Jody Christopherson
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| Playwright Crystal Skillman |
Open is a magic show with no magic. A woman called The Magician seems to pantomime a myriad of tricks, but her act reveals she is attempting the impossible—to save the life of her lover, Jenny. And yet, is it possible that the more we believe in their love, the more The Magician’s illusions are actually becoming real? The clock is ticking, the show must go on, and as impossible as it may seem, this Magician’s magic act may be our last hope against a world filled with intolerance and hate.
Open director Jessi D. Hill said, “I think this story is going to particularly resonate with