.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  please excuse my dear aunt sally plays through October 24th at 59E59!

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I Interview Playwrights Part 791: Amber Ruffin

Amber Ruffin

Hometown: Omaha, NE

Current Town: NY, NY

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I'm currently fiddling with a few musicals. My favorite at the moment is Bigfoot.

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

A:  I'm the youngest of 5 of mostly girls, so I was severely encouraged growing up. I'm really lucky in that way. No one had the guts to say what I was doing was dumb.

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

A:  I'd cut 20 minutes out of most shows I see. I have always felt every show could be a lot shorter. King Of Kong: A Musical Parody is only an hour, and I love that because you can bring your boyfriend and he won't cry.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  My theatrical heroes are all Second City people. People like Christina Anthony and Angela Shelton. I saw them early on and thought, there's no way I could ever do this.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I love every musical I've ever seen. Even the bad ones are great! There is something about being brave enough to let people hear the songs you sing in your head that I can't get enough of.

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

A:  I've found it's important to be able to point to a body of work. People tend to stop after one project, but, you should have a pile of shows that you've worked hard on.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  King of Kong: A Musical Parody will be at Onyx Theater in Vegas the weekend of October 9th!
Serial Killers at Sacred Fools theater in LA is most Saturdays!

our website is www.kingofkongmusical.com



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I Interview Playwrights Part 790: Charly Evon Simpson

Charly Evon Simpson

Hometown: Born in Queens, NY. Raised in Northern New Jersey.

Current Town: New York City

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I am working on a play called Hottentotted in Fresh Ground Pepper’s PlayGround PlayGroup. It is a play that brings together the life of Sarah ’Saartjie' Baartman, also known as the Hottentot Venus, with the lives of contemporary black women in the US. Baartman, if you don’t know, was a South African woman put on display in Europe until the 1800s. I’ve interviewed black women of a variety of ages, asking questions about how they feel their bodies are on display and sexualized, about how old they were when they realized fully what I meant to be black and female, etc. I am interweaving the real stories of these women in hopes of highlighting many of the issues we confront today. I’m lucky enough to be workshopping the piece at the beginning of October and it will have a reading open to the public in December.

Other than that, I am working on a short play called Postmark The Night as a part of EST/Youngblood’s Asking For Trouble. It will be one of 20+ ten minute plays going up in mid-October.

And lastly, I just started my MFA in Playwriting. My playwriting class is taught by Annie Baker…which means I feel like I should be working on anything for that class 24/7.

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

A:  Two things come to mind when trying to think of a story. First, when I was four or so, my favorite movie was Dirty Dancing. While watching, I would get up on the coffee table and dance along. All my dolls and stuffed animals would be piled together so they could watch me. I would replay the dancing scene over and over and over again. When I was seven, I moved on to Pretty Woman, which I was told I couldn’t show at my birthday party because other kids may not be ready for it yet. This may explain why I started out more as an actor, continue to write one-woman shows every once and a while, and am a sucker for a good RomCom.

The second memory is that I was always writing stories. In second grade, we wrote short stories that would get “published” so we could take them home and show our families. I wrote story after story, often lying and saying I had already written a “sloppy copy” so I could go ahead and work on the final published copy. I was always writing something and hated going back to the old stuff. I am much better about editing now (but I still think it is the worst…) and, predictably, my turnout is not as fast as then, but I still always have a ton of stories in my head.

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

A:  The lack of diversity that sometimes haunts our theater spaces. I mean diversity of the audience, the theater organization officials, the playwrights, the actors, the directors, the designers, the characters being portrayed on stage…And I mean diversity of gender, race, ability, age, class, etc. The theater I see that excites me the most usually shows me a world that is in someway diverse. I think diversity makes theater stronger. I would change many barriers to theater that cause this lack.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  José Rivera and Sarah Ruhl were my first heroes. I got lost in their words and worlds and soon was considering this whole playwriting thing a lot more. Now? I feel like I have too many heroes to name. There are so many talent theater people and I truly am in awe of a great number of people. Anyone committing to this path and overcoming hurdles and trying their darnedest is a hero in my book.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  Theater that is passionate and what I mean by that is you can tell all involved are passionate about the piece. I get excited by others being excited about the work. It doesn’t always mean I love the work, but it excites me. I love theater that feels like it has been infused with magical realism and jazz. I love theater that feels like a punch to the gut. I love being surprised. And like I said above, I love theater that is diverse. Leaving the theater energized and not drained—that excites me.

