It seems that the hurdle you have to jump over is everyone’s informed opinion. When you’re a young playwright, you’re probably too precarious in your own technique to understand that when these seemingly informed opinions are contradicting each other, it becomes this paralyzing monolith.
Any part I do is a marriage of the words – what the playwright or producer or show runner’s vision is – to how I would play it. It took me a while to get rid of ‘Oh, they want it this way, so I’m going to do it how they want it.’
Shakespeare was very political, but he was also a fabulous entertainer. That’s where his genius comes in as a playwright.
A stage play is basically a form of uber-schizophrenia. You split yourself into two minds – one being the protagonist and the other being the antagonist. The playwright also splits himself into two other minds: the mind of the writer and the mind of the audience.
It’s very hard to be a playwright because it’s very competitive.
I grew up doing theatre and spent a long time as a playwright. I still think very visually when I write.
To me, the job of a playwright is to explore and bring to light our lives. You can’t hold back; you have to give in to this. Sometimes, you say things people don’t want to hear.
Family dramas are tough, as a playwright. Most stories are about characters going on a trip or a new character coming to town, because that’s how you learn information about them. But with family, they all know each other already. There’s years of history in every interaction.
I moved to New York in 1980, and I met Beth Henley, who’s a marvellous playwright and who I have a real personal and professional association with, in 1982. I met her in a stalled elevator – we were the only two people in there – and she’s been one of my very dearest friends since.
The economics of theater are painful. I still think that the theater community should be looking much more rigorously at how to let the playwright keep the money they make.
The economics of being a playwright are abysmal. I like to think of the work I do out in Hollywood as a way to actually make a life in the theater easier.
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