I Interview Playwrights Part 1118: Tracy Wells

Tracy Wells

Hometown: Sterling Heights, MI (metro Detroit)

Current Town: Macomb Township, MI (also metro Detroit)

Q:  What are you working on now?

A:  I’m currently finishing up a western melodrama for schools with an optional dinner theatre component called Spaghetti Western: Or…Mission Im-Pasta-ble at the Hoot N Holler Hotel. It’s silly fun, and my first time playing around with the melodrama genre. I love the challenge of using the stock characters and storylines in a new and different way.

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 seeing a lot of theatre…from local children’s productions to larger shows that toured through Detroit. It seeped in and became a part of me without me realizing. So when I was about 10, and the movie Dick Tracy came out, the first thing that occurred to me was, “this should be a play, and I’m going to write it!”(forgive a 10 year old for not understanding copyright law) So I pounded out a script, and together with my best friend Julie, my younger brother Jeff and his friend (also named Jeff), we staged my adaptation of the film in my parents’ basement, all 4 of us playing the various roles in the style of Shakespeare Abridged, while our parents watched and probably laughed themselves silly. It was amazing (and probably horrible) and I’m pretty sure my mom still has pictures of me as Breathless Mahoney. I didn’t write another play for many years, and when I did, it was another adaptation (this time legally and from the public domain.) But when I did write again I took with me that amazing feeling from when I was 10 years old and hearing my words being spoken by an actor for an audience, and that is a feeling I have since never tired of.

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

A:  I love that more shows are being written by or about women, with interesting storylines and character arcs so that’s something I’d want to see continue. As someone who writes primarily for the high school/college market, I would love for that market to be recognized for what it is, which is an important pathway for future theatre practitioners and that providing students with good material at their level is not only worthwhile, but necessary.

Q:  Who are or were your theatrical heroes? 

A:  So many…in my youth acting on the high school stage I loved Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen and Thornton Wilder and Marsha Norman. As a theatre goer I love what Heidi Schreck and David Lindsay-Abaire and Lynn Nottage and Kate Hamill are doing. And as a high school playwright, you have to admire Don Zolidis and his body of work and what he’s done to elevate this market.

Q:  What kind of theater excites you? 

A:  For me, whether it’s in a large, professional theater, or a small high school cafetorium, I’m most excited by new ways to tell a familiar story in a way that highlights any challenges that a company or venue faces. For example, earlier this year I saw a production of Into the Woods at Encore Musical Theatre Company in Ann Arbor, MI. They have a very small stage with seating for around 100 on three sides of the stage and a tiny balcony. And yet they chose to tell this story as a band of traveling actors who came together to tell a tale, complete with a tiny airstream camping trailer that doubled as the bakery and on top of which Rapunzel climbed to let down her hair. And for the giantess…a nearby electric lift and megaphone made the actress larger than life. It was a spellbinding retelling of a story I knew well, told in a way I had never imagined. And so many directors are looking at stories in different ways. It’s very exciting and encouraging for the future of theatre.

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

A:  Probably the same as many others have said…keep writing. The more I write, the more ideas I have, the more directions I discover in my stories, and the easier it becomes. For those interested in writing for the high school market, I would recommend pulling out those photos and yearbooks and remembering what it was like when you were up on that stage (as many of us were). What kind of shows did you wish you were performing? What kind of roles would you have liked to play, no matter the size of the role? And if you can, find your way to a high school stage and see the incredible work these kids and their teachers are doing, because I’m telling you, it’s truly remarkable and inspiring.

Q:  Plugs, please: 

A:  I have several new plays about to be released, mostly for the middle/high school market, including a historical drama about WWII nurses called Angels of Bataan and a fairytale villain/Clue-style murder mystery mashup called Rotten Apples, both with Playscripts/Broadway Licensing; a fun retelling of Greek myths called Myth-Guided and an easy to stage vignette comedy called Hot Lunch with Stage Partners; and a comedic retelling of the classic Christmas tale, The Night Before Christmas and a fairytale courtroom comedy called Storybook Court: Full of Beans from Pioneer Drama. For anyone who isn’t familiar with my work, two of my most popular shows are One Stoplight Town and A Trip to the Moon, both of which are available through Dramatic Publishing. You can also check out all of my work at https://www.tracywellsplaywright.com

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