Tuesday, May 29, 2012

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: August Schulenburg (“All Good Ending,“ Bill A)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by going way back to before this country was called America.

I am proud to be an American because... I wish I could think of a suitably witty answer to this. Truth is, the very real pride that I have in America is so intermixed with anger and grief over the actions of some of my countrymen and my own inaction in the face of their cruelty and indifference that it's hard to express any feelings about our country simply. I'd like to be a citizen of the America where Walt Whitman is our first real founding father and president; and so, like everyone else, my America is as more a creation of my own striving mind than anything tangibly real. More and more, I long for a universal system of governance that puts the rights of conscious beings far ahead of state or sovereign rights, and I think the arc of moral justice is bending its slow way in that general direction. I wish I was doing more to help it along that path...boy, looks like you touched off a nerve with this question!

For me the defining moment in American history is the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address. While it took him awhile to get there, Lincoln's decision to link emancipation to the promises made in our nation's founding was essential. We still have not fulfilled that promise, but the circle of equality continues to expand and encompass more and more people every day. It is because of this act, these words, and the immense courage of those who fought (and continue to fight) for abolition and true equality that what happened in North Carolina weeks ago puts that state so clearly on the wrong side of the tide of history. While justice ebbed there for the moment, the waters will rise again, in  part because of Lincoln's enduring call to the living to continue the great, unfinished work of a more perfect union.

True or False: Theater will save America. Oh, I wish that could say true! But technology is changing so rapidly, and with it, our sense of self and community, that I have no idea if what we call theatre now will look anything like what we call theatre 50 years from now. What theatre means to me - collaboration, creativity, compassion, the sacred Yes of Here and Now - these things need to continue their advance until all peoples are empowered with the right and charged with the responsibility of artistic, communal expression. But it certainly saved me, in that old-timey religious sense of grace; and I think it continues to find the lost, to help the blind see, every day. Whether or not Theatre can save America, I hope the theatre I make can give the people it touches a moment or two of that amazing grace.

Monday, May 28, 2012

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: Eric Bland (“Tsipras of Athens,” Bill B)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by being made to order.  And vegan-friendly.  

I am proud to be an American because I am terrified of decline. And in America you can't decline or talk about it, or accept it. The ramifications... really I don't want to even think about failure. And I'm not going to. There is nothing beautiful about it, and if you think there is I guess you just never made Varsity.

For me the defining moment in American history is winning the war against Iran next year.

True or False: Theater will save America. I don't think it will. But I also don't think television will ruin America. Both will attempt the impossible. America is very wonderful and very unjust. I think Arthur Schopenhauer would have enjoyed grumbling here. Or maybe not. You can probably only move here happily if you are a conservative intellectual. He would have lived in Burbank, and hated every neon light and every neon soul he saw, but he would have trembled every morning before his daily Grand Slam breakfast at the neighborhood Denny's, where the coffee is just right and Matilda the waitress keeps her charm until the riffraff start pouring in at 9 am.

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: Jeff Lewonczyk (“Shit the Future Says,” Bill A)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by demonstrating yet again that the past of the future is the present. We’re too busy with the what’s-happening-now to remember the what-happened-then or predict the what-happens-next, and so we tend to be wrong about all three. America! (Or, to be fair, “Humanity!” though when you’re a blinkered American like me, the two are pretty much synonymous.)

I am proud to be an American because I’m fabulously wealthy in comparison to the majority of the earth’s citizens, yet I haven’t used that power to create a vast underground lair and hire thousands of minions to carry out my plan to enslave all of humankind and rebuild the world as a shrine to my own power... yet.

For me the defining moment in American history is the part where they signed the piece of paper.
True or False: Theater will save America. True. First of all, my play, which takes place in the future, involves America being saved, and, since the play exists in the medium of theater, America would never have been saved if the play had never been written. So, one point for theater. Secondly, when we finally have that horrible global thing when there’s no more electricity left and we go back to being barbaric savages, theater will be the only art form we have left, since all it requires is someone to be somewhere doing something so someone else can watch, and there will still be a fair amount of that going around, even if there are only a few hundred people left. And the shared discourse such a medium provides will rebuild society from scratch. As a person who writes about the future, I can certify that this is one hundred percent factual. So that’s Theater: Two, Everything Else: Nothing. Theater wins! 

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: Stephanie Swirsky (“Quorum of Friends,” Bill A)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by showing how America's youth is taking full advantage of the democratic process.

I am proud to be an American because I can write this play and not get stoned to death.

For me the defining moment in American history is when George Washington was born, because we share the same birthday.

True or False: Theater will save America. False. Only America can save itself. But that doesn't mean the government shouldn't provide more arts funding. They should -- especially for my plays.

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: Crystal Skillman (“Cheer,” Bill A)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by giving you lady teachers in love! Only way to get through the crazy life - and educational system - is to move on, and Cheer discovers the answer is indeed love! And giving Bloomberg a kick in his butt over his educational choices wouldn't hurt ... hmmmm.

I am proud to be an American because I am - wait am I proud to be an American? Well we did pioneer the musical ...
 
For me the defining moment in American history is 1776 the musical! 

True or False: Theater will save America. (sung to American the Beaut!)
America!
America!
Less Revivals Shall There Be!
Please produce More New Plays!
To Make Us Happy for Days!
Then our audience could truly be ... FREE!

AMERICA!!

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: Justin Maxwell (“I’m in Al-Qaeda,” Bill A)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by causing a man of deep devotion to want to blow himself up.

I am proud to be an American because as a guy who is overweight and out of shape, I fit in well.

For me the defining moment in American history is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand--okay, so that's world history, but the sooner we figure out we live in the world, the better.

True or False: Theater will save America. False. Too many Americans believe God will save us by divine fiat, and there aren't enough of us in theater to pull it off alone.

NO SECOND ACTS Interview: James Comtois (“Moving Forward,” Bill B)

My one-act play provides a definitive American experience by reminding you why sometimes, it doesn't pay to show up to the polls early.

I am proud to be an American because none of yer goddamned business, that's why. Now get the hell offa my lawn. FREEDOM!

For me the defining moment in American history is this upcoming Democracy festival. No, wait. That's not history. That's the future. I keep getting those mixed up.

True or False: Theater will save America. That's insane. False. I always thought that theatre is to America as what Woodrow Wilson was to Henry Cabot Lodge. Are they laughing?  Did it get a laugh?  I can't hear the Internet from here. I heard that historic US political rivalry jokes play like gangbusters here.