Interview with a Playwright: Elizabeth Hersh

The playwright interviews are just one way for audiences to connect with the plays being read at the festival, giving you an inside scoop into the minds of the playwrights and their ideas about their play. Natasha is back with another interview, this time with Elizabeth Hersh whose play Shelter in Place explores what happens when social media privacy is no longer private.

Elizabeth Hersh

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

Elizabeth Hersh: I hope my style changes depending on the play. This play is very sparse; the characters don’t talk a lot. This style is very specific to this play, not necessarily my writing. However, I do write stuff that’s dark, gruesome and, hopefully, funny. I guess I do have some consistent styles, but the way the characters interact, the way the scenes progress and the structure come from the specific story I’m trying to tell.

NB: Are there any interesting stories about how your play came into being?

EH: There is a character in the play who appeared because I ran into them at my girlfriend’s parents’ house in Northern California. They had a cleaner who brought her adult daughter along to help out. She wore this crucifixion t-shirt and made my girlfriend’s mom hide all of her Buddha ornaments because they made her feel uncomfortable. She would yell at her daughter whilst we were all eating at the table and it was just this incredibly awkward and tense situation. It made me think about the tension between the service industry and the employer; “I am paying you to clean up after me.” It’s such a weird interaction. She inspired the Cleaning Lady in my play.

NB: That is both hilarious and absurd. I’m curious about the face blindness concept in the play. Did your play start with the concept or did it come in as you were working on it? How much do you want the audience to be conscious of this?

EH: I didn’t even know it was in the play until my girlfriend, who works as a director, dramaturg and new play developer, was talking to me about it. Sometimes, people come up and talk to me and I don’t know if I know them. I recognize people I’m close to very well, but if I meet someone a couple of times and then see them out of context, for example seeing someone from work outside of work, then I find it difficult to place them. This leads to a lot of people thinking I’m rude or that I don’t care about them. It’s not so much of a big deal now that I can explain it to people.

My director is legally blind and we share the same experience of the unease that comes from thinking you know someone but not really being sure. That’s a feeling I want to create in the play - this unease at who these people really are.

NB: After reading your play, I wasn’t surprised to find out that you are a sound designer. Sound is such a presence throughout the play, from the vacuum interrupting the conversation very early on to the blackouts being filled with sound. How does sound link to the privacy issues in the play?

EH: When I was writing the play, I felt that sound was a threat to the family. It’s part of the invasion of their space. It’s something that they can’t control, it’s all around them, and it’s dangerous. I try to write really openly for directors and not pre-design the show. As a designer, I like when directors allow designers to play and collaborate. I try not to get too attached to the ideas I have for the sound as a writer.

NB: Yeah, I can imagine that may be quite difficult sometimes. What do you want the audience to experience whilst watching your play?

EH: Fundamentally, I want it to be entertaining. This show in particular is created to grab the audience by their stomach and pull them through the whole thing. I want them to be laughing until horrified and then laughing some more. I want for the audience to come out and think “What the hell just happened?” I think essentially this play is looking at intimacy - what we think we know about people, why we isolate ourselves and what it means to really know someone. I’ve only ever had a couple of informal readings for this play so I’m really excited to see how a live audience reacts to it.

NB: I’m excited too! Last question, whose work would you recommend for emerging writers to study?

EH: Phillip Ridley – he’s brutal. Caryl Churchill. All of the wonderful female playwrights I’ve ever read. I’m sick of all the cis hetero monogamous dead white men playwrights. Emerging writers should also read a lot of fiction and go and see dance and burlesque. See performance art; see things that are pushing boundaries, new things. We don’t need to see old plays season after season anymore. Theatre’s job is to push the aesthetic of our culture farther from the centre. As women playwrights, we should seek out support and read as many plays written by other women as possible. Also, read things that stretch outside of racial lines. Suzan-Lori Parks! I taught Topdog/Underdog at San Quentin Prison. It was super intense. The prisoners were racially and educationally diverse. One of them had a PhD, and some earned their college degrees whilst in prison.  It broke my preconceived notions about how our society functions. As young playwrights, we need to be the people putting art out there that allows us to see our privileges.

