Artists in Conversation: Stephen Adly Guirgis #GuirgisinDC

This is happening tonight at Studio Theatre and I'm so excited to take part! 

Artists in Conversation: Stephen Adly Guirgis

After the Friday, March 8, 8:00pm show starting at approximately 10:00pm, Tony-nominated playwright of The Motherfucker with the Hat Stephen Adly Guirgis will join director Serge Seiden in a moderated conversation to discuss his writing process, his big-hearted characters, and the cheerful vulgarity of his work. 

As a part of this event, audience members will be hosting a Twitter chat using the hashtag: #GuirgisinDC For those new to tweet chats, we've been encouraged to use Tweetchat.com to follow and automatically insert the #guirgisindc into your posts.

Now, to make this night even more thrilling, the lovely folks Studio Theatre have generously invited members of the artistic teams from previous D.C. productions of Mr. Guirgis' work to attend the performance and join in on the conversation. These productions include Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Forum Theatre, Jesus Hopped the A Train at Round House Theatre, and Our Lady of 121st Street at Woolly Mammoth. 

Truth be told, it's by the grace and good will of the Theatre Gods and Muses that I got an invite, because I haven't worked worked on any of those productions and only got to see Last Days of Judas Iscariot. But like the good theatre scholar that I am, I've read as much of Mr. Guigis' work as I could get my hands on. I was first introduced to him when I was a literary/dramaturgy intern at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Before I could begin reading and ranking plays, Mary Resing (former Director of  New Play Development) tasked me with reading all the plays Woolly had produced over the last three to five seasons. Since I was living in Baltimore at the time and commuting into D.C. everyday, this assignment was an absolute delight. 

It was after reading Mr. Guirgis' Our Lady of 121st Street that I became obsessed with his creative vision; his masterful use language, imagery and emotion; his passionate, lyrical, and jagged worlds; and his broken characters filled with such anger, desperation, and longing for hope. Needless to say, I feel quite fortunate to be included in this conversation and look forward to capturing my experience on Twitter: #GuirgisinDC. I hope you can join in on the discussion! 

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About the Play and Production

The Motherfucker with the Hat
By Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by Serge SeidenDramaturgy by Lauren Halvorsen 
Designers Debra Booth (Set Design), Michael Giannitti (Light Design), Ivania Stack (Costume Design), Robb Hunter (Fight Director), and Eric Shimelonis (Original Music and Sound Design)
Featuring Liche Ariza, Rosal Colón, Drew Cortese, Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey, and
Quentin Mará.

Synopsis
Jackie, out on parole and newly sober, is determined to start anew with his childhood sweetheart Veronica, but her unrelenting coke addiction, his slick-talking AA sponsor, and the discovery of another man’s hat in his living room all threaten to derail Jackie’s tenuous progress. With passion, profanity, and genuine vulnerability, Jackie and Veronica untangle their decades of codependence as they wrestle with the painful limitations of trust, desire, and rehabilitation.

January 30th - March 24th 
Metheny Theatre at The Studio Theatre, 1333 P St. N.W. Washington, DC
Ticket Information: 202-332-3300 or www.studiotheatre.org