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1100 Playwright Interviews

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Feb 7, 2017

I Interview Playwrights Part 913: Dan Fingerman





Dan Fingerman

Hometown: Huntington, NY

Current Town: Astoria, NY

Q:  Tell me about Boys of a Certain Age.

A: “Boys of a Certain Age” is about four gay Jews spending the weekend together. Their weekend is met with unexpected division and ideological differences as they navigate their own interpersonal relationships past and present.

Q:  What else are you working on now? 

A:  I’d really like to also do something with less linear structure. I’m not really sure what that is yet.

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

A:  When I was a kid we didn’t have cable and I used to bike to the village library and take out VHS cassette tapes. After a while I had worked through most of their kid-friendly selection so I decided to start watching films that won Oscars. I was maybe 11 or 12 watching films that either were inappropriate for me or went totally over my head. I remember everyone talking about Terminator and I just couldn’t believe nobody had seen Kramer vs. Kramer or Ordinary People.

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

A:  Accessibility. I know a lot has been done to improve this, but for a lot of people it’s still too expensive to see shows often, and for artists there are not enough spaces to do their work in.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 

A:  I love Richard Nelson’s work. The Apple Plays and the idea of setting a play on the day that it opens has greatly influenced Boys of a Certain Age. It’s not as easy as it looks, and I have such respect for the way he’s repeatedly done it with such excellence and insight.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you? 

A:  Theater in general excites me. I like theater that makes people think, makes people smile. I try to do both.

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

A:  Go have experiences, seek out unfamiliar situations, make questionable choices, talk to strangers and most of all listen. Being able to get inside another person’s head and think the way they do will allow you to write vivid characters in a way you’re never going to learn from a book or a professor.

Q:  Plugs, please: 

A:  Come see “Boys of a Certain Age” February 8-25 at Theaterlab! www.boysofacertainage.com Go see other people’s work. Support live theater. 
 
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