Interview with a Playwright: Dipika Guha

The Rough Readings Series is wrapping up for the year with Lifted by Dipika Guha! We had the chance to interview Dipika Guha on her process, motivation, and experience as a Resident Playwright at PF.

You can view the entire interview on Vimeo, but here's just a sampling of some of her remarkably insightful thoughts:

Dipika Guha

"As a playwright, we have the opportunity to begin the world again when we write plays, and my plays tend to be set in imagined worlds that draw very real resonances from history, but they're always slightly askew...I think there's an attempt in that to foster a kind of imaginative space."

"I think tragicomedy in particular strikes me ... of life being both things simultaneously, that speaks to me as being true...There something in that multi-genre device that is thorny and poses the question rather than a simple solution."

"I think point of view can be embodied in a very direct way...where you are forced to take another perspective. And I think the more perspectives we can take on the world right now, the better it is. We do live in a globalized world, but it's also a world of such iniquity."

"There's a sort of pressure to devote ourselves from imagination and from play, and I think I'm drawn to everything that preserves that in the writing of my play worlds."

"There is such a diversity of aesthetic and voice in this room it's truly thrilling to be part of the [Resident Playwrights] Initiative."

Dipika Guha's Interview

The Rough Reading Series is Pay What You Can, and is closing out the year with "Lifted" by Dipika Guha, playing Tuesday, November 17th at 2:30pm at Custom Made Theatre in San Francisco and Wednesday, November 18th at 7:30pm at Roble Hall in Stanford University. 

Read more about "Lifted", Dipika Guha, and the Rough Reading Series at  Playwrightsfoundation.org.

Save a Seat with an RSVP! Email rsvp@playwrightsfoundation.org or call 415.626.2176.

* Member of Actors' Equity Association

Interview with a Playwright: Rob Melrose

Our final playwright to be interviewed is the fabulous Rob Melrose, artistic director of The Cutting Ball Theater -- and not really the 'playwright' but rather adaptor, book writer, librettist, as if that's not enough!  He makes his writing debut at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival with his truly hilarious, trip-hop musical, Ozma of Oz.

Rob Melrose

Natasha Brown: Thanks for letting me interview you! First question, is your style distinct or does is change depending on the play?

Rob Melrose:  I always gravitate towards projects with lots of imagination so in that way I’m consistent. However, the ways in which I’m creative are very different depending on whether I’m directing, translating or adapting a text. Each project has its own place and style.

NB: That makes sense. How did this piece came into being?

RM: The idea of doing something with Z.O.N.K. and the book Ozma of Oz came to me when I was directing Happy Days at the Guthrie Theater.  Downstairs they were presenting a new musical version of Little House on the Prairie.  People from all over the state of Minnesota came to see this book brought to life on stage.  And, I asked myself, if this is the Minnesotan Regional Theater way of reaching new audiences, what is the San Francisco Experimental Theater version? At the same time, I was reading all of the Wizard of Oz books to my daughter.  Ozma of Oz plays on identity and I thought about  San Francisco, I found my version.   

San Franciscans

NB: Yep, San Francisco is a pretty great place. I am interested in how the play explores themes of gender and sexuality through the structure of a children’s story. Can you tell me more about why you chose to take that route?

RM: Ozma was born a woman but grew up thinking she was a boy called Tip. Only later does Tip realize that he’s really a girl; Princess Langwidere has 30 different heads that she switches between, and it is clear that there is a sense of attraction between Dorothy and Ozma.  As a musical, we have found ways to highlight those already existing themes in this new context.

NB: Why do you think trip-hop as a musical style was best for this other than typical show tunes?

RM: I grew up really liking West Side Story, Grease and A Chorus Line, but the music of contemporary musicals generally isn’t a sound that I enjoy, so I stopped liking musicals all that much. However,  I loved the idea of U2 writing music for Spiderman the musical and a collaboration between popular music and the musical genre was exciting. My good friend Dave L has a band called Z.O.N.K. that produces trip-hop music, and I just knew that I had to get them to write the music to Ozma.

Z.O.N.K.

NB: Do you think audiences outside of the Bay Area will be as receptive as San Francisco to this musical?

RM: I was a little worried that maybe we’ve gone too far, but at a reading of the play last December these two guys from the International Oz Society came and they loved it. Then there's Lady Gaga and Kesha. Both artists are very open about their sexuality so, while a lot of the themes are very “San Francisco”, they’re actually national and international issues in pop culture that speaks to the evolving identity of a new generation. 

NB: Yeah, I've definitely noticed that a lot more in the last few years. Okay, last question; whose work would you recommend for emerging writers to study?

RM:  Well, I’ve got to say Shakespeare for sure.
People would say of Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival, that one of the reasons he was so good at working on new plays is because he had Shakespeare’s plays at the back of his mind all the time. I also love Suzan-Lori Parks and I’ve done a lot of her plays. She just has it all – a great sense of language that is risky and daring, an incredible sense of character. She’s a big hero of mine. I love Beckett but he can be incredibly daunting and sort of unapproachable. A person we don’t give a lot of credit or time to is Ionesco. He was such a playful writer and starts every play with a big imaginative leap and goes from there. I wish more people today were influenced by him because I think he’s wonderful.

NB: Thanks, Rob!

Ozma of Oz is showing on July 19th at 12pm and July 25th at 8pm. Get your tickets here!

The Bay Area Playwrights Festival gives voice to emerging and established playwrights who are pushing boundaries and have the potential to shape the future of American theater and culture. The festival runs from July 18-27. Click here for the calendar and special event details for the whole festival. 

*Edited for content on July 18th 2014.

 

A Loss For Words

Recently I've found myself in a bit of a pickle.  The Bay Area is filled with its surprises, and I'm sure many cities I could have chosen would have their own particular pitfalls.  Having recently had my laptop burglarized ...burglarized? Burgled sounds funnier.  Let's go with burgled.  Having recently had my laptop burgled from my bedroom, and with my roommates unable to explain how it happened (or that their story is incredibly filled with holes) I've discovered a few things.  Isn't that funny?  In the absence of some things, you gain others - in this case, knowledge.

#1 Suspect

First things first, I have to make it known that this laptop I used for writing.  That means many papers from college, resumes, photos, select readings, music, movies, and even my plays that I was working on are all now missing, as well.  Kaput.  Finito.  Gone.  ...This happened about three weeks ago, and even now I realize that it also had my headshots on there, so there goes any chance of me becoming a famous actor while I'm out here... looks like I'll just have to be spotted on the street and told "hey, kid, you got what it takes!"

Hogwash.

(More after the jump)

Kafka Finds a Good Margarita in the Second Act

We've invited Jeff Seeman, currently taking Anthony Clarvoe’s playwriting class, to write a little something about trying to write a full-length play in ten weeks:

There’s just one more meeting left in the fall session of Anthony Clarvoe’s ten-week playwriting class and people are already clamoring to sign up for the next session.  It’s been a fascinating ride over the past few months, spending Wednesday evenings in a roomful of fellow writers—feeding off each other’s enthusiasm, supporting each other’s creativity, and occasionally spilling coffee on each other’s scripts. 

I started the class back in November with a clear idea of what I wanted to write—a musical version of Spider-Man with a huge cast, a bloated budget, overblown special effects, and a strained relationship with OSHA.  Imagine my surprise during the first week when Anthony pointed out someone was already doing that.  Who knew? 

Quickly shifting gears, I settled on my other idea, an Ionesco-Goes-To-Work-At-A-High-Tech-Company tragicomedy, which Anthony dubbed “Kafkasoft.”  We all spent the first few weeks of class exploring fundamental questions about our respective plays:  What’s the play really about?  Who’s the protagonist?  Does the play fit into a genre?  What will the structure be?  What are the story and character arcs?  Did anyone bring snacks?  Are you going to eat that?

After a few sessions, the writing began in earnest, with Anthony firmly but gently nudging us all towards fulfilling our playwriting goals.  Part critic, part coach, part Jewish mother, Anthony shared with us his wisdom and enthusiasm for the writing process.  Drawing on examples from Shakespeare to J. K. Rowling, he somehow managed to impart his ample expertise without ever becoming dogmatic.

By the time we came back from the holiday break, two of us were working from complete drafts of our plays and several others were close behind.  Then came the next round of questions:  Does the play work as a whole?  Does it hold up in Act II?  Does it fulfill the promises made in Act I?  Have you tried the margaritas at that place across the street?  Are they any good?     

Like a skilled dramaturg, Anthony then asked insightful, provocative questions about our respective works-in-progress.  As someone who used to live in L.A. and wrote screenplays for several years, I was delighted to receive such useful feedback.  (In the movie industry, most of the notes writers receive are more along the lines of, “Hey, that movie with the elephant did great box office last weekend.  Can you stick an elephant in the second act?”)  

