Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 606
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into a fantastic new whisper in the wings from stage whisper. We've got another amazing show that is happening right down in the heart of the Washington Square Park area, right there in the West Village. And joining us to talk about this great work is the playwright and producer of the show, Katelyn Winsant. She's here to tell us about her show Watch Me, which is currently playing now through August 25th at the Players Theater. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting theplayerstheatre.com. We are so thrilled to be bringing you another production at this great venue. And we're really excited about this one in particular. So let's go ahead and welcome on our guest, Katelyn. Welcome into Whisper and the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you so much for having me. - I'm so happy you're here. First of all, thank you for reaching out and putting the show on our radar. We always love, we have artists that are like, oh, Henry, here's what I'm doing. You think you might be interested because I'm like, absolutely. Anyone creating art like, let's go. But we also love anyone who's getting the opportunity to perform at the Players Theater. It's a wonderful venue right there off of McDougal Street. So I want to start by asking you what is Watch Me about? - Yeah, that's a good question. So Watch Me is about three teenagers in a facility where they're under constant surveillance. They've lived there their whole lives. They don't have any adults in the facility with them. They're completely alone, except for a robot named Rad that takes care of them and the president, or so they think, Rodman, who is on a screen and just kind of looks at them. And so it's about them, their lives, and how their lives get disrupted when for the first time ever, a new person enters the facility. - That sounds like such a fascinating story there. That is incredible. So let me ask you, what inspired you to pen this piece? - I definitely had several inspirations. First, I would say the fact that I was a media studies major in college, I went to the University of Virginia and they have a program on media studies. And I took a particular class with a professor, Professor Viaphanathan called Privacy and Surveillance. And it was all about how our world is kind of becoming a surveillance state almost entirely. And the implications of that and where we are being watched, where we aren't being watched, what our phones are doing versus not doing, are they listening to us? Does Google actually have all of our information? Yada, yada, yada. And it was just really interesting both to learn from a professor on the subject like what is happening in our day-to-day lives that we don't notice about being surveilled. But also to dig really deep into media surrounding that and like this fear that we as a society have of surveillance and being monitored. And so that was a huge inspiration, as well as I was just like in a weird place in my life. I struggle a lot with mental health. And so I was at a point in my life where my mental health was kind of low and I personally have a lot of anxiety. And I felt like everyone was watching me and judging me all of the time. And it was a terrible way to live. And I just was chafing because I was like, oh my gosh, I'm constantly being watched. I'm constantly, I can't say anything, I can't do anything, I can't be who I am because everyone is looking at me all the time. And so that combined with my like education, I kind of spun it into a world of like, okay, what if this was normal? What if this was just the way things were? Or at least for some people, the way things are. And it's their normal and it's not scary and it's not extreme. It's just like, yeah, that's what happens. And then someone like you or me comes in and sees that and feels that fear that we fear, feel every day. Or some of us, not every day, but that feeling of fear we often fear when the topic of being watched and being surveilled comes up versus people who don't think it's scary at all. - That is incredible. Wow, wow, very 1984 S kind of thing going on here. I love it. Now, is this production that's being mounted at the Players Theater, the World Premier of the Peace or has it been developed or done elsewhere? - It's definitely been developed a few times. So I originally did the Peace in March of 2020 on Zoom for my school. It was one of the first Zoom theater productions. Like we shut down in on March 15th, our show started March 30th. So we had about two weeks to like turn it from an in person to an online production and just get everything together. And I worked with a wonderful team on that. And so that was the first ever production. And then I took feedback from that, rewrote some things, had another hybrid production with Kervigo Ensemble Theater, where they had in 2021, where they had, I believe it was like a 20 seat reading here in New York and then also a Zoom production. So that was, it was more of a stage, both of those were more stage readings as it's really hard to do anything beyond a stage reading with Zoom. And then I had it in a festival recently, last or two October's ago, had a short run in a festival. That one, we ran into a lot of problems. All of our actors got COVID, we had to change everything. I was playing four characters. It was an interesting time. If anyone saw that, it is not the same show. And so this is kind of like for this script, for this story, I think it both is and isn't the world premiere, 'cause we've done a lot of work on it. I've done a lot of work personally. My teams have done a lot of work. And so it is a completely new story to any time I've done it before, but also it is built on all those other times. - That is incredible, wow. What a journey. So I do want to turn a little bit more to the current production that's being performed at the player's theater. And I'm curious to know, what was it like developing that particular iteration of "Watch Me?" - Yeah, this is the iteration that I am most proud of. And I feel is most interesting to me, which is good, 'cause I wrote it. But it was definitely, it's been a long journey. So I'm doing this show through the player's theater self-production fellowship program. So they contacted me a year ago saying that, okay, I got into their program. They were gonna put on "Watch Me." And this, I was barely a year into New York. They were like, here's a budget. Do you think this works? And I was like, yeah, sure, totally. So then I had a year to think about it and to try and build it and to try and find a director, find a cast, figure out what I wanna work on the script and figure out everything like