 I'm excited to be here. We're going to do two things. Usually I do watch and work. And today I'm going to do watch me play before watch me work. Because we're doing this, you all might know, we're doing Father Comes Home for the Wars in the beautiful Lode Theater. And Stephen Barganetti, who actually plays and sings the songs in the show, is going to come out and join me. And we're going to sing some of the songs. I've written five songs for the show and a lot of music for the show. And he's a genius. And he plays it, so it sounds always really good. But we're going to play it together as three of the songs. So I'll be waiting because he's in the middle of some great moment in there where they have to sing the stepping with the guitar or something, whatever they're doing. So we're just going to wait for him. So I'm glad you all are here. And you've all brought something to work on, or at least some questions about your creative process, or just whatever. There's always a room for whatever. So what kind of work are you doing? Those of you who haven't had a chance to either kid, watch me work at one of the many locations around the world where we've done this show. There have been several. Or seen it online, live streaming through the graciousness of HowlRound. MBJ is here from HowlRound. And you guys are at Emerson College. No, where are you guys located? Oh, here at Emerson College. Emerson College. So they're actually located in town, usually we just live stream from our remote location when we do it at the public theater. But this time, I'm like, yo, y'all are down the street. You can come down, which is great. So you guys are here. And what we do is we basically work together. After we do this a little bit here, we're going to work together. And then we're going to talk about your creative process. I know the title leads you to understand the me and the title is actually you. I know, but since this is Cambridge, Boston, all these smarties, you all get it right away. I'm just sitting here, though. I'm not going to play a note until Stephen comes. Not one note. I'm just going to arrange my hair. Very glad to be here. Last time I was here, I was doing the Gershwin's working in Bess, which we had a lot of fun and very different. That was actually a musical, if any of you happen to see it. And brilliantly done, directed by Diane Paulus, who's an artistic director here. We had so much fun. I thought, I just have to come back and do something else. So I'll write something. Just thought I wrote an enormous play. And they signed up and we did it first at the public theater. And we just finished our run in December. And then we came on up here. So it's been really great. Because he's the heart of the show. We started working on Father Come, From the Worst back in 2009, a long time ago, with Joe Bonny directing. And none of the original cast members, they've all gone on to do bigger and better things. But way back then, 2009, when we did part three in the Sheva, a little tiny theater at the public theater in New York City, there was a musician in the show. It was me. I sat on stage and played and sang. But this time, it's such a big job. It's even such a genius. So we just decided to share the excitement. I'm going to start without it. Is it 4.30? OK, so equity says they should release them. Freedom, freedom. A few more minutes? A few more minutes, yeah. It's OK, we're not, you know. One minute. We're on, yeah. Are you on Horizon Tower Time? I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. Like the song's on WBUR. I'm saying it's totally because I want to get right. WBUR the other day. And when we did an interview, it was a lot of fun. They don't do, ordinarily, they don't do music on that show. So we kind of shoved ourselves in there. By guitarists. Jamming furiously. It's fun. It's a lot of fun. Do you think I'm going to give you this? It's like waiting for Santa. No. I'm a three-year-old, and he's just beginning to talk about Santa. So I figured while he was just getting to know Santa, I would have Santa start writing him really long letters about his conduct. I was like, is Santa going to bring me? Yes, but they know it's Santa wrote you a letter today. You're a Durham. I've heard you're a very good young man, but I think you need to work on some things. So, ah. I say it anyway. So that's what we're going to start to do. I wrote the songs by myself, but it's so much more fun to play with students. Is there a story behind your guitar? Have you ever seen one? Never seen one? This was my grandfather's guitar, my grandfather, Durham. But the story is of the kind of guitar. It's a national, which means it's a resonator. And it's painted in a style called piano or piano. And back in the, it's from the 30s. And back in those days, it was thought fashionable. Do you play a guitar? I just wanted to paint, it was fashionable to paint metal objects to make them look like wood. So this is actually metal, but it's painted to look like wood. It's a lot of fun to play. I go and play with friends and stuff or strangers. And they always see me taking it out. And they're like, I don't know. And they hear it. They're like, that sounds really strange. Because they think it's wooden. But in fact, it is not. So that's, yeah. You see the nationals most often, they're silver. They're silver colored. And they have very beautiful and elaborate, whatever those carvings. They're engraved very beautifully, like with palm trees. It's much more fun with that. But yeah, so it's called Payana. It's really heavy. Yay, it's here. Okay, fabulous Stephen Bargnetti football. Thank you. Fabulous is no box. I told them you were in rehearsal. Because you're the heart of the show, they won't let you go. I don't know about all of that. We're working for the Taskmaster. Joe Bonney. Joe Bonney is a brilliant director. If you ever want to play, or anything, directed brilliantly, call up Joe Bonney. She's from Australia. So you can enjoy her accent. And she's in there, just making it more better. How are we with the live interview? It's good. I know you're fine. Should we just double check? Yeah, I think I'll start on the record. The first of the songs? Oh, I suppose. So sure, I'll just give a little intro to what we're going to do. Three songs. The first song. So the title, you know, Father Comes Home from the Wars. The play is basically about a guy who's a master. He's a slave in the 1860s. And the master says, I'll give you your freedom if you come to the war with me. Come to the war as my valet, basically. This is the Confederate side we're talking about. And so the first play deals