Names of the Dead
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Vanessa Lenz Neithardt
July 10, 2012
What is your job on this show?
playwright and producer.
Where were you born? Where were you raised? Where did you go to school?
I was born and raised in NYC on the upper east side of Manhattan. I attended Brearley, an all girl school in Manhattan through 8th grade, Fieldston School in the Bronx for high school, and the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT for college.
Why did you want to be part of FringeNYC?
As a New Yorker myself, it is very exciting to be a part of such a large New York festival experience. This is the first play I've ever written (my usual medium is photography) and I did so with the direct intention of submitting it to the FringeNYC. Having a deadline and a goal of getting it into this festival helped me keep focus and write the story I've been thinking about for two years.
Why did you want to write/direct/produce/act in/work on this show?
I read an article in the New York Times a few years back about the start of a VA suicide hotline in upstate New York to help combat the growing epidemic of suicide amongst our veterans. It was a story that stuck with me and one that I wanted to explore further. The connection that the operators have with their callers interested me and became the basis of the story I wanted to tell.
Which famous New Jerseyite would like your show the best: Snooki, Bruce Springsteen, Thomas Edison?
Bruce Spingsteen because he is a socially aware artist.
Can theatre bring about societal change? Why or why not?
Societal change comes about with the spread of information and education which theater can do, while at the same time entertaining us and giving us new ideas and points of view to consider.
