You know how it is. Print is a lovely medium, one of my faves, but it does have its limitations. For instance, space.

In the last edition of ArtWorks (the ArtsWest newsletter), we featured an interview with Seth Rozin (playwright of the World Premiere Black Gold, opening this week). Unfortunately, we had to trim some of the interview. Fortunately, through the magic of Mr. Interweb, I can still share the full interview here. Enjoy.

ArtsWest: How long have you been a playwright?
Seth Rozin: I started writing plays in 1989, when I was 25. 

AW: Did you always want to be a playwright?
SR: Nope.  Wasn't part of the plan, but after working closely with many playwrights at InterAct Theatre Company and reading dozens (maybe even hundreds) of scripts submitted to us, I found myself thinking I might be competitive.

AW: What, basically, is BLACK GOLD about (without giving anything important away, of course)?
SR: BLACK GOLD is an absurd and satiric riff on America's oil addiction, and on the growing disparity between the country's rich and poor.  It explores global interconnectedness - particularly in relation to petroleum - and focuses on the economic, social and political forces that continue to keep poverty alive and well in our great nation.

AW: Of all the plays you've written, is BLACK GOLD your favorite?
SR: It is certainly the one I had the most fun writing, and it has been my most successful play, by far.  But like any parent, I love my children equally, albeit in different ways.

AW: Do you have a favorite character or scene?
SR: My favorite character is probably Louise Mumford.  Every play I write has a character that is foreign to me; someone I have no real life experience with, yet whose voice I seem to write with incredible ease.  Louise is that character in BLACK GOLD.  I love her crusty wisdom and her salt-of-the-earth cynicism.

AW: Who is your favorite playwright?
SR: I don't have one favorite, but some of the playwrights I most love are Edward Albee, Caryl Churchill and Jason Sherman (Toronto).

AW: What else do you do in the theater? (Or perhaps we should ask what you don't do...)
SR: The don't list is shorter!  As the founder and Producing Artistic Director of InterAct, I spend a great deal of my time strategizing the company's future (in collaboration with other staff and Board of Directors), and I do most of the grant writing to institutional funders. I don't handle the money (though I used to) and I don't handle marketing (though I used to do that as well). My primary activities are producing, directing, strategic planning, and fundraising.  Producing includes everything from creating budgets, hiring and overseeing the artistic and production teams for all of InterAct's productions, cleaning the bathrooms from time to time... 

AW: So what do you do in your spare time (if you have any)?
SR: Could you clue me in to the meaning of "spare time"?  Actually, I have had increasing amount of spare time over the years, and I cherish it for writing, spending time with my dog (a black shar pei named Porgy), spending time with family (my nephew, Jeremy, is the light of my life) and friends, traveling, eating out at ethnic restaurants, seeing movies, attending concerts and other performances, listening to music, being in nature.  Oh, and being single, I spend way more time than is healthy in the bizarre world of online dating.

AW: You directed the first part of the rolling world premiere of BLACK GOLD at InterAct in Philadelphia. What are the challenges specific to directing your own work?
SR: Once I begin rehearsals my director brain goes on, and my playwright brain turns off, so the biggest challenge for me is to not forget that I'm also the playwright and that sometimes the solution is to fix the writing.  I ask my dramaturg to keep me honest where the play is concerned.  Apart from having to replace our lead actor in the middle of rehearsals, I had a wonderful time directing BLACK GOLD at InterAct this past winter.

AW: BLACK GOLD deals quite a bit with the World being driven by the US’s oil needs. Did you encounter any of that mindset on your recent trip to Turkey and Israel?
SR: Only in so far as the price of oil is even higher in Turkey and Israel than it is in America.  What I came to realize more acutely while abroad is that the U.S. is the world's one superpower, the richest country, by far, and the biggest oil consumer; yet it is woefully dependent on some of the most questionable allies to feed this addiction.  We made our deal with the devil long ago.

AW: Did you have any good political chat while you were there?
SR: I had many a conversation in Israel about the upcoming presidential election.  Mostly, I was grilled about Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, most (if not all) Israelis want McCain to win; he's more of a hardliner who will more likely approve a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.  Understandably, Israelis are concerned that Obama will be so much of a pacifist negotiator that he will enable Iran to continue developing nuclear weapons.  The old friend of mine who I was staying with would introduce me to people as his "pacifist liberal American friend."

AW: Did you see any theater while you were there?
SR: I didn't even look at the theatre listings. But I did spend a lot of time writing.

AW: David Mamet vs Aaron Sorkin: Who can go the longest without finishing a sentence?
SR: David Mamet never tries, so I'll give the edge to Sorkin.  I much prefer Sorkin's writing anyway (I know, I know, it's blasphemy!).

AW: Shakespeare vs. Ibsen: Cagematch to the death. Who wins?
SR: Shakespeare by a mile.  But unlike so many theatre artists I am not dazzled by Shakespeare. (More blasphemy on the way.) I think he is a brilliant poet and a phenomenal dramatist in many ways, and some of his plays are, without a doubt, extraordinary.  But most of his plays have dramaturgical problems, undeveloped and/or unnecessary characters, and an overflow of flowery language that many people find incomprehensible while nodding their heads in culturally correct approval.  I believe the world should cease producing Shakespeare for ten years, so we can all experience his plays anew one day, instead of cycling through the familiar ones over and over again.  Ok, I've said too much.

AW: So you've won some Barrymores (Philadelphia’s Theatre Awards). Exactly which Barrymore is on the award, and, does their ghost come and haunt you ala I Hate Hamlet?
SR: There is no specific Barrymore on the award.  I am only haunted by living playwrights whose plays I have rejected.

AW: How big of an issue do you think oil will be in the upcoming elections?
SR: Huge.  Gi-normous (I've never actually written that word out, but it looks ridiculous!).  Especially if oil prices continue to spike.  Energy is one of the most pressing economic issues of the next quarter century, and it relates directly to concerns about the global environment.

AW: ArtsWest is lucky enough to have the run of BLACK GOLD happening right around the November elections. Do you think the impending election will change the experience of the play?
SR: I imagine it will heighten the humor in some parts of the play. Ironically, I wrote the bulk of the play well over two years ago, when Hillary Clinton was the presumptive democratic nominee.  So, instead of commenting on the actual presidential race, the play ends up commenting on the fact that Americans are still reluctant to elect a woman as their commander-in-chief.

AW: Do you think the play will be a different experience after the election?
SR: Probably.  That depends a little on who wins.

~ Rachel Jackson
ArtsWest Marketing Director
Monday, October 20, 2008