NB: Thanks, Elizabeth!

Shelter in Place is showing on July 18th at 8pm and July 27th at 12pm. 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. Shelter in Place is showing on July 18th, 8pm and July 27th, 12pm. Get your tickets here!

Making Theatre Matter: Talk and Action

Now there's one more reason to look forward to Friday. 

At 2pm tomorrow the BAPF is hosting an incredible panel of theater makers who use their art to engage the world's problems. The discussion, Making Theatre in a Messed Up World, takes its name from moderator Velina Brown's TBA blog post of the same name.

It's free! It's open to the public, and it will inspire you.
(If you're out of town, watch the livestream or the archive)

Who are we going to speak with?

• jump-up-and-down-and-march-with-me rabble rousers
• introspective writers who hit where it hurts
• activists in neighbourhoods, prisons and classrooms. 

Many are locals—all are nationally renowned. Names below! We're going to put it to them straight in this two part seminar

Part I: Why theatre?

When we decide to make a change, fight an injustice, why turn to the stage? What is it that the performing arts has that no other tool has? Why do we put on make-up and costumes instead of marching or going door-to-door? What makes the stage more powerful than the megaphone?

Part II: How?

These panelists are experts in all different styles. Their performances are devised, hip-hop, circus-inspired, musical, dramatic, and poetic. They use transcriptions and adaptations and (our favorite) brand-new writing. These panellists put the audience member in a different position, each dependent on the different style. Are you watching the story, waiting on edge to boo, hiss or cheer? Are you an active creator of the story? The means, as always, are just as important and varied as the ends.

Without further ado, let's meet our amazing guests.

Velina Brown (Symposium Leader)

Rhodessa Jones, Cultural Odyssey

Lindsay Krumbein (Gritty City Rep)

Margo Hall (Actress, Member Campo Santo)

Michael Rohd (Sojourn Theater)

Michael Gene Sullivan (SF Mime Troupe)

Dael Orlandersmith (Playwright - PF Workshop Instructor)

Richard Montoya (Culture Clash)

Torange Yeghiazarian (Golden Thread)

Ryan Nicole Austin (NuDekades and Mouthoff)

Sean San Jose (Actor, Director, Member Campo Santo)

Kinan Valdez (El Teatro Campesino)

Christine Young (USF Department of Theater and Social Justice)

Joan Holden (Playwright, Former SF Mime Troupe lead writer)

Kimber Lee (BAPF Playwright, author of brownsville song [b-side for tray])

Phew! So if you ever wanted to meet any of these fabulous movers and shakers, tomorrow is the time! It's going to be a open conversation, with panelists -  not lecturing -  but engaging with the audience in a seat-swapping, hard hitting, honest discussion. Everyone who wants to speak can speak and have their topics heard in an open forum. 

The event will be ABSOLUTELY FREE, followed by snacks from Mediterranean restaurant Pera and complimentary wine!

This symposium will be simultaneously live-streamed through #newplaytv. So catch the conversation there if you can't be with us on the day.  


So. That's the talk, but what about the walk? You'll really to see the political work we're fostering at the moment. Kimber Lee's brownsville song (b-side for tray) is playing at 8pm that night. This graceful, lyrical work. Unpretentious, funny, gentle, but with plenty of teeth, this play acts as a witness and not a commentator, challenging the definition of "political" theatre. It is a must-see event.

photo by Jim Norrena

So join us Friday for these two great events. Talk the talk and walk the walk, meet some collaborators, find some friends. Lets get angry then happy then moved by turns.
It's a great time to be alive and making art!

