The Eyes of Others
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Angela Rodel
September 5, 2012
What is your job on this show?
translator.
Where were you born? Where were you raised? Where did you go to school?
I was born in Milwaukee, raised in a suburb of Minneapolis, went to school at Yale and UCLA before ending up in Bulgaria.
Complete this sentence: My show is the only one opening in NYC this fall that...?
gives you a chance to see contemporary Bulgarian theater minus jetlag!
In your own words, what do you think this show is about? What will audiences take away with them after seeing it?
The difficulty people have connecting and communicating in contemporary society, distracted as we are by materialism and vanity. But all wrapped up in a pretty funny package, so hopefully the audience will leave with a grin, if a sheepish one.
Which famous New Jerseyite would like your show the best: Snooki, Bruce Springsteen, Thomas Edison?
I've gotta go with the Boss here - the absurdism would go over poor Snooki's head (although she'd probably identify perfectly with the mouthy shopgirl) and probably irk Mr. Edison the sober scientist. Plus, Bruce would probably like to see the guys in suits suffering existential angst.
Theater is a necessary ingredient in democratic societies. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
Absolutely - one indication of this is how Bulgarian theater has flourished in the twenty years since the fall of communism. Theater and the arts in general offer that necessary distance to see ourselves as we are, shouldn't be or could be.
