PlayLabs: The Science of Theater
Sonja Parks and Brian Goranson in NOTARI, NOTARI (SLOWLY, ROLLING) by Shigefumi Fukatsu, a 2008 PlayLabs production.
Image credit: Photo by Kevin McLaughlin.
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Sometimes, a Play Just Doesn’t Make SenseThe Fringe Festival has come and gone. So too have the Ivey Awards. Don’t worry, though, theatre lovers, there’s a new thespian-filled festival in town.
PlayLabs, which runs Oct. 18 to Oct. 23 at The Playwrights' Center, serves as a showcase for playwrights who are developing new work. This year's event features Winter Miller (The Arrival), Mat Smart (Tinker to Evers to Chance), Dominic Orlando (All That Is Solid Melts into Air) and Sarah Gubbins (The Water Play).
There will also be readings, a discussion with Jerome and McKnight fellows, a panel discussion on “Defining the Playwright,” and, like any good festival, the chance to hobnob with the elite artists and celebrate the local theater community.
METRO caught up with two of the festival’s feature playwrights, Orlando and Gubbins, to talk about their work, their inspiration and their future plans.
METRO: Can you tell us something about your play that we wouldn't be able to glean from the synopsis?
Dominic Orlando: There's video on a big screen, a druid, a submarine, human sacrifice, mystical tapestries, a war in Africa, sonic lasers, board room intrigue, meditation, archeological artifacts, and the Sphinx.
Sarah Gubbins: The play contains a Water Ballet on office chairs.
What inspired you to write this play?
DO: After 9/11 people were throwing around that phrase “Clash of Civilizations” and I began to wonder about the purpose of civilization and whether or not it was working out.
SG: My deep love for the city of Chicago and my deep discomfort with how citizen of that city have agency over protecting its resources.
M: Other than the fact that it's free, why should be people go to the festival?
DO: Oh, I don’t know, “free” is a pretty good reason. But mostly because these are brand new plays by some really fine writers, and the festival atmosphere is one big buzz of theater-lovin’ geeks so it’s a lot of fun. There’s something special about the cumulative power of seeing three or four new plays one right after another—especially with the amazing actors you find in this town. And you’ll always be able to say, “I saw the play back when…”
SG: People should go to the festival to see four radically different new plays at a raw moment in those plays development. Sorta like going to see a director's cut of a movie. Also, we have awesome actors. And I like to try and find humor in cataclysmically horrible situations. So while audience might have to grapple with some tough questions, they also will be laughing a bit at the absurdity of the human condition.
What's next for you?
DO: I wrote the libretto for an opera called “Beautiful Creatures” which is having a workshop in NYC this November directed by Christopher Alden.
SG: I'm writing a play for Steppenwolf Theater of Chicago's Young Adults series that will be produced in February of 2012. It's called fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life.
The PlayLabs festival runs from Tuesday, Oct. 18 to Sunday, Oct. 23 at The Playwrights' Center, 2301 East Franklin Ave., Mpls. Admission is free and open to the public. Visit the website to reserve your seats.
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