EBE Ensemble

Welcome to the first in our 2010 series of interviews with playwrights from Elephants on Parade 2010. Interviews will appear online every other day through the end of next week, so make sure to check back!

Today we feature Isaac Rathbone, playwright of Nice Paper. Isaac was a 2007 Nantucket Short Play Competition Finalist for Jon Katsberg, a 2008 Heideman Award Finalist at Actors Theatre of Louisville for The Guests at Table 11, and a 2009 Theatre Arts Guild of Omaha Awards, Best Short Script Nomination for Death & Motor Vehicles. Backstage has praised his “Funny dialogue and thought provocing observations on complex issues.”

How long have you been writing plays? What made you first dive into playwrighting?
I started playwriting seven years ago. I adapted a short screenplay I had written in college into a ten-minute play and entered it into a competition on a whim. The piece was produced and I found the experience very rewarding. Since that initial “dive” I’ve had a hard time getting out of the pool.

Where are you from originally? Does “home” influence your work in conscious ways? Unconscious ways?
I was raised in Milford, NY, a very small town in Central New York (5 minutes from Cooperstown). Two years ago, I wrote a true-crime drama, entitled “Little Eva,” based on actual events that happened in that region during the Great Depression.  So the influence has been very conscious in recent years. It’s been great to go back to one of the stories of my youth and be able to research and re-create it on stage.

Let’s talk about Nice Paper. Was there any particular inspiration for it? What has the writing process been like on this play compared to the rest of your work?
Nice Paper was originally just a brief writing exercise, where two characters share an every-day space and have two very distinct and different goals. I added the Chorus of commuters when I watched an awkward conversation between a guy and girl and noticed that I wasn’t the only rider on the train snickering. Finding the right combination of rhythm, and matching phrases in the dialogue has created an interesting process in this work.

As a playwright, what do you find interesting, helpful, or difficult about rehearsals? What do you feel is the playwright’s position in the rehearsal process?
I find that the playwright’s process is eerily similar to the physical rehearsal process. There is a search and discovery that happens in the rehearsal room that the playwright experiences in the development phases. The playwright’s position should be to always let the actors and directors find the script on their own, but offer advice and guidance when needed. Only when the process has lost its way and the playwright’s work has been compromised should the playwright be an active voice in the room. The actors and directors have their roles, and the playwright should be mindful of their process.

How important are actors in your writing process? Do you have particular voices in mind as you write? How important are readings and workshops in the development of your work?
I try to get a group together for a private reading early in the development process and I am a big fan of the workshop process. Getting a voice and critical mind working on the characters is vital to the early stages. When the actors can get up on their feet and get a sense of space, the issues with the characters almost immediately come to the foreground.

What kind of theater excites you? Do you have any particular productions or moments as an audience member that stick out in your mind?
I like theatre that has me thinking about it at random moments in the following 48 hours after I’ve seen it.

Do you have any advice for people writing their first plays?
Challenging yourself is fun.

Check out Isaac Rathbone’s “Nice Paper” in Elephants on Parade 2010, running March 10-20, 2010 at Teatro IATI, 64 east 4th st., part of the FAB arts block. For more information on the show, visit www.ebeensemble.com, or to buy tickets visit us on SmartTix.