JL: How long have you lived and worked as a playwright in DC? What brought you here? Why have you stayed?
LM: I’ve worked as a playwright in DC for a little over two years now, but I’ve been back in town for four (I lived here after college, then moved away, then came back again). I’m here because DC is the place I call home: I’m from a small town about an hour away, went to U Maryland, and have a wonderful circle of loved ones here. The healthy amount of opportunities in town don’t hurt either! It’s a nice time to be an artist in DC. JL: Have you ever been a member of a DC area playwrights writing group? If so, did you find it useful? Would you recommend that other playwrights join them? LM: Not yet, but I’m planning to start going to meetings at the Playwrights’ Gym. I visited a session as a reader after meeting DW Gregory, one of their founding members, and liked the group's no-nonsense approach. Also, I work closely with my friends a lot, so it’s refreshing for me to spend time with people who aren’t necessarily personal friends or even peers—shakes things up a bit. There’s a nice variety of styles and personalities in the group. Last time they provided really nice snacks, too, so I hope that happens again. JL: In DC, we have the Capital Fringe Festival, the Intersections Festival, the Source Theatre Festival, the Kennedy Center's Page-to-Stage Festival, the Black Theater Festival, and the Hip Hop Theatre Festival. We also have the Mead Lab at Flashpoint Theater Lab Program. Have you participated in any of these? If so, can you speak about your experience? LM: Yes, I’ve done Page-to-Stage twice, and participated in an Artistic Blind Date at the Source Festival. I highly recommend them both. Page-to-Stage is a great chance to have your work heard in a safe environment, but I do think you get out of it what you put in. You won't get much in the way of gusto from the Kennedy Center, so it’s best to go with a good, supportive team who will rally around your play along with you. As for the Source Festival ABD, it was quite a different animal than the workshops and productions I’m used to. It was very open-ended and self-directed, and was one of the longest project periods I’ve ever experienced. But it was well worth it. Source was a lot of work, but I came out of it a better and braver artist, and made two new, amazingly talented friends I never would have met otherwise. JL: What kind of work do you do to pay the bills? How do you balance this work with your writing? LM: I have a nine-to-five job in public media. Obviously working all day makes writing a part-time gig, which is very hard to handle and stay positive about sometimes. On the other hand, though, I love my job and believe in public broadcasting and in the work that we do. And health insurance is great! Balance is something I’m still trying to figure out—but I’m realizing that perhaps that’s just the way life is and always will be. I write when I can. I also make sure to create deadlines for myself, particularly ones that involve other people, so I HAVE to do it, even when I'm tired. JL: How many plays have you had produced in the DC area? Were any of these plays self-produced? If so, where and what did you learn from that experience? lM: One play. The nice folks at Taffety Punk Theatre Company produced my first play, Owl Moon, and I’m still kind of amazed they took a chance on me like that. When I think about that beautiful set, I still have to pinch myself! I’ve had a few readings out there too, both self-produced and not, but have yet to self-produce a show because just thinking about it immediately overwhelms my brain. If I could make it work, I’d gather a team and some funding to do Fringe and Mead Lab. JL: If you could be produced at any theatre in DC, which would it be and why? lM: If we’re shooting for the moon here, I’m going with Woolly Mammoth and Contemporary American Theatre Company (ok, sort of near DC) because we’re interested in a lot of the same things. In a theatrical sea of old-ass productions, Woolly is actually producing theater made by living artists (how revolutionary!), and understands how design, style, and new ideas make theater exciting. CATF is where I started out, so it’s always been a dream of mine to return there. They love new plays and take risks on them, and their production process is so pure and out of the ordinary, I can’t really think of a better environment in which to make theater. Dreaming, dreaming is free. JL: DC audiences are ... LM: All over the place, as people tend to be. Sometimes they are filled with wonderful passion and smarts and enthusiasm, and sometimes they are rude nincompoops. If we’re going to make sweeping generalizations, I’d say that the scrappier and more broke the production, the more interesting the audiences get. I love audiences who want to be there. People who come to see my stuff, especially the people I don’t know, blow me away with their generosity. JL: DC actors, designers and directors are … LM: Pretty darn good! I’ve met and seen the work of so many theatermakers who care so deeply about what they do and about doing it well, they make me want to work 10x harder. This is an industry of lionhearted, passionate workers, and it makes me proud every day to be part of it. I also need to plug the designers and performers of my alma mater, because they are absolutely incredible artists and craftspeople. JL: DC critics are ... LM: All over the place, as journalists tend to be. Sometimes they are filled with wonderful passion and smarts and enthusiasm, and sometimes they are rude nincompoops. Ha, I kid. Kinda. There’s a wide spectrum of talent and theater knowledge among our city’s pro to pro-am critics, but I will say that overall, it makes me really happy that they are all so engaged and so plugged into the community. I look at The Washington Post every day for local theater news, and I know I’ll see news and commentary of interest, not just reviews. You won’t find such things in every city! 