Outside Providence
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Daniella Caggiano
July 25, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Director.
What was the last show you saw that really excited you, and why?
I cannot stop thinking about These Seven Sicknesses at The Flea Theater. I love spins on classic literature (I just finished writing/directing my own re-imagination of Alice in Wonderland) and I thought this was an innovative take on Sophocles’ plays performed by a stellar ensemble.
Complete this sentence: My show is the only one in FringeNYC that...?
My show is the only one in FringeNYC that will make you re-examine all of your memories. What is real, exactly? Is anything real? If you think too hard about it, it will make your mind explode… in a good way, of course!
How did you meet your fellow artists/collaborators on this show?
The playwright, Andy Clarke, and I actually met in college at Sarah Lawrence when he auditioned for my production of Sarah Kane’s Crave. I cast him on the spot and we’ve been friends/collaborators ever since. The actors and I are all part of Bedlam Ensemble, a non-profit theatre company that I’ve been with for a year now. We’ve worked on a bunch of shows together—they’re great artists and great people.
People who like which of the following recent Broadway shows would also probably like your show: THE BOOK OF MORMON, ONCE, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, CLYBOURNE PARK?
Andy said Once and he’s right, but I am going to take another angle and say Death of a Salesman. Like Salesman, Outside Providence is about a man trying to escape his tragic circumstances, confronting his own mortality and wondering if it is too late to do right by the people he loves.
Can theatre bring about societal change? Why or why not?
Absolutely. Art in general should ask us questions that we are afraid to ask ourselves but theatre specifically has the power to confront us with those questions in real time, face to face. Change on any level, be it societal or personal, needs to be sparked by a confrontation like this. It’s about putting a mirror up and saying “look at yourself”—that’s what good theatre can do.
