Brilliant director Timothy Douglas helmed the 2011 co-production of Horton Foote's THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL at Round House Theatre and Cleveland Play House. And I had the great fortune to serve as dramaturg. Timothy and I had worked together previously on Thomas Gibbons' Permanent Collection, so I was excited to be in the room with him again. In Timothy's hands, Horton Foote's masterful play was told eloquently and seamlessly through the lens of a Black family, which made it even more powerful, relevant and beautiful. At least it was to me ... a young Black woman from Texas, who was experiencing the difficulty of her parents aging not-so-gracefully. Of course, D.C. audiences will remember Timothy's production at Round House Theatre, which featured Doug Brown, Jessica Frances Dukes, Chinai J. Hardy, Howard Overshown, Lizan Mitchell, and Lawrence Redmond. This production had meant so much to me. And so had the play... I had first read THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL back in college. I had spent hours and hours transcribing a film, HORTON FOOTE TRIBUTE, which had been written, directed and produced by my screenwriting professor, Richard Lewis. The film had been commissioned by the Texas Book Festival in honor of the Oscar, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and was broadcast on PBS stations throughout Texas. This was back in 1999.
When the Broadway revival was announced and said to be starring none other than Cicely Tyson, Vanessa Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr., I scoured the press release for Timothy's name. I mean, it only made sense. He had just directed it using the same conceit of having the Watts family cast with African American actors. I was all set to update the dramaturgy packet and additional research materials in the event he should need them. Only Timothy's name never appeared. He wasn't attached to the production in any way. Stunned, I text him immediately and shared my dismay. We spent a few moments commiserating our mutual disappointment and several more moments working through the frustration of the lack of opportunities for people of color on the Great White Way. Later, once the sting had worn off, I was able to file it under "yet another pivotal moment that wiped away several shades from my rose tinted my glasses." Such lessons in life are useful, bitter though they may be. If you have a moment, please read this informative, thorough and compelling article, The Not-So-Bountiful Trip to Broadway by Alisa Solomon, a drama critic and professor at Columbia University's School of Journalism. In it, Timothy Douglas speaks graciously and candidly about his experience. It's an absolute must-read for any artist working in the American Theatre today.
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JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
PATRICIA GERMANN: My background is actually in dance. I was drawn to this show because of the wordless nature of the piece, which really resonated with me as a dancer. I’m also inspired by the sheer variety of puppets in this show – how they’re constructed, how they move, and how they tell their stories. Cecilia and Genna are incredibly inventive. JL: Wit’s End Puppets was established in 2011. What inspired you to form this company? What contribution do you hope to make to the D.C. Theatre community? PG: I joined the project in January, and am thrilled to be a part of bringing original, contemporary performance to DC. It’s exciting to see how this show is pushing boundaries artistically. JL: In addition to performances, Wit’s End Puppets has conducted workshops at elementary schools in D.C, Maryland and Virginia. Can you speak a bit about this work and the importance of arts in the schools? PG: That’s a great question. Our work in schools and libraries is a really important part of what we do. It gives us the chance to tell compelling stories and to share the art of puppetry with young people. There are so many reasons to advocate for arts education in schools – research has shown correlation between arts participation and improved academic performance, more consistent school attendance, and greater arts appreciation later on in life. From my perspective, though, arts experiences are vital because they give kids new tools to express themselves and to cope with the changes in their lives. JL: What excited you about taking part in the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint? What have you learned from this experience? PG: CulturalDC’s Mead Theatre Lab program has been a great launchpad for us. The team at CulturalDC is always ready to help us troubleshoot challenges, and being presented by the program has taken a lot off our plate – like setting up online ticket sales and sending out press releases. What have we learned… That you should always print more postcards than you think you’ll need, and that DC humidity + a fresh coat of paint = sticky cabinets and drawers! JL: You’re billing THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET as “the story of one puppet’s journey through fear and the unknown.” What can audiences learn from Kismet’s adventure? PG: Midway through the show, Kismet has to leave his home, his friends, and everything he’s known. It’s the kind of seismic change that a lot of us face – whether embarking on a new adventure or losing someone we love. Kismet is a great example of being able to retain one’s own identity while adjusting to a world that’s new, different, and sometimes scary. JL: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET, what would that be? PG: That puppetry is an exciting medium with almost limitless possibilities. On their Metro ride home, audiences should be building creatures out of the objects they find in their handbags. Wit’s End Puppets presents
The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet Created by Genna Davidson & Cecilia Cackley Directed by Carmen C. Wong, banished? production April 24 to May 19, 2013 Mead Theater Lab at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW $15, Students and Seniors $10 Call 202.315.1310 or visit www.witsendpuppets.com. JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you? CECILIA CACKLEY: I think every performance I saw when I was young inspired me in some way. With puppetry, I’d say it was the retrospective exhibit on Julie Taymor at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 2000 that opened my eyes to the possibilities of puppetry as an art form. I had taken some puppetry classes and was part of a teen puppet troupe in Arlington County one spring, but the video, photographs and puppets that were displayed at the museum showed me that there was a huge world of storytelling in puppetry beyond anything I had encountered before. JL: Wit’s End Puppets was established in 2011. What inspired you to form this company? What contribution do you hope to make to the D.C. Theatre community? CC: I wanted to try and form a space to experiment with using puppets to tell stories and a group of people interested in learning about different kinds of puppetry. I think that if more people are working and performing with