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

A:  First piece of advice: It is okay to be unsure. It is okay to not really know if this is what you want to do. Take the time and the detours. Test the waters. Freak out. Come back.

Related to the above: Use whatever you learned and whatever you experienced during that time and those detours in your work. Those times and detours are fertile ground.

Lastly: Find the artists you admire and want to work with. Find the artists that love your work. Hopefully there will be some overlap. Talk to them. Become friends. Find your community of people because when you can’t find the motivation, they can scrounge up some for you.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Come to Asking for Trouble at Ensemble Studio Theatre! Also, visit my website (charlyevonsimpson.com) in the coming weeks for the official dates of the Hottentotted reading.

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I Interview Playwrights Part 789: Helen Pafumi

Helen Pafumi

Hometown: Born in Marin County, CA, but I consider Hilo, HI my hometown since we moved when I was only a few months and stayed for a decade.

Current Town: Sterling, VA

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  Writing - I am in the midst of edits on REDDER BLOOD which I was commissioned to write this past year. It follows a woman who legitimately hears the voice of God, but won’t answer back. It’s funny. I promise. It will premiere next summer as a co-production of The Hub and The Jewish Community Center Of Northern Virginia.

Producing - Hub’s 8th Season is starting up and demands a lot of time. Our first piece this year, WISH LIST, is a collaboration from Hub Company members, so its a lot of corralling.

Directing - I’m headed to Malibu Playhouse in November to direct WONDERFUL LIFE which I cowrote a few years back. It’s exciting to revisit the script.

Q:  Tell me about the Hub.

A:  You mean my other child? I co-founded The Hub back in 2008 and have been the Artistic Director ever since. We are headed into our 8th season. We do predominately newer work, and a lot of new play development. You have actually interviewed many of the playwrights with whom we have worked. We are a small operation, but very detailed in the artistry. Once folks work with us, they tend to want to come back. I love being a trusted home for great artists.

We prize work that is magical, fantastical, poetic, funny, redemptive and has heightened theatricality. I am most attracted to plays that have a lot of heart and hope. Kind of corny, but true.

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 climbing trees like it was a profession. The property on which our house sat had a large grove of fruit trees. There was one point when my siblings and I were playing in our favorite lichee tree. We all decided that we need a swing hanging from the tree and proceeded to craft one. I took over as master builder directing things from the ground, then decided they were hanging it wrong and climbed up to tie off the rope myself. Once done, my brother jumped onto the swing without realizing I didn’t have my footing and down I went. The wind was knocked out of me for what seemed like forever, I bruised my back and was covered in bleeding scratches. They had to half carry me back to the house. I was back in the tree the next day.

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

A:  That more people would come to see it.

I also want theatre artists to keep forefront, not just what we want to create, but what we can share. We and the audience are in this together.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  Joy Zinoman - She started, built and created the massive success that is Studio Theatre in DC, in a pretty rough part of town (at the time). She is also passionate about teaching others this art form. I’m a fan.

Karen Zacharias - Brilliant writer, easily one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet, and dedicated to giving young people of all walks in life a voice through the arts.

Marc Acito - I have watched Marc go from novelist, to playwright at Hub, to bigger regional houses, to Broadway. He is one of the hardest working people I know and a dear friend to boot. Watching his tenacity and talent move him ever forward is so exciting.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  I appreciate anything that really takes me away - and that can be clowning, a musical, a drama - anything. I am actually not someone who wants to scrutinize what I am watching, while I am watching. I only do it when the production is not doing its job. I really am hoping to be entertained and delighted. If I didn’t wonder what time it was, or how much longer it was going to take, then I probably loved it.

