On October 1st, three short plays will be debuting as part of Manhattan Repertory Theatre's Short Play Development Project. These three plays, with the provocative titles Swollen, Wasted, and B in Oblivion were written by K. Krombie, Conor Guzman, and Ann Gillespie respectively. Here, StageBuddy contributor K. Krombie discusses directing a self-penned piece.
You adapted SWOLLEN from a short story that you wrote. What was that process like and do you view the narrative differently now that it has assumed a new form?
The process was a lot faster as I didn't have to dream up the plot and characters. However, the theater has a lot more restrictions than the imagination can provide when writing literary fiction. But the short story monologues, I believe, serve the theater dynamic well. A lot of the dialogue was tweaked and the action rewritten. Once I'd cast the play, the actors brought nuances and interpretations to the rehearsal process that I hadn't before considered. Good casting is essential and collectively, they have enriched the text, so yes, consequently SWOLLEN has taken on a new form.
Did you always intend to direct the play yourself?
No. I have directed before but at first I wanted to see what someone else might do with the material. The director I approached called the material “blasphemous”. Ha ha! It was this reaction that gave me the incentive to do it myself.
The way this play handles religious symbolism, it is bound to get varied reactions from its audience. What do you hope that people will take away from this production and what do you hope that they don't?
I'm hoping they'll take away a nice souvenir for the imminent papal visit. SWOLLEN deals with the intimacy of Confession in an unconventional way that the audience may find shocking. The text is heavy with dialogue and metaphors; some of it is deliberately unpleasant, but not without meaning. Also, the play is essentially a comedy. Food for thought and laughs is what I'm hoping for, none of them cheap. For those that may disapprove, that's still a better reaction than disinterest.
SWOLLEN deals with characters who have reached a low point in their lives and with themes that are rather sad and dark, but so much of it is so very funny. What role does humor play in your storytelling process? That is, why be funny?
In my opinion, the best truths are told in fiction just as the greatest tragedies are best understood through the use of humor. In other words, it's the way you tell 'em. I've done a bit of stand-up comedy and like most naturally morose individuals, I'm always after a good punchline.
Why Irish? That is, one of the main characters is Irish and the other is Irish-American. Do you feel like you could have told the same story with characters from somewhere else or with different backgrounds? Ireland is prominent in this play and it is clearly an object of longing for the two main characters. What does Ireland mean to you in an ideological sense?
I lived in Ireland as well as amongst the London/Irish in the UK. The Irish travel well and history, as we know, has contributed to diaspora en masse over many years. More recently, it's a culture that has gotten used to relocating with a sense of curiosity and adventure. I suppose the characters could be from anywhere but I needed that sense of displacement, a longing for the old country and a particular brand of humor that fits in with my own.
Do you think that the process might have been different if you were directing a piece by a different author and if yes, how so?
I haven't yet done that but it would be interesting to interpret the text from scratch. I suppose it would be different in that the actors wouldn't be asking me directly what I mean in any given line. I'm certainly not averse to directing other playwrights' material but I'm a writer first and foremost.
How did you end up working with the Manhattan Repertory Theatre and what has that process been like?
The Manhattan Rep's artistic director Ken Wolf is great at facilitating what needs to be done, but ultimately, it's up to the people behind each individual project to get it up and running. I haven't yet seen the other two plays that are part of the same development project [Wasted and B in Oblivion] and I'm looking forward to that. The MRT have been prompt in answering any day-to-day queries I've had. They also provided a database from where I sourced two of my actors. Ken runs a tight ship and I'm glad to be on board as well as grateful for the opportunity.
For more information on SWOLLEN and other plays at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre, visit https://manhattanrep.com/
