I Interview Playwrights Part 402: Hilary Bettis

Hilary Bettis



Hometown:  I've lived in seven different states so I never know how to answer this one. I suppose I can list them alphabetically:



California, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina



And, no I do not have a favorite.They've all showed me such different perspectives of humanity in ways that forced me to question my own assumptions and prejudices at a young age.



Current Town:  Brooklyn, NY- Bushwick to be exact



Q:  Tell me about Alligator.



A:   I love dirty, grungy rock clubs. In another life I would totally be a musician! I wanted to take the raw, visceral energy of that world and mesh it with a story. Two and a half years later, and with the help of some amazing artists and organizations (Morgan Gould, an amazing and dedicated cast of actors, New Georges, The Lark, New River Dramatists, and EST) I have a play. I'm currently working with an awesome indie rock musicians on an original score. Below is a synopsis:



Emerald and her twin brother, Ty, are orphaned teenagers living in the backwoods of the Florida Everglades. For as long as they've been alive, they've made money by wrestling 'gators in a roadside attraction, but their sideshow days are close to an end when a doe-eyed runaway, Lucy, shows up on their porch.



Ty is immediately weary of the stranger. With promises of unlimited whiskey, Emerald's only weakness, Lucy burrows her way into the lives of the twins and the lives of the town. As Lucy's desperation to win Emerald over intensifies, she will do whatever it takes to please her…even if it leads to murder. The only hope left rests on Emerald who must ultimately face the demon that haunts her every waking moment.



Alligator is a play that weaves together realism and surrealism, rock music and Seminole legends, sex and enemies, blood and whiskey, hope and murder. It is a play that asks the question: How do we truly love one another in the face of our deepest, darkest monsters?



Q:  What are you working on now?



A:  Dakota Atoll is a full-length play commissioned by EST/Alfred P. Sloan foundation. The story takes place on a cattle ranch in the early sixties, following the disappearance of a mentally retarded boy, as a nuclear missile silo is constructed on the property.



I am working on another full-length play commissioned by Carol Ostrow.



I'm also working on a feature film, Juarez. (The short version will shoot this December.)



My newest obsession right now is the changing political landscape of our country and world, especially with the immediate access of information to the masses. I am really getting into writing political essays. If my high school teachers could hear me now!



Q:  Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.



A:  Everyone's childhood is hard and cruel and amazing and profound. No one wants to hear about my childhood any more than they want to watch paint dry. I think that borders on self-indulgence.



Q:  If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?



A:  Tone down the star fucking. I know so many brilliant talents- actors, directors- that work their asses off on a project only to be thrown in the gutter for a name who usually won't even compare to the work they've done. Where is the integrity? The loyalty? Theater, as an institution, talks about wanting to be a vehicle for change and compassion and understanding in the world, but it acts like a cut-throat and arrogant business behind closed doors. If we want people in this world to be treated with more dignity and empathy then we must start with ourselves.



Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?



A:  Chekhov, Shepard, Albee, Wasserstien, Pinter, Shakespeare, Odets, Inge, Wilder



Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Kubrick, Scorsese, Coen Brothers, Cormac McCarthy, Murakami, Woolf, Maya Angelou, Joan Miro (while not technically theater, their work has greatly influenced my style of playwriting.)



Romulus Linney, Gene Frankel, Adam Hirsch, Mier Ribalow, Jan Buttram, Susan Bernfield, James McLure, My parents



Q:  What kind of theater excites you?



A:  Something that hits me in the gut. That's it.



Q:  What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?



A:  "The first draft of anything is shit." Ernest Hemingway



I always remind myself of this quote because it gives me permission to throw caution to the wind and let my instincts run wild. You can always cut, change, rewrite, or burn anything later. But you never really know what is brewing in your guts until you let go of the steering wheel.



Q:  Anything else you want to share?



A:  My other life's passion is horses. I've been riding my entire life and am a certified trainer. I've also been teaching myself the violin for about two years.



Q:  Plugs, please:



A:  There are so many amazing voices and companies out there! And in this economy, the non-profits and emerging or non-conventional writers especially need support. Companies like New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, Page 73, The Playwrights Realm, EST, The Lark, Abingdon, and the Assembly.



And amazing writers like Katharine Clark Gray, Anna Moench, Boo Killebrew, Lia Romeo, (I could go on and on!)



I have a short, B'Hurst, I wrote and produced screening at the Williamsburg Film Festival in Brooklyn Nov 18th http://www.willfilm.org. I have a really big, fun staged reading of Alligator with New River Dramatists at The Players on Dec 5th at 7pm. It's free and anyone who comes will get a free shot of whiskey courtesy of the giant bottle in my bag.