New Feature: BWW Interactive Interview w/ Lisa Kron - Ask Questions Here!

BroadwayWorld.com is proud to present a new and innovative feature - an interactive thread with playwright Lisa Kron. Instead of just us interviewing Lisa, we're trying something a bit new, and opening it up so you can ask questions as well - right here! Lisa will try to answer as many of your questions as possible.

WELL, a new comedy written by Lisa Kron and directed by Leigh Silverman, is now playing on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre. Obie Award-winners Lisa Kron and Jayne Houdyshell will reprise the roles they created at The Public Theater last year. They will be joined by Daniel Breaker, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, John Hoffman, and Christina Kirk.

Click here to read Lisa’s bio http://www.wellonbroadway.com/cast.htm>http://www.wellonbroadway.com/cast.htm

Visit http://www.wellonbroadway.com for more information on the show...

Updated On: 3/14/06 at 11:55 AM

I started working on the show about 6 years ago – or, more precisely I started working on a new show 6 years ago that eventually became WELL. I had a vague notion that there was some thematic relationship between this experience I had had in my twenties in this environmental-ecology “allergy” clinic in Chicago, and my experiences growing up in this racially integrated neighborhood. So I started writing about both of those things. It took a long time, though. I didn’t know in the beginning if it would be a solor or something different -- and those thematic connections turned out to be much more difficult to theatricalize than I thought.

WELL is a very structurally complicated play. To what extent did dramaturgs come in handy in arriving at the final draft of the script?

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How is the process of writing a play on your own different from the process of writing one with the Five Lesbian Brothers?

Any chance Oedipus at Palm Springs will be produced again?

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I'll be seeing WELL in a couple of weeks, but I didn't have the opportunity to see the Off-Broadway production. I'm reading a variety of responses that people are having to the transfer to a larger venue. What is different from your perspective?

Lisa, did you have any involvement in the Cleveland Playhouse's current production of Well?

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Hey Lisa, I saw your show back at the Public, it was great :) Hope it has a great broadway run.. I was wondering how you keep the audience connection high on a bigger stage?

ClareBear wrote:
"I remember seeing Well at A.C.T. in San Francisco a while ago with my school. It's so cool your on Broadway now! What was the journey like? Has the show changed at all?"

It’s changed in so many ways – some are obvious. We have a new set designer. We have three new cast members. And this is a much bigger production. Because the play is about me trying to put on a play it needs to acknowledge the reality of whatever theater it’s taking place in. So in this version, the play I’m trying to put on is happening on Broadway. Which means when the play falls apart we get to have much bigger, more elaborate things fall apart which is very satisfying. There’s also an increased clarity and depth to the play – the writing and the performances have all been deepened and distilled.

Katygrace84 wrote:
"Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? How do you stay motivated? What inspires you? Any words of wisdom for someone attempting to write plays?"

I began to write so that I would have material to perform. I’ve never been someone who’s driven to write for the sake of writing although as time has gone on I have learned to enjoy the process more. But I do need a lot of motivation to actually sit down and do it. I have to know that someone’s waiting for the pages. I’ve always started new projects by booking a work in progress reading at a small venue like Dixon Place. I do depend on the deadline to get anything done.

Lisa,

You caught me, kind of While I'm not a full-time dramaturg, I have done dramaturg work on several plays and musicals over the years (I have a friend's new script sitting next to me right now).

One of the things I really admired about WELL each of the times I've seen it -- I saw it first at the Public's New Works festival a few years back, again during the official run at the Public in 2004, and then just a few days ago on Broadway -- is how you managed to maintain clarity while shifting back and forth between the story of the "play" and the many metatheatrical moments in which you break the fourth wall, as well as jumping from the past and present in the narrative. This is very difficult to pull off and not have everything just totally fall apart on you (unintentionally) or without having to resort to tricks and gimmicks and deus ex machina devices to somehow tie up the threads.

The first time I saw it, halfway through I can remember thinking "This is an amazing set up, but is she painting herself into a corner here? How the heck is she going to be able to pull this all together?" And at the end my friend and I both looked at each other and our jaws were on the floor and we said "Holy crap, she did it." Not many artists these days have the courage to play with form as you did and even fewer have the skill to pull it off. Great job.

That's why I was curious about your use of dramaturgs. Plays this complicated (and even those far less complicated) invariably need a second set of eyes in order to ensure that the structure remains coherent to the audience (I believe Kushner used two or three on Angels in America). It takes nothing whatsoever away from the achievement of the original author (after all, all novelists, for example, have editors). And in the highly collaborative world of the theatre, its interesting to hear about the relationship between playwright, director and dramaturg.

Anyway, WELL is a remarkable accomplishment and I think that most of those who encounter it with find it a fulfilling, entertaining and deeply affecting experience. Thanks for writing it and for taking the time to respond to my question.

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This isn't at all related to WELL. I hope that's okay. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about working on The Normal Heart. I saw it before you joined the cast, but it's a play that means a lot to me, and I'd love to hear anything you'd be willing to offer about that experience -- the work itself, working with that particular cast, something about the way the revival was handled... whatever you'd be willing to share. Thanks!

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YankeeFan007 wrote:
"Is there any way I can get the text of the play?"

TCG is publishing the play and it should be out this week.

Just to not miss out on all the fun here myself...

WELL of course deals with your mother "finding her way into the play" - what did your mother think of the show?