Meet the Playwrights - Festival of New Plays
Jason Grasl
Lying with Badgers by Jason Grasl (Blackfeet)
A Blackfeet man faces his troubled relationship with his late father and his culture when he returns to his estranged family's remote mountain home.
A Blackfeet man faces his troubled relationship with his late father and his culture when he returns to his estranged family's remote mountain home.
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| Jason Grasl |
What is your
favorite thing about playwriting?
The idea of ultimate creative freedom in any direction
What is your least
favorite thing about playwriting?
The realization of the idea of ultimate creative freedom in any direction
What are your
favorite plays?
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin
What’s the best
cure for writer’s block?
thrillist.com,
listicles...wait are we talking about distractions or cures?
What play do you
wish you had written and why?
Any play Shakespeare wrote.
What are you most
looking forward to during the workshop and festival?
I wanna find out what I don't know about my characters yet. I'm also
excited to see the progress of the other two plays from day 1 to the public
reading.
Delanna
Studi
And So We Walked by DeLanna Studi (Cherokee)
Accompanied by her father, a Cherokee artist-activist retraces her ancestors' footsteps along the Trail of Tears.
Accompanied by her father, a Cherokee artist-activist retraces her ancestors' footsteps along the Trail of Tears.
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| Delanna Studi |
What is your
favorite thing about playwriting?
It's my escape. I
love creating a new world, telling stories, reimagining life. It's all about
the journey that I am on and the one I hope the audience will take with me.
What is your least
favorite thing about playwriting?
The vulnerability
of it all. It's scary showing up. It's downright terrifying to create something
and then present it to the world, because what is created is an extension of
all that is me: my dreams, my insecurities, my success, my shame. It's all
there.
What is your
favorite play?
Dear Lord, there
are so many! I love "American Night" by the Culture Clash and
"Party People" by Universes. Robert Schenkkan's "All
The Way". Mary Zimmerman's "White Snake". I'm a little
biased, but I love "August: Osage County".
What’s the best
cure for writer’s block?
Writing. Just
keep showing up. Sometime the Muse will meet me, but if not, he knows he can
find me everyday from 9:00 to 1:00.
What would the
title be of the play/movie based on your life?
Haha. This is a
trick question! "And So Walked". Or perhaps "Perfectionism: My
Time in the Hamster Wheel"
What play do you
wish you had written and why?
Anything by
Shakespeare or Chekov! Their mastery of language and craft boggles my mind. And
yet, every time I see one of their plays, I am astounded by what I failed to
notice before, or how it resonates differently with me as I have gotten
older.
Where do you get
your inspiration for your work?
Life. My parents,
my relatives, and the unique people I encounter in my travels that give me a
glimpse into a new perspective.
What are you most
looking forward to during the workshop and festival?
Surviving! I'm
teasing (but only a little). I love seeing new works develop, their journey
from beginning to end and all the possibilities in between! I love the
collaboration, all the work that goes on behind the scenes to bring a version
of a finished project to life.
Mary
Kathryn Nagle
Fairly Traceable by Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee)
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a young Ponca man pursues environmental law to expose the disastrous effects of man-made climate change.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a young Ponca man pursues environmental law to expose the disastrous effects of man-made climate change.
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| Mary Kathryn Nagle |
What is your
favorite thing about playwriting?
The moment when
the play grows from being something that exists exclusively in my mind or
imagination and becomes a shared story. Nothing is more magical than the first
moment you hear actors read the script aloud.
What is your least
favorite thing about playwriting?
The isolation. I am a rather social person, and it is hard
for me to carve out sufficient time to be alone.
What is your
favorite play?
Wings of Night
Sky, Wings of Morning Light by Joy Harjo
What’s the best
cure for writer’s block?
becoming a
lawyer. I think because I'm a trained lawyer, I don't how to "not
write." I certainly write a lot of things that are awful, stinky, and
useless. So I am the Queen of Rewrites. But as a trained lawyer with continuous
impending deadlines, stopping writing because it's "hard" to know
what to write next is never an option. You just keep writing. Because you have
to. So I don't really experience writers block. But like I said, I have
experienced writing a lot that needs substantial revisions!
What would the
title be of the play/movie based on your life?
MKN: the Pontius
Piranha
What play do you
wish you had written and why?
An Octoroon
because if I had written that play, I would have given Native People an
authentic voice in the play and removed one more play from the American cannon
where Native People are portrayed as nothing more than a prejudicial stereotype
created in the 19th Century to support genocide.
Where do you get
your inspiration for your work?
My grandmother,
Frances Polson, and my grandfathers, John Ridge and Major Ridge. My
grandfathers sacrificed their lives to save the sovereignty of Cherokee Nation,
and their sacrifice inspires me to share the stories that for hundreds of years
in the United States, have been silenced.
What are you most
looking forward to during the workshop and festival?
Watching the
development of DeLanna and Jason's plays. I feel starved for Native theater in
the United States. Native Voices is one of the only theaters in the United
States committed to producing and developing Native plays. So it's not very
often that I get to see the work of other Native playwrights come to life.