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

[Rob]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 11:55am

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

[Rob]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 11:57am

Aaaaand, just to kick things off, here's my first question. Post here to ask your own, and Lisa will answer as many as possible - right here!


Tell us how the WELL journey began?

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 12:05pm

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.

[katygrace84]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 12:19pm

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?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 12:29pm

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

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 3:15pm

First, I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your work, both as a writer and an actress. My question: Is it more or less challenging acting in your own play as opposed to acting in a show written by someone else?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 3:49pm

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?

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 3:57pm

melissa errico fan wrote:
Is it more or less challenging acting in your own play as opposed to acting in a show written by someone else?

I have always counted on strong, smart directors in my work. Mark Brokaw who so beautifully directed my previous play, 2.5 Minute Ride, said to me, “Lisa you don’t have to feel it, the audience has to feel it.” When I’m working on my plays I don’t feel like I’m reliving personal experiences, I’m thinking about how to shape what has been written to achieve the deepest audience engagement. It wouldn’t be possible to do that without a director shaping and building that experience in all the complicated ways directors do.

[DG]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 6:51pm

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?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 9:11pm

Is there any way I can get the text of the play?

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 11:06am

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

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:17pm

Lisa, I hope to one day be a playwright, whether it's straight drama or a full-fledged musical. My question is, what do I do with a play once it's written? Where do I go, and what's the next step?

[Becca2]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:51pm

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]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:12am

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?~Clare

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:40am

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.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 5:07pm

Lisa, even though three of you (Jayne, Saidah and yourself) have been together on WELL for many incarnations, it is the entire company's Broadway debut. What is the feeling like backstage?

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 8:13am

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_Kron]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 8:15am

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

This question was secretly submitted by the dramaturg, wasn’t it? The structure of Well was developed in a collaborative process between myself; the director, Leigh Silverman and the dramaturg, John Dias.

Updated On: 3/18/06 at 08:15 AM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/18/06 at 2:38pm

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.

[QMAN03]

Posted: 3/19/06 at 1:59pm

I may be seeing Well next Monday. How do you think a 15 year old will respond to this play?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/19/06 at 8:00pm

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!

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/20/06 at 10:32am

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

They each have their different advantages. In my own process, of course, I get to make all the choices. In the Brothers’ process, I don’t have to be responsible for solving every problem – there are other people writing so someone is bound to come up with a good solution. In both cases it’s a writing process in which the core of the play is allowed to emerge rather than being decided on or imposed from the beginning.

"Any chance Oedipus at Palm Springs will be produced again?"

There are two one-week runs tentatively scheduled for next fall. One at Theatre Offensive in Boston and one at Out North in Anchorage, Alaska. The Brothers would also love to do an LA production but there are no plans for that as of now. And we’d also love for other companies to perform the show – as happens often with our previous plays.

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/20/06 at 12:54pm

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.

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 9:56am

BwayTheatre11 wrote:
"Lisa, did you have any involvement in the Cleveland Playhouse's current production of Well?"

I answered a few questions for director, Michael Bloom, but aside from that, no. I was not available to do much more since their run and ours overlapped.

[Rob]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:04am

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?