Spotlight: Kimberly Burke; or How I Learned to Love White Snakeskin Cowboy Boots

This seasons final reading is upon us.  The author of our last piece?  One Minnesota-born Massachusetts-based playwright, Kimberly Burke, known for her deeply political plays. We had a chance to get in some interview questions with Ms. Burke about her life, and her play Miss Tibet.

PF:

According to your bio on the PF website, your inspiration for Miss Tibet was your time actually seeing the pageant on which the play is based. Can you explain a little bit about how you ended up there?

KB:

About 5 years ago, I was taking my final workshop in the UT-Austin MFA Playwriting program, and the instructor (and awesome playwright) Alice Tuan gave me an assignment: write a monologue spoken by an Asian character that takes place in 1960.  I started researching the Tibetan uprising of 1959, and through the magic of Google stumbled across the website for the Miss Tibet Beauty Pageant.  I was instantly drawn to the controversy – an external beauty pageant in a culture that typically prizes internal beauty, a swimsuit competition in a mountain-based culture that typically doesn’t swim, an event denounced by the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile that takes place just down the street from the Dalai Lama’s compound?  I immediately emailed the pageant director, explained that I was a playwright who wanted to write about the pageant, and asked, “If I can get myself to Dharamsala, will you give me unfettered access to the contestants and backstage?”  He said yes, if I brought him a pair of white snakeskin cowboy boots.  With that I was off to India, boots in tow.

Often when I tell that story I’m met with disbelief, like, wait, you just saw this website and emailed this guy and flew to India?  And I’m like, well, yeah, wouldn’t you?

PF:

Would you say that most of your plays have political undertones?

KB:

Oh boy, I just started about five different responses to that question…but for the sake of expediency I’ll say that only a couple of my plays deal with Politics: Miss Tibet, and Taboo, a play for teenage actors that’s published by Playscripts, Inc. Taboo was my response to the PATRIOT Act, though you’d never know it from reading it. It does deal very openly with power and control wielded by a governing body, but it’s set in a high school so it remains several steps removed from its real-world underpinnings.  Miss Tibet is the first script I’ve written that deals with a current, factual political situation.

I think the challenge of writing about politics is being mindful that there are multiple sides to any conflict, and while it's impossible to give equal shrift to every opinion, there is absolutely no room to be preachy or condescending. My goal with Miss Tibet is to provide an engaging story that has the potential to encourage discussion, not to espouse an agenda. Because when it comes down to it, I feel as an audience member I’m smart enough to draw my own conclusions, so the least I can do is show the audience the same respect I expect when I’m in their seat.

PF:

I've always heard that the best way to keep your creative juices is to keep creating.  You're in a popular band (Shearwater), do you feel that it helps your writing or has no effect?

KB:

Funny, I see my role in Shearwater as pretty similar to what I do as a playwright. I’m the bassist, so I’m part of the rhythm section; I help drive the songs, and provide a sort of bridge between the drums and the more melodic instruments. As a playwright, my role is to lay down the basic track, the words, and leave room for the director, actors, and designers layer their vision on top of it.  So there’s that; and I do think a lot about the rhythm of the language in my dialogue. As far as stoking creative fires, I will say it’s pretty fun to set down a scene I’m frustrated with and pick up an instrument; same creativity, different outlet.

PF:

In terms of the Tibetan plight, how do you feel there can be resolve?

KB:

Hey, I thought this was for a blog! What happened to the softballs??

PF:

Hey, all's fair in love and... blogging....?

KB: 

IMTUTATQO*, compromise is often necessary in resolving conflict. It strikes me that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has made concessions to the Chinese government with the “middle way” approach, but those concessions have not been reciprocated. It also strikes me that without accurate media coverage in China, people both inside and outside the country don’t have the facts, so the Chinese government is not held accountable for its actions. And it’s difficult to rally people to pressure the government one way or the other when there’s an information blackout. Given all that, I have no answers, but I do think attempting to disseminate information about the plight of Tibetans through the media and the arts can’t hurt. 

