Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 660
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into a fantastic new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We have a very exciting new show to be sharing with you that is playing at one of our favorite venues in the Lower East Side. And joining us today, we've got the playwright of that piece, Drew Valens. He's here to talk to us about his work, Lake Play, which is playing now through October 20th at The Wild Project. And you can get your tickets and more information by visiting thewildproject.org. There's nothing bad you will ever see at The Wild Project. And this show continues to reaffirm that. So I'm excited to be sharing the show with you to learn more about it. And I'm just excited to have our guests all today. So let's welcome on our guest, Drew. Welcome into Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Hello, Andrew. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here and tell you about my play. - I am excited about it. I would have getting the distinct honor of singing it here in just a few days. So why don't we start by having you tell us a little bit about what Lake Play is about? - So it's a, Lake Play is a love story. Thriller or comedy drama. Don't be alarmed. It's actually just a love story. It's a love story with a modern twist. And it's a three character play. It's dialogue driven. And it's about takes place during the pandemic. And it's about a couple from Brooklyn that gets this tip during the pandemic, like early days pandemic, like May 2020, they get this tip from a friend of a friend of a friend about this cabin on a lake. And they go up to this cabin on a lake and they meet the caretaker of this cabin on the lake. And that's where the action begins. - I love that. That is a perfect show for spooky season happening right now. So very curious to know what inspired you to pen this piece. - Well, just like you guys, you know, during the pandemic, it was a whole nother world. So let me first tell you a little bit about like how I came to write it all because that's kind of part of this. So I've been an actor my whole life. I started back in high school, little bit, little bit in college. And then after that, I went on to, somehow I went to medical school and I did a couple of years there and then I dropped out of medical school. And that's when I really started this journey. And since then, since the early 2000s, I've been acting. And I've had the good fortune of working with great, great writers working alongside great dead writers mostly. And in a way that was kind of the training for me. And during the pandemic, I, you know, as an actor, suddenly there's nothing. And in a way that was beautiful. Like I think many actors I talked to were just absolutely like relieved that that sort of FOMO was gone. And all the pressure of the career was sort of off the table for a moment, you know? And so I kind of made a pivot at that point and I started writing. I had been doing other kinds of writing in the past more like, you know, not straight dramatic writing. I started dramatic writing and I found this group called the Farm Theatre, a guy named Patrick Lillis, who runs it and he was having a playwriting, playwriting, you know, meet up regularly and jumped in there. And so that was, you know, I was writing, writing, writing. And then this story started to emerge. And next thing I know, I have my first full length play. - It's a big scene. - Yeah. - That is amazing. - Yeah, I mean, in a way, it sort of, this couple is also in the pandemic and they're having this sort of reorientation moment. And, you know, during the pandemic, it was like, it was blessing and a curse on so many levels, but the creative class, which kind of like this play is about, this play is about, you know, people in that creative class that were in, who I was a particular set of concerns and needs and stuff. And they just, you know, they wanted to get at, they needed to get away and they needed to sort of assess their lives and sort of really, you know, like get away from all of that stuff. And so they have this opportunity, this great opportunity to go to this cabin lake. And there's pictures on the internet of it and all this sort of stuff. It just looks magnificent and not fancy, you know, not like that because this, you know, like this is, they're not looking for that. They're looking for just someone where they can spend, like they got a whole month there, you know, like not at their parents' house, at their aunt and uncle's house, not with their sister, just like their own spot. That's their own. So they come with a lot of expectations to put it mildly, but life has a different way of reality as a different way when you collide with reality, things change. So yeah, all that's in there, all that's in there. And then another thing about this play is that like, in terms of like the subject matter, there were a lot of stories that were starting to pop up. I have a lot of, I'm like the kind of person I've always treasured my male friendships. It's so, they're so deep. So when I talk to, I talk to a lot of male, my male friends over these at that time and over the years. And, you know, there's a lot of stories that people had about this question of having children. You know, this reality that, you know, that's a question that has to be looked at or addressed somehow, right? And so there were all these stories that I was hearing particularly during the pandemic because people are starting to change their value system. People are charting to look in different directions and you're no longer caught up in your normal