Tell us about the development history of this play!
The very first reading of this play was in the lobby of Artists Rep’s old building during the 2018 Fertile Ground Festival of New Works, and now the World Premiere is in the lobby of the new building! How’s that for fate? The play has been through several development workshops since that reading in 2018, including at PlayMakers Repertory Company and the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. I’m also happy to say that it has won a few fancy awards, including the Oregon Book Award for Drama in 2023. Earlier this year, I was fortunate to have a full workshop production of the play at Western Washington University, which allowed me to see it on its feet before heading into rehearsals for this World Premiere production. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many excellent artists on this play’s journey crazy full-circle journey, including this wonderful cast and crew who have brought it to life so beautifully.
What inspired you to adapt The Tempest? How does it connect to the piece?
I love The Tempest and the way it uses magic and illusion to explore themes of forgiveness, loss, and reconciliation. I’ve always been drawn to the story of a man raising his daughter away from the rest of the world, knowing that one day she’ll have to grow up and find a life beyond their magical island. The Storyteller certainly strays from the source material– The Tempest is more of a jumping off point than a roadmap– but there are echoes of Shakespeare’s themes and the characters throughout the play. It’s been fun to find places to playfully wink at The Tempest while crafting my own story.
Both you and this play are “home grown” in every way––how does it feel to premiere this play in your hometown, in the space where it was first presented as a reading? Does it feel different working in Portland than elsewhere in the world?
The road leading to this production is paved with serendipity! I grew up in the Portland Metro Area, and I was a theatre kid, so I saw a lot of plays at Artists Rep. When I was in undergrad at Portland State University, the apartment I lived in was about a five-minute walk from the theatre, so–thanks to that lovely student discount!– I’d catch almost every show. I loved that Artists Rep would bring so many new and exciting plays to its stage, and it was around that time that I began to think about writing my own plays. I would sit in their audience and dream the seemingly far-fetched dream of someday writing something that would be up on that stage too– and here we are! I’ve worked in several really wonderful theatre cities, but to me, nothing compares to Portland. This feels very special.
I love that this piece is called The Storyteller, since you, its playwright, are a storyteller by trade. To you, what is the role of the storyteller in our culture? What draws you to be a storyteller?
I believe humans are wired to tell stories because we’re wired to connect. Seeing aspects of ourselves and our experiences expressed through art helps us make sense of the world and, importantly, makes us feel less alone. It’s a magical thing we do, and we all do it in our own ways. I write plays because during the times in my life when I’ve most needed to make sense of the world and feel less alone, I knew I could find what I was looking for in the audience of a theatre. My hope is that I can do that for someone else.
What has been your favorite memory from rehearsal so far?
I can’t choose, there are so many! Here are a few:
- The script calls for “the most perfect slow dance song in the history of proms,” and it was really fun to watch the cast and creative team figure out what that would be.
- Intertube choreography.
- Watching everyone’s visions come together to create pure magic for the first time in tech.
- Isaac and Sami breaking into musical numbers from Annie.
- All of the incredible insight from Luan and the cast that helped shape the script, and everyone’s patience with me as I kept bringing in new pages throughout the process.
- Hot dogs.