that. And so really, this whole last year has been development. And then it just keeps ramping and ramping and ramping. As we got closer, it took quite a while to find our cast, honestly longer than I thought. I originally predicted that I would have the show cast by January. I did not have it cast until May. And the rehearsal process was short because it needed to be just for the sake of space and time and money and such. But yeah, it's been really wonderful because I had a lot of time personally and with other people, friends, colleagues, et cetera, to work on the script, to send it to people and be like, "Does this make sense to be like this versus this?" And then also with the player's theater team, they did a lot of collaboration with me. We met up monthly leading up to this process. So I spent a lot of time there. And then once we got the actors in the room, it was great 'cause it was like starting the process all over again 'cause now I had people in roles and they were like, okay, I have questions. I wanna know this about my character. I feel like my character does this and it's really wonderful to be able to kind of develop with people and with my wonderful director, Grady Gradin, who has read the script probably too many times at this point. I think he's sick of it, but he came in with a lot of like research and knowledge and the actors did as well. And so we've had a lot of really great discussions and as we kept building the show and even when we were getting into the space for the first time, we were still kind of building everything up and like figuring out last minute details and like everything down to each transitional moment has meaning and has purpose that the group has like fed in and it's just made this really wonderfully well-developed piece. - That's fantastic, wow. Again, you're just building on that incredible journey. You had to go on the show took to get here. So that's wonderful. Now with this Orwellian story, if you will, you know, but still kind of a familiar tale, let's be honest. You know, is there a message or a thought you hope that audiences take away from the piece? - There are definitely a few. So one of the subtexts of the piece is queer love and that is just personal to me. I'm a queer person and a lot of that time period where I was developing the piece and had a lot of anxiety was about my sexuality. And so this piece is meant to show like, hey, things can be hard. Like you can, sometimes you do have to go against what you've considered to be the only way. And like it's kind of like everyone talks about when one door closes another door opens. This piece is kind of trying to say like, okay, sometimes the door is not gonna open and you need to like carve it out of the wall. Sometimes you just gotta make the door or like kick out the window or do something. It's not always easy and sometimes it feels really scary and it kind of sucks. But it's important to do that, especially if you're feeling trapped or unfulfilled or like you're constrained. And so that's a big part of it. And also just the idea of like, you know, we are honestly all being watched pretty much all the time. I mean, with social media, with technology, with everything like, we are under pretty constant surveillance in one way or another. And I think it's important for people to think about like, how they're going to let that affect them and what they're going to do about that. Because, you know, different people have my characters have different reactions, people who've seen the show have had different reactions, but I think it's important. We all have to make a choice of like, okay, this is the world we are in right now. What are we gonna do about it? - That is a phenomenal, phenomenal fun. I love that, love it. Well, my final question for this first part is who are you hoping to have access to watch me? - My dream is to give access to the show to like new theater makers, like people who are entering the space or people who are not young as an age, but young as in like fresh to this world and are not necessarily, you know, they don't know that this world is not just Broadway or not just like big, fleshy shows. Like if you have an idea and you have actors and you have like passion, you can make a show that is good. You can make a show that audiences will see and you can make a show that like makes people think and makes people discuss. And like you can have an impact in this world without being on Broadway, essentially. And like that's really who I'm trying to reach is like the young theater makers who are kind of just entering this world are unsure of where their place is yet and have yet to realize that like we can make theater anywhere, anytime of day, we can make it however we want. We don't have to be, you know, a huge company to make everything happen. (upbeat music) Well, for the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pick your brains, if you will. And I want to start by asking you our regular first question and that of course is what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past or are just some of your favorites? - Yeah, this is a really hard question for me to answer always, I am a huge theater nerd, have been forever. Grew up on musical theater, started playwriting when I realized that I can't sing, dance or act. I was like, well, gotta do something. And then got into the world of like straight plays and such but some of my most notable inspirations like the writers, the artists in the shows that like I can point at and be like that. So for writers, I'm really inspired by Sarah and I think before then I'd seen a lot of Shakespeare and not a lot else in terms of straight plays. And so the fact that these were like modern characters having real conversations and it looked like someone was just like, I was walking in on soccer practice was huge for me. And also the little 80-bit of queer representation which is always appreciated. Similarly for queer representation purposes, fun home, big influence on my life, always gosh, I think one of the many, one of the main reasons that I was like, I want to do theater is because I went and saw fun home after my high school graduation. I sobbed all the way through. It was me and my dad. It was just like this huge moment for me because I was like, this is what theater can make me feel. And I wanna do this for other people as well. Like I wanna help create this experience for everyone. And then also a more recent playwright, Sophie McIntosh who wrote her show, McBitches was done at the chain recently. She also just did a show called Knick Hillary. I think I pronounced it that right. She's newer to the scene, like still pretty indie, pretty new, but God, she's brilliant. She's got some wonderful