puppets, more people will learn about what an amazing and inspiring art form it is. I hope that we become a resource for other companies looking to incorporate puppetry into their work. I hope that we can create performances that reach as many different communities as possible, in all parts of the city. JL: In addition to performances, Wit’s End Puppets has conducted workshops at elementary schools in D.C, Maryland and Virginia. Can you speak a bit about this work and the importance of arts in the schools? CC: I’m a former elementary school teacher and I think that it is supremely important for students to have the opportunity to create work in a setting where there are no right answers. As more and more of the curriculum is tested, kids as young as five are learning to only worry about whether or not they are ‘right’ and that makes it hard for them to take risks, and fail, which I think are necessary to true learning. The arts are still in some ways a refuge from that kind of thinking, a place where students can create according to what they believe is right, rather than what the state tests believe is right. Puppets are a fantastic way to teach problem solving because there are thousands of ways to create a puppet, without any expensive materials or fancy skills. For a student to imagine a character, envision it as a puppet and then see it through to completion all by themselves is incredibly empowering. As someone who can be quite shy, I also appreciate the fact that for a student doesn’t like performing, a puppet gives you an object to hide behind. JL: What excited you about taking part in the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint? What have you learned from this experience? CC: The most exciting thing for me is having a place to build a set and leave it there for a whole month! Everything else we have created was intended to break down so it could fit in a car and be set up in twenty minutes for a Fringe venue. The stability of having a space is allowing us to create something very different from anything we’ve done before. I’ve learned a lot about devising and how it is in some ways more challenging with puppets than with actors. I’ve learned a lot about organization and producing and the whole thing has made me think a lot more about the structure of the company and how future shows could be put together. JL: What compelled you to create THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET? CC: After creating The Malachite Palace for Capital Fringe 2011, I knew I wanted to create another show with a group of people, rather than writing a script and building puppets on my own. When Genna, Nicole Martin, Lisi Stoessel and I (who all worked on Malachite together) met to talk about possible inspirations, it turned out that we all loved the work of the artist Shaun Tan. So Tan is really what compelled us to start experimenting with puppets and a storyline that would reflect his themes and aesthetic. I had just read his story collection Lost and Found, and I was mesmerized by his beautiful paintings with their strong themes of fear, change, alienation and hope. Throughout the entire process we have always gone back to Tan whenever we get stuck on something. JL: THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET is a collaborative endeavor. Can you speak about this process? What are some of the major challenges? What do you love about collaboration? CC: I love getting to hear opinions from different people and I think that collaboration means that construction problems get solved a lot faster. It can be challenging to keep everyone focused during rehearsal, and at times we have to pause and set questions aside to be answered later. I think that this story could only have come to life through collaboration, not least because of the number of hands needed. In puppetry, it’s definitely possible to tell a good story with just one or two people operating the puppets, but it’s so much easier when you have four! JL: Banished? Production’s brilliant, imaginative and talented Carmen C. Wong is serving as director on THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET. What has it been like working with her? CC: Brilliant. We’re incredibly lucky to have her. Carmen was part of the Mead Theater Lab program last year, so she’s been mentoring us a little on the production side of things and in the rehearsal room, it’s been great to have her eyes on the story, helping us shape the pieces of the narrative. In some ways, this project is more narrative-driven than much of what she does with banished? but at the same time, our companies share an interest in using objects to give an audience a particular experience. JL: You’re billing THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET as “the story of one puppet’s journey through fear and the unknown.” What can audiences learn from Kismet’s adventure? CC: I’m hoping that audiences learn lots of different things. One of the reasons we chose to make this show wordless was to try and make it accessible to the greatest number of people and to allow for many different interpretations of the characters and the story. On a very simple level, audiences will learn about the capabilities of familiar everyday objects which we are using to tell the story. On a deeper level, I hope audiences will identify with Kismet, our protagonist and his struggles with fear and finding a place in a strange world. JL: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET, what would that be? CC: I hope that audiences will walk away with a slightly different perspective on change, which is probably the biggest theme in the show. I’d like audiences to think a little more closely about how we approach change and deal with change in our lives and world. Wit’s End Puppets presents The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet Created by Genna Davidson & Cecilia Cackley Directed by Carmen C. Wong, banished? production April 24 to May 19, 2013 Mead Theater Lab at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW $15, Students and Seniors $10 Call 202.315.1310 or visit www.witsendpuppets.com. JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you? GENNA DAVIDSON: I’ve always loved the way in which the elements of the theater come together to create magical experiences for performers and audiences alike. In theater, you can combine all the other art forms—poetry, music, dance, sculpture, visual arts, puppetry, etc. JL: Wit’s End Puppets was established in 2011. What inspired you to form this company? What contribution do you hope to make to the D.C. Theatre community? GD: At first I was inspired to help Cecilia form this company because we worked so well together and balanced each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We had just created The Malachite Palace for the Fringe Festival that summer, and we felt like we had talents and energies that complemented one another. We didn’t want our work to end with that show, so we thought up another one. I see potential, and I think Cecilia shares this idea with me, for a stronger, more lively and richer puppetry community in DC. There are too many people out there who think puppetry