I Interview Playwrights Part 435: Lauren Feldman
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Lauren Feldman
Hometown: Miami, FL
Current Town: Brooklyn, NY
Q: What are you working on now?
A: - Revising my play THE EGG-LAYERS, on the heels of its development (summer 2011-winter 2012) and recent production (March 2012) through Barnard College and New Georges, directed by Alice Reagan.
- Writing/devising/rehearsing THE ORPHEUS VARIATIONS with director Adam J. Thompson and the Deconstructive Theatre Project
- Writing/devising THE FOOD PLAY with director Pirronne Yousefzadeh and an ensemble of actors and playwrights.
- Starting work on a new play about John Milton and his daughters and the writing/dictating of Paradise Lost.
- Figuring out how to be a better and better teacher of playwriting. (This spring I'm teaching Playwriting & Dramatic Structure at Fairleigh Dickinson University; next fall, at Bryn Mawr.)
- Learning how to be an acrobat.
Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.
A: Hmm. Jeez. Surely I must have a handful of good, rich childhood stories… But for some reason this is the one that keeps coming to mind today. Why is that?
When I was in elementary school, they gave us pre-tests and post-tests surrounding each grammar lesson. Well I remember getting a pre-test once on active and passive voice, and though the concept was new to me, the correct answers seemed intuitive, and I ended up getting 100%. My teacher, kinda surprised, came over and told me I could use the lesson as free time, since I clearly didn't need to be taught this information. So I sat at the free-time station and tried to read a book or something, but really I spent the entire time feeling guilty and trying to surreptitiously eavesdrop on the lesson that I'd never formally learned.
I think this story pretty much encapsulates my susceptibility to Imposter Syndrome. Thankfully, though, I've mellowed out a tad since then.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: For new plays to be produced more than read & developed – both of which seem like they're increasingly becoming a stand-in for productions.
Also: for ticket prices to be affordable for a wider audience demographic.
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: Off the top of my head…
David Greenspan
Paula Vogel
Suzan-Lori Parks
Sarah Ruhl
Taylor Mac
Lisa Kron
Deb Margolin
Charles Mee
Mary Zimmerman
Tina Landau
Theatre de Complicite
Shakespeare
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: Theater that's characterized by theatricality, by magic, by transcendence and transformation
Theater that involves the body; that's muscular; that really utilizes physical expression
Theater that feels virtuosic (in any way)
Theater that's created by and shared by a true ensemble
Theater that (genuinely) acknowledges the audience as a formative, vital presence
Theater that tugs at the imagination
Theater that's playful
Theater that's verbally (and visually too, why not) poetic; theater whose text soars
Theater that tells stories in unconventional ways
Theater that deftly and stubbornly breaks convention
Theater that tells the stories of folks in non-mainstream demographics
Theater that feels like an event, like an experience
Theater that takes risks
Minimalist theater
Theater that tells the truth
Theater whose truth-telling looks different from (but equally true to) how life actually looks
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Well, two of the things I always come back to each time I start a new play are:
Write from a place of hunger, honesty, & courage.
And
In your play, anything is possible, anything goes.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: For a play of mine:
Grace, or the Art of Climbing will be produced at the Denver Center Theatre next season (Jan-Feb 2013), directed by Mike Donahue.
For a play not of mine:
Dan LeFranc's new play THE BIG MEAL just opened at Playwrights Horizons, and it's stunning.
Lauren Feldman
Hometown: Miami, FL
Current Town: Brooklyn, NY
Q: What are you working on now?
A: - Revising my play THE EGG-LAYERS, on the heels of its development (summer 2011-winter 2012) and recent production (March 2012) through Barnard College and New Georges, directed by Alice Reagan.
- Writing/devising/rehearsing THE ORPHEUS VARIATIONS with director Adam J. Thompson and the Deconstructive Theatre Project
- Writing/devising THE FOOD PLAY with director Pirronne Yousefzadeh and an ensemble of actors and playwrights.
- Starting work on a new play about John Milton and his daughters and the writing/dictating of Paradise Lost.
- Figuring out how to be a better and better teacher of playwriting. (This spring I'm teaching Playwriting & Dramatic Structure at Fairleigh Dickinson University; next fall, at Bryn Mawr.)
- Learning how to be an acrobat.
Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.
A: Hmm. Jeez. Surely I must have a handful of good, rich childhood stories… But for some reason this is the one that keeps coming to mind today. Why is that?
When I was in elementary school, they gave us pre-tests and post-tests surrounding each grammar lesson. Well I remember getting a pre-test once on active and passive voice, and though the concept was new to me, the correct answers seemed intuitive, and I ended up getting 100%. My teacher, kinda surprised, came over and told me I could use the lesson as free time, since I clearly didn't need to be taught this information. So I sat at the free-time station and tried to read a book or something, but really I spent the entire time feeling guilty and trying to surreptitiously eavesdrop on the lesson that I'd never formally learned.
I think this story pretty much encapsulates my susceptibility to Imposter Syndrome. Thankfully, though, I've mellowed out a tad since then.
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: For new plays to be produced more than read & developed – both of which seem like they're increasingly becoming a stand-in for productions.
Also: for ticket prices to be affordable for a wider audience demographic.
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: Off the top of my head…
David Greenspan
Paula Vogel
Suzan-Lori Parks
Sarah Ruhl
Taylor Mac
Lisa Kron
Deb Margolin
Charles Mee
Mary Zimmerman
Tina Landau
Theatre de Complicite
Shakespeare
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: Theater that's characterized by theatricality, by magic, by transcendence and transformation
Theater that involves the body; that's muscular; that really utilizes physical expression
Theater that feels virtuosic (in any way)
Theater that's created by and shared by a true ensemble
Theater that (genuinely) acknowledges the audience as a formative, vital presence
Theater that tugs at the imagination
Theater that's playful
Theater that's verbally (and visually too, why not) poetic; theater whose text soars
Theater that tells stories in unconventional ways
Theater that deftly and stubbornly breaks convention
Theater that tells the stories of folks in non-mainstream demographics
Theater that feels like an event, like an experience
Theater that takes risks
Minimalist theater
Theater that tells the truth
Theater whose truth-telling looks different from (but equally true to) how life actually looks
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: Well, two of the things I always come back to each time I start a new play are:
Write from a place of hunger, honesty, & courage.
And
In your play, anything is possible, anything goes.
Q: Plugs, please:
A: For a play of mine:
Grace, or the Art of Climbing will be produced at the Denver Center Theatre next season (Jan-Feb 2013), directed by Mike Donahue.
For a play not of mine:
Dan LeFranc's new play THE BIG MEAL just opened at Playwrights Horizons, and it's stunning.
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