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? LM: I don’t know. Some theaters, like Forum Theatre and Theater J, have taken real, active steps to make positive change in the world, but that’s all I know about concretely. I’m also not sure what to say about this because it’s a problem everywhere and in everything right now, and I don’t fully understand why it continues. But it does. White privilege and male privilege exist. When I started out, I thought about using a male alias in order to be taken more seriously because plays about women are “issue” plays, you see, as are plays by people of color. I wrote a short blog post about gender issues in 2011, if you want to take a look, but it really just scrapes the tip of a massive, massive, ugly iceberg. At the end of the day, I see myself as just a playwright, plain and simple. I can’t help how I look or what I find interesting, so for now the best I can do is to keep on chugging along and not let people’s personal crap and dumb attitudes bog me down. JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming DC based playwright or a playwright who has just moved to D.C.? LM: Oh brother, I have no idea. I could use some advice myself! All I can share is what’s worked for me so far, and that is to find your true friends and kindred spirits in the industry. It’s a long, lonely haul without that. So far, “networking” has amounted to a hill of beans for me. Working with people who are real friends—that’s where it’s at. It’s a mean ol’ world out there. If you're new to DC, get to know the lay of the land because this is a remarkably accessible theater community. JL: What's next for you as a playwright? Where can we keep up with your work? LM: Next up for me is work and more work. I’m writing a new script this fall and trying to keep up with my long list of revision tasks and nitpicky theater business stuff. You can follow me on Twitter (@lizmaestri) or visit my jankity but well-meaning website. I’d like to meet new people in town, so please feel free to get in touch!
0 Comments
Jacqueline Lawton: How long have you lived and worked as a playwright in DC? What brought you here? Why have you stayed?
Carmen Wong: I arrived 8 years ago almost to the day and founded banished? productions shortly after. It was after the summer I graduated: I got an internship in DC for the fall and it certainly helped that my best friend already lived here working as a fellow at ArenaStage. DC has grown with (not on) me. Just as soon as I was ready to flee (about 3 years in), a new wave of energy came through and made my job as play-maker (I shy from the term ‘playwright’ since I feel you lot do such a marvelously different job!) a lot more stimulating. JL: Have you ever been a member of a DC area playwrights writing group? If so, did you find it useful? Would you recommend that other playwrights join them? CW: No, I've never been a part of a writing group. JL: In DC, we have the Capital Fringe Festival, the Intersections Festival, the Source Theatre Festival, the Kennedy Center's Page-to-Stage Festival, the Black Theater Festival, and the Hip Hop Theatre Festival. We also have the Mead Lab at Flashpoint Theater Lab Program. Have you participated in any of these? If so, can you speak about your experience? CW: I directed a Page-2-Stage reading back in 2005, much of which details I have forgotten. Banished? has participated in the Fringe since its inception in 2006. I’ve written a blog post for HowlRound called, Figuring the Fringe, which gives you an idea of the experience. I must say that as an artist, I never felt more supported than in my involvement with CulturalDC. Last year they accepted two of my works for their Mead Theatre Lab and Flashpoint Gallery programs (“Into the Dollhouse” and “Tactile Dinner Car” respectively) and that was a vindicating moment to have our work acknowledged as relevant and truly boundary-crossing. Both programs have a great mentorship element and work closely with artists to prep them for public speaking, something quite helpful for me since my nature is to stay behind the limelight. That same year I was asked to direct a 10-minute play by Juanita Rockwell as the Source Festival as well, and we’ve been happily collaborating since! JL: What kind of work do you do to pay the bills? How do you balance this work with your writing? CW: I just started part-time work with a mediation and conflict resolution non-profit and I sometimes still work with the farmers’ market, which I’d been working with (as an EBT coordinator, interfacing with food stamp users at market) for the last 3 seasons. These jobs actually keep me sane, grounded, and nourished. They sometimes even provide content for some of the pieces I do, as well as urge me to talk about my work to a wide audience of people not from an arts or theatre background. Also, I’m the sort of person that needs many plates spinning in order to work well and effectively, so this helps with the balance. JL: How many plays have you had produced in the DC area? Were any of these plays self-produced? If so, where and what did you learn from that experience? CW: Most all our dozen full works in DC have been self-produced, and many of our small projects are either commissioned or collaboratively created. The exceptions are the pieces with CulturalDC, which were co-produced in the fullest sense, and two or three were collaboratively created and produced with local theatre artists and companies (Happenstance Theatre for one). In Helsinki (where I’m writing this now and currently working on a piece), I am working with an amazing team of both professionals and semi-professionals that task-forces all the work. So I am able to create in a very singularly-focused manner. The projects