fame, your career, whatever. So maybe the question starts to, some question like that starts to open up. And so I found there to be something extremely dramatic about that particular passage that couples go through. Particularly when it's, you know, there's this phrase I heard where it's like, you know, you don't want to wake up when you're 50 and never have faced that question. Whether you're single, whether you're in a couple, whatever, like you don't want to wake up when you're 50 and be like, oh, I never, I never actually asked myself do I want children or not? Like I never really, you know, 'cause a lot of us, a lot of our generation waits now. I think it's becoming more of a thing these days. So the older you get, it's a different dynamic. So that I found all that stuff very dramatic and I wanted to write a play about a couple, sort of pieced together from all of the different things I heard who were in this situation. So yeah, that's some of the, some of the thematics under it, under the hood. I love that. - Well, as we're talking right now, I mean, you are at the theater, you're at the wild project. So with the show at the time of this recording opening tomorrow, what has it been like developing the piece? - Well, it's been just so incredible. I started writing it like in late 2020 with this workshop called the Farm Theatre with Patrick Lillis, which was super helpful and sort of just the accountability of the writing and then the guidance. And then after about a couple years, I had the script pretty much done. And then it kind of like they were little tink rings for a while. And then I've been a part of this company called The Drilling Company, who's the producer of this play. This play, Lake Play is produced by The Drilling Company and Our Theatre, which my new production company that I have with Michaela Lind. And it was a long time colleague over the years. But Hamilton Clancy of The Drilling Company is, this is this company that we do Shakespeare in the parking lot. Every summer, it's been around for 25 years. And I've been a member of this troupe for 15 years, 15 years of summer Shakespeare in the parking lot. So what happened was Hamilton, he's like a total wild man. He's a man of the theater. He just makes things happen. He got a hold of a storefront space on the Upper West Side. And he's like, we're gonna just do some stuff. We're gonna have some music. We're gonna have some readings and stuff like that. And I said, I have a play. And he said, oh, you have a play? You're, but you're, I'm talking like Hamilton now. You have a play? Yeah, but you mean a play that you wanna act in that somebody else wrote, no, no, no, I wrote it. Oh, you wrote a play. Anyway, for those people who are listening who know Hamilton Clancy, they'll be laughing right now because that's how he talks. I was just doing Hamilton. But so that play, we did a reading of that play in the storefront a couple of years ago. And it was really well received. It was thrilling. For me, it was like a first. Like it was like popping my chair. It was like hearing my words brought to life and hearing an audience respond was like the most magical, I can't even, I don't even know what that feeling was. I was high. And then Hamilton was like, we have to do this play now. Which is not something that I'm coming to understand is typical for the playwright journey. You know, that quick. And I was like, yeah, I wanna do this now. Like, and he's like, I wanna do this now. It's important that we do this play now. He just felt that on many levels. So I had an ally in him automatically. And then began the process of shopping for spaces. And it's sort of been over these past year and a half or so. Like sort of producing a crash course and producing with him, he and I. And found the space eventually. I had to really, it took a while. And then we started sort of a workshop process with our actors 'cause we had two of our three actors pretty early on in the process. They're members of the drilling company. And we needed to find the male character. And we eventually did. Matley, these actors, all three of these actors. Matley, Patre Dennison, and Kamala Hendrick are amazing in this show. Like, so beautiful to watch. So filled. So, so in it. Anyway, Matley, I hadn't known. And he's incredible. And so we had our cast. And am I talking too long? I feel like I just, I'm just going on and on and on. But eventually we had the space. We started rehearsing and here we are. That is an incredible journey. That is fantastic. Well, I know you described the play as a love story with a lot of twists. So I'm curious to know, what is the message or thought you hope audiences take away from this piece? Right, right. So, like I said, it's like, this is a story of a couple. It's a love story. It's about a couple in a way. Trying to find each other. And so at the end of the day, what I really want audiences to walk away with, what I hope is a sense is a feel, a couple of different feelings, really. I want them to look at each other and have and smile. I feel like I'm micromanaging. I want them to have a larger space. You know, when things can feel real tight inside of yourself, you'll tighten small and you're caught up in your own little tiny dramas, a little more space around whatever is, whatever issues, whatever there is, a little more forgiveness for themselves and for their partner. And above all, a sense of mystery, a sense of mystery of what love is. Respect all for that other person who's standing there in front of you. Because I feel like without mystery, and I feel like mystery is being lost in so many ways in our world. So many forces