Meet the Writers
Name: Hilary BettisHometown: I've lived all over the United States. South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, California and New York. No, I don't have a favorite place.
Education: I'm about to graduate from the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwright Fellowship at Juilliard, but before Juilliard I'd never stepped foot in an academic institution.
What is your rule?: The color red appears.
Why did you pick your rule?: It's my favorite color. It was the first thing that popped into my head.
Tell us about HOME: I was staring at Brett's email with everyone's rules on the subway at 2am, trying to figure out how to mesh all of these things together, and this is sort of where my brain wandered to so I ran with it. My full-length plays tend to be very gritty, raw Americana, but for this I wanted to write something a little funny, a little silly and a little self-deprecating.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Probably a lot of really funny, weird plays. I mean, when "aliens" and "youtube" are two of the seven rules...
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because there's awesome writers and awesome directors and awesome actors having fun. And probably they'll drink a beer with you after. And, you know, aliens.
Hometown: Hastings on Hudson, NY
Education: Kenyon College
What is your rule?: Sprinkles
Why did you pick your rule?: Sprinkles are an excess. They are bad for the environment and they represent all that is wrong with the world today. And I think we need to talk about it.
Tell us about Thank You for the Sunset: Two lovelorn individuals meet on a beach...
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Sprinkles, unfortunately. Besides that, I can't speak for the others...but I've been catching up with "Game of Thrones'. So maybe a lot of sex, blood and pseudo-ironic mysogyny?
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It's a super fun night of theatre that brings together talented folks from different sub-communities in the off-off theatre community in NYC.
Name: Barry Levey
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Education: BA, Yale; MFA, UC San Diego
What is your rule?: Someone does something he or she has seen on YouTube
Why did you pick your rule?: I had this 18th Century costume drama in my head, but I sensed that a 9:30pm show with free beer was not the time to write it. The rule forced me into something contemporary.
Tell us about Tax Slayer: It's a comedy about a couple doing their taxes. They're living together for the first time, and learn more about each other than perhaps they wanted. Some of the most heinous kinds of corporate malfeasance play out in their living room.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Risks. Payoffs. Stumbles.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: The payoffs far outweigh the stumbles. And the free beer.
Name: Dan McCabe
Hometown: NYC
Education: Some
What is your rule?: A flashback must occur.
Why did you pick your rule?: I wanted to include a big element (kind of like the first Rule Of I participated in where one of the rules was 5 years must go by.)
Tell us about Sprinkles and Lloyd: It's about Sprinkles, a clown, and her boyfriend Lloyd, an accountant.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: 7 visions (with parameters)
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: All the Rule Of's I've participated in have been amazing; a great way to see how arbitrary rules can spark a story. And there's beer. Come check it out!
Hometown: Largo, FL
Education: Florida State
What is your rule?: Aliens!
Why did you pick your rule?: I think aliens make any situation a bit more theatrical.
Tell us about On My Honor: It's is about a reunion of girl scouts at the wake of their troupe leader. Shenanigans ensue. There will be cookies.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: So much funny, you'll get one of those cramps from laughing too hard.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It is incredibly creative and fun! It's really amazing to see what can be done with seven rules in ten pages.
Name: Mat Smart
Hometown: Naperville, Illinois
Education: The heartbreak of being a Cubs fan has taught me everything I need to know about being a dramatist
What is your rule?: List of 7 somethings
Why did you pick your rule?: It's like the Russian matryoshka dolls - make one of the seven rules have seven parts to it - just keep unstacking a doll from under the doll
Tell us about Fuck City: Fuck City is about the Fuck City spectrum and whether or not everyone is either going to, in, or leaving Fuck City.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: The mayor of Fuck City
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because you voted for him
Hometown: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Education: MA, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; BA, University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
What is your rule?: Someone hits someone.
Why did you pick your rule?: I wanted to pick something active.
Tell us about Pilot Light: Three adult brothers argue as they decide which of them will be the one to blow out the pilot light in the furnace of their childhood home so they can collect the insurance money. At one point, someone hits someone. It, like the last play I wrote for Rule of 7x7, is set in rural Minnesota.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Seven weird and wonderful new plays created by some of the most exciting under-the-radar writers, directors, and actors in New York. Also a play by me.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It's a genuinely fun night. And if by some strange reason you don't like any of the plays, you still can enjoy the party that happens at The Tank when the show is over.