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


A:  I am answering this as an AD and a writer.

Please write a comedy. The great comedies comment on our humanity just as much as a drama. And the ones that have honesty and heart, or a touch of the bittersweet in them are pure gold. Of the submissions I get from literary agents, great comedies are the needle in the haystack. And a writer who can handle comedy, can handle anything. So don’t take yourself too seriously. Have fun laughing at yourself and the world.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Visit us at The Hub Theatre http://www.thehubtheatre.org forSeason 8!

WONDERFUL LIFE at Malibu Playhouse http://malibuplayhouse.org/ and at Arts West Playhouse http://www.artswest.org/ this December.

REDDER BLOOD at The Hub in summer of 2016 http://www.thehubtheatre.org/performances_redderblood.html

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I Interview Playwrights Part 788: Jason Pizzarello

Jason Pizzarello

Hometown:  Sherman, CT

Current Town:  Queens, NY

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I’m working on a new play based on my experiences in the military (thus far). It’s a comedy. Obviously there’s a lot to take seriously but most men and women in the military also have a wicked sense of humor. Jaded perhaps, but hilarious. As a playwright, I’m trying to find the balance between honoring my fellow Soldiers and making them laugh. But also making it okay for those not in the military to be able to laugh. It’s tricky. I think the theater especially can present this kind of work, but I don’t know, maybe not. I was in Afghanistan most of last year with the National Guard and I’m still trying to process the experience really. So maybe it’s me.

Q:  Tell me about Stage Partners.

A:  Stage Partners is a new licensor/publisher/home for plays that serve young artists and audiences.

Morgan Gould and I started this company with the idea that the process of selecting plays, especially for schools, should be easier and quicker. That’s the reason why we offer the full play to read on our website. Yes, the plays are literature and are respected and protected, but ultimately we (authors) want our plays to be produced. Reading the play is the key to unlock that door. So why not keep the door unlocked? We also offer printable PDFs and speedy licensing. All said and done you can be rehearsing, scripts in hand, the same day you decide to do it.

I hate when people refer to plays for young actors or audiences as “kiddie plays.” I don’t like the term amateur either. These groups desire to have plays with certain requirements (like a shorter length, large cast, gender-flexible roles) but we never condescend to them. Neither do any of our writers. We believe in writing professional plays for everyone.

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 dad’s a landscaper and my siblings and I would often be doing work in our yard with him. At the time it felt like a chore, although I’d do it today in a heartbeat. One day (maybe I was 8 or 9), after I had finished weeding, I was heading inside. He got really upset with me. Not angry, but stern. I thought I was done, but he expected me to ask if there was anything else he needed. He told me “you don’t say ‘I’m done,’ you say ‘what else can I do?’ That really stuck with me and shaped my work ethic. It applies to all aspects of my life and especially my writing process. Be humble and do the work. Don’t settle.

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

A:  I feel like every time I want to see a show, the ticket prices are too expensive. I’m not a student and I’m over 35 so maybe I’m just supposed to have more money? But I guess they have to pay rent, too. It’s the same road block when self-producing in New York City. Rent is too damn high!

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes?

A:  On a personal level my theatrical heroes would be my writing buddies because they write on despite the enormous risk of failure. Failure is just not an option for them. It’s not even a thing that exists. There’s only process, only steps forward.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you?

A:  The kind of theater that isn’t afraid to be odd. Odd, dangerous, and funny. And of course theatrical. I particularly enjoy magic realism and black farces. Sounds like some kind of theatrical witchcraft. I want to laugh and experience a philosophical shift, and I want it to be unexpected. Is that too much to ask?

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

A:  Find or make a writers group. Writing can be lonely and frustrating and at some point or another you start to question whether or not what you’re doing (being a writer) makes any sense at all. That’s when your buddies will lift you up or slap you and get you back in the game. Ideally they also give smart feedback on new work.

Q:  Plugs, please:

A:  Stage Partners!
www.yourstagepartners.com

New Play Exchange!
https://newplayexchange.org/users/419/jason-pizzarello

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