FULL-LENGTH PLAY: An interview about The Making of a Modern Folk Hero with Dramaturg Maura Krause and Playwright Martín Zimmerman
Did a vision of the pudgy Mexican hero of the people known as Superbarrio inspire you to write this play?
It wasn’t Superbarrio himself so much as the story of his creation that inspired the play. I read this story in the book Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest, which I’d received as a birthday present from my girlfriend/partner. Thereafter, I did some research about Superbarrio, but I didn’t want to delve too deep, because this isn’t a play about Superbarrio, and the world it inhabits is supposed to be the slightest bit heightened, absurd, fantastical. So the idea for the play came as a “what if”. What if the politician creating the superhero and the man portraying the superhero had different needs and agendas? This, as far as I understand it, has not been the case with Superbarrio, so I didn’t want to get too bogged down in the details of Superbarrio while writing the play. That said, much as I intended the play to be somewhat heightened and of another world, real events over the past several months have come to make the world of the play look more realistic than it seemed only a year ago. I’m referring to some of the spontaneous uprisings aided by technology in the Middle East. The world is strange that way. How reality can come to resemble a fantasy you’ve created just when you least expect it.
Is it even possible to explain the anatomy of a really great tweet?
It is totally possible and has been done in several publications. Most notably in a New Yorker blog post entitled “Hash” by Susan Orlean. It’s a wonderful post about the anatomy and evolution of the hashtag. So, in an oblique way, it’s also about the anatomy of a tweet. I highly recommend it. It talks about how the hashtag allows the author of a tweet to take on more than one voice. Voice A and Voice B. Text and subtext. It’s a consummately theatrical form if you think about it.
Who’s a better folk hero, Davy Crockett or Guy Fawkes?
Oooh. Great question. In so far as either of them is a folk hero, I’m going to have to go with Guido Fawkes. I never understood why so few people refer to Guido by his adopted name, which, in terms of its musicality, is far superior to the more British-sounding “Guy.” But that’s another question for another day. At the risk of sounding blasphemous to the state of Texas (which I loved living in for 3 years), I really don’t think Davey Crockett is a hero. While the men at the Alamo chose to stay and fight knowing they would die (which is either valiant or stupid depending on your point of view) they were ultimately fighting for slavery. Quite literally. The Republic of Texas was founded because Mexico had outlawed slavery in Texas and the U.S. citizens who had moved there wanted to continue holding slaves. So the men at the Alamo were fighting for the liberty to rob other people of theirs. Which is not to say Guido Fawkes was any better. He was ultimately an incompetent and a terrorist, but I think the phenomenon of Guido Fawkes is more deserving of the “folk hero” moniker because, with Fawkes, the whole doesn’t really equal the sum of its parts, does it? With Davey Crockett you can at least understand why someone might mistakenly think he’s a hero. Whereas I’m not exactly sure why anyone would revere Fawkes. And isn’t that the epitome of a “folk” hero? Someone who in their own right might be rather unspectacular, but whom time and distance lends a strange reverence?
FULL-LENGTH PLAY: A Chat about SPACEBAR: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman between Director Jason Schlafstein and Dramaturg Bryan Joseph Lee
6:57 PM
Bryan: So hello, Jason Schlafstein - Director of SPACEBAR: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman
Jason: Hey there Bryan Joseph Lee, Dramaturg of Spacebar
Bryan: Because Spacebar (the play within a play) takes place in the year 900x, we’ve decided to submit our program notes via the aid of technology (hey there gchat)
Jason: Boom.
Bryan: I’m gonna hit you with a few random questions that may or may not have to do with the play. Ready?
Jason: Absolutely.
Bryan: 3… 2…1…Spacebar is not about the big key on your keyboard. What is your favorite key on a keyboard?
Jason: The ‘contacts’ button on the front of my phone keyboard. I’m also partial to the letter “J”.
Bryan: Obvi. Spacebar is, in fact, about a bar in space. What is your favorite bar and would it be prosperous in the vacuum of space? (inquiring minds want to know)
Jason: Hm. My favorite bar is Sidebar in Silver Spring. I think their alcohol expertise would keep them successful no matter where they are.
Bryan: One of the reasons I’m so drawn to this play is because it tackles some universal themes (coming of age, your first love, the struggle for acceptance, etc)
Jason: Yeah, but it does it with great specificity rather than trying to generalize. Which I find, 9 times out of 10, makes any story more universal. We see ourselves in the details.
Bryan: Exactly. Kyle Sugarman, playwriter, has very specific dreams. He wants, more than anything, to see his name written in lights on Broadway
Jason: Yes, but he wants it for VERY specific reasons. Even if he doesn’t consciously see it this way, getting his name in lights is a means to a particular end. And I find it very interesting when characters start at odds, or somewhat conflicted, with their real intentions. That’s very human.
Bryan: It’s deep like that. Michael Mitnick is one smart cookie.
Jason: Yeah. There’s a real sense of craft. And not an overwhelming, “Look at me, I’m clever and good at this,” kind of craft.
Bryan: Right
Jason: Which is I guess, the definition of “depth” isn’t it?
Bryan: Next question: As a director, how do you normally find an inroad to your script? Is there a certain sense (visual, aural, spatial, etc) that you activate first?
Jason: I tend to first find my way in aurally, and conceptually - really honing in on what my read of the play brings to the surface. Also, discussions with the cast really helped influence the depth of this production. Our table work has been a completely consistent process - really exploring the psychology and relationships of these particular people, the town they come from, and the cycles of small town America
Bryan: What are your inspirations? (I’m using the word as broadly as you’d like to receive it)
Jason: Yeah, they’re all over the map. Musician Matthew Good. One of his songs, “Flight Recorder” on Viking 7 became one of the show’s tent poles to me. Pro-wrestling language actually forms a huge part of the vocabulary through which I process and discuss creativity - ideas like “selling” or “turns” or what have you. I also love teen romance and would kill to direct 80s style John Hughes romance plays for the rest of my career.
Bryan: That’s awesome. I’m totally expecting pile drivers in your production of 16 Candles
Jason: No pile drivers. Some making out.
Bryan: !!!! :(
Jason: Dude, don’t frown making out. Making out is awesome.
Bryan: I meant :( to no pile drivers :) to making out
Jason: ah
Bryan: Next q: Finish this sentence: “I remember my first time _____. It was awesome.”
Jason: sitting in the audience hearing people respond to the first play I directed. It was a One Act in High School about Felix the cat. Hearing people laugh when I thought they would be “ooohing” as they went in for a kiss. That was pretty awesome. And now, this is what I do. So I guess it had an effect. The Secret Origin of Jason Schlafstein, director. Any more Q’s to A?
Bryan: Jes. Describe Kyle Sugarman in 5 words.
Jason: Relentless drive and determination. Spacebar.
Bryan: Boom.
7:54 PM
‘Meet Our Producers’- Patrick Magill, Associate Producer, Casting & Artistic Blind Dates
Patrick is currently a DC area resident working as a stage manager, director, and actor. Recent stage management credits including: Washington Shakespeare Company’s Every Young Woman’s Desire and Camille: A Tearjerker, No Rules Theatre Company’s Some Girl(s), The American Century Theater’s Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, and the 2010 Source Festival’s Artistic Blind Dates. This summer he had the opportunity of directing Public Seed Theatre Company’s sold-out run of Lysistrata…The Musical! in the 2010 Captial Fringe Festival. He also spent last season at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company as the Assistant to the Production Manager. When he is not working on productions, he teaches children’s drama and musical theater classes with A Class Act-Acting for Young People and Adults, Inc. in Fairfax, VA. Upcoming assistant stage management work includes Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company’s House of Gold, Studio Theatre 2nd Stage’s Mojo, and Theatre of the First Amendment’s 24, 7, 365.
‘Meet Our Producers’- Bryan Joseph Lee, Associate Producer, 10-Minute Plays
Hi Tumblr world! My name is Bryan and I’m one of the Associate Producers for the 2011 Source Festival. Like everyone involved with the festival, my job is full of hyphens and slashes: Literary Manager/Producer-of-Ten-Minute-Plays/Dramaturg/Sometimes-Blogger/Man-About-Town.
As the 10Min Producer, my job is to guide 18 sets of playwrights and directors towards the production of their plays. It’s a massive undertaking: we started with over 600 submissions, 150 readers, and three months of evaluations to choose our final 18 Ten-minute plays. This year, Source Festival is committed to supporting the development of our new plays, so we’ve paired each of our playwrights and directors with dramaturgs. I’ll also be working with director Jason Schlafstein and playwright Michael Mitnick on their production of SPACEBAR: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman. It’s going to be an action-packed road to the festival in June, and I’m excited to share it all with you!
Associate Producer LaRonika shares her thoughts on the Full Length Play workshopping weekend:
Source Festival’s first full-length play development weekend was, without a doubt, a success. Because we had not incorporated this sort of working weekend into the festival in previous years, there was no template to guide us, which gave us freedom to dive into the plays as we saw fit. It was important for the playwrights and directors and dramaturgs to meet and converse before we entered the rehearsal process, and to give them the chance to play with the script before then as well. We wanted to make sure that we scheduled time for the teams to enjoy themselves, and time for them to work, and that we individualized the process for the needs of each play. As the Associate Producer for Full-Length Plays for Source festival I helped to craft the schedule for the weekend, so that the teams had enough time to work, but not too much on their plates so as to exhaust them. But for most of the weekend I actually wore a second hat. As the dramaturg for Volcanic in Origin, I worked with playwright Greg Hischak and director Sonya Robbins throughout the weekend. Volcanic in Origin was in an early draft, and Greg and Sonya wanted to hear the piece out loud with actors, trying out parts from different drafts, and discussing what we heard. It was great fun to hear Greg’s characters come to life, and to experiment with how each scene played with the others. Greg was also working on finding the title for his piece, as the play had been nameless. By the end of the weekend we were on our way to a new draft of the play and, as you can see, had settled on an intriguing title for this exciting new play!
