Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Education: University of Maryland-Baltimore County, BA
Favorite Credits: Outlook at the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival; Some Are People at Emerging Artists Theater; Grieving for Genevieve at Venus Theater (MD); liner notes for the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts CD “Unfinished Business.”
Why theater?: Because it keeps me off the streets at night. Seriously, it’s a lifetime opportunity to create work with people I admire and love, and as a writer, it gets me out of the house and talking to other people.
Tell us about The Further Adventures of… ?: It’s the story of a little girl who grows up to be a writer, and a lesbian, and her obsession with a classic sci-fi TV show, which clued her in to both those identities.
What inspired you to write The Further Adventures of…?: The play started out as a 24-hour play written for Wings Theater. I wrote the part of Maggie for Jamie Heinlein, who is still playing it. The 10-minute play has had a good long life, been performed by our company and others all over the place, and published in a “Best Short Plays” anthology. I’d always suspected that the play had room to grow, and after a production of it in Provincetown (where I stepped in to play the lead at the last minute), I realized where it could go and how to expand it So I kept going.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love talented people with huge hearts, who make theater that’s honest, as painful or funny as it may be. People who have opened doors for me include the late Doric Wilson and my dear friend and mentor Tina Howe. Of my circle of indie theater people, I think of Daniel Talbott, Mark Finley (artistic director of TOSOS), actor/writer Donnetta Lavinia Grays.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Julie Andrews.
What show have you recommended to your friends?: This year: Casey Llewellyn’s O, Earth and J. Julian Christopher’s Locusts Have No King.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Possibly Laura Linney, and it would be called “Songs Only I Can Hear.”
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: My Fair Lady with the original Broadway cast.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Candy corn. Though I’m really not that guilty about it.
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: a sportswriter.
What’s up next?: A production of Rock the Line at Venus Theater in Maryland. I love their work, and I look forward to their take on my play inspired by my decade or so following Joan Jett.