By Rights We Should Be Giants
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Christopher Diercksen
September 24, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Director and Dramaturg.
Do you like to read plays, or just perform them?
I love reading plays that aren't finished as they engage my creative problem solving brain areas. Being able to look the playwright in the eyes and have a conversation about their work is so exciting. It comes down to immediacy for me. Very rarely do I read a new script and think to myself "there is no audience for this story right now;" which is not so for existing works. That's not to say I'm against working on classical or pre-existing theater, just that I'm not drawn to reading it for pleasure.
What was the last show you saw that really excited you, and why?
I saw "Three Pianos" by Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duffy, and Dave Malloy at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater in 2010 and it blew my mind. I know that seems like a long time ago and I've certainly seen some wonderful theater since then but you asked about the last show i saw that "really" excited me and this is the most recent piece for which I had absolutely no qualms, complaints, or misgivings. Besides the usual raves the show received about staging and musicality and design (all of which were fantastic) I still find myself thinking about this show. It presented what is a beautiful piece of music and formed a relevant and compelling story that I still draw on 2 years later. It's an example of what theater can be if you get everything right.
Do you think the audience will talk about your show for 5 minutes, an hour, or way into the wee hours of the night?
We're aiming for "wee hours of the night" on this project and I think we have the material to do it.
People who like which of the following recent Broadway shows would also probably like your show: THE BOOK OF MORMON, ONCE, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, CLYBOURNE PARK?
Clybourne Park for content and Death of a Salesman for style points.
Who are your heroes?
Playwrights and actors in the Independent Theater Community. They are the bravest people I've ever met.