with him thinking about that and trying to decide what to do. And spoiler alert, by the end of the first play in the trilogy, he's made a decision. And the song comes out. So I'm going to set the time out of Q&A where you can ask me questions about your work and your career. If that seems... We'll figure it out when we get there. It's very easy. People all around me. People ask them when they're... They do this. I know y'all can do it here. So that's basically what we'll do. And because we're live streaming... Thank you, Hal Brown. And should I say we're ART in the lobby of the Lowe Theater at ART in Cambridge. We're so happy to be here. And thanks, Vijay, behind the camera. Thanks, Mark, who's my sidekick. Or writing shotguns if I see the aquarium you were in. So we're going to... If we were live streaming and folks who want to tweet as questions as they often do, can tweet to... They can tweet to at American Rep. I'm going to strike him into the frame. Hi. They can tweet to... Under the light. You can find your hat. I'll just move it around. Okay. They can tweet to at American Rep. A-M-E-R-I-C-A-M-R-E-P and use the hashtag new play. They will get your questions on this thing and pass them on. Can you say it again slowly? Twitter handle is American Rep and use the hashtag new play. Great. Okay. Great. And if you forget that, then just hold your questions for when we do it in New York and we'll figure it out then. Okay. Or just watch. Probably what always happens is somebody in the audience is going to ask the very question that you wanted to ask and we'll pretend it's about you. Okay. So we're going to, first, it's going to work. We're going to set a timer when we can work and then we're going to talk. All right. Oh, yeah. And I'm going to write. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a typewriter and provided by a wonderful gentleman. Who is the guy? Mark number one. Big Mark. Who's the guy who gave us this typewriter? Do you remember? Zunis John at Papers Typewriter in Arlington. Click right on that side. Yes. So if you want a gorgeous typewriter, go to Papers. This is beautiful. So I'm going to use this. And those of you who are bothered by the noise, just pretend it's, you know, the voice of history. I hear the voice of history. Oh, yes. See the paper? Oh, yes. You may. Yes. Anybody need any paper? Look, we have lots of paper. Anybody need paper? Anything else anybody need? I don't have any. I don't share my things. All right. Ready? Okay. I'm going to set the timer for 20 minutes. Does that sound good? Does anybody still have any anxiety about working for 20 minutes? Okay, good. See, we've already done. We're already successful here. Thank you. I'll make you a good seat. It's full. How's the apples looking? Looks great. Looks like it's still life or something. Okay. Here we go. Here we go again. Here we go. Part of our play that we've just completed. And that was the action part. And now we're going to do the dialogue part. So any of you, if you do, have, I'm going to use the microphone. Have, thank you. Have, we're going to move back. No, we don't want to sit right here. What do we sit right here? We can move back. We can move back to this one. Sure. That's good. That's the music for this one. Nothing musical there. So, thank you, Mark. So, anybody who has, if you have questions about your work or your creative process, no. Yes, sir. I'll start. Once I'm clear about what it is I'm doing, it's okay. And I can start to kind of think visually and write out of that. And what do you do when you can't get clear? Yes. Excellent question. What's your name? Bill. Thank you, Bill. That's a brilliant, brilliant question. And I'm sure it's a question a lot of us have. It's a question I have, like, every day. Yeah. So what I find is helpful, and maybe this will be helpful to you, and I'm sure you do it already, just put the time in. You know? I mean, do you put the time in on a regular, I don't even know what your work you're talking about, but what kind of work do you, are you talking about in this case? You guys have written plays, like a lot of plays. And I haven't done it so much lately, and I'm working on a film now. Okay. Okay. Great. So that's very good. It's very good. I find it very helpful to put the time in, regardless of my level of clarity. See? And I really, that's why I brought this. I mean, I have, anybody who knows me, they come over to my apartment or whatever it is. See, I like ten of these, for different things. But I have, it's not my phone. It is an actual timer, designated for just that purpose. And I said it, it really would, I'm not feeling very clear about what I'm working on. I said it, and I put some time in. And depending on your schedule, you know, you have responsibilities, family, another job, or whatever. You know? You might not be able to put the time in at the same time every day. Okay? Some books say, put the same time, you know. Do what you can, but really, if it feels like, remember we were scratching that table, it was actually great that that happened. It feels like that sometimes to work. You know? Ten minutes is a good amount of time. If you can't stand ten minutes, five minutes is a really good amount of time. Or twenty minutes is a good amount of time. And sometimes you just sit there and maybe write in your journal or turn on your computer and just, I'm not clear yet, but, you know, you're in the wilderness, basically. Which is a very important part of the creative process. So celebrate that you're in the wilderness. Because that's where everything is, man. You know what I'm saying? If you're all like a paved road, you know what I mean? It would be like, huh, right? But you are in the wilderness, and that's the part that we fight against. Darn, you know? Something's wrong. It's difficult. I'm not enough clearing. Nah, you're in the thick of it. You're in the bushes. Yeah. Remember? Why do we fight things? We beat the bushes? That's for the shit, man. It's hot in the bushes, man. There you are. You're in the bushes. Yay! So set your timer, you know? I do. And I'm in the bushes and in the wilderness a lot in my work. You know? I find myself in the wilderness a lot. So I just set the timer, and I make sure I put the timer in. And the clarity comes. You know, Lewis and Clark, you know, they got there. They had a lot of help, too. And you'll find that there could be guides and helpers in one way. Yeah. We just, yeah. And just know that you're not alone. I'm right there with you, man. I will radio shack at the time. Yes, ma'am, right there. Thank you. I don't know if you work with a typewriter all