that just are not interested in mystery. With that mystery, love can live. You know, love has space to move and breathe. And so yeah, that's what I want audiences to have when they walk away. Yeah, yeah. - That is beautiful. That is so wonderful. A message I think we all need right about now too. So that's lovely. My final question for this first part is who are you hoping to have access to Lake Play? I was thinking a lot about this. It's, you know, in the most specific microwave, it is about a couple at a certain stage of their life. Like I was saying to you earlier, people who are getting on in that biological period when it starts to come to the fore, like the sort of pressure cooker of like, now or never, you can have a kid or you're not. Although the area we live in today, it's like, it's all changing. It's so changing rapidly. So it's really hard to say just that. But anyone who's thought of having a child, anyone who had a child, anyone who didn't have a child. And then also people who just love a damn good yarn, you know, like a good, a good, a good, you know, all theater, all plays, all theaters are thrillers, right? That's what we learn as playwrights, like all plays are suspense plays. So people have a good story. So really it's quite open. I was on the subway the other day looking for canning out postcards or whatever. And I found myself looking for couples, you know, like it just was automatically happening. Like, who do I want to hand these cards to? You know, I was like looking for, I was like, moving around, I was like looking for couples. But it doesn't have to be couples, obviously. But I think couples will, I think couples will get something specific about it, out of this. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Well, on 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 start with our regular first question, which is what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past or are just some of your favorites? - Right, right. Well, I can't lie, I can't, I have to say that I have been a Kafka obsessive for many, many years from this Kafka is the biggest sort of literary inspiration for me. I have developed his works into theater. I have another play coming up at the adaptation of one of his short stories that I'm doing with our production company. So absolutely, absolutely Franz Kafka, who just is 100 years since his death just occurred this past June. So kudos to the, kudos to the man. And then I would guess, I guess I would say lots of love, havl, lots of havl, the playwright from the Czech Republic. I got the opportunity to do a lot of, his plays and I think there's, I learned so much from him, both as a playwright and as a person and Shakespeare, because of all that Shakespeare we do in the parking lot. So yeah, some heavy hitters there, some heavy hitters, but it's good to be a part to taste those kinds of goods. Yeah. So those are the people that have inspired me literally. - That is a wonderful, wonderful list. I love that. - Yeah. I know you've been very busy getting your show up on its feet, as I mentioned, at the time of this recording, you open tomorrow, but have you heard the chance lately to see any great theater? You might be able to recommend to our listeners? - Nothing that's playing now. It's, yeah, I can't say anything that's playing now. I do, I have a guess that master Margarita, there's a Russian company that's doing that uptown is great. I've seen their work before and they're fantastic. Alexi Barago is sort of a master of check-off and Russian theater, so they're doing that. That's an adaptation to master Margarita. I would definitely recommend that. I don't know if it's still going on, but it certainly was. And can I say a play that passed that perhaps I, the reason I'm at The Wild Project is because I saw Antelope Party here that was done by Dutch Kills Theater and I just was wowed by that show and I forgot the name of the play, right? I should know. I could look it up, but it was called Antelope Party and it was done at The Wild Project and that's how I fell in love with this space. That is wonderful. I'm gonna have to look into that show. I wanna ask you now, what is your favorite part about working in the theater? The people, the discovery, the wildness, the being in the theater to me is like I went to Berlin and there were like these weeds growing all over the city and it's beautiful when they let the weeds grow out in the cracks of the sidewalk and stuff like that. It's just sort of like, and they leave some of their graffiti up and stuff. And so to me theater, that's theater. Theater is outside of the boundaries. It's transgressive, it's dangerous, it can be, it should be. It should push those boundaries and it's just fucking fun. It's just damn fun, like just to, I love being an actor. I've been an actor all my life. I love rehearsing, I love discovering, I love not knowing what's next. I mean, in my normal life, I have to know what's next. I'm like a little too much of the kind of guy that needs to know what's next. But when I enter the theater, I cross this threshold and now I'm in a place where I like not knowing, I prefer to ask questions. I prefer, the thrill of discovery is what it's all about. So why would you wanna know in advance? So that's what I love about the theater. That is such a brilliant answer, I love it. A brilliant description of the life in the theater, right there. Right. And I could lead into my favorite question to ask guests, which is what is your favorite theater memory? I have many, many, many, many, many favorite theater. It's like sort of when someone asks you, what's your favorite