Hometown: Winston-Salem, NC
Education: BFA UNC Chapel Hill; MFA The New School for Drama
Favorite Credits: OOHRAH! (Atlantic Theater); Be a Good Little Widow (Ars Nova); House of Home (Williamstown Theater Festival)
Why theater?: Theater keeps me connected to other humans, which I love. Writing can be really solitary, and from the moment I started doing plays (badly, in high school). I immediately fell in love with how it forces me to pay attention to the world, and the people inside of it.
What inspired you to write Miss Lilly Gets Boned?: I was inspired by an article that my friend shared with me forever ago about elephants, and how recently, in their native habitats, they’ve been becoming increasingly violent. The elephants felt so human that I couldn’t help but start to match it human story. And so, anthropomorphism!
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like theater that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but is also quietly profound. I like visual, specific and strange plays that are somehow grounded in reality. I’m really inspired by both the base and incredible things you read in the news, but just as inspired by the things that terrify me.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I would perhaps give a limb to write a musical with Joanna Newsom.
What shows have you recommended to your friends?: I recommend anything by Amy Herzog, Book of Mormon, and Once because I LOVE the music but have yet to afford to be able to like, see it, but I imagine it’s incredible.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Zooey Deschanel stars in “Don’t Call me Quirky: The Bekah Brunstetter Story”
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: MOZERELLA STICKS and or an entire bag of Goldfish in bed with, with Hulu.
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Something with flowers!
What’s up next?: I’m currently developing plays with The Roundabout, Naked Angels, and EST – hoping to work on a production of one of them soon!
For more on Bekah, visit http://blog.bekahbrunstetter.com/ and www.stu42.com