the time, but is there something about the sound of the typewriter that works as a goad for you? Because for me, you know, sometimes when you seek with someone, you want to be in sync with their heartbeat. Sometimes you don't want to be, but it just happens naturally. Right. I felt that way, working in the room. Like, I felt like when the typewriter stopped, I wanted to take a breath. So, yeah. I use a variety of things. And when I do my show in New York, I use a typewriter. Sometimes I have an iPad or my phone or a pad and paper, you know. So I use a number of different things. You know, the regular computer. But for the show, I find it very helpful to use the typewriter, yeah, as sort of the music, you know, to score for me. But sometimes I will, you know, get out doing this play and use my iPad. But yeah, it's a beautiful thing. Do you have a typewriter? I don't. It's great. I mean, even if you have one and you use it just sometimes, you know, we can restart the art of letter writing. You know, it's great. I mean, let it actually open a piece of paper that's been sent through the hands of possibly disgruntled postal workers. Possibly. Or wonderful postal workers because, you know, they're awesome people. And to open this a letter or write letters to yourself. The act, it's a physical act. I mean, I love it, augmenting my writing practice with a variety of physical activities. Guitar playing, it's the same kind of thing. I'm doing this in a typeness. And you're thinking with both sides of your, you're working with both sides of your brain, you know, instead of just doing it. So it's fun just to get one. They're not expensive. And where was that stored? He was a typewriter. It's in the army. And he has a variety of beautiful. This is, I was kind of beginning to covet. Can I take that home? I see people they notice. It's stunning. This is a gorgeous one. Anybody else? Yes. Yeah. So that's connected to like labels and compartmentalizing. So I'm rehearsing for a play that I'm the writer and the performer. Oh cool. And I'm just having trouble separating but I'm getting to a point now where I'm like, should I even separate? And what's the point of it? Because I was surprised to see that you played guitar had no idea. Yeah. So when you're playing guitar, are you thinking, here I am, the musical director, oh wait, don't think about, you know what I mean? I just think like a while ago before I even started doing theater, like professionally I was just kind of like, oh yeah, like I just do what I can do, it's whatever. Right. But now, when you're in like production, it's kind of like, okay, are we talking about the script over here? Are we talking? You know what I mean? So I'm trying to figure out inner and also outward how to figure, how to like manage. Yeah. That's a great question for those of us who do many different things. And we all do many different things. I mean, you're doing it in the professional world, but we all, you know, if you're a parent, if you have another job to augment your other job, whatever that is, so we're all always doing different things. I think it's important to learn to distinguish and to learn to distinguish when you need to distinguish. So when I'm up here playing guitar, I'm not thinking about anything. Actually, it's strange, you know. I'm not thinking about anything. I'm just up here sort of letting it move. But when I'm sitting down, I don't know, the other night I went to blow some eggs and I got to writing in the, I mean, I never burned boiled eggs. I was like writing and going, ah, the eggs are boiling and the pot was boiling and it was sad. So learn to, when to be mindful about many things and learn just when to focus and let it flow through you. If you're in production and you're in a production room and they have a question about the music, you have to put on your other hat and go down there and answer the question. And Father comes home from the wars. You know, Stephen Bargainetti is our musical director, so I do not have to do that, yay. And Joe Bonnie is our director, so I have to do that, yay. And we have fabulous actors, yay. So all I do is sit around and go boo, boo, boo, boo, boo. And just make sure the words are being said in the right order. You know, yeah, but learn to, so if you're always distinguishing and always splitting, then you're not going to be as effective, but you do need to split and distinguish in some types of the day. I'm sort of following up on that. I'm curious how you let one art form beat the other. like I get the distinguishing part, but then how does the music feed the writing feed the, how do those nourish one another? Well, how about you? I mean, do you do other art? Do you do more than, are you a more than one? Are you a hyphenate? Slash? I'm not a wannabe. You're a wannabe, a wannabe. No, no, but really, what are we working on just now? It was actually, well, interestingly, I was actually listing all the artistic endeavors that I have, I'm not personally. It was sort of free-writing about, uh-huh, what's preventing me from doing... I'm sort of in my own life transition having just finished being an executive director. Thank you. But continuing to work as a consultant, so I'm trying to find my way to more artistic, yeah. And what's keeping you from... Well, what did you say? What did you say, journal? What did you say? What's the oracle saying? The oracle knows. The oracle knows? Well, I was really questioning what prevents me. And I got into how wired I am to be in another way. I'm sort of wired to be an executive. I'm not wired to be an artist. What prevents me from diving into it. All that, that's exactly what I was getting to. And sort of deluding myself that I don't have the time, but I actually do have the time. I like it like that. But those are all really important things to talk about or at least touch on. The way we convince ourselves that we shouldn't do what we really, really do want to do, really. Yeah. You know, the way you say you're wired to be an executive, which means that you're telling yourself really that you're not wired to be an artist. Even though my work requires a lot of design and a lot of like that. Well, it's a natural thing. I mean, for several years you've been praised and lauded as an executive. So you're in the habit of being... It's just the development of nurturing of habits. You just have to nurture those habits. How do we nurture those habits that are... We're not in the habit of nurturing, really. Especially when we have a chief success in another field. I mean, I don't know many writers. I know some, but not many who actually write