A conversation with playwright Francesca Sanders - July 2008

Sitting and having brunch with visiting NYC theater friends, Seth and Molly, we flew from one subject to the next, trying to catch up after a couple of years of never-being-in-the-same-place-at-the-same-time. We discussed the state of the theater, our individual careers, the hopes and dreams stuff and somewhere in the middle of these overlapping tangents, Molly mentioned she had been in a couple of readings by Portland, Oregon-based playwright Francesca Sanders. Molly thought I would like her work. The next day she emailed Francesca’s address and I wrote to her. That was in the spring of 2004. This season we will be producing the world premiere of I Become A Guitar by Francesca Sanders. She and I had a conversation about the play and lots of other things. - Rachel Lampert, Artistic Director

RACHEL: I just explained how I found you. I am wondering, how do people find out about your plays?

FRANCESCA: When I began writing eight years ago, I didn’t know a single soul in the theater. I hadn’t graduated from a writing program. I was basically sitting in a room typing… and wondering if I was crazy. But I was lucky that my first play (Lilac Samba) got some readings, was put on hold for a slot in the season at Detroit Repertory Theatre and won some awards. Those things encouraged me to keep writing.

And I wrote eight full-length plays in the next three years, and soon those plays were heading out into the world to gather awards and readings in their nets.

People find out about my plays much the same way today. Of course, now I’ve won some bigger awards and had readings at larger theatres, but basically it’s through submitting a piece and having people fall in love with it. Then the play’s network grows from there. Soon someone at one theatre tells someone at another theatre about it. So there comes a time when your script isn’t always being submitted by you anymore but gets passed around like a turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. Either way, your plays float out into the world.

RACHEL: Have you always been involved in the theater?

FRANCESCA: I grew up in Los Angeles (my Dad worked in the movie business) and lived there until 17 years ago. I was primarily a dancer (I danced in the 1984 Olympics Opening Ceremonies, Liberty Weekend, TV specials and a few movies, things like that) but also choreographed things like half-time shows for the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Harlem Globetrotters and many others. On top of that, I taught Jazzercise for seven years.

Basically I was someone who used my body and it was a big shift to use only my brain. I would call it stunning actually. I think that's why I had to be thrown down on cement to make the transition.

RACHEL: Is that how you became a playwright?

FRANCESCA: Well, I came to playwriting by accident… literally. I shattered my elbow one fall day, on my way to usher, no less. While laying on the sidewalk I thought, “Pay attention, Francesca. There’s some reason this is happening.” Of course, I had no idea what that was.

After intricate surgery involving a lot of hardware, I had to keep my arm suspended above my head -- yes, even as I slept. I couldn’t drive, dress myself or even fill a pot with water. I wore a purple robe with the sleeve cut off because that was all that would fit over my cast. You might think you’d love to sit around all day doing nothing, but it’s terribly dull. So I pecked out a play with one finger.

Why I wrote a play as opposed to poetry is clear to me. I acted as a child, in high school and college. I also directed and choreographed at different times in my life. But why I decided to write at all was a mystery. I had not pined away or considered myself a closet writer. If I had wanted to write, I would have written. I rarely see obstacles. My guess is that I finally got quiet enough to listen to the voice inside and simply followed where it led.

RACHEL: You live in Portland, Oregon. Has that played any role in your work? How has the local theater community responded to your work?

FRANCESCA: Portland is a fabulous theater town. When New York friends visit, they’re amazed at the breadth of our community. I love the work that gets made here. We also help each other out without hesitation. Simply post your need and the theater folks spring to action.

I will say, initially it’s hard for anyone to get noticed in your own hometown. I think it’s because locals feel like, “Her? We can have her anytime we want her.” But after you’ve had some success out of town, people begin to realize that if they want to work with you, they better do it while they can. Then things start happening. I’ve been lucky enough to get commissions and good reviews from my hometown.

RACHEL: We are very excited that you will travel to Ithaca to see this production. What is it like to go and see a production of your play at a theater where you may not have had a role in the rehearsal period?

FRANCESCA: It’s the best fun ever! I can’t tell you how exciting it is to see a play you wrote on its feet. Right now, my play Celeste and Starla Save Todd and Win Back The Day! is about to open in Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve been in e-mail and phone contact with the director often. I’ve re-written scenes that he found weren’t playing as well off the page. But I won’t see the play until I arrive for final dress. I can’t wait!

Of course, coming into an existing production at the tail end, there’s always a chance the play will be slightly different from the one you wrote. It’s been given a new slant, a vision that perhaps you didn’t intend. And while I realize other playwrights will read this and cringe, I think that’s terrific!

To me, I create the foundation. The director builds the house. The theater paints it and puts it on the market. I love seeing what color scheme and landscaping will be chosen by people I’ve never met. I love to see how the rising or setting sun casts its shadows. For me, there’s nothing better in the theatre.

RACHEL: I imagine you enjoy being in the rehearsal room as the play comes to life. What is that experience like? Joys? Challenges?

FRANCESCA: It’s terrific. When you get in a room filled with smart people (sometimes with differing thoughts) it’s the best feeling in the world. The navigation of collaboration is addictive and exhilarating.

