{"id":7088,"date":"2018-04-12T13:34:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T20:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohoproductions.org\/old\/?p=7088"},"modified":"2018-04-12T14:19:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T21:19:01","slug":"interview-luna-gale-playwright-rebecca-gilman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohoproductions.org\/old\/blog\/interview-luna-gale-playwright-rebecca-gilman\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Luna Gale playwright Rebecca Gilman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Co-producer and actor Danielle Weathers interviewing\u00a0<\/em>Luna Gale playwright Rebecca Gilman:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RebeccaGilman_Headshot\"<\/p>\n

Since writing Luna Gale, do the overt changes in the political landscape make you feel any differently about the circumstances or moral dilemma at the core of your play?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It only makes me more worried for vulnerable people whom the current administration is either neglecting or attacking.<\/p>\n

Do you have experience working in\/or partnering with social service? If yes, how did that inform your writing (or could you share an anecdote that may have inspired Luna Gale)? If no, what type of research did you do to bring this level of authenticity to your story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The play was inspired, in part, by work my sister did when she was earning her Master\u2019s Degree in Family Counseling at the University of Iowa (I also lived in Iowa for six years).\u00a0 As part of her training, she shadowed a social worker as she visited clients in their homes to do assessments.\u00a0 I remember her telling me how long the days felt \u2013\u00a0how much help people needed and how little help the social worker could offer.\u00a0 She was overwhelmed by the number of cases she handled and resources were scarce to non-existent, all because of cuts to government funding.<\/p>\n

I had my sister\u2019s experience in my mind when I saw a Frontline documentary, years ago, about social workers in Maine.\u00a0 In watching that documentary, I was struck \u2013\u00a0conversely \u2013\u00a0by how much power social workers have over individuals and families.\u00a0 For example, they can decide\u00a0 \u2013 at least in the short term \u2013 to whom custody of a child should be given.<\/p>\n

Remembering my sister\u2019s experience I was struck by the dichotomy of powerlessness and power inherent in one job.\u00a0 How can anybody continue to function with that degree of tension in her daily life?\u00a0 This question is what inspired the character of Caroline in the play.<\/p>\n

Who are the playwrights you look up to? Is there\u00a0someone’s\u00a0style that inspired you, as a young writer? Is there any insight you would be willing to share into your creative process? What or who is your muse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Beth Henley and Marsha Norman were huge influences on me.\u00a0 I was just stumbling on the idea of being a playwright when Crimes of the Heart<\/em> and \u2018Night Mother<\/em> were being produced on Broadway.\u00a0 Both women were from the South, like me, and both women were women!\u00a0 I loved their plays and I remember thinking that maybe I could try being a playwright, too.\u00a0 And Caryl Churchill completes my trifecta of amazing playwrights.\u00a0 Her body of work is always inspiring to me.\u00a0 She does whatever the heck she wants and does it like nobody else.<\/p>\n

In Luna Gale<\/em>, you blended content, style and structure into a extremely well crafted play. Where\/how do you usually\u00a0start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a very flattering question!<\/p>\n

I usually start with a character.\u00a0 In this case, it was Caroline.\u00a0 I had her in mind for a long time before I knew what she\u2019d be doing in the play.\u00a0 Then I sprained my ankle while hiking in Oregon.\u00a0 I went to an emergency room in Eugene to get it x-rayed and was in the waiting room with two young parents who became the inspiration for Carly and Peter.\u00a0 Once I had the three of them, I knew there would be a child in the balance and that got the play going.<\/p>\n

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