Brotherhood: The Hip Hopera
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Sebastien Heins
November 10, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Actor, Playwright, Producer, Composer..
What type of theater do you like most to work on?
I most like working on theater that's gonna challenge me. / From new devised physical theater to Pentheus stuck up in a tree. / As long as risks are being taken in rehearsal and onstage, / I'm happy being uncomfortable and pushed, no matter what's on the page.
Why is this piece a solo play (rather than a multi-actor play)?
Brotherhood is too epic to be told by a full cast. / Too many characters to play, sets to build, and shifts from present to past. / One actor can carry an audience solely on imagination,
/ And Brotherhood thrives on one man's switches from tragedy to elation.
In your own words, what do you think this show is about? What will audiences take away with them after seeing it?
The show is essentially about brothers. / And it's about parents who were once lovers. / And it's about growing old all alone. / Audiences will come away with the need to pick up the phone.
Which famous solo performer has been most inspirational to you: Spalding Gray, John Leguizamo, Lily Tomlin, or Whoopi Goldberg?
Respect to your choices, don't mean to botch, / But my biggest inspiration is Mr. Danny Hoch.
Theater is a necessary ingredient in democratic societies. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
Theater is a shapeshifter's sport. / It's for audience transformation, and the performing sort's. / How better to air dirty laundry and celebrate difference, / Than to congregate in the theater's dark cathartic silence?