created there usually only get a one-day showing (with multiple performances) but are really strong pieces that I learn so much from. My process has been strengthened, and my ideas have expanded in terms of project-conceptualization (which requires honing of instinct and intuition) and producing (in a way that can be very fun/creative, and less obsessive on my part). JL: If you could be produced at any theatre in DC, which would it be and why? CW: I find this question intensely difficult as I have more my eye on spaces/sites than the production element of having my piece open to the public. I would say I have my eye on making a piece on the ArenaStage terrace, and another piece in random parts within the common areas of Woolly Mammoth. JL: DC audiences are ... CW: The best challenge and resource I have. JL: DC actors, designers and directors are ... CW: I have worked so much outside the zone (working with non-actors, dancers, and designers/artists) that I only have recently got to know the insider DC theatre scene a little better and as in any place, a little clique-ish but just lovely. JL: DC critics are ... CW: Getting to know us and we, them 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? CW: This is a pretty loaded potato. Perhaps because banished? has just forged its own path, I can be quite blind to some of these issues and how/whether it has impacted me. I think there could be more inter-everything collaboration and I’m definitely interested in trying to work it out in some of the decisions I make for the company. JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming DC based playwright or a playwright who has just moved to D.C.? CW: Keep working, keep your eyes open to possibilities and never be afraid to take risks. Go to lots of things, free museums, weird events, see it all. JL: What's next for you as a playwright? Where can we keep up with your work? CW: I am currently producing a modest piece in Helsinki called “Dinner for the Forgotten”, it is about eating to remember the people we have left behind or to leave the past be. That will open this Saturday, working with the same amazing team that co-created last year’s “Tactile Taste of Helsinki”. Then its back to DC and hitting the ground running with the Dupont Circle version of “The Circle” by Juanita Rockwell, which launches Wed, Sept 26 (with a Happy Hour event at Dolcezza gelato from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, please join us!) and has shows on: Sat 9/29, Sat 10/6 and Sun 10/7 at 6:00pm and 7:00pm each day. Next up we have a piece with CulturalDC on installation at (e)merge art fair at the Skyline Hotel. The piece will be on view: Thu 10/4 @7:00pm – 9:00pm Fri 10/5 @12:00pm – 7:00pm Sat 10/6 @12:00pm – 7:00pm Sun 10/7 @12:00pm – 5:00pm Then we will stage Into the Dollhouse at a secret location in November before Thanksgiving, so look out for that! We also have a lot of little events and social gatherings where we celebrate the people who volunteer or work with us, and we’re planning a fundraising Holiday party with a twist (when do we not twist?). All are welcome! Get details from our FB page! Monday's Page-to-Stage reading of The Hampton Years was a huge success! The Kennedy Center's Page-to-Stage offers local theatre companies and playwrights the opportunity to share new plays in development at a nationally recognized venue. In doing so, the plays will be introduced to a larger and more diverse audience than they might have reached in their theatres. It was wonderful and necessary to get back in the room with the cast and hear the script aloud. I've been through three drafts since the first read in January and have met with director Shirley Serotsky, dramaturg Otis Ramsey-Zoe and artistic director Ari Roth on multiple occasions to discuss the script. However, in order to know if a line, moment, joke, or particular turn of phrase works or not, you've just got to hear it. And the play has grown so much! The story is rich, vibrant and compelling. The characters are strong, passionate, and dynamic. I was really quite proud and look forward to developing it further over the next several months. Prior to the reading, I checked in with Shirley Serotsky and Otis Ramsey-Zoe to hear their thoughts on the benefits of Page-to-Stage. SHIRLEY SEROTSKY "Page-to-stage is one of the many things that makes me feel incredibly grateful to be a part of the DC Theater community. Not only is it an opportunity to build and develop plays, it is a chance for us to build and develop community. The buzz and vitality of the Kennedy Center during this special weekend--both from rehearsal room to rehearsal room and also as a whole--is thrilling. I'm glad that we have the chance to share the most recent version of THE HAMPTON YEARS in this environment." OTIS RAMSEY-ZOE "The play has changed a great deal since the January 2012 reading, and it’ll continue to grow even more in the march towards opening in June. Page-2-Stage is a wonderful opportunity to check-in with the play in the company of peers and people who are very enthusiastic about new plays. This work of making play is a very serious enterprise. Page-2-Stage is a celebration of all that is exciting in this business of play, but it is also an opportunity to continue to work a play." This reading of The Hampton Years was directed by Shirley Serotsky with dramatugy by Otis Ramsey-Zoe featured Edward Christian, Jessica Francis Dukes, Lolita-Marie, Julian Martinez, Sasha Olinick, Colin Smith, Emily Townley and David Lamont Wilson. Between all the great work that was happening, I managed to take a few photos. Enjoy! It's 10:00am and we've arrived at the KC!!! More hellos and delight at the renovated KC rehearsal rooms!!! No room for us at the table, no worries! |
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!
Categories
All
Archives
June 2020
Reading List
|