“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?”
It’s this line, from Thornton Wilder’s 1938 classic Our Town, that means so much to writer, performer & comedian Nora Burns (“I still can’t read [the play] without bursting into tears!” she admits), she couldn’t help but have it serve as inspiration for her raucous disco romp The Village, now running at the SoHo Playhouse through August 10th.
The play, to put it simply, follows a group of New York City friends and lovers navigating 1979 – and all the drinks, dreams, devotion, and, ultimately, death that come with it – with a dash of dance and Donna Summer thrown in to help them along.
It runs in repertory with her acclaimed one-woman odyssey David’s Friend – an ode to her best pal, tragically lost in the ‘90s to AIDS – to which, in its own poignant way, the Our Town adage also applies.
Meanwhile, the comedian herself is also quite the phenom. A founding member of the comedy groups The Nellie Olesons and Unitard, she’s frequently appeared on the festival circuit, performing at Just for Laughs, We’re Funny That Way, and the Aspen Comedy Festival, both solo and with the aforementioned groups.
In addition to her sketch comedy experiences, she has curated and hosted the notable “New York Stories” series at the Stonewall Inn, which sees Big Apple bigwigs telling tales about the days of old, and, of course, helmed her stalwart late-night Manhattan Public Access show, Candied Camera, in the ‘90s.
We sat down with Burns to discuss her dual evenings of offerings – “it’s disco, comedy, go-go boys and you’re out in an hour – what more could you want?” she asks, throwing her hands in the air – in addition to collaborating with directors and choreographers, her love of disco, and her undying LGBTQ+ support.
Can you talk about your background? What was the impetus to pursue writing and performing in the first place? How has your previous performance experience informed you as a writer? How has your writing informed you as a performer?
I had always loved acting and performing but could never stomach the auditioning thing… you know, walking into a room with 50 girls who looked like me. When I was little, my friend and I were obsessed with The Carol Burnett Show and Our Show of Shows, and we did sketch comedy for my parents and the poor neighbors who had to come to our shows. In the early ‘90s, I joined a gay comedy group called Planet Q and started writing and performing wacky comedy and quickly realized that was what I loved doing, and it grew from there.
What was the inspiration behind these two pieces? What about these topics spoke to you personally?
These pieces are vastly different, but similarly themed. They come from the same [source of] inspiration: 1979 (the year I moved to NYC and the year I actually met David), disco (the music that truly beats my heart), and, again, my best friend, David (who died in 1993). New York back then was the epitome of youth and freedom… sexy and dirty and exciting. Given the similar [subject matter], it just made sense to stage them together.
Can you talk about your collaboration with Adam, or any past directors? How do they inform your work (and you theirs)? As a writer, how does that additional third-person perspective affect you, if at all?
The director is everything [in the development of a piece] and finding one you trust is crucial. I’m never precious about my material. I find someone whose vision I trust and then I [say], “Here’s my show, do whatever you want with it.” It’s important for someone to have a good director when they’re doing their own material because that other perspective is [crucial].
Solo shows can be so self-indulgent because everyone thinks their own story is fascinating, so I’m always [saying], “Please, if it’s ever not funny, relatable, or if it drones on, change it!” I originally developed David’s Friend with director Adrienne Truscott, and it was such an amazing process. [Current director] Adam Pivirotto directed The Village! from the start (along with choreographer Robin Carrigan) and he’s just blown me away with his creativity, humor, vision and kindness in how he works with the actors. He really brings out the best in everyone.
Can you talk about your involvement in the LGBTQ+ community? In what ways has it been critical to your identity and why? How has perception, inclusivity, and celebration changed overtime, and what does that mean to you?
I’ve been doing sketch and character comedy for 35 years, starting with Planet Q, then The Nellie Olesons – my first comedy group I formed with former members of Planet Q – and now Unitard [Comedy Group]. I’ve always considered myself part of the LGBTQ+ community, and it’s always informed my work… [but] it’s interesting how comedy has changed. There’s definitely some stuff we couldn’t and wouldn’t do now, but I actually love that things are different, because it pushes us in new directions as writers and performers as well. It’s completely possible to be funny and cutting edge without offending people. You can push them to the edge, but not over the cliff.
What about your relationship to the SoHo playhouse and New York audiences? In your opinion, why is it important that folks support experimental theatre and the downtown theatre scene?
I’ve always been at the non-profit places like La MaMa, Joe’s Pub, and Dixon Place, but SoHo Playhouse has been great to us so far and I’m really excited to perform there. I’m hoping it will bring in a new audience as well, because [theatres like these] are sometimes the only way to bring in new work.
Both of these shows have been performed previously downtown. How have evolved throughout each of its iterations, if at all? How has that evolution helped to shape them into what they are in this current run? And why is it important to you to keep performing them, or having them performed, for new audiences?
David’s Friend originally opened at the Club at La Mama in 2017. We got a rave in The New York Times, so we sold out and extended for a couple of weeks, but the Club was closing for renovation, so we had to close, and also I’d been developing the show for a year, and it was emotionally exhausting.
The Village! opened at Dixon Place for a limited run in the fall of 2022 and sold out three runs there. That run was actually planned for 2020, but then… you know… but the break actually wasteful because it gave me time to totally rewrite it, so it’s much stronger now.
And as for why we keep performing them? Because there are people who haven’t seen them and might like them. It’s as simple as that.
Can you speak about the use of disco in these pieces? What about that era spoke to you, and why might adding in that element make the pieces more accessible to audiences or easier to digest?
Disco is literally the only music I’ve listened to. I just think it’s the most joyous music there is… and, of course, for those of us that are of a certain age and ilk, it evokes so many memories and feelings. And it got me through the pandemic, so…. there’s that, too.
What do you hope to instill in audiences as they come away from these pieces?
What makes me feel something is humor, and that’s what brings out the humanity. I try to create the kind of theater I want to see: [something] fast, funny, smart, snappy, relatable, interesting and you’re out in a hour, with hopefully a few memorable lines you’ll take away. This evening has all that... plus go-go boys. I just want people to have fun!
Finally, given the subject matter of your plays, and that they’re performed on the heels of Pride month, if you could give one piece of advice to an LGBTQ+ individual who might be struggling with identity or sense of place right now, what would it be and why?
The LGBTQ+ community is the strongest, most welcoming, loving, inclusive, brilliant, beautiful bunch of people in the world. Of course, people are constantly struggling with identity, loneliness, sense of self and purpose, but as far as [quelling] the fear of feeling isolated because they’re LGBTQIA, [they should know that] there is a huge welcoming community for everyone here.
The Village: A Disco Daydream and David’s Friend, both written by Nora Burns are running in repertory at the SoHo Playhouse (15 Vandam Street) through August 10th. For tickets, visit https://www.sohoplayhouse.com/ and for more information on Burns and her upcoming projects, visit http://www.noraburns.net.
