Lauren Feldman
Hometown: Miami, FL
Current Town: Brooklyn, NY
Q: What are you working on now?
Q: What are you working on now?
A: - Revising my play THE EGG-LAYERS, on the heels of its development (summer 2011-winter 2012) and recent production (March 2012) through Barnard College and New Georges, directed by Alice Reagan.
- Writing/devising/rehearsing THE ORPHEUS VARIATIONS with director Adam J. Thompson and the Deconstructive Theatre Project
- Writing/devising THE FOOD PLAY with director Pirronne Yousefzadeh and an ensemble of actors and playwrights.
- Starting work on a new play about John Milton and his daughters and the writing/dictating of Paradise Lost.
- Figuring out how to be a better and better teacher of playwriting. (This spring I’m teaching Playwriting & Dramatic Structure at Fairleigh Dickinson University; next fall, at Bryn Mawr.)
- Learning how to be an acrobat.
- Writing/devising/rehearsing THE ORPHEUS VARIATIONS with director Adam J. Thompson and the Deconstructive Theatre Project
- Writing/devising THE FOOD PLAY with director Pirronne Yousefzadeh and an ensemble of actors and playwrights.
- Starting work on a new play about John Milton and his daughters and the writing/dictating of Paradise Lost.
- Figuring out how to be a better and better teacher of playwriting. (This spring I’m teaching Playwriting & Dramatic Structure at Fairleigh Dickinson University; next fall, at Bryn Mawr.)
- Learning how to be an acrobat.
Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.
A: Hmm. Jeez. Surely I must have a handful of good, rich childhood stories… But for some reason this is the one that keeps coming to mind today. Why is that?
When I was in elementary school, they gave us pre-tests and post-tests surrounding each grammar lesson. Well I remember getting a pre-test once on active and passive voice, and though the concept was new to me, the correct answers seemed intuitive, and I ended up getting 100%. My teacher, kinda surprised, came over and told me I could use the lesson as free time, since I clearly didn’t need to be taught this information. So I sat at the free-time station and tried to read a book or something, but really I spent the entire time feeling guilty and trying to surreptitiously eavesdrop on the lesson that I’d never formally learned.
I think this story pretty much encapsulates my susceptibility to Imposter Syndrome. Thankfully, though, I’ve mellowed out a tad since then.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: Hmm. Jeez. Surely I must have a handful of good, rich childhood stories… But for some reason this is the one that keeps coming to mind today. Why is that?
When I was in elementary school, they gave us pre-tests and post-tests surrounding each grammar lesson. Well I remember getting a pre-test once on active and passive voice, and though the concept was new to me, the correct answers seemed intuitive, and I ended up getting 100%. My teacher, kinda surprised, came over and told me I could use the lesson as free time, since I clearly didn’t need to be taught this information. So I sat at the free-time station and tried to read a book or something, but really I spent the entire time feeling guilty and trying to surreptitiously eavesdrop on the lesson that I’d never formally learned.
I think this story pretty much encapsulates my susceptibility to Imposter Syndrome. Thankfully, though, I’ve mellowed out a tad since then.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: For new plays to be produced more than read & developed – both of which seem like they’re increasingly becoming a stand-in for productions.
Also: for ticket prices to be affordable for a wider audience demographic.
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
Also: for ticket prices to be affordable for a wider audience demographic.
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: Off the top of my head…
David Greenspan
Paula Vogel
Suzan-Lori Parks
Sarah Ruhl
Taylor Mac
Lisa Kron
Deb Margolin
Charles Mee
Mary Zimmerman
Tina Landau
Theatre de Complicite
Shakespeare
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
David Greenspan
Paula Vogel
Suzan-Lori Parks
Sarah Ruhl
Taylor Mac
Lisa Kron
Deb Margolin
Charles Mee
Mary Zimmerman
Tina Landau
Theatre de Complicite
Shakespeare
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: Theater that’s characterized by theatricality, by magic, by transcendence and transformation
Theater that involves the body; that’s muscular; that really utilizes physical expression
Theater that feels virtuosic (in any way)
Theater that’s created by and shared by a true ensemble
Theater that (genuinely) acknowledges the audience as a formative, vital presence
Theater that tugs at the imagination
Theater that’s playful
Theater that’s verbally (and visually too, why not) poetic; theater whose text soars
Theater that tells stories in unconventional ways
Theater that deftly and stubbornly breaks convention
Theater that tells the stories of folks in non-mainstream demographics
Theater that feels like an event, like an experience
Theater that takes risks
Minimalist theater
Theater that tells the truth
Theater whose truth-telling looks different from (but equally true to) how life actually looks
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
Theater that involves the body; that’s muscular; that really utilizes physical expression
Theater that feels virtuosic (in any way)
Theater that’s created by and shared by a true ensemble
Theater that (genuinely) acknowledges the audience as a formative, vital presence
Theater that tugs at the imagination
Theater that’s playful
Theater that’s verbally (and visually too, why not) poetic; theater whose text soars
Theater that tells stories in unconventional ways
Theater that deftly and stubbornly breaks convention
Theater that tells the stories of folks in non-mainstream demographics
Theater that feels like an event, like an experience
Theater that takes risks
Minimalist theater
Theater that tells the truth
Theater whose truth-telling looks different from (but equally true to) how life actually looks
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Well, two of the things I always come back to each time I start a new play are:
Write from a place of hunger, honesty, & courage.
And
In your play, anything is possible, anything goes.
Q: Plugs, please:
Write from a place of hunger, honesty, & courage.
And
In your play, anything is possible, anything goes.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: For a play of mine:
Grace, or the Art of Climbing will be produced at the Denver Center Theatre next season (Jan-Feb 2013), directed by Mike Donahue.
For a play not of mine:
Dan LeFranc’s new play THE BIG MEAL just opened at Playwrights Horizons, and it’s stunning.
Grace, or the Art of Climbing will be produced at the Denver Center Theatre next season (Jan-Feb 2013), directed by Mike Donahue.
For a play not of mine:
Dan LeFranc’s new play THE BIG MEAL just opened at Playwrights Horizons, and it’s stunning.
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