18 1/2 Minutes
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Sean Donovan
August 9, 2013
What is your job on this show?
Co-Writer, Co-Director and Performer.
What is your show about?
18 1/2 Minutes is a surreal exploration of the infamous gap in the Nixon Oval Office Tapes at the heart of the Watergate scandal.
What type of theater do you like most to work on?
I work in many different styles and modes of performance from theater to dance theater to dance to film. My favorite work though is devised work that is created in a collective fashion.
Complete this sentence: My show is the only one opening in NYC this summer that...?
features an original music composition by former President Richard Nixon.
How did you meet your fellow artists/collaborators on this show?
Sebastian Calderon Bentin and I have been collaborating for over 10 years so since we were students together at NYU. We work under the name Donovan & Calderon and write, direct and perform all of our work. The roles are completely shared and our process is a mixture of pre-written material and improvisation.
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
Surprising. Maybe satisfying.
Why are theater festivals so very important?
The sharing of ideas, the multiplicity of performance, the diversity of work, the conversation.