songs and perform them. I don't know many who play guitars. I don't know many. It requires a real desire and love to say, I'm going to play music too. I also write novels. I'm going to write novels too. People will go, no, no, no, don't. You're a playwright. You know what I mean? You're wired to be a playwright. Says who? Yeah, right. You know, I'm in the habit of doing that. So you have to just encourage yourself. And it really starts with yourself. And if you start looking toward, you know, spouse or friendship circle or whatever, give us the encouragement. I think we're asking the wrong source. You have to ask for yourself to encourage yourself. And you encourage yourself by putting the time in every day. I mean, really, that's what supporting... It's just 20 minutes a day. Just sit down and write your journal. That's all. That's all you need to do. And it'll start to... There will come a point where it reaches its hand out to you. It says, hold my hand. Come on, let's go. You know, everything I've ever written, I put the time in on the lost. I'm in the wilderness. I put the time in at a certain extent. It extends its hand to me. I said, okay, kiddo, come on. And we fly. Have you seen Cocktoed Beauty and the Beast? You know, they fly. Anyway, you've got to see it just for the answer. They fly in the end. You know, it's really cool. Your work, your creative work, the work you long to do will reach its hand out to you and say, come on, let's go. You know, let's fly now. If you put the time in, I think, sometimes it will strike you, you know, you'll be in the middle of just wanting your own business. You'll grab you, but, you know, if you want the consistent sort of companionship of your own self and a meditation practice, put it in a plug for a meditation practice. If you don't have one, it's still January. If you have time. You know, ten minutes. If you don't feel comfortable sitting on the floor, you know, cross-legged and like, you know, full lotus, it's okay. In a chair, you know, we'll do it with a timer again. People will just, they'll go, I don't use a timer. I just, you know. No, no, no. Meditation practice. So, just put the time in and let those things come up. Oh, you're not supposed to be, yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard, I've heard of, people tell me I wasn't supposed to be a writer. Oh, well. Maybe I'm not supposed to be a writer. Maybe I'm supposed to be a ballet dancer. Yeah. In the Lion King, my son calls these by Lion King boots. Yeah. You weren't signaling me. No, we have one, though. Oh, okay. Well, gentlemen here, and then we'll go to you. Great. Oh, wait, this needs to be going on Twitter. We'll have to wait. So we've talked a lot about time, but I'm like, I was struck here about space. Like I was hauling out to a space to work in and like it took me longer to get here than the entirety of this whole, you know, event is going to be, you know. So I was struck by like the idea like I'm coming to a space and like how do I create that space outside of this space? Because I don't think I've written really since the last time you did this at Emerson or since I was in workshops. I'm so glad you're here. Yes, of course. I wouldn't miss it. And I'm about to do a big move actually to another location and I want to be able to create a space where it's more creatively generous. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's a good, that's a good, just, I'll just make a big global statement which will cover part of this. Anything that tells you that you shouldn't be doing what you know in your heart you really want to do. You know, something beautiful is not going to hurt anybody. You know what I'm talking about. It's any voice that tells you you shouldn't be doing you don't have the space you're hardwired, you're lost. Bullshit. Just because it will come up that that voice manifests itself in a variety of ways in a way that is best suited to get to your shit. Push it away. You know, someone told me that you're hardwired you're not hardwired but that's not going to work with me but they might tell me something else is going to get to me. So yeah, your space isn't is inappropriate for you. That's going to get to you. So, know that you can find the space and I make space I have a three-year-old and we live in a very small apartment. So, how do you make the space? I don't have my own, you know, gorgeous office with a, you know, servant who brings me tea or whatever. I don't know what I'm writing. I don't know what I'm writing. I write or, you know, no. Like, you mean think of though Jane Austen, right? Didn't she write? I read that she wrote, you know, she kind of would hide it in her lap when folks, because she didn't want folks to get onto the fact she's a brilliant writer. All throughout the ages, you know, I think of those slave narratives or people writing in secret where it was outlawed or things like that. We can find you a place. I mean, what's helpful, what's helpful is to get yourself things that might help you create a book. Get a timer that's not your phone. Okay? This is dorky looking on purpose. It's not cutesy. It's not expensive. And it's not my phone. Okay? Get some. I have them here. I won't show them to you because they're dirty. Get some earplugs. Some earplugs. Not the earbuds. Earplugs. You know, they're orange or some dorky color. They sell them in the drugstore. Suddenly with this and your earplugs, any Starbucks is an amazing place to write. It's quiet. Suddenly quiet. Get yourself a, you know, if you like to drink coffee. You know, know a little something. Okay, there you go. An adult beverage. And you go and set up at a table. You know, a lot of my writing I do in public places. You know, diners are great. You know, when the roommates, if you have roommates, when they're gone, when my son is in daycare, my writing period used to start at 5 a.m. I have a 20 minute writing time. It starts at 7 a.m. in my notebook. And I've taught him when he sees me at the desk, doing this, mommy's writing. I'm not allowed to talk to her. And so he says, but I can write with her. Right? And I say, yes honey, come on, sit next to me. And we write together. He's left handed. So he has to sit like, but you know, so you teach your, you teach your roommates and the people you live with in love. My writing time is this. When you see me writing, understand that I'm, so there's a little bit of work that has to go into it. It's totally doable. And just tell yourself, you know, like they used to say in old days, you know, ain't nobody going to turn me around. I get like, you know, I mean, get cool with it. Get