New Feature: BWW Interactive Interview w/ Lisa Kron - Ask Questions Here!- Page 2

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 12:44pm

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

She’s both happy with the play and continually terrorized by it. She loves Jayne Houdyshell so much and feels very respected by Jayne’s portrayal of her. The first time she saw the play she said, "Jayne, you’re so delightful you even make me wish I was Ann Kron." And I think she feels very good about the ideas in the play and how they are conveyed. But the continual process of reviews and press and new productions with new versions of what her living room looks like – that’s very stressful for her. She’s extraordinarily generous, though and she really suffers very gracefully through her discomfort because, just like the character of Ann Kron, she is a deeply curious and engaged person and her desire to see what this play would become has always been larger than her anxiety around it.
Updated On: 3/21/06 at 12:44 PM

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 12:56pm

thevolleyballer wrote:
"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?"

My path as a playwright was very non-traditional. I started performing in the East Village in the 80’s and kind of made my way up from tiny clubs to small clubs to Off-Off Broadway theaters to Off Broadway and now this. So I climbed this very peculiar ladder and didn’t have to knock on doors so much so, I’m sorry to say, I don’t have a very helpful answer for you on that.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 1:44pm

I noticed you have a stand-by, Cindy Katz. How closely have you been working with her? If you ever need to miss a performance, will that audience get an extremely similar experience?

[QMAN03]

Posted: 3/22/06 at 2:42pm

This is kind of a comment, but whatever. I'm seeing the show next Friday! I'm excited.

[Rob]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 3:56pm

One more from me... You play "yourself" in the show. What is it like being directed to play "you"?

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 5:43pm

Rob wrote:
"You play "yourself" in the show. What is it like being directed to play "you"?"

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.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 4:34pm

Mine is a comment also. I have heard wonderful things about the play. A close friend saw it the other night and called me as soon as he left the theatre raving about it. So it is high on the list when I visit from Denver in June!

[little_sally]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 1:48pm

Ms. Kron, I was just wondering, do you read reviews of your plays and performances? If so, how do you handle the feedback, whether positive or negative?

[little_sally]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 1:48pm

Ms. Kron, I was just wondering, do you read reviews of your plays and performances? If so, how do you handle the feedback, whether positive or negative?

[Rob]

Posted: 3/27/06 at 9:48am

Since your childhood plays such a large role in "Well," how did you take poetic license with your youth?

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/27/06 at 3:47pm

Rob wrote:
"Since your childhood plays such a large role in "Well," how did you take poetic license with your youth?"

When I’m writing I always start with what really happened.
Which means I have to dig past the comforting distortions of memory and try to remember what really happened. And usually there’s something much more interesting, complicated, vulnerable and real there then the narrative I created in retrospect. As I heard someone say once, "The first time you tell a story, it’s fact. The second time, it’s fiction." But once I’ve mined what I can find from that process I do manipulate the material so it will do what the play needs it to do which feels fine since the purpose of the plays is not to tell biographical stories.

[DavidGR57]

Posted: 3/28/06 at 10:33am

Hi Lisa. I saw Well on Friday (the 24th). Being from Grand Rapids, I really loved the Meijer grocery bag! I wonder how many people catch that piece of reality!

[Rob]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:37am

Tonight is Opening Night and it’s the entire company’s Broadway Debut! What is the feeling like backstage?

[Big Tec]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:53am

In an email exchange between John Lahr and August Wilson on September 12th, 2001 Wilson defined art. I've seen "Well" a couple of times now and I know that you and it fall under this definition. Here is the beginning of the email:

"Dear John,

I awoke this morning and attacked my play with a vengeance. A stabbing need to create something out of this madness. To stand Art up in the face of it. Maybe it's a redemptive act. Maybe it's the belief in the power of art to construct, to inform us of the nobility of our humanity, to bring us closer to our kinship with the gods, and, armed and armored thus, through will and daring, bring about an increase in our humanity...."

Here's to your "will and daring" and your ability to increase our humanity.

[Lisa_Kron]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 12:12pm

Rob wrote:
"Tonight is Opening Night and it’s the entire company’s Broadway Debut! What is the feeling like backstage?"

We are having a really, really good time. Everyone working on WELL: the crew, the artistic staff, the cast, including the covers who are an integral and delightful part of the life of this show -- is lovely and warm and very fun. I have often said that the problem with a solo show is that the cast parties suck. So it is truly delightful to be sharing this experience with this fantastic group of people.