I just got back from a workshop of a play in New York last month. After meeting with the director and dramaturg (Jose Zayas Jr. and Mark Wood) I realized I had a unique opportunity to do an extensive re-write. That was the good news. The bad news was, time was very short. So I holed up for 10 hours and never took my fingers off the keyboard. I lost 36 pages of dialogue and a character. I also gained a character and three new scenes. All of that wouldn’t be possible without the input from my “team.” When we added the actors to the mix, we had a recipe for ambrosia.

I’ll probably have a dreadful experience in the rehearsal room someday. But it hasn’t happened yet. The actors who teach you about your characters, the director who breathes vision into your play, all leave their footprint on it forever. I always exit the rehearsal room tired, exhilarated and believing the world is a great place to be.

RACHEL: We are excited to be producing your play I BECOME A GUITAR.

FRANCESCA: Yes! It will be the world premiere! How exciting is that?

This play has had many readings and developmental opportunities. It’s even had a fully staged reading with costumes etc. But this is the first time it will have a full production. There are discussions with other theaters still ongoing and directors who love the play. I think it will be produced again before too long.

RACHEL: When I have read a play that really interests me, I try and schedule a time for the staff to hear the play. We sometimes ask actors to read it, but in the case of your play, the staff took the roles and read it out loud. When we finished there was a lovely quiet and stillness that comes from everyone really thinking and feeling. Then some nice deep breaths were taken and we kind of smiled a collective “yes!” I have been describing the play to others as we developed the season. Would you share your description of the play and what drew you to writing a play with the very particular circumstances it includes?

FRANCESCA: I am reminded of a presentation this play had in the Berkshires. The artistic director described this play by saying, “Most plays start out very simple and get complicated as the play progresses. This play starts out complicated and gets very simple by play’s end. That sounds easy to do, but it’s very difficult.”

Without giving too much away, I began this play by writing about a couple whose relationship was adrift. They clearly loved each other but had lost communication.

Then one morning after I’d started exploring their relationship, I woke up and the words I Become A Guitar were in my head. I dismissed them, of course. “How weird is that?” I thought. But the words wouldn’t leave me. So I got some paper and wrote out the poem that begins the play.

Now I thought it was just a poem and was relieved to let it out so it would plague me no more. But later that morning, as I began writing, the poem was still haunting me. But why? Clearly it had nothing to do with these characters or the tone of this play? Then came the question all dramatists ask themselves, “What if?” What if this poem about becoming a guitar had something to do with this stilted couple? Then it came to me. A small piece of information I’d heard months before. And suddenly I had my key into a more fully realized play.

RACHEL: Your plays have characters of all ethnicities. You’ve written two short plays, I AM A BLACK GIRL and I AM AN ARAB GIRL and I don’t think you are either one? In America, race is such a central and controversial issue. Is this a theme in your work?

FRANCESCA: Well, let me stand on my soapbox a moment. There is only one race and that’s the human race. As for ethnicities or cultures, I guess I relate to many.

How do I explain this? My parents were instrumental in the civil rights movement. Instead of time in front of the television, we would spend an afternoon listening to Cesar Chavez or a summer tutoring children in Watts. In the 60’s, as I was seeing bombs being thrown at churches on my television screen, I found I related more to the ones being discriminated against than the people filled with hate.

I also have to credit my parents with teaching me that everyone’s story is important. No one’s is more valuable than another’s.

Also, I grew up in a VERY integrated neighborhood in Los Angeles. The people I loved were every color of the rainbow. So I guess it stands to reason that when it came time to write down stories, I would include everyone who taught me life lessons, people from all over the globe.

And if I’m being perfectly honest, there was another side to it I suppose. Not conscious but floating under the surface. It’s no secret that people of color are underrepresented in the theater. I could tell you stories of how and why this is done, “We don’t have a large South Asian community. There aren’t any good black actors in (fill in the blank.)” In every city I’ve ever had a reading or production, I’ve shot this theory to hell. I always find terrific actors wherever I go. They simply aren’t getting utilized.

Basically in this country if you write a play with unspecified ethnicity, 99 times out of a hundred when you show up, the actor is Caucasian. That seems wrong to me. So I try to provide good roles for actors of color. That way even if casting of every other part in the play is “the usual,” someone is getting a chance.

RACHEL: Do you see the theater as a way of addressing issues, promoting change?

FRANCESCA: I definitely do. I’ve witnessed profound changes, sometimes after merely a reading of a play.

When it came time for my talkback at Seven Devils Playwriting Conference (I Become a Guitar had been selected for a week of developmental work) I witnessed a profound change take place before my eyes. They follow the O’Neill model there, so the playwright sits with sunglasses on and doesn’t respond. I LOVE talkbacks so it was hard for me to be quiet, but I was managing. Then a woman stood up and said she was a nurse in intensive care and the play had affected her so deeply that she would never again look at a patient the same way again. Whether they were comatose or not, she had a new understanding of how we often judge people by our own standards, ignoring theirs. What if they’re really happy? Who gets to determine that? She began crying and so did I (though I had to do it silently behind my sunglasses). Her future patients would be forever changed as a result of a play reading. Anything is possible as long as we have empathy and are willing to open our hearts to others. What better place to do it than a darkened theatre where our psyches are in the background? Theater cannot be dead unless we are.

RACHEL: At the Kitchen our branding is “Important conversations happen in the Kitchen.” I expect I BECOME A GUITAR to be discussed at many kitchen tables. See you in January 2009!