work. And it's inspiring to see someone like around my age, around like, I feel like a closer starting point to me, you know, then like Brandon, Jacob Shinkins is also a huge influence. Just I love him. I think he's powerful. I love everything he does. But when I was a baby writer looking at him, a very well acclaimed, very intelligent, many, many shows produced playwright, I was like, well, how am I gonna get from here to there? And Sophie McIntosh is kind of more on that. Okay, I feel like I can take steps to get to where she is. And like, that's an easy goal for now. And then after that, there's further goals of more artists, more work, et cetera. But like, yeah, just having someone like her that is doing well, being successful, but also is still kind of on that smaller indie scale is wonderful, just for influence sake. But yeah, I think that's, I think those are my main influences. - I love that though. That is a wonderful list there. That's so fantastic. I wanna ask you, what is your favorite part about working in the theater? - It's cheesy to say everything. I know, but really everything. I just think it's theater is like my Disney world. Like, it's so exciting. It's thrilling, it's magical, even when it's really, really hard. And it can be really, really hard in a lot of different ways. I work out of the house, I've worked on tech. I've produced shows, I've written shows, I've done, I'd like to think I've done it at all. And every part of this world has its struggles and has its hard moments. But like, that moment when the lights go out and you're in the audience or you're in the booth or you're on the stage and you have that brief second of stillness before the show begins, like if we could bottle that, I think we'd save the world. It is the most exhilarating and magical feeling and just having to being able to experience that moment over and over and over again and knowing that I played some part in creating that moment be it as the playwright, the front of house usher, the social media manager, or even just like the audience sitting there is infectious. And so I think that I always am chasing that moment. - I'm such a fan of that answer, I love that. Theater is my Disney world, yes, yes. Someone put that on a shirt, let's get that out right away, that's so wonderful. And actually I'm gonna snowball from that into my favorite question, which is what is your favorite theater memory? - I think my favorite theater memory has to be the first show I ever, ever, ever had done on stage walking into the first rehearsal. Because up until that point, you know, I had done tech, I had done a lot of other things, front of house, back of house, et cetera, et cetera, but I had never been in the rehearsal room before beyond my kindergarten production of barnyard animal show. I played rooster number three, got really bad stage fright and never went back. So I'd never been in a rehearsal room before that moment, really, and I had heard from actor friends and director friends, et cetera, that's like, that's where the magic happens, that's where everything is built and blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, oh, yeah, sure, like I feel the magic too. But being able to go into that room, the rehearsal space, which was the basement of my university theater building. It was a very dark, dimly lit room and we sat at a table and they read my script, like they read my words and it was the first time I knew that my words were going to be read and acted out for an audience and it was amazing and it was also addictive and it was like, I will do this forever because just that fun moment of hearing my words for the first time and being in that room and I'm helping to create the magic in a new way was really, really powerful. - I love that. That is such a wonderful memory. Oh, that's so wonderful. I wish I could have been in that room just to see your face light up. Oh, that's so wonderful. I love it. Thank you for sharing that. Well, as we wrap things up, I would love to know if our listeners would like more information about watch me or about you, perhaps I'd like to reach out to you, how can they do so? The best way to reach me is always going to be Instagram. Watch me has an Instagram, which is watch me under score NYC and then I have an Instagram for myself, which is icing on the cakey spelled C-A-K-Y. That's what my friends call me and if you're coming from this podcast, you're definitely a friend. So yeah, I'm overly active. I'm a Gen Z level of active on social media. Wonderful. Well, Caitlin, thank you so much for taking the time to share this wonderful work happening down in the West Village. For sharing your insights, this has been just such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for having me. This has been lovely. My guest today has been the amazing playwright and producer, Caitlin Winslet, who joined us to talk about her new show, Watch Me, which is playing now through August 25th at the Players Theatre. You can get your tickets and more information by visiting theplayerstheatre.com. We also have some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting on our episode description, as well as on our social media posts, but hurry up and get your tickets before the show is gone. You're not gonna wanna miss such a fun and a little bit frightening at times. Let's show. Again, the show is watch me playing now through August 25th. And we wanna add for our American listeners that Election Day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered to vote, that you have a plan to get out and vote and you do your democratic duty. You can find out how and where you can register to vote by visiting vote.gov. The future demands that we fight for it now. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about the theater. In a stage whisper. Thank you. (upbeat music) If you like what you hear, please leave a five star review, like and subscribe. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at stagewhisperpod. And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperpod@gmail.com. And be sure to check out our website for all things stage whisper and theater. You'll be able to find merchandise, tours, tickets and more. Simply visit stagewhisperpod.com. Our theme song is "Maniac" by Jazzar. Other music on this episode provided by Jazzar and Billy Murray. You can also become a patron of our show by logging on to patreon.com/stagewhisperpod. There you will find all the information about our backstage pass as well as our tip jar. Thank you so much for your generosity. We could not do this show without you. ♪ I'm way more narrow ♪ ♪ Where I don't care ♪ ♪ Anywhere will you come ♪ ♪ Makes me there ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]