In this case, I was given the unusual opportunity to meet these women, both from Tibet and from the diaspora, who could speak quite eloquently about their situation. So I did what little I could – I wrote this play, and attempted to bring their voices to a slightly larger audience.  It’s not much, but like I said, it can’t hurt.

*In my totally-unqualified-to-answer-this-question opinion

PF:

Any final words?

KB:

After weeks typing away at rewrites in my living room, I can’t wait to hear the script read by actors, with a director, and an audience!  Writing is such a solitary thing--good thing theater isn’t.

Check out Kim Burke THIS MONTH at both of our staged readings in the Bay Area:  One at Stanford University, and one at the Thick House in San Francisco's lovely Potrero Hill district.  Click here for more info!

The Role of the Artist: Reflecting on Chisa Hutchinson's "The Subject"

The thing I love about live theatre that you just don't get from film is a pure, unadulterated connection with the piece and the actors.  The best thing about a new play like we have at our ROUGH Readings is the ability to have that connection, then talk to the playwright and learn their intention, and get a whole new level of connection as questions are raised.

This seems a little late as the reading of Chisa's The Subject happened last month (Jan 24, and 25) but its had some time to sit in my mind and ferment a bit, especially since I sat onstage reading the stage directions through a two long days of rehearsal and two public readings. The play centers around Phil Waterhouse, a famed documentarian who learns the effect of being an objective eye.

You see, it was during rehearsal on that Sunday night, that Chisa asked the cast a question to help them understand it more, and I have to say that it's something that has truly stuck with me.  She explained that the play was partially inspired by the story of the late South African photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Kevin Carter.  If you don't know his name, I'm sure you've seen his work.  You see, the reason he won the Pulitzer is because of a photo he took of a toddler in Sudan - you've probably seen it.  A small child, completely emaciated, struggling to stand, and a vulture looming close in the background.  This haunting image has been used countless times since it was shot in March, 1993.  While the fate of the child is unknown, we do know that Carter suffered at the hands of the vulture.  Not physically, no, but just months after winning the Pulitzer, he took his own life, citing the haunting images he immortalized as a reason for the act.

Chisa asked the actors one of the most important questions I've ever heard in my life, and I wish I had asked myself:  "What is our duty as artists?"

Mind = Blown.

(MUCH more after the jump)

Rajiv Joseph gets "Gruesome"

It's quite the start of a year for Playwrights Foundation alumnus, Rajiv Joseph.  Now we all know about his Broadway debut and Pulitzer finalist Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, but we cannot forget his other works!  Currently running at the Second Stage Theatre, also in lovely New York City, is Gruesome Playground Injuries, a play where two lovers compare their lives in the form of their physical scars.  Playbill.com has the scoop:

Courtesy of Second Stage Theatre

In the case of Gruesome Playground Injuries, now playing at New York City's Second Stage Theatre, Joseph came up with the title before the story had taken shape. "I was having drinks with an old friend of mine," recalls the playwright, who recently had Gruesome produced at Houston's Alley Theatre and at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC. "He was telling me stories about the many bizarre mishaps that have left scars all over his body, and I realized that if you were like him, you could mark the chapters of your life with injuries. As soon as he got up to get us more drinks, I took out a piece of paper and wrote down the title of the play."

Read the rest, get to know the playwright, and go out and see Gruesome Playground Injuries before it leaves, if you're in the area!  Don't forget Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo opens in March with Robin Williams in the eponymous role, and will be THE play to see this year.

Our friends over at the New York One-Minute Play Festival blog have given us and our playwrights a little bit more press, and we're seeing double. 


First, they talk to Garret Groenveld.  Garret, one of Playwrights Foundation's resident playwrights, recently was a finalist for the Global Age Project with his work The Serving Class.  Not only a playwright, Garret reflects on the First Annual One-Minute Play Festival with a little bit of his background in poetry:

And here’s a case for poetry.  Critiques often say, “The writing was poetic.”  When it’s not, it might be elegant, it might be labored or it might even be full of flourish, but not poetic.  It’s poetic when it transports, when the unexpected is achieved through a combination of language, metaphor and spatial relation on the page/with the audience.