is just for kids. We want to open eyes to the possibilities of puppetry. JL: In addition to performances, Wit’s End Puppets has conducted workshops at elementary schools in D.C, Maryland and Virginia. Can you speak a bit about this work and the importance of arts in the schools? GD: This is Cecilia’s territory. I haven’t been able to get involved in that yet. JL: What excited you about taking part in the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint? What have you learned from this experience? GD: I was excited to get the support of CulturalDC and take advantage of the resources available through the Mead Theatre Lab Program, mainly reaching their audience, being surrounded and allied with other artists, and getting to use some great spaces for free. I felt like Wit’s End Puppets needed to embark on creating a longer, more adult targeted work of puppetry, and by adult I do not mean adult-themed. We wouldn’t have been able to get there in a year without participation in the program. I have learned that I don’t like producing. I need to remain the artist and find collaborations in which someone else manages the production. JL: What compelled you to create THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET? GD: I wanted to tell a story about how loss and fear of destruction often create panic, but ultimately it is adaptation that allows us to accept and regain peace in our lives. I wanted to let people experience along with our protagonist, Kismet, a change in perspective concerning destructive forces. I think we face a lot of destructive forces in life and it’s up to us individually to choose how to deal with those emotionally. Can we face destruction without pessimism and great feelings of loss? Can we adapt and change in the face of devastation? Is it okay to do that? These are questions I’m asking through this work. JL: THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET is a collaborative endeavor. Can you speak about this process? What are some of the major challenges? What do you love about collaboration? GD: In my opinion, our biggest artistic challenge has been narrowing our vision. When you create a show from scratch, and in a medium that can seem limitless, it’s really easy to setup guiding principles, an outline, a vision or rules to play by so to speak, and then let yourself be led astray by a whim of the day. I think it’s so important to have strong guiding images and materials that keep you on the path. For us this time, it was the work of Shaun Tan. I think I can always do a better job though articulating my artistic vision to my collaborators. I find it the most challenging aspect of the work actually, but when you get everyone on board and you start to realize the vision, individual or shared, it’s joyous. This I love: seeing what’s in my mind’s eye take shape in ways I hardly believed possible. JL: Banished? Production’s brilliant, imaginative and talented Carmen C. Wong is serving as director on THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET. What has it been like working with her? GD: Carmen has been a mentor for us as well as the director of the show. She’s helped us figure out how to focus and address many issues from how to run rehearsals most effectively to how to better communicate our vision to her. We can’t thank her enough for taking us under her wing. As a director, she’s all about making decisions. We create the material with our company of puppeteers and she helps to shape and to mold that into the nuanced story that we want. It’s been wonderful working with her. JL: You’re billing THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET as “the story of one puppet’s journey through fear and the unknown.” What can audiences learn from Kismet’s adventure? GD: I think that the work will have to answer that one. JL: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing THE AMAZING AND MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET, what would that be? GD: I want people to go “Wow, I had no idea puppetry could be like that.” I want the ideas of loss and adaptation to resonate too. I hope people leave the theater and know that happiness is self-made. Wit’s End Puppets presents The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet Created by Genna Davidson & Cecilia Cackley Directed by Carmen C. Wong, banished? production April 24 to May 19, 2013 Mead Theater Lab at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW $15, Students and Seniors $10 Call 202.315.1310 or visit www.witsendpuppets.com. THE AMAZING & MARVELOUS CABINETS OF KISMET Produced by Wit’s End Puppets Created by Genna Davidson & Cecilia Cackley Directed by Carmen C. Wong, banished? productions The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet tells the story of Kismet, a puppet who lives contentedly in a crowded world of cabinets and drawers. When his home is destroyed, Kismet flees and finds himself in a strange new world made completely of paper, where he must adapt to his new environment. This production uses a unique combination of puppets made from recycled objects and paper to tell the story of a fantasy world that is visually unusual but perhaps not all that different from our own. Wit’s End Puppets presents The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet April 24 to May 19, 2013 Mead Theater Lab at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW $15, Students and Seniors $10 Call 202.315.1310 or visit www.witsendpuppets.com. Meet the Artistic Leadership TeamCecilia Cackley has been experimenting with puppets for more than ten years. As a puppeteer, she has worked with GALA Hispanic Theatre, the O’Neill Puppetry Festival, the Avignon Off and the Source Theater Festival. Cecilia has directed for the Capital Fringe Festival, Young Playwright’s Theater, Rorschach Theatre and The Inkwell. She taught third grade in the public schools for six years and currently works as a teaching artist in Washington DC. Cecilia is a proud company member of GALA Hispanic Theatre and Young Playwright’s Theater. Genna Davidson is a Washington DC based actress, puppeteer and musician. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2008 with a BA in Theatre. In addition to Wit’s End Puppets, she has performed with The Hub Theatre, dog & pony dc, Deviated Theatre, The Bay Theatre Company, as well as workshop productions with the Rude Mechanicals (Austin, TX), 500clown (Chicago) and various local devised-theatre ensembles. Patricia Germann has dual master’s degree in Arts Management and Cultural Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Bologna in Italy. As part of her program, she worked at the British Council supporting programs that connect contemporary UK artists with venues and audiences in the United States. Prior to graduate school, she worked in fundraising and box office management in Portland, Oregon. Patricia is an accomplished dancer and choreographer, and she has a keen interest in puppetry, animation, and contemporary performance. About Wit's End PuppetsWit’s End Puppets is devoted to telling stories through puppetry. We bring the art of puppetry to the D.C. community through innovative and original productions, collaboration with other artists, and educational workshops. Performance: We believe that puppetry is an art for all ages; we are committed to exploring the diverse forms of puppetry that our stories call for, and we work to tell stories that inspire in our audiences a sense of wonder and possibility. Collaboration: We believe that puppetry can enhance artistic expression and we provide expertise as puppet builders and puppeteers to other artists for their performances and projects. Education: We believe that puppetry fosters empathy, curiosity and imagination as well as providing students with a positive outlet for expression and connection with others. When the bonds that hold the family together are broken, twisted, or begin to dissolve, what is the shape of the thing that’s left? Is it still a family, something less, or something more? This spring, Pinky Swear Productions presents three plays, including two world premieres by D.C. playwrights, that ask this question in the most startling of ways. Today, we're featuring Benched by Allyson Currin, which is about three friends and mothers whose friendship is threatened when one of them confronts one of life’s powerful changes. Thoughts on Benched from the Artistic Directors ...JACQUELINE LAWTON: What excited you about programming BENCHED by Allyson Currin as part of Pinky Swear Productions this season? KAREN LANGE: Benched is such a warm, funny, relatable play. I firmly believe that our friends are part of our families. The women in this play exemplify that for me. When you see Benched, you will recognize each of the characters as people you’ve known. They are moms, but they are also people far more complex than that. Women are, too often, defined by their roles as parents after they have children. The characters in Benched remind us how much more every woman is – flaws and all. JACQUELINE LAWTON: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing BENCHED, what would that be? ALLYSON HARKEY: Look at the friends you have who have become parents. Do you think of them as just parents? Do you write them off because they are busy? Do you ever talk to them as just adults, without talking about the kids? You should. And remember – your friends are part of your family. You chose them - and they chose you. That is the most important thing. Thoughts on Benched from the Director ...JACQUELINE LAWTON: What excited you about directing BENCHED by Allyson Currin at Pinky Swear Productions? What made you say yes? MATT RIPA: I laughed. I read a lot of comedies as an Artistic Director and I often find myself wondering if I missed the joke. I need to hear comedies, as comedy is about timing or sight gags. It is very rare that I laugh out loud while reading a play. Ally's play made me giggle and laugh more than once and that was enough for me. I’m also drawn to serio-comic work. I am a big fan of the Terrence McNally and Donald Marguilles style of writing. The comedies that make you laugh and then give you a solid punch in the gut. This play does that for me. JL: What has been the most challenging/exciting part of bringing BENCHED to the stage? MR: Comedy is hard. As a director, I find working on drama to be slightly easier. So much of directing comedy is about helping actors find their rhythm and timing. Having an improv background has always helped when I direct comedies. So it is challenging to know when it the play is working while we are in the rehearsal room. I find myself not laughing in rehearsal, especially when I know the punch line is coming and have heard it ton of times. It is hard for me to stand back and be a fresh audience member to see what is landing. JL: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing BENCHED, what would that be? MR: I want the audience to recognize something in their own friendships and relationships in this play. It is a very relatable play. I know these characters. I know their conflict. I've been through it. I think the audience will too. Thoughts on Benched from the Playwright ...Jacqueline Lawton: What do you hope to convey in the plays that you create--what are they about? What sorts of people, situation, circumstances, do you like to write about? ALLYSON CURRIN: I’ve been thinking a lot about that question because I am a playwright who likes to write in so many genres (comedy, magical realism, drama, historical drama, sci-fi…). It can look to the outside eye as if I don’t have a central theme or focus to my work. But I’ve recently figured out that I actually do. Each of my plays is in some way about home: finding home, getting back to home, building a home. “Home” can be a literal place, a family, or a group of people the characters have chosen for themselves. I try hard to write characters that are deeply truthful and flawed and funny, and find myself drawn to the nuances in the relationships they have. I don’t write “bad guys.” Life is too complicated for absolutes, and everyone is doing the best that they can. I love to make audiences laugh, even in my more serious plays, because I think being able to laugh at something makes you care more about it. (Finally, being an actor myself, I refuse to write a role that I wouldn’t die to play!) JL: Tell us about your play, BENCHED, and what inspired you to write it. AC: BENCHED was born on the elementary school playgrounds of DC. When my twins were little, I logged in a lot of hours there with very smart, funny women who were making a lot of compromises to raise their children (some willingly, some unwillingly). Those friends you make in the trenches of any vulnerable period of your life are friends who share the good, the bad and the ugly – I sought in this play to capture what that experience was like. JL: What excited you about having your play presented as part of Pinky Swear Productions? AC: Renee Calarco and I had long talked about pairing BENCHED and BLEED, so when Pinky Swear suggested it, it felt a no-brainer! They really are a well-matched pair, and each play is very funny, and very painful. Renee and I also have similar senses of humor, so I think this pairing is a wonderful fit. JL: What do you hope audiences are thinking about after experiencing BENCHED? AC: I hope they will laugh, certainly, and enjoy the word play of the piece, as well as the wry observations of what it is to be a mother. But more profoundly, this is a play about friendship, deep friendship, the kind that transcends age and gender, and what happens when those insoluble bonds are threatened. I hope that audiences will be moved, and will feel that this play speaks in some way to their own experiences with friends from different stages of their lives. Pinky Swear’s Mission is to produce modern plays with strong, engaging women’s roles where people talk to each other and things happen. Our productions are a little funny, a little dark, and a lot entertaining. Our goals are to:
When the bonds that hold the family together are broken, twisted, or begin to dissolve, what is the shape of the thing that’s left? Is it still a family, something less, or something more? This spring, Pinky Swear Productions presents three plays, including two world premieres by D.C. playwrights, that ask this question in the most startling of ways. Today, we're featuring Bleed by Renee Calarco, which tells the story of a husband and wife playing the last round of a delicate game that’s defined their marriage. Thoughts on Bleed from the Artistic Directors ...JACQUELINE LAWTON: What excited you about programming BLEED by Renee Calarco as part of Pinky Swear Productions this season? KAREN LANGE: Renee writes. So. Well. Her script moved me from the moment I read the first few pages. The characters are so very real – there is nothing false or “theatrical” about them. The dialogue is natural and sounds exactly like how people really talk. Plus, her portrayal of a couple at a pivotal point in their relationship, where everything is at stake, is something everyone can relate to. JACQUELINE LAWTON: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing BLEED, what would that be? ALLYSON HARKEY: I want our audiences to walk away reflecting on what and who are important in their lives. The question of how one moves on after a game-changing event is something we’ll all grapple with at one time or another. How we treat each other at those times, well – those are the defining moments of our lives. Thoughts on Bleed from the Director ...JACQUELINE LAWTON: What excited you about directing BLEED by Renee Calarco at Pinky Swear Productions? What made you say yes? MATT RIPA: I actually sought out Pinky Swear to direct this play. I was privileged to direct the original reading of BLEED when it was part of Doorway Arts Ensemble's Playground Reading series. I was able to work on this play from its infancy and help Renee in its development. So, it is as if I helped birth the play and now I get to see it through its toddler years. BLEED has such a strong heart and engine that to direct it is truly a gift. JL: What has been the most challenging/exciting part of bringing BLEED to the stage? MR: The play asks a lot of the actors. It has a very deep emotional pull and it can be very rewarding to work with actors to find that emotional place and help guide them towards this raw emotion. As I said before, I got to develop this play in a reading, so the exciting part is to give it some legs. To put it on its feet, on a set and see how it translates. It reads well, and I am finding it even more engrossing when you can create the full world of a new play. JL: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing BLEED, what would that be? MR: I always have a hard time with this question as a director. I like to think that I can control how an audience experiences a show through the direction, but I always find this to be a futile endeavor. I don't know what I want them to experience because each person in the audience will experience it differently. For a mother or father, this play will leave them with a lot to think about and I hope they would go home and hug their child a little tighter. For myself, not being a parent, I often leave rehearsal wondering what I would do if faced with the main conflict of the play. Thoughts on Bleed from the Playwright ...Jacqueline Lawton: What do you hope to convey in the plays that you create--what are they about? What sorts of people, situation, circumstances, do you like to write about? RENEE CALARCO: Oddly, a lot of my plays are about children in one way or another. No kidding, the characters in my plays are pregnant, desperately wanting to have children, desperately NOT wanting to have children, or searching for a missing child. Sometimes there’s an absent child. Sometimes I’ve got grown children who are trying to break free from their families. I don’t have children of my own, so I guess folks can read into that whatever they like! The other thing I’m obsessed with is class and social status. It’s not necessarily a theme that is front-and-center in my plays, though it is pretty prominent in BLEED. I come from a working-class family and grew up in a neighborhood that was more-or-less evenly split between blue collar and white collar families. My hometown, Rochester, NY, is home to both universities and manufacturing, and I guess I’ve always been fascinated by how people of different classes live and work together. There’s a tension, I think. Of course, a lot of the manufacturing is gone now. Eastman Kodak, the company that made Rochester a company town, laid off thousands of workers over the past twenty years and it had kind of a devastating effect on the local economy. I read that they’re coming out of bankruptcy now. JL: Tell us about your play, BLEED, and what inspired you to write it. RC: It came out of a writing exercise that I did a few years ago at the Kennedy Center’s Playwriting Intensive. The great playwright Michael Weller gave us an assignment: write a two-page play based on a song. I picked Bruce Springsteen’s “Brilliant Disguise,” which is about infidelity. The characters, Dez and Marla, are closing up their dive bar at the end of the night. Dez suspects that Marla’s been having an affair. It’s basically two pages of these characters loving and hating each other. Finally, Dez deliberately cuts his finger with a broken vodka bottle and draws a line of blood on Marla’s cheek. And …scene. The only elements from that short play that made it into the current BLEED are the character’s names. And the blood. But not in the way you might think. JL: What excited you about having your play presented as part of Pinky Swear Productions? RC: Everything. That the Pinky Swear women do work by women. That they’re bold and fearless and visionary. Also, Ally Currin and I had been saying for a few years that we HAVE to work together. By total coincidence, we’d both written these plays that are set on a playground and are about absent children. So it was a huge, thrilling deal to have all of these parts come together to make this work. JL: What do you hope audiences are thinking about after experiencing BLEED? RC: That we’re all stronger than we think we are. That humor is the one thing that makes us human and gets us through really awful life events. That class resentment is real---even among family members. Pinky Swear’s Mission is to produce modern plays with strong, engaging women’s roles where people talk to each other and things happen. Our productions are a little funny, a little dark, and a lot entertaining. Our goals are to:
