A: There aren't many major theatres that are particularly welcoming to new plays in New York City. When I was starting out, without an agent, I found the most responsive theatres to be Playwrights Horizons (which, five years after reading my first play, produced me), The New Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and New York Theatre Workshop.

I don't know that it works against you to live in California. If your play is good it will get attention. Because you don't live in New York City, it might have to be a little better than good to get noticed, if only because theatres are working with small budgets and it's much cheaper to work with playwrights who are closer to home.
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Q: I realize New York City is our theatre "mecca," but can a person really make a living as a playwright there? Is it a realistic goal, or is playwriting like acting . . . you have to do a lot of other things to support what you really want to do.

A: One can't really make a living as a playwright. I think Edward Albee is the only living playwright who has never written for film and managed to still support himself. Obviously most of us will never have the career of Edward Albee. The only worse thing to be other than a playwright is a poet. But I suspect poets, on the whole, are happier creatures, since there's no prospect of their ever getting rich or famous, really. Every once in a while a playwright becomes vaguely famous -- like Kenneth Lonergan in 2000 -- and that can be a dangerous thing to fantasize about.

Most playwrights teach, write for TV, or write for film -- often all three. I had two major productions of my work last year, which is a good year for any playwright, as well as several workshops and a small screenplay advance, and I was still six thousand dollars short of barely scraping by. There are grants to be had, if you can get into that loop (which is difficult). Otherwise there are always tables to wait upon and backs to rub as you type away.
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Q: Have you always lived in New York or did you move there because you wanted to work in theater? Obviously a lot of actors move there for the sake of their careers, but do you think it's as necessary for playwrights to do so?

A: I wanted to be a playwright so I went to NYU as an undergraduate so that I might have plenty of opportunity to study with the best, intern with the best, make as many connections as I could before it came time for me to make a living as a writer. I got lucky and in many ways did just that. But I also interned at Actors Theatre of Louisville, far away from New York, and that was invaluable. I also taught at a theatre camp in New Hampshire one summer, where I also learned quite a lot about myself, the theatre, and the business of theatre. It's crucial that a playwright understand this business -- because it is, first and foremost, a business.

If you want to be a professional playwright in the United States, you should probably move to New York. It's as simple as that.
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Q: If a playwright is new to New York, what can he/she do to develop contacts and get known there?

A: The best thing to do is to see a lot of plays and write your own plays and then send them along to theatres with letters that show you're familiar with what they do. Literary managers are responsible for my career -- usually they are bright, enthusiastic theatre-lovers, so take time to learn their names and their tastes: see what they program when they do readings series, for instance. When I was starting out, when I got a personal rejection from a literary manager, I would write back a handwritten note thanking them for taking the time to tell me why they were rejecting my play. Respect them and they will respect you. It takes years of work; be patient, active, and generous.
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Q: I see you've had plays produced in both London and New York. I'd like to know how those two experiences compared. Do they approach doing new plays differently in the two cities? Any differences in the audiences? (if you can compare)

A: Audiences in London go to plays like Americans go to movies. It's a spontaneous, even casual affair, owing to lower ticket prices and more diverse programming, along with a brighter critical establishment. Critics in London support new plays, new voices, new structures, see it as their duty, indeed, to do that. There is more rehearsal time, actors have far more stage experience, the theatre holds an important place in the culture... Quite simply, it's a better time there.
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Q: Do commercial pressures affect the development of new plays in New York?

A: Yes. Rewrite suggestions from dramaturgs and artistic directors have almost always to do with normalizing your play, though they will use words like "clarify," "through-line," and "focus." Writers are desperate for productions so often they take bad advice. Often new writers get paired with "experienced" directors who then normalize the play through design, direction, performance. Theatre is subscriber-driven and corporate-sponsored in New York City and the plays and productions often reflect that. In a moral universe, Maria Irene Fornes plays would get produced at our greatest theatres; in reality, most of her plays open at very small theatres outside of the mainstream. Capitalism has done untold damage to the art of theatre.
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Q: You may remember me from our E-script workshop over the summer. The exercise you asked me to do has evolved into a one-act which has been accepted at the Northwest Connecticut One-Act Play Festival for 2001.

During my development of the work, I took it to New York to be read by a group of dedicated actors, at Planet One Cafe in the East Village. It's a tiny place which I doubt could fit much more than twenty people. My wife and I, plus two friends attended this little event. Basically, for me it was a transforming event to hear two excellent actors pick up my script and cold-read it like they knew it. Their reading gave me a very clear picture of what worked and what did not. My friend, who admitted to having a good time, downplayed the importance of the event, saying I could achieve the same results without the expense of traveling to New York from Connecticut by having readings locally.

While I do intend to have local readings of my works, do you think it's worthwhile to bring them to New York audiences or am I better off to focus my resources locally until I have a product worthy of a more national audience?

A: First off, my congratulations! Secondly, I'm not exactly sure how to answer your question. Anytime you meet a genuinely good actor, kiss their feet, hold onto them for dear life, whether they live in Connecticut or New York City. The best actors in the United States live in New York City, it is true, but that doesn't mean that every actor in New York City is great, or even good. Collect your community of actors wherever you can find them.

Audiences are similar. New York City sometimes has great audiences but more often than not they're as provincial as any you might find elsewhere. Don't worry about audience, worry about collaborators. If you've been most pleased with actors you've worked with in New York City, by all means continue to come here and find them.
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Q: I'm an actor in New York City and was curious if you know of any groups doing staged readings in the area. I have been involved in many readings in the past and am looking to continue.

A: If you are looking to do readings, I would contact Ensemble Studio Theatre, which is a producing theatre but very active developmentally as well.
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Q: I notice that you write for films as well as a stage. Is that hard to do, living in NYC (I thought anyone who wanted to work in film had to move to Los Angeles). How did you end up working in both theatre and film as a writer?

A: A film producer saw a play of mine in London and gave me a screenplay deal. That's often the way it happens for playwrights.

You don't have to live in Los Angeles to work in film.
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Q: I've just decided that I definitely want to write as a career and wondered whether you had got any criticism from others who said it wasn't worth it.