real with it. You know, you can do it. Because you've come all this way. You've made it this far. The world is counting on you. Don't we realize that? We do realize that, right? The world is depending on us to do our thing. The world is depending on us. I mean, imagine, if everybody did like beautiful, loving, wonderful things that came from their heart and weren't held back and felt like they had to, really, I mean, the world is depending on us to do our wonderful things. The world is beautiful things. And when we liberate ourselves from our shit, others around us are liberated too. Our kids are liberated. Our friends are liberated. Our colleagues are encouraged. It's a good thing. So it's not just a selfish kind of thing that you only do it yourself. Yourself meaning the biggest, which is everybody, even out there. Speaking of, yes. Yeah. This is actually a semi-similar question. It comes from Molly, who is watching from Dallas. Molly in Dallas! I know Molly in Dallas. Oh, you do? Yes, I do. She wants to ask, when you're in a new place, how do you keep your routine? Oh. So good. Well, Molly, I have to give a little, five-second talk about Molly, who is a wonderful writer and director. And I initially met her because we worked on the show, Watch Me Work, in New York City. And she most recently was the assistant director on Fargo from Stop for the Wars. Traveled to Dallas to direct a production of Down in Dallas. So very excited. So Molly, keep on. She's in a new place. She's got a lot of responsibilities and she's wondering how to keep her routine. Put your foot down. And smile. Both things. So you have to be a hard ass by saying, this is my schedule. This is what I'm doing. You're like with my son. I mean, he doesn't like, oh, Molly's writing! You know, he's like, mommy's writing. It's a game. He gets his paper and we write together. I get my writing done, though. I get my writing done. In the morning I do yoga. He comes in. Mommy's doing yoga. I'm going to do some yoga, too. He says. He does some yoga, too. But he knows the routine. And he's three. So we can teach ourselves, okay, so maybe in the morning you want to get up and go running. I don't know. Molly runs marathons. So that's important to keep up running. Just know that you're worth it. And if you don't think so, just believe me. You don't have to believe yourself. Just believe me. Guys, you're worth it. We're all worth it, right? You set your schedule. Decide on what your schedule is. My schedule, I get up in the morning and I meditate. Then I do 20 minutes of yoga. And then I do 20 minutes of writing. Then I get my son dressed and I take him to school. Then I come back and I do more writing. But that's scheduling around a three-year-old. Okay. Some of us, we don't have three-year-olds. Just set your schedule. Write down a list of what your schedule is. It sounds simple, but just stick to it. I don't know. It's hard. I'll text you, and I'll talk to you. Yes. I had a question about voice and influence. Yes. So I read a lot, and I think that reading makes me a better writer. Yes. But when I read something and like it and start writing, because I'm inspired to, I kind of start writing similarly to what I'm reading. And so I feel like my own voice is getting lost in it. And I wonder how to avoid that influence without, you know, suffocating that inspiration as well. Mm-hmm. Suffocating the inspiration you get from any other writer. Yeah. Right. I'm really ashamed. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I make a radical idea. Just to try. So are you working, are you writing something right now? Are you in the middle of writing something? Mm-hmm. And are you reading things as well? Mm-hmm. There are many different from that. Stop reading. Okay. Radical. Yeah. Stop reading. For a little while, take a break. Yeah. Take a little bit of a break. If you, because you've identified what you considered to be a problem, right? So stop it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Just to let it go. Because I think you've identified what you considered to be a problem. And the reason why you keep reading, it sounds to me, because you believe that your source of inspiration comes from that thing you read. Which I will tell you is not correct. Right. See? So how can I stop breathing? That's my inspiration. That's my breath. Right there in that book, that novel, that wonderful graphic novel, that poem, that song, whatever. That's where your breath comes from? No. Your breath comes from you. It comes from inside you. It's not to say that you're not influenced. We're not all influenced by the world and fill in the blank, right? But you're, it's you. It's you. So let go of that. Know that your inspiration, your breath, comes from you. Something that you make and generate and listen in rather than out for a while. You see? And then when you come to the end, you're finished with your thing. Then go and gorge and have a feast. You know what I mean? And then let it go again and come over here and write your thing. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay? Good question. Yes. So when you're writing a character whose experience is radically different than yours, whether they are from a different place or they look different, or they're a woman and you're a man, something that I struggle with is making that character unique and true to who they are. Right. And my, there's like, having their past informed them and their actions and how they talk and speak. Yeah. And then there's caricatures and weird stuff that's wrong and weird. Yes. And my baseline that a couple different teachers have given me is spend as much time with them and learn as much as you can about them. Talk to a person whether maybe they're black, maybe they're Russian, maybe they're Polish, whatever. Right. Get to know what their voice is. Right. But a thing that I struggle with is there and I was wondering, can you speak about that? I struggle with that. And like, what do you do when you're writing someone whose experience is really different than yours? Yeah. Without being like fake. Right. Right. Right. Right. I would say that it's a great question and it's a question that we, you know, if you want to, some people just write about themselves, you know, they're out of time. They're out of biography over and over and over and some of us don't. And I'm one of the writers. I don't. One of my favorite writers, Shakespeare, as far as I know, Gavons. He might have been, you know, Hamlet, but he wasn't Hamlet and Lear, and the third, and him and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, and the