When the bonds that hold the family together are broken, twisted, or begin to dissolve, what is the shape of the thing that’s left? Is it still a family, something less, or something more? This spring, Pinky Swear Productions presents three plays, including two world premieres by D.C. playwrights, that ask this question in the most startling of ways. Today, we're featuring Smudge by Rachel Axler, which explores the awful question that keeps expectant parents up at night: What happens if your child isn’t the perfect bundle of joy you hoped for? What if it comes out…wrong? Thoughts on Smudge from the Artistic Directors ...JACQUELINE LAWTON: What excited you about programming SMUDGE by Rachel Axler as part of Pinky Swear Productions this season? KAREN LANGE: It is a play that has to do with the fears all prospective parents cope with when deciding to have children. What could go wrong? What if I don’t love my baby? What if this is all completely different than I thought it would be? How does adding this person to my life change who I am? These are the things that keep people up at night. In Smudge, we have a play that brings all of those things front and center. JACQUELINE LAWTON: What: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing SMUDGE, what would that be? KAREN LANGE: I’d like people to walk away thinking about the complexities of parenthood and the way we bond with our children. Too many media representations are of the ideal, perfect family situation – like all families are secretly sitcoms and problems are wrapped up at the end of each half hour episode. Thoughts on Smudge from the Director ...JACQUELINE LAWTON: What excited you about directing SMUDGE by Rachel Axler at Pinky Swear Productions? What made you say yes? RYAN MAXWELL: "Smudge" is a wonderful, complex, completely unexpected play: Offering a view of marriage and relationships that almost exclusively occupies territory unexplored in other works. I remember thinking it was one of the smartest scripts I'd read in a long time: Continuously playing with what is seen and unseen, and using the barrier between the two to tease and terrify the characters and, hopefully, the audience. As a playwright, Rachel Axler deals with parenthood, responsibility, maturity, and their attendant anxieties with a combination of wit, humor, and ambivalence that is rare and welcome. She takes the very human tale of a couple facing every new parent's worst fears and then presents it as a horror story wrapped in a fairytale. JL: What has been the most challenging/exciting part of bringing SMUDGE to the stage? RM: The most challenging aspect of the play for me is that balance of tone: Making sure that we always find the humor beneath the horror, and that the real human connections never get washed out by the fantastical elements. Those challenges are also the most exciting thing about the play: The chance to bring the audience through the trials and triumphs of the piece to this heightened place of hope, fear, anxiety, love, discovery, growth, and acceptance. JL: If there is one thing you want audiences to walk away knowing or thinking about after experiencing SMUDGE, what would that be? RM: Like all good plays, the ending of Smudge is really the beginning of a much longer story: We've seen this couple through the most tumultuous period of their lives, and at the last moment of the play they stand on the threshold of a new reality. Where do they go from here? What will they do? Will they make it? And for the audience: Would I make it? What would I do in their position? What would I do? Thoughts on Smudge from the Playwright ...Jacqueline Lawton: What do you hope to convey in the plays that you create--what are they about? What sorts of people, situation, circumstances, do you like to write about? Rachel Axler: My favorite things in the world -- plays included -- are funny and surprising and beautiful. I like it when emotional or metaphysical scenarios manifest in some real, physical way. Realistic or grounded feelings in a slightly off-kilter or heightened world. A little magic never hurts. JL: Tell us about your play, SMUDGE, and what inspired you to write it. RA: Smudge is a play I wrote a few years back, prompted by the terrifying idea of a mother not connecting with or loving her own baby. We all have preconceived notions about how we'll feel as new parents -- or at least, I did -- but every new parent I've spoken with has been thrown for a loop by the realities of what a huge and remarkable responsibility it is to raise a child. Any child. Smudge was never intended to be about a specific situation or medical problem or abnormality -- each of the characters sees what he or she concocts or layers on to the baby. It was about parents, expectations and fear of disconnection. JL: What excited you about having your play presented as part of Pinky Swear Productions? RA: From what I've seen and read, Pinky Swear seems to choose challenging and exciting new work to present to its smart DC audiences. My play is in very good company! JL: What do you hope audiences are thinking about after experiencing Smudge? RA: I hope they feel that they can relate to the emotional reality of the characters. For a little while, a baby can be a tiny cipher in which we see our own love and worry reflected. I hope it inspires discussion or thoughts about people's own experiences as new parents, or that of friends or family. I hope they experience the play as a small, sometimes strange, sometimes lovely, memorable ninety minutes or fewer. Pinky Swear’s Mission is to produce modern plays with strong, engaging women’s roles where people talk to each other and things happen. Our productions are a little funny, a little dark, and a lot entertaining. Our goals are to:
Pinky Swear Productions is thrilled to announce their first repertory production. They will present two world premieres by local playwrights: Benched by Allyson Currin and Bleed by Renee Calarco, and a third play, Smudge by Rachel Axler. All three plays delve into the relationships of parents. Benched is about the friendships between three women who meet at a playground for some welcome adult time as their children play around them. Bleed explores how a profound loss affects a couple’s relationship. Smudge explores what happens when parents are dealt an unthinkable blow. Each show is insightful, poignant, and, yes, even funny. “Any of these plays could stand on its own, but, together, they present a panoramic view of the many ways one’s family can change one’s identity and well-being,” said Pinky Swear co-artistic director Karen Lange “We are not just mothers, but spouses, friends, in-laws, daughters, siblings — in short, humans. We really wanted to present a full spectrum.” When the bonds that hold the family together are broken, twisted, or begin to dissolve, what is the shape of the thing that’s left? Is it still a family, something less, or something more? This spring, Pinky Swear Productions presents three plays, including two world premieres by D.C. playwrights, that ask this question in the most startling of ways. Bleed by Renee Calarco tells the story of a husband and wife playing the last round of a delicate game that’s defined their marriage. Benched by Allyson Currin is about three friends and mothers whose friendship is threatened when one of them confronts one of life’s powerful changes. Smudge by Rachel Axler explores the awful question that keeps expectant parents up at night: What happens if your child isn’t the perfect bundle of joy you hoped for? What if it comes out…wrong? Smudge will be directed by Ryan Maxwell, of Pinky Swear’s Associate program. Matt Ripa will direct Benched and Bleed. The shows will take place April 26 — May 19 at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda. Tickets are available at: pinkyswearfamily.brownpapertickets.com When discussing how season planning came together, Pinky Swear's Co-Artistic Director, Allyson Harkey shared, "At Pinky Swear, we let the plays speak to us, then we see who the writer is. With this particular group, we already knew Renee and Ally, of course, but who they were and their bodies of work really had very little to do with our selection; we were intrigued by the three shows together, what they say about parenthood, our expectations of what "family" means, and what happens when things go awry. We need more women's voices in the theatre — far, far more — but interestingly, this time we weren't specifically looking even for women. Just plays we were excited about. I think they're all vibrant, interesting, textured writers." “All three of these plays present women who are interesting, smart, and complicated,” explained Pinky Swear co-artistic director Karen Lange. “Their lives are about more than just dating and romance, which is, too often, the subject of plays. Instead, we have women who have married, who have divorced, who have given birth. Some are ambivalent about motherhood, which is something society still sees as taboo. Their relationships to the men in their lives are not pat and not about finding happily ever after. These characters are flawed, truthful, and they reflect real women." About the PlaywrightsRACHEL AXLER is a playwright and Emmy-winning television writer. Her play, Archaeology, premiered at The Kitchen Theatre in 2009. Other plays of hers have been developed through The Lark Play Development Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Playwrights Foundation and the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Rachel has held fellowships at The Dramatists Guild and The Lark, and is currently working on commissioned plays for South Coast Rep and Lincoln Center Theater. Humor pieces of hers have been published in The New York Times, In Character and two editions of Monologues for Women, By Women. For television, Rachel wrote for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for several years, where she received the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program and three Writers Guild Award nominations. She now writes for Parks and Recreation, on NBC. Rachel received her BA from Williams College and her MFA in Playwriting from UCSD. Member: Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild of America. RENEE CALARCO lives and works in Washington, DC. Her play SHORT ORDER STORIES received the 2007 Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. Other plays include THE RELIGION THING (2012 Helen Hayes Recommended), KEEPERS OF THE WESTERN DOOR, THE MATING OF ANGELA WEISS, BLEED, and IF YOU GIVE A CAT A CUPCAKE (commissioned by Adventure Theatre in 2011). Her 10-minute play WARRIORS was published by One Act Play Depot in 2010. Other short plays include SEMPER FIDELIS, POUNDS AWEIGH, and FIRST STOP: NIAGARA FALLS. Renee is an artistic associate with First Draft/Charter Theater, the program coordinator for Naked Ladies Lunch, and a proud member of both DC Area Playwrights and The Dramatists Guild of America. She teaches playwriting at George Washington University and improvisational comedy at The Theatre Lab, and is a licensed professional tour guide. www.reneecalarco.com ALLYSON CURRIN is an award-winning playwright of over twenty plays. Previous world premieres of her work include: Hercules in Russia (Doorway Arts Ensemble, 2012); The Dancing Princesses (Imagination Stage, with composter/lyricist Christopher Youstra, DC Theatre Scene’s 2010 Pick for Best Family Show); and Treadwell: Bright and Dark (The American Century Theatre, 2010; DC Capital Fringe, 2011). She has written original librettos for several opera companies including “musica aperta” and The In-Series, and has written original work for The National Museum for Women in the Arts, Strathmore Arts Center and The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. She has several new plays in development, including the comedies The Colony, Caesar and Dada, The White Trash Grail Play, and a new musical (with composer-lyricist Matt Conner) commissioned by Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre. She is the Playwright-in-Residence for the 2012-13 Season with First Draft at Charter Theatre and a member of 2012-2013 Locally Grown Festival at Theater J. She is Vice Chair of The Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival National Playwriting Program (Region 2), and she teaches in the Theatre and Dance Department at The George Washington University. She is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild, The Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association. The mission of Pinky Swear Productions is to produce modern plays with strong, engaging women’s roles. Pinky Swear’s goals are to build a company in which local theatre artists can make a living in the DC community; raise the profile of women’s voices in theatre by hiring women artists and technicians whenever possible; and enable artists to experiment with new avenues of expression.
JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
MEGHAN LONG: My first theatrical experience was my stage debut in grade school (2nd or 3rd grade, I think) as one of the aunt’s in James and the Giant Peach. I was a ham as a kid and loved performing on stage. My love of the stage spotlight continued through college and it wasn’t until I assumed the role of Executive Producer of a student theatre group my senior year at GWU that I realized there was a business to theatre. The story of my current producing and dramaturgical life is how it often happens: it was a decision not to work at a museum curatorial internship that landed me at Studio Theatre the summer after my junior year in college; that internship led to an internship with Jeffrey Herrmann, the managing director at Woolly; which, in turn led to a job at Round House, where I met Jessica Burgess and was introduced to new play development and dramaturgy with Inkwell. I consider Jeff, at Woolly, to be a mentor and a big influence on why I chose to pursue management and producing; equally as important, Jessica Burgess (and the entire Inkwell team!) has been my biggest influence for sparking my love of new plays and continuing to grow in the new play process. I have a laundry list of plays that excite and inspire me, but I find that it’s individuals I’ve met along my way that have inspired and challenged me to do the work that I do. JL: How do you define dramaturgy? Or explain to people the work that you do? ML: I relate the role of the new play dramaturg to that of a therapist. I listen, respond, and ask a lot of questions. Usually when I mention I’m a dramaturg I get a response along the lines of, “a drama-what?” I just say it a little slower making sure to pronounce each syllable: a dra-ma-turg. I think most people think it’s a theatre word I made up, but isn’t it a great word? And, it’s an even better role to play in the development process of a new play. JL: How long have you lived and worked as a dramaturg in DC? What brought you here? Why have you stayed? ML: I lived in DC for eight years and worked as a DC-based dramaturg for about four years. Initially, I moved to DC to attend The George Washington University for undergrad and stayed because I love the city. I was very fortunate to intern at both Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company during college and then after graduation worked at Round House Theatre right up until I moved to New York this past summer. I made the move to New York to pursue my MFA in Theatre Management and Producing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. I still consider myself part of the DC-theatre community in spirit and try to visit as often as possible. (And, I’ll be back with a new project in the summer so it will be like I never left!) The DC theatre community is extremely welcoming and open and it’s this supportive network and community that allows for the creation of new and exciting work. JL: If your work as a dramaturg doesn’t pay the bills, what else do you do? How do you balance this work with your dramaturgy? ML: I was very fortunate that during my time in DC my “day job” was a job in theatre. I worked for four years at Round House Theatre: two years as the artistic administrator and two as the development assistant. For me, the biggest challenge was balancing my job at Round House, dramaturgical work with Inkwell, and producing with Junesong. I’ve always been the type to have multiple projects going on at once and I’ve learned my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to taking on new projects. I also eventually learned it was okay to say no to a project; I don’t have to do everything right now! The great part of my balancing act was that many of my projects overlapped and I could wear my administrator hat in relation to my dramaturgy work and my dramaturg hat with respect to my producing work. JL: What skills and traits do you feel a successful dramaturg should have to support the development of a new play or a production? ML: Patience, active listening, being generally curious helps too. In new play development it’s all about the playwright and the work she has created; it’s important to figure out what the playwright needs, wants, and those things that the playwright doesn’t know she wants yet. I think you need to be an advocate for the playwright; sometimes a reassuring presence in the room, and at other times the playwright bodyguard. I always make sure the playwright knows that she shouldn’t have to answer anything that she doesn’t want to yet. And, full disclosure - I don’t have any formal training as a new play dramaturg; I learned everything from listening to others during the process in the room. I credit everything I know to being a successful dramaturg to Anne McCaw; she was – and still is – instrumental in my growth as a dramaturg. Thanks, Anne! JL: What is the greatest part of being a dramaturg? What has been your most difficult challenge? ML: Being a collaborator is the best part of a being a dramaturg. I love the rehearsal room. There isn’t much that is better than listening to words jump off the pages. Inkwell describes their Showcase Readings (20-minute excerpts of plays) as first dates and that is exactly how I feel with each new project. It’s scary and can be challenging, but ultimately rewarding. And hopefully everyone walks away really wanting that second date. My most difficult challenge was finding my voice in the process when I first started as a dramaturg. It can be a delicate position to be in, to not only advocate for the playwright but also advocate for the important role that a dramaturg can play in the development of a new work. You have to know why you’re in the room and how you’re contributing to the conversation and development. JL: Who are your favorite playwrights? What is it about their work that inspires or draws you to them? ML: I’m never one for picking favorites, so I’ll go with all of the playwrights I’ve worked with through Inkwell. Inkwell-y playwrights write plays with big hearts, broad imaginations, and they all take huge risks. Language that is unique and just a little off – in a way that you can’t quite put your finger on it – really excites me, too. JL: DC audiences are … ML: Intelligent and engaged. JL: DC actors, designers and directors are .. ML: All artists whom I admire. JL: DC playwrights are … ML: The BEST! I’m biased, but they really are. DC playwrights are innovative, curious, funny, political, and some of my best friends. JL: DC critics are … ML: Engaged in the conversation. JL: How do you feel the DC theatre community has addressed the issues of race and gender parity? How has this particular issue impacted you and your ability to get your work produced on the main stages? ML: The issues of race and gender parity are topics of national theatrical conversation and not unique to DC. I, along with other women in the theatre, would love to see more female playwrights represented on Broadway and in our not-for-profit institutions across the country. Wouldn’t it be great if in five years female playwrights wrote half of the plays on our stages across the country? I love to go back to statistics on this point, too: think about who are buying the tickets to theatre? Who is the one planning the girls night out and, more than occasionally, dragging her husband to the theatre? Women!! I don’t see this changing any time soon, either. So, if our theatregoers are mostly women, where are we represented on stage and in board rooms? I think there should be more women running our nations best and biggest theatrical institutions. As a young theatre professional, I aspire to produce on Broadway or run a large institutional theatre and I hope that by the time I see myself in such a position that the lens of gender parity will have shifted or will become obsolete. It’s 2013, why are we still having this conversation? Here’s a well-deserved shout-out to you, Jackie, for being a champion for women in DC theatre! JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming DC based dramaturg who has just moved to D.C.? ML: Stay curious and keep learning. Read as many plays as you can get your hands on. Reach out to those in the DC theatre community and have coffee and listen their stories. Go to readings, workshops, and see as much theater as you can. DC is a city with a rich history and wealth of arts and culture – take advantage of everything else in the city, too. I always remind myself that – even though we sometimes don’t like to admit it – there is a world outside of the theatre. JL: What's next for you? Where can we keep up with your work? ML: Although I’m based in New York, I’m continuing my work with Inkwell from afar. I’ll be working with Inkwell through the current open call for submissions. I am also producing a new project with Tim Guillot this summer in the DC Fringe Festival. Tim is adapting Mike Daisey’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs into a musical that we are producing, under the auspices of Junesong, at the Capital Fringe Festival. We’re both really excited to premier the work in DC this summer! Stay tuned to @junesongarts for more info. |
My BlogI'm a playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. It is here where you'll find my queries and musings on life, theater and the world. My posts advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity in the American Theatre and updates on my own work. Please enjoy!
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