As the class comes to a close, I’m now immersed in rewriting.  Then I’m off to my next project, a comedy about two mismatched roommates, one neat and the other sloppy, who are separated from their wives.  No one’s done that, right?

Jeff Seeman is a writer, director, producer, and author of two novels, Political Science and Guns and Butter.  He likes cheese.

Guess what? If you are jealous and want to try to write a full-length play of your own, Anthony has a new section beginning March 2nd on Wednesday evenings. A possible East Bay section on Monday evenings is also in the works – more details soon! Please visit our New Play Institute page on our website for more info!

 

 

USArtists Announces Fellows of 2010 (And We're Proud!)

Every year the United States Artists awards millions of dollars to artists of all kinds, from Architects and Designers to those involved in Theatre Arts.  This year $2.5 million was awarded to these 50 different artists.  Why do we at Playwrights Foundation care so much?  Aside from it being quite the feat for ANY artist to achieve, one that should be applauded and recognized anyway, Playwrights Foundation is proud to announce that not one, but TWO alumni are recipients of this years USA Fellowship!

Rajiv Joseph, writer of the Pulitzer Prize nominated Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo finds himself at the receiving end of the highly esteemed $50,000 USA Fellowship.  And to think, Tiger was just a cub in our ROUGH Reading Series, back in 2006.  The LA Times talks about just how big of a deal this prize is:

Joseph and 49 other artists -- including four from Southern California --  were announced Tuesday as this year’s USA fellows. The $2.5 million in combined annual fellowships, first awarded in 2006, dwarfs all of the nation’s annual arts prizes except the MacArthur Fellowship, which currently antes up nearly $4 million a year for artists. MacArthur fellows get $100,000 a year for five years, and artists typically account for about a third of the 25 or so winners of the annual MacArthur “genius grants.” (source)

Wait, didn't we say there were two?  Yes!  Also from the 2006 ROUGH Readings comes fellow 2010 USArtists... fellow... is Brighde Mullins, who also received the Pinter Review Gold Medal for her work, Fire Eater about the Irish potato famine.

Congratulations to Rajiv, Brighde, and all of the other awarded artists, you all deserve it!

Read more about United States Artists over at their website, and see what other artists have been awarded!

Steve Yockey and the One-Minute-Play-Extravaganza

A recent face in Playwrights Foundation history has managed to go under our radar with talking to the New York One-Minute Play Festival blog, so we at PF apologize for not running this story sooner!  Steve Yockey, who recently had his new play, Wolves, read in our ROUGH Readings series discusses his involvement in both the First Annual LA and First Annual SF One-Minute Play Festivals.

I immediately thought the timing was going to be the hardest part. And it’s been a fun challenge to get my head around the time & production restrictions. But the comment that struck me most in the big explanation e-mail we all received was, “Also, while comedic plays are always a big hit, plays that tackle more serious themes are encouraged too!”

Check out what he has to say over at the NY One-Minute Play Festival blog!

Don't forget that Saturday Saturday Saturday! AND SUNDAY! Is the FIRST EVER San Francisco One-Minute Play Festival (December 18, and 19 at 8PM, and 7PM respectively).  Never before seen one-minute plays will be flying through the stage of the Thick House like a whirlwind of theatre, blowing minds instead of wind!  Don't forget to reserve your tickets over at Brownpapertickets.com!

Playwrights Foundation Interview: Brian Thorstenson

Hello, This week’s playwright is Brian Thorstenson. Enjoy.

Question: Where do you most often find inspiration?

Brian: Most often? Characters out in the world, people I see and hear during the day. Next would be stories I've read, mostly in the paper. They all act as some kind of trigger to get me thinking about a play.

Question:  What one tip can you offer aspiring playwrights?

Brian: Keep developing your writing practice. That will get you through the ups and downs of working in the theater.

Question: How did you get your start in playwriting?  Where and when was this seed planted?

Brian: I started out as an actor, but got tired of the kind of parts I was doing so I wrote a play for myself. I only realized much later that I had been wanting to write for a very long time.

Question: What was your most embarrassing high school moment?

Brian: Oh god, there were so many starting with horrible haircuts and bad outfits. Maybe dropping my lunch tray in the middle of the cafeteria at the height of lunch and it clanging and clattering to the floor.

Question: Beckett or Stoppard? One word only please.

Brian: Unimaginable.



To learn more about Brian Thorstenson, and the rest of our Resident Playwrights, visit the page below:
www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p72"