movie? It's like, ah, so I guess I'd say one favorite theater memory is we were doing, we were doing a fellow in the parking lot, many summers ago. And I was tasked with understudying Iago, which was a crazy thing to do. I mean, it's such a role, it's such a role. They're doing it now, they're doing it, Jake Gyllenall's doing it on Broadway. It's massive. And I got a little bit of rehearsal. And the reason that I was asked to understudy was because the person playing Iago had some opportunities for TV that were ripe, may happen, and as we know in a theater, like sometimes, you know, like if Stephen Spielberg calls, like you're gonna go. It's like, sorry guys, we all understand you're gonna go. So I had an opportunity to do the second show, the second show, he got that call and I had to go on as Iago, and I was terrified. I had created a map of all the entrances and exits and the different scenelets and all this sort of stuff. And it was like crazy, crazy, crazy. And I don't think I've ever been so nervous, but I jumped in and it was like jumping in the water. And I just went and I was riding something. And yes, it was imperfect. Yes, there were moments when I was like, wait, what's next? You know, like when you're in a scene and you don't know what the next scene is, like it's like the kind of anxiety nightmares that we have as actors, but somehow I made it through and I realized that Iago is improvising. That's like his whole thing, his whole thrust, he's just, the whole thing is a giant master improvisation. And so that kind, those energies kind of mixed and I just had like kind of like the ride of my life and I almost died, but I made it through. That was crazy. Yeah. Wow, wow, what a memory. Thank you so much for sharing that. Oh. You're welcome. As we wrap things up, I would love to know, do you have any other projects or productions coming down the pipeline that we might be able to plug for you? I would love that. Nothing that's being, nothing that's coming up has a set date, but it's just to sort of plant a couple seeds for people. So I have a production company with Michaela Lind and it's called Aura Productions, A-R-A. You can go there to find out about our projects. Aura Theater with an E-R.com. We are doing Kafka's short story called The Burrow, which in German is Der Bao about a creature who lives under the ground. It's like this sort of mole-like creature and it's a one-person show. It's a one-man show, this creature. So I've adapted it for the stage and we did a reading of it at the Czech Embassy in DC just this past summer to commemorate Kafka's 100th and it was really well received. We learned a lot about the show. Michaela Lind is directing, I'm performing. And so we are in talks to do that either next spring or next fall in DC. Then I'm also developing a show called Piff Paff Puff, The Magic of Nothing. And it's based on the writings of Daniel Harms, Daniel Karms, which was a Russian avant-garde writer during Stalinist era. And it's a piece of absurd theater. So we're pushing into absurd theater, which we feel that we did a little bit of it at Theater Lab last year. And we really felt that there's a hunger for the absurdity in theater right now because of the world we live in. All the things changing so fast and up is now down and left is now right and who's in charge and values are changing and technology is messing with us. It's like sometimes narrative, straight narrative can be a little tired. We're so inundated with narratives, narratives, narratives. So absurd theater is what we are exploring with this piece called Piff Paff Puff, The Magic of Nothing. So stay tuned for that. We've applied to the French Festival. Hopefully we'll get in. - Yes, yes. And then we'll get to have another conversation together about your work. - Another conversation. - Well, it sounds like you've got lots of irons in the fire, which is a great lead into my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about Lake Play or about you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. - How can they do so? - Absolutely. You can just go straight to my website for all my contact information. You'll get Lake Play ticket information there and you'll see links to our productions, which was the other theater company. DrewValens.com, D-R-E-W-V-A-L-I-N-S. .com. - Wonderful. Well, Drew, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing this fantastic work. I'm so excited to be seeing it here in a few days. And I can't wait to see what you do next as well. So thank you so much for your time today. - Andrew, I so appreciate it. This has been really fun. And thank you. - Thank you. My guest today has been the incredible playwright, DrewValens, who joined us to talk about his new work, Lake Play, which is playing now through October 20th at The Wild Project. You can get your tickets and more information by visiting the wildproject.org. We also have some contact information for our guests, which will be posted in our episode description, as well as on our social media posts. But head over to the wildproject.org, get your tickets now, come join us when we go to see the show as well. We'll make it a stage whisper night out of the theater. The show again is Lake Play, playing now through October 20th. And we wanna add for our American listeners that Election Day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered, have a plan to cast your ballot, and do your democratic duty. You can find out how and where you can register and 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) (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. 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