Proscenium Journal Interviews Playwrights
Here are interviews with Samuel D. Hunter, Ken Jaworoski, C.S. Whitcomb, Simon Fill, Sarah Ruhl, Christopher Shinn, Yussef El Guindi, James Harmon Brown, Josh Wilder, David Henry Hwang, Dan O’Brien, Tanya Barfield, Sherod Santos, Wei He, Aurin Squire, David E. Tolchinsky, Ellen Margolis, Augusto Amador, James Lantz, Zoe Kamil, Aleks Merilo, David Jacobi, Chris Holbrook, Augusto Frederico Amador, Damon Chua, and Andrea Lepcio.
Interview with Playwright Samuel D. Hunter
Samuel D. Hunter’s plays include The Whale (Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, GLAAD Media Award, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play), A Bright New Boise (Obie Award, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), The...
Interview with Playwright Ken Jaworoski
We interviewed Ken Jaworoski about his play “Pulse.” Ken Jaworowski is an editor and critic for The New York Times. His plays “Never Missed a Day,” “Certain Souls” and “Believers” have been produced by the WorkShop Theater Company in Manhattan and elsewhere, and his...
A Conversation with Playwright C.S. Whitcomb
C.S. Whitcomb discusses her play, “Stoker.” C. S. Whitcomb has had thirty full-length scripts produced for primetime national television. She has been nominated for the Emmy, W.G.A., Humanitas, Oregon Book Award, Drammy, and Edgar Allan Poe Awards. Her works include...
Interview with Playwright Simon Fill
Simon Fill’s “Night Visits” won the Heideman Award from Actors Theatre of Louisville, where the play premiered in the Wintermezzo Festival. “Night Visits” received its New York premiere at HERE Arts Center, produced by Circle East Theatre Company. Simon was originally...
Interview with Playwright Sarah Ruhl
Sarah Ruhl’s plays include Scenes from Court Life, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Eurydice, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, A Melancholy Play, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, Dear Elizabeth and Stage...
Interview with Playwright Christopher Shinn
Christopher Shinn’s plays include Where Do We Live (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting), Dying City (2008 Pulitzer Prize Finalist), An Opening in Time (Hartford Stage), Teddy Ferrara (Goodman Theatre), Picked (Vineyard Theatre), Now or Later (Royal...
Interview with Playwright Yussef El Guindi
Yussef‘s play “Threesome” was recently produced at Portland Center Stage, ACT, and Off-Broadway with 59E59. His new play, “The Talented Ones,” was recently commissioned by Artists Repertory Theatre’s Table|Room|Stage Project and will premiere during Artists Rep’s...
Interview with Playwright James Harmon Brown
James Harmon Brown is an Emmy-Award-winning writer who began his career on the iconic nighttime soap “Dynasty” before moving on to daytime TV as head writer for such series as “All My Children,” “The Guiding Light,” and “Port Charles.” He also co-created the ABC-TV...
Interview with Playwright Josh Wilder
Josh Wilder’s work has been developed at The Fire This Time Festival, Playwrights’ Center, Pillsbury House+Theater, The History Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Drama League, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. His...
Interview with Playwright Dan O’Brien
Your recent play, The Body of an American, has achieved enormous success. After premiering at Portland Center Stage, the play went on to win the Horton Foote Prize, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize, and the PEN Center USA Award for Drama. Can you tell us more about the...
Interview with Playwright David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang is a playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Some of his works include M. Butterfly (Tony Award for Best Play, Pulitzer Prize nominee), FOB (OBIE award), Golden Child (Tony nomination for Best Play), Yellow Face (OBIE award, Pulitzer Prize...
Interview with Playwright Tanya Barfield
Proscenium Journal interviews nationally acclaimed playwright Tanya Barfield. Barfield is a recipient of the Lilly Award, the Helen Merrill Award, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her play Blue Door (South Coast Repertory, Playwrights Horizons). Other...
Interview with Playwright Sherod Santos
We talked to Sherod Santos about his play “Between Two Nevermores,” his experimental writing style, and his advice to young writers. What was your inspiration for this play?As a poet, I’m of course drawn to what is, in essence, the formative story of poetry and...
Interview with Playwright Wei He
Wei He talks about the inspiration for her play “My Birthday Party,” her image-driven writing style, and her advice for young writers. What was your inspiration for this play?I got the idea for the story on my twenty-sixth birthday. I was going through a weird phase...
Interview with Playwright Aurin Squire
We interviewed Aurin Squire about what inspires him, his advice for writing and life, and his play “Defacing Michael Jackson.” What was your inspiration for this play? Long convoluted answer: I was in a workshop led by Rogelio Martinez and he made us write down a...
Interview with Playwright David E. Tolchinsky
We talked to David E. Tolchinsky about his new play “Clear,” his advice for young writers, and how teaching informs his writing. What was your inspiration for this play?I was thinking about ambivalence. What is it exactly? To like something and not to like something...
Interview with Playwright Ellen Margolis
Ellen Margolis talks about her recent commission with Proscenium, her writing process, and what inspires her. When Proscenium approached you with the idea of adapting a Shakespearean work, what made you think of adapting Pericles?When I saw Pericles for the first...
Exclusive Interview with Playwright Augusto Amador
Augusto Amador discusses his new play The Book of Leonidas. What was your inspiration for the play? I started this play thinking about legacy and tradition. These both can be very compelling and positive factors for people. That is if you accept the legacy and...
Interview with Playwright James Lantz
James Lantz discusses his play, The Bus. What was your inspiration for this play? A few years ago there was a spate of heartbreaking suicides of gay teens, and some of them had a connection to a church or religion, and the whole thing just made me profoundly sad and...
Interview with Playwright Zoe Kamil
Zoe Kamil discusses her play, Nine Hours. What was your inspiration for the play? This play has been a part of my life for just about 2 years (more than that, if we’re counting the period of time where the play existed as a feeling and an idea rather than words), and...
Interview with Playwright Aleks Merilo
Aleks Merilo discusses his play, Tango Mike. What was your inspiration for this play? My grandfather. He was an army veteran with a stoic nature, but I learned that towards the end of his life, he scheduled these terse phone calls with a retired navy officer who...
Interview with Playwright David Jacobi
David Jacobi discusses his play, Mai Dang Lao. What was your inspiration for the play? I hope this doesn’t spoil the ending. The play was born from two separate ideas. The incident that occurs in the play is based on true events that occurred in 2004 at a...
Interview with Playwright Chris Holbrook
Chris Holbrook discusses his play, Ski Lift. What was your inspiration for this play? A ski lift, for me, is the perfect place for great theater. You’re stuck with strangers whom you would never talk to otherwise, and there is no escape. Even better, once you arrive...
Interview with Playwright Augusto Frederico Amador
Augusto Frederico Amador discusses his play, Kissing Che. What was your inspiration for this play? I’m very obsessed with historical events and the impact on human lives that they exact, whether just or unjust. What caught my attention was that the persecution of...
A Statement from Playwright Damon Chua
Damon Chua discusses his play, Black Coffee Green Tea. I am a playwright of color and committed to creating opportunities for artists of all color. To that end, all my plays, full-length and the shorter ones, are ethnically diverse or are designed to allow for...
Interview with Playwright Andrea Lepcio
Andrea Lepcio discusses her play, Looking for the Pony. What was your inspiration for this play? I woke up writing the play in the middle of the night about six months after my sister died. It is a true story and suddenly I felt moved to try to capture the...