The Norwegians
nytheatre.com q&a preview by C. Denby Swanson
February 14, 2013
What is your job on this show?
Playwright.
What is your show about?
A strong, bitter comedy about really really nice gangsters - Minnesotan hit men - and the non-Minnesotan women who hire them.
Where were you born? Where were you raised? Where did you go to school?
I'm a something-like-5th generation native Texan, born and raised. Grew up primarily in Houston but also Golden, Colorado and Chennai, India. Went to the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts in Houston, then Smith College, the National Theater Institute, and the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas-Austin.
Why do you do theater (as opposed to film, or TV, or something not in the entertainment field)?
What most of my theater friends don't know is that I'm actually an accountant. What my accounting clients don't know is that I teach playwriting at Southwestern University, outside Austin. Oh, crap. I wonder if they will all read this.
What is one specific thing that you hope audiences will realize you’ve contributed to the production?
The words, ya'll. Also, the smart ass.
Which famous New Jerseyite would like your show the best: Snooki, Bruce Springsteen, Thomas Edison?
When she was nine years old, my youngest sister told someone that she spoke four languages: French, English, Texan, and Cuss. I don't speak French. Unfortunately, I also don't really speak Jersey. And the hit men in my play are Minnesotan. No disrespect. Wait - was that a Jerseyish thing to say?