eighth. Right? You know what I'm saying? So he was writing about people who were not Hamlet. They all might be like white guys, but that's kind of like not, you know, they're not like Hamlet. Right? Yeah. So, and I take a lot, I learn a lot from reading Hamlet. And what I find is that the, oh, what makes a character isn't often what people think. You have to get really specific. Like in Fodden's Home, there's the Colonel. There's a white guy in the 1800s. You know? I didn't do like research. I just listened. Because a part of me, because he was a character, one of my characters, there must be a part of me that is a part of him. It's like the Shakespeare model. He's old. Right? I mean, there's a part of me that's a part of him. We're connected. And what is that? That's what I wrote about. From that understanding. From that place of compassion and interest and love and wonder. You know? I was leaning in to him. So I was listening to him. Really listening to him. I would, I would say that if I wanted to write about, I think about going to talk to someone who is of that particular group because, forgive me. You know, I think about, I would write about people in Ireland. And I would push them, the experience is so wide and diverse that that's not a guarantee that you're going to get, you know, to the heart of it. What is the story you want to tell and how does the character fit into it and read more Shakespeare? Do you read a lot of Shakespeare? There you go. So reread them. And it's Wonder Dickens also. Same thing. Shaw. You know? Shaw? Shaw. I thought you said sure. Shaw. Oh, that's right. Y'all talk funny up here. Shaw. I'm the other one who talks funny. You know the other one who talks funny? But yes, Shaw, exactly. So there are, anybody else can think of any writers who were like, who wrote beautifully about people who were not them. And that's the thing. Who are we? That's the question that I keep asking. I mean, people say like, what are you plays about? My plays are who are we and what are we doing here? Who are we really? You know, you look in the mirror and you think I am and you can list and the census, the second box is really, but really, who are we? You know? And if I say, yeah, I'm this box, this box, this box, and I'm limiting myself. And I'm just a playwright and I'm limiting myself. Not just a playwright, but, you know, a playwright. I'm limiting myself. But if I start thinking I am here and what else, you know? So, but you have to be very respectful also when you write about people who are not you. Yeah. Incredibly respectful. You have to come out it with making more love than you would come out it if you were writing about the members of your own family. It actually requires more love and more compassion and more muscles. More craft muscles. Artistic craft muscles. Yes. So, I've got a question. When, when you're writing, you have lots of ideas that you want to incorporate into it. When you have a new idea it's new and shiny and exciting. How do you find which ideas are, are best to be filled out, which ideas to pursue, which stories are worth telling and which are, can, are just shiny for the moment and not worth that. Right. So, you have, it sounds like you have a lot of ideas here, a lot of ideas you're trying to figure out each one to put your energy into for a period of time. Exactly. So, that doesn't become a fashion of incoherence. Right. Right. So, it's not, you're not trying to write or do anything for once. Yeah. Which one, I mean, which one do you like the most? Which one calls to you the most? Which one has the most heat? Which one feels like the most fun? You know, go where the fun, you know, Joseph Campbell, you know, the great writer, follow your list, you know. Right. We've all heard that. What does it mean? I don't know what it means. I've never sitting back here thinking about it. Just go for the one that you like the best. Write them down maybe in your notebook and think, well, which one do I really, really, really, really, really want to do? Can I fit? Which one do I want to have like 20 pages of by the end of the month? And this one can be second. This can be third. Think of like an airport, you know, planes on the runway. They're not all going to say, I want to watch. No, they're going to line up. So, put them in a line. Order them. You know? And be patient with yourself. And if you work on one and it loses its, maybe you might want to start working on another one. I would suggest you try the finished one. That's the key. You know? Work to it. Go to the end. And then maybe start another one. So, you have like first drafts of maybe four or five different things and then second drafts of four or five different things. That's the way to work. Does that make sense? Absolutely. And know that you don't have to finish it like do a full, complete, ready to send to the publisher draft of something. You know, you can do a first draft of something, then move on to another project and do a first draft of something else. Move back to the first project. Do a second draft of that one. And jump back and forth between two or three different projects that way. I do that a lot. I've done work on several different things. In rotation, I call the lazy Susan. You know? Mom might have one of those things in the kitchen. For the dim sum. I don't know. Food. Do you got it? Yes. So, you've mentioned that we have to push against the boys that tells us that we cannot do things in a better time. Where do you get the strength to find that confidence? At this moment, when you do something, you can do it. There's other things that feel like they're moving forward. What do you find the strength to be like, no, I can do this? That's a great question. Where do you find the strength? What's your name? Aida. Aida? Aida. Oh, like the opera. Yes. Oh, wow. My dad loved the opera. Aida. So, where do you find the strength to push against or to work past that voice that says, ah, shouldn't you be doing something else? Or your hard wire to be, you know, whatever. You ought not to be doing this. It's, again, it's a habit. It's so simple. See, we think that it's just this big enormous, oh, my God, thing that you have to be born with or whatever, have to have the right teachers or if you didn't go to the right school, ah. It's just a habit. It's just a habit. So, you get in the habit of, like, what habits do you have already? Yeah. Good habits. Um, I cook and I play guitar, too. You play guitar? Okay. Yes. Okay. So, you're in the habit every day of playing the guitar? I'm fine, too, yeah. Okay, great. Okay, so you're in the habit every day of playing the