Bedbugs!!!
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Larry Daggett
September 23, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Actor.
When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
At age six I was carried onstage inside a box with the words "Caution! Live Alligator" stenciled on the outside. When I heard my cue I wiggled from side to side, making the box shake. The audience gasped, erupted in laughter, and applauded. I was hooked.
Who is more important in the theater: the actor, the playwright, or the director?
There's a simple way to find the answer. Can you do a play without a playwright? Yes. Just visit The Pit or UCB to watch long form improv. Can you do a play without a director? Absolutely. In fact, I've done quite a few productions where the director slept through the entire process! Can you do a play without an actor? No. The raison d'être of theatre is for the audience to be in the presence of live actors and to feel the connection with what is happening onstage. So actually there are two entities that are required for theatre to occur: the actors and the audience. However, if you want the show to run longer than just one night you'd damn well better have a great story and a smart director to make sure it all makes sense.
Are there any cautions or warnings you’d like to make about the show (e.g., not appropriate for little kids)?
WARNING: This show is not appropriate for entomologists or people who love parasitic insects that feed on blood. I'm shocked to say that quite a few bedbugs meet their demise during the run of the show.
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. I'm convinced the reason the house dropped in value between Act One and Act Two had nothing to do with white flight; it was due to bedbug infestation. At one point I saw two actors simultaneously scratch behind their ears and immediately I knew their subtext. It's no wonder that show won the Pulitzer Prize.
How important is diversity to you in the theater you see/make?
Extremely. That is why I decided to play a bedbug. In previous productions I've played a caterpillar, a potato bug, and a moth. My dream role is a dung beetle.
