Hometown: Rahway, NJ
Education: BA, Writing at Ithaca College
Favorite Credits: Honestly, I have to say playwright/producer for Mother’s Day. While it’s my first theatrical credit in NY, it’s also my bravest credit, the credit I’ll always look back on fondly.
Why theater?: I’ve always been excited to watch what happens while I’m writing. I don’t map out the story—I go in with just the seed of an idea and then I let all of the ineffable creative alchemy just happen. Putting that on the stage feels like a logical next step, a way to explore and answer the question of, “Okay, so what did this story end up being about?”
Tell us about Mother’s Day?: Mother’s Day is definitely the kind of play you should know as little about as possible before going in, so I only really tell people that it’s about a New York drag queen named Helen Back who comes home to New Jersey for Mother’s Day. People usually ask if it’s a comedy. I tell them, “At first.”
What inspired you to write Mother’s Day?: I was actually on the train home to New Jersey for Mother’s Day when I got the idea—and again, just the seed of the idea. I wanted to answer the question, “What would happen if…?” I was looking at all of these adult children returning to their childhood homes and in some ways, childhood roles—despite wherever they were in their own lives—and I was interested in finding a version of this I wasn’t seeing, a story I wanted to see unfold so I could answer that question.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I fell in love with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in high school, and I can’t decide if that informed or ignited my aesthetic, but I live for a living room drama, yelling at each other from across the coffee table, breaking things as necessary. I find the art of an argument, the way a fight can have movements like a symphony, to be fascinating.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: The exciting thing about just starting out is that I haven’t worked with anyone yet besides the current cast and crew. And so while it’s a bit of a Miss Congeniality answer, I would love to work with anyone else who can understand and love and bring out the best of this play the way this group of people has.
What show have you recommended to your friends?: I have this terrible habit of recommending things that have long since ended their run. But as a general rule of thumb, I tell people to see anything Ivo van Hove is directing. He’s not for everyone, but you should find out for yourself first. I’ll never forget his version of The Little Foxes at New York Theatre Workshop—it was like watching a fatal cage match. I love how visceral and operatic his work is.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: My boyfriend and I play this game whenever we watch a movie where we guess who the other one would play, and it’s tied to very specific types of characters (and almost always female). I’m always the batty friend or flustered middle-aged housewife, or by default, any character played by Allison Janney. So I like to think that she would play me, and the movie would be called, "Wait, I’m Sorry, What?"
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Reading the subreddit for "Rupaul’s Drag Race". Or anytime I order takeout, and they bring multiple forks with my food. That’s mostly just guilt, though.
What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: When I’m writing, it’s anything by Stars of the Lid. Otherwise, iTunes says it’s “Myth” by Beach House, which makes sense, it’s everything I want in a song.
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: I’d still be writing in some way, any way I could find. I figured out early on that writing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing—it’s the thing that makes most sense to me. It’s been this integral part of my identity for at least twenty years, and when I’m not doing it, I feel it in all areas of my life. I’m just not myself.
What’s up next?: Well, I’m currently working on a novel so I’m excited to get back to that, but theatrically, I’m all about figuring out where this play goes next. FringeNYC is really just the beginning for Mother’s Day and has been the most amazing launching point. Much like writing, I have the seed of an idea of what’s next, but I’m just going to find out as I go.
For more on Mother's Day, visit www.mothersdaytheplay.com/