guitar, we'll start. Or at least every other day. Yeah. So, the development of habits, it's a transferable skill. Do you go to school? Do you go to class? Do you go to, what do you do? What do you do? You're in here. In the drama, through the program. In the drama? So, you're really smart. So, you do. Oh, no, you're in the habit of reading texts. Yes. Just know that your habits are transferable. A good habit is a transferable skill. The development of a good habit is a transferable skill. You see what I mean? So, it's like someone who needs to go to the gym, for example. And they don't really want to go to the gym. But they're really great and every day they get up and they play their guitar for an hour. They develop the ability to stick to something and work hard. You can transfer that onto something else. So, just put the time in. And don't, again, sorry, this world time is a challenge. This timer, or one kind of like it, digital is nice. You know? Just plug it in. You know? But, and again, it's not your phone. It's not your phone. You get into the habit of sitting down and dealing with that voice that tells you you shouldn't even do something else. You get into the habit of dealing with it. Just like, if you read, you read text. You're a dronterdy student. Shit. More power chief. Shit. I've got to read. Oh my god. Oh my god. You know? You get into the habit of like, grrr. I'm going to read this and underline. Make sense of this idea or whatever. Whatever you guys do. Whatever. But, but you know what I'm saying? You've developed that skill. All you do is just develop the habits. It's not like magical. Or it is actually, it's magical. It feels miraculous. But it's a, like the loaves and the fishes. I think he just had a knife and cut things up and everybody shared. It was called a miracle. You know what I mean? It's just, it's just, it's manageable. You know? Sure. I mean, every writer I know, every artist I know has those voices that come up. Every, every professional person, lawyers, artistic directors, doctors, everybody I know who, you know, is somebody in their job. You know what I mean? Or has achieved some kind of success. Still has voices of you ought not do this. Who do you think you are? Blah, blah, blah. But we're in the habit of continuing. Practice. We practice. Continuing every day as often as we can. And that's something that everybody can learn. So, there you go. Good question. That's a really good question. Anybody else? Yes. So, I'm working on a play. Yes. And I have a bunch of scenes. Yeah. That I like. Okay. But I can't, I'm having trouble figuring out a way to make them into a thing. And it's not just scenes. So when you're working on a play, how do you find that way to connect what you have to make a fluid piece? So, okay. Let's go. First, what's your name? Eva. Eva? Oh, Eva. Oh, he's got many names today. So, is it a story in the traditional sense? It's more like a collection of scenes that I'm trying to find a through-life. Like, I'm not sure if they should exist in the same universe. Right. Right now it's kind of the theme of interactions between strangers. Uh-huh. Okay. Yeah. So, and you think, I want to have an order for these scenes. I want to have it to sort of move in a certain way. I want to have it. So, physically, where do the scenes, I mean physically mean, you type them out? Mm-hmm. Okay. And where do they exist now that you type them out? Physically. Not like, on the stage, they would be set in. But right now, if you were to hold them in your hand, what would you want to? Like, where the... A paper? Oh, no, they're not printed. They're not printed? No. Okay. So, where are they? In Dropbox. In Dropbox. Okay. Okay. But are they printable? Yes. Okay. Great. Okay. This, no, right, right. This is, it's interesting that you're having this issue and so, right. So, you print them out, right? Are they really long scenes or relatively short? Okay. Do you like colors or are you more of a playing white paper person? I like colors. Great. That's what I figured. That's what I figured. I was guessing. Okay. So, okay, so you might do a couple of different things. You might go to the store and get, so print them out first. You get them, you know, printed, right? So they're printed. And then you go to the the store or to your nearest stationery closet that allows you to help her. And... Well, I mean, you know, I don't know where they are, but you borrow or borrow, you know, some, either, some index cards, fairly, you know, the large kind, you knock them three, three by five, oh, those are good. But if you're right in scenes, maybe you want something a little bigger or try the smallest, depending. And you, you have a wall in your home? Yes. That you can, I'm just asking. You might, look at it, like a year and you can't put anything on the wall. I don't know. I don't know. It might be out in the land or something. And so, can you put, can you put, like, pushpins on the wall? Yeah. Great. Okay, so, what you can do is take the scenes, you've got them physical, they're physical, because you're trying to sort of come back down to Earth with them, instead of having them all in Dropbox. They're all in the clouds. Good. So, we're gonna go land, okay? So, you're gonna write down what happened in each scene on one of these colored cards. So, you take your index cards. You write down, like, Jane is doing a headstand and mark, or not mark, we have too many marks in here, right? Joe Anna comes in and she does the dance of the Seven Veils. Whatever the situation. I won't. Okay? And you write that down in your own handwriting, like a quick blip of the scene, like a snapshot, right? And you put them, you start putting them on the wall. So, you involve your body, touching them, tactile, old form of, you know, old school, right? And you start, and you have them up on your wall and you can start to move them around, right? And see, like, oh, maybe this is, it'll be a great way to start and play. I'm gonna take this one. Oh, cool. Oh, I think we need a song there. I'm gonna write a song. I'm gonna write a song about Joe Anna. There. Right? Not visions of Joe Anna by Bob Dylan, but another song. And then I'm gonna put, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So you start to get physical with it. Right? Because it sounds like it's very beautiful, but very sort of up in the cloud, right? And that, and see if it starts to come together like that. Or at least it'll be fun to work on like that, you know? I'm sure, try that and see. It might be fun. I mean, if it doesn't work, oh well. But you will have some really nice colored cards. Anybody else? So, a follow-up. So, a follow-up. Why is it important to stop after 20 minutes? Oh, well, it's just, you know, measurable. 20 minutes for here, you know, when I'm at home, it's longer. This morning, I wrote for, you know, for an hour. But I had to stop after an hour because I had to come to rehearsal. So, 20 minutes at home when I'm at home with my son, because, you know, he's three and it's a manageable time. You know, that's the important thing. That's a great question. It's important about time. We don't want to set ourselves a, you know, I'll write for five hours. I have all weekend. I'll put in 10 hours a day. And then we freak the fuck out. We're screaming, running, you know, to the streets, you know what I mean? Because, right, who in their right mind, I mean, if you've been having difficulty writing, then it is a huge, enormous goal. So I set myself manageable goals. I have the same. I just lower the bar. That's how I get my work done. Really? Just lower the bar. Oh, it's too high. Okay. And it's all, it's all way flat. Oh, I can walk behind in success. Really. A lot of days, it's just like that. I just keep lowering the bar until I can manage to do something. And something gives me encouragement to continue. And I continue, and I get in the habit of continuing. Then I feel, oh, good, I got something done today. So much of my work. I'd say almost, you know, everything I've written or made has been like that. Always in the wilderness. Always lost. Always taking little tidies that's most of the time. And this, you know, they were more in rehearsal, so it's like, because here they are, they're working, and I'm just dancing around. But yeah, so 20 minutes is manageable, you know, for me today. Anybody else? Yes, in the back. Do you have any thoughts on new, a form that's not really your style of writing or performing and like going into like new territory? Any advice for... Yeah, yeah, that's what you wanted to be. Can you be specific? Yeah, so, I'm a director. And I'm working on a devised piece coming up. And I've worked on devised pieces before, but I'm much more invested in the actual creation this time. So a lot of the work I've done previously has been more of like a traditional in a sense narrative approach to it. So I'm kind of looking to explore new territory. Like non-traditional narrative? Yeah. Like, like a less traditional narrative and also like the new kind of collaborative process of the devised work. Right. So it sounds like you have a team already. Yes. A team assembled. Yeah. And where are you sticking for? It sounds like you're like off to the races. Um, we're off to the races. I guess my thought is that I'm having a hard time translating, like, a lot of shapes and I'm having a lot of hard time translating the shapes into the stage picture. Because I'm used to, like, how I can visualize things in terms of structure. And since it's a new structure, I'm having a hard time kind of getting over that gap. So in terms of shapes, like, what's kind of shape? Like this, like, square? Like something else? More like mapping things out. Like mapping? Yeah. Like mapping things out and like visualization. So you want, and what you'd like to have when you're done with your device workers on stage, what would you like it to look like? Or be? Sure. Yeah. So I guess that's kind of where my question kind of follows, like, how do I explore that new territory? Because right now, it's existing in my mind as, like, layered things on top of each other, but not necessarily a performance. So I kind of understand what structure I perhaps want it to be, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to communicate that to the stage. So I know you're working with a writer, a director, a dancer, a choreographer, musician? Yeah. Not really a writer, but more so like an actor. I know you're doing most of the quote-unquote writing. Yes. You're doing most of the writing. Yeah. So it's your job, because the writer's job is really, you've got to lay that foundation. Right. And we've got to create the foundation that will really, when the other people enter into it, inspire lots of confidence. And give them, you know, a nice place to sort of be. Even if it's a device where they do appreciate what someone has done, the basic ground plan. I would say, again, you know, index cards on the wall. You know what I mean? And just start writing out. My guess, this is a guess, is that do you like, when you return to it? Challenge yourself and be okay with being wrong? Yeah. Because sometimes we try to think we want to be right. You know, it's hard, especially if you're, you know, really smart. Drama terms are wonderfully intelligent. You guys read a lot. You know, you want to really try it in a way that, you know, I wouldn't want to be. You know, because it's my, you know a lot. There's a lot going on out there, like that. As a writer, as an artist, I don't mind when I don't get it right. You know what I mean? Because oftentimes I don't know the right answer. I know just the feeling of it. You know? So when you're trying to think it's very important to be okay with being wrong. Or be okay with being not right. Okay? Maybe what's holding you back is now you want to get it right. Yeah. Yeah, I guess, yeah, good. So just be okay. You know, get yourself some index cards. Have, you like colors? You're working for your colors. Have fun. Get yourself some index cards. You know, get a big, huge hunk or pack of those wonderful ones that are like green on one side and yellow on the other side. You know, woo-hoo-hoo, like that. And just put them all over your wall. And just start writing words. Because words are things that anchor, or shapes, if you want. Write things down and just get a whole bunch of pushpins. Maybe a big bulletin board or put them right on your wall in your home or your yurt. And a yurt is also home. But you know what I'm saying? You know, and just start sticking, the music that you like. I thought it was your favorite song of the moment. Don't say something by Taylor Swift. I'm going to. Taylor Swift? Never, never again. Oh, no. Okay, okay. Well, put on whatever you love. Put it on. And start to tack these things on the wall. And start writing out ideas and notions and words and start tacking them on the wall. And it's okay if you don't get it right. It's really okay. Okay. Thank you Molly from Dallas. Thank you all from Dallas. All people from all over who are watching. Thanks. And we're sending how around and DJ behind the camera. Thank you guys for coming and watching work and watching play. Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey,