In Ripcord, Holland Taylor plays Abby, a stern, oft-judgmental woman, living in a retirement home, who refuses to share her room with the newly arrived Marilyn (Marylouise Burke) who threatens to disrupt Abby’s lonely, but peaceful, life. Abby lives for her books and snarky observations on the other residents of the home, while Marilyn befriends everyone instantly. Taylor, who has often played characters that require her to showcase severity - think of her Emmy-winning turn as Judge Kittleson in The Practice or Professor Stromwell in Legally Blonde - is here given the opportunity to be quite touching. As written by David Lindsay-Abaire, Ripcord is a comedy with a very important social message since it reminds us of the fate that awaits many senior citizens in American society. Some of whom are practically abandoned and left at the care of nurses and doctors, that is complete strangers.
Taylor has always been a strong advocate for those in need, she’s a supporter of Aid for AIDS, and during her Tony-nominated stint as Governor Ann Richards in Ann, she became even more involved with political outreach through social media. When we speak on the phone, Taylor is generous with her time and with her thoughts, she doesn’t shy away from making statements about how important it is for politicians to become more interested in senior citizens, is candid about how acting can sometimes be just a job, and offers wise words about aging. She’s friendly, warm and corrects me when I call her Ms. Taylor, “please call me Holland” she asks. She’s a true class act in every single way.
You’re famous for your comedic work on television, and sadly not everyone can get to see how funny you are onstage as well. Can you comment on the differences in finding the precise comedic timing in both mediums?
Yes. The theatre for me, if I can be somewhat arrogant when I say it, is my natural habitat. It’s where I started, where I grew up and where I did everything really, before doing television and film in Los Angeles, and I prefer it because it is more direct, it is more immediate, you know your effect because it’s instantaneous. You know that it’s your work because there’s nobody editing or shaping your performance, it allows you to feel the author of the moment, I’m sure there’s many an actor whose work has been improved by editing - me included - but in terms of comedy, you have the proof of the pudding in the audience’s response. Timing, whatever the hell that is, is some sort of inner sense that tells you when to pause, or when to do what, you have an instinct and a knowledge of what the audience is going to see and when. I think we all have an audience member inside us, and if you go by your feeling as an audience member, you will know what to do.
Does acting still make you nervous, or is it more of a drug or an adrenaline rush?
It’s interesting, as you get older, you get more settled and used to it, so it makes your focus really sharp. It’s tiring because it does you use up, you have to be very alert when you’re onstage. Not necessarily to bodily things, I’ve cut and hurt myself onstage and have barely noticed it, because my attention was elsewhere, but that’s a testament to how focused you are. When I did Ann I had a flu for ten days, I was as sick as I’d ever been and was doing a very taxing play at the same time, I’ve never known such misery except when I was doing the play. I felt OK when I was onstage, it eliminated all the flu symptoms.
You were fantastic in Ann and I think there’s a beautiful symmetry to these two projects you’ve done onstage recently, they’re both portraits of older women but while Ann shows us someone empowered, Ripcord presents us with a woman who’s practically been abandoned by her family and friends.
Yes, and her power has moved to what is often the retreat of older people, which is books and reading. You really are obliged to have more of an inner life, which can become an expansion or an inversion. It’s a real challenge because given my age, and in terms of my own participation in life, a reason why I’m doing this play is because I was very struck by reading it, I knew I wanted to do it before even reading it. It’s a very hard medicine to take about what getting older really means, it’s almost like you have to get old in order to be strong and wise enough to bear getting old.
I get the impression that each of your projects becomes your life’s passion for the time you’re working on them.
It isn’t always, it depends on the worth of the material, I’ve done plenty of jobs that I didn’t care about. People talk about my career and have said to me how many interesting things I’ve done, but it has only been in recent years that I’ve had more to choose from, mostly I’ve done jobs I got offered because there were no other jobs, I mean I do have to make a living. Lately there’s been beautiful things that have come my way, I did a movie called Kepler’s Dream which was a very interesting project, a movie for young people. And Ripcord too, it’s wonderful to see there’s always a job, so I’m very fortunate.
Recently I saw The Gin Game, Death of a Salesman, and Ripcord, all of which deal with how people are disregarded in society as they grow older...
Certainly in our culture! Not in other cultures…
You never really heard stories about this. Do you feel this is a topic that politicians should be talking about more?
They better! First of all, more and more of the audience is older, so they’re interested. I remember when The Gin Game came out, it was just a novelty in a way, it was Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn and it made a really big splash because it was a play about elderly people. It’s a very challenging topic because in our culture we hate everything to do with age and will do anything to flee from it, go to the surgeon to avoid any sign of it, it’s really a cultural thing, which is shocking. Maybe it’s correlated to the disregard we have for education, we are 24th or 28th in the world in terms of schools, it seems like the present moment is all that matters in life, the present soundbite, we only take cultural things in small pieces and there seems to be a venal smallness in our entertainment nowadays. How can you turn away from what the aging population is in this country? It’s very confusing, perhaps because I’m in the middle of it. I don’t much about Chinese culture nowadays, so I don’t know what the elderly people experience there socially, but certainly culturally China has revered its elders. I don’t know how that translates into policy, but I wonder about it. The elderly population can be regarded as a burden or as a group of people to be cared after, looked after, have their pensions paid, like Death of a Salesman says, “attention must be paid”, lives should be lived. Not everyone older is incapacitated, how can we take advantage of their skills and abilities? How can the dignity of a life lived be preserved into old age? These are questions that people should ask themselves after they see Ripcord, as funny as it is, it deals with important issues.
Absolutely.
People should also retire earlier and stop working earlier but they can’t because they’re not making enough money. I don’t know the exact numbers in America, but this is getting scary, it’s a really big issue. Some big minds are going to have to turn their attention to it, it has to get to be a “sexy” topic if you know what I mean. It has to be.
Perhaps because of how involved you were in social media during Ann I fantasized of Holland Taylor for President at times. Is a life in politics something that would interest you?
(Laughs) When I did Ann I had literally zero social life. Twitter provided company for me, especially on the road, I had no energy while I did this play. It was a three hour prep before the show, it was all-consuming, I’d have a free hour in the mornings or before bedtime and I’d check in with world events via Twitter, and developed some friendships online. Twitter was my avenue to the outside world during that period, I expected it would continue that way, there are times when I can pay more attention to it. I love Twitter, I wonder what the future will be? Everything has its time and its season of catching the public imagination. I wonder what it will become. Facebook is wonderful to keep people in touch, when I was a kid friends lived in your same town, or were related by blood, but it’s a different world now. I’m all for it, I love participating!
And it’s refreshing to have you there.
In this political season I’ve been very busy with my personal life and on Ripcord, so I haven’t had much time. It’s hard to say what I need in 140 characters, so I always have to make everything tighter and tighter. It’s very fun to do, it’s as strict as a haiku.
I know that there’s no such thing as a formula, but your chemistry with Marylouise Burke onstage is fantastic…
It happens if you throw two people with very different styles, two characters who speak in different ways and get enthusiastic about different things. My character has a lot of judgment, she’s very moralistic, has a lot to say about what’s good and bad, and Marylouise’s is the opposite of that, so there you have your chemistry right there. They are oil and water.
You might find this funny, but I have been telling people that Ripcord is the scariest show this season just based on that scene where the ladies go to the haunted house. The clown with a chainsaw gave me nightmares!
That’s funny, of course, it’s Halloween! That should be very successful over Halloween, it’s a very funny scene to do as well.
Out of all the crazy things Marylouise’s character forces yours to do, which ones would you try? Would you ever go skydiving for instance?
No, never! Never in a thousand years! I think however that’s very emblematic of the joys of life and what you get thrown into. The things you wouldn’t necessarily choose for yourself, that can be very remarkable. For instance there was nothing in my life to suggest that I could write a play, and make it happen coast to coast, and make it happen in the most important theatrical centers in the country - Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center - and both allowed me to do Ann. I basically thrown into it, and once I was there it was like being in a washing machine, you’re gonna go down the whole cycle. Once you’re in you can’t get out. It’s rock and roll!
Ripcord is now running at New York City Center. For tickets and more click here.