And then goes on to show his frustration with it:

I also argue against poetry.  Just say it, already and get over yourself!

Read the rest of his interview HERE.

The other mention we have is with Bay Area Playwright Festival and ROUGH Readings alum, Geetha Reddy.  She gets out all of her frustration, but telling the New York One-Minute Play Festival blog just how difficult it is to be a writer sometimes:

Here is what happens when your director sends you this email:
“Love your one minute play! Can you cut 30 seconds?”

First a Tantrum:
No. No I can’t. How can you ask me that!

See her hilarious account over at the NYOMPF blog.
Thanks for the New York One-Minute Play Festival for posting these, yet again, and DO NOT FORGET! This weekend: Saturday, 18 December, and Sunday the 19th are the FIRST EVER... FIRST ANNUAL San Francisco One-Minute Play Festival.  Tickets are ALMOST sold out, so don't forget to grab yours here!

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!

PF Alumni Get the Star Treatment!

Two recent veterans of our humble theatrical organization have recently received quite the star treatment.

First up, we need to congratulate past ROUGH Readings playwright, Rajiv Joseph for his Pulitzer Prize finalist play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, for getting its BROADWAY Premiere! Oscar winner Robin Williams returns to Broadway, this time not for his unique brand of stand-up comedy, but as the eponymous character of "Tiger," with Tony nominee Moisés Kaufman directing.  The curtain goes up for previews March 11, 2011, and tickets are on sale now!  Playbill.com has the scoop:

"Rajiv Joseph's ferocious comedy…follows the intertwined lives of a tiger (Williams), two American marines and an Iraqi gardener as they roam the streets of Baghdad in search of friendship, redemption and a toilet seat made of gold."

Another Playwrights Foundation vet's star is rising.  Marcus Gardley, of various ROUGH Readings, and Bay Area Playwrights festivals of yesteryear has received enormous praise for his play Every Tongue Confess at The Arena Stage in DC, from The Washingtonian, having been awarded 3.5 out of a possible 4 stars:

Something is rotten in the state of Alabama in Marcus Gardley’s new play at Arena Stage, Every Tongue Confess—particularly in Boligee. The town is suffering through a litany of strange events—the temperature is 103 and rising, hailstones are falling and melting into the arid ground, and a string of churches have been set on fire. To make matters worse, ghosts seem to be lurking...

 Every Tongue Confess only runs until January 2.  THAT'S ONLY ANOTHER MONTH! Theatre-goers in these areas, do NOT sleep on these two plays, believe me.  Even Playwrights Foundation Artistic Director, Amy Mueller made it out for Every Tongue Confess, so it's worth the country-wide flight, and while you're there, make sure to book a flight and tickets for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, as well.

Write on, playwrights!

Festival Alum Reflects on Writing One-Minute-Plays

Bay Area Playwrights Festival alum, and all-around cool lady, Erin Bregman, shares her thoughts on writing for the FIRST ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (December 18th & 19th at the Thick House, in Potrero Hill) with the NY One-Minute Play Festival Blog:

Six weeks ago I opened the longest, most exciting email I had ever received from someone I didn’t know–it was Dominic D. soliciting writers for the 1^st annual San Francisco One-Minute Play Festival. (Actually, that’s only a half truth. The email was partially authored by the beloved Jill MacLean of the Playwrights Foundation, but we’ll let that particular detail slide for the sake of superlative.) Like any responsible person would do after receiving an emailed request from a total stranger, I wrote back immediately and accepted his proposition.

Read the rest over at their blog: “Writing a one-minute play wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be.”

Come see Erin, and our whole plethora of plays, playwrights, and actors December 18 and 19 at the Thick House: 1695 18th St, between Carolina and Arkansas.  Tickets are $15: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/137981