The Blood Brothers present... RAW FEED
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Patrick Shearer
September 25, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Producer, Director, Performer, Sound Designer.
What type of theater do you like most to work on?
I like theatre that is distinctly theatre - where it either couldn't be done in any other medium, or where some of its essence would be lost in translation. With our "The Blood Brothers present..." shows, the whole point is the excitement of experiencing horror onstage, right in front of you. We approach the show each year with the understanding that you, the audience, are basically trapped in a room with the monsters, at the center of the haunted house, and we're not letting you go until we're good and ready. Which may be a little longer than is entirely comfortable.
The two other absolute requirements are that the audience have moments in which they recognize something true about their lives, or our common experiences, and that there is something surprising or unexpected in the evening. When we're doing a show in the genre of horror, we hope we can at least guarantee a few surprises.
Complete this sentence: My show is the only one opening in NYC this fall that...?
... has a live disemboweling onstage. And if that's not the case (the indie theater scene IS pretty adventurous, after all) I can guarantee we're the only one with a creepy ventriloquist's dummy that's not what it seems.
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 HOPE that you'll have difficulty sleeping afterwards, because that means we got through your defenses. We always get a couple of people who come back to us after having seen the show to let us know that they had a nightmare about SOMETHING they saw in the show, and that's the best compliment ever.
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
Spooky and Scary.
Who are your heroes?
Boy, that's actually a pretty big question. I'm inspired constantly by my colleagues and peers, throughout the indie theater scene -- by their generosity, their talent, their commitment to their work, their questioning of the status quo, and their uniqueness of vision. And I'm inspired by all those who came before us, who veered off the established path to create a new one we could follow into the wilderness, making it easier to then veer off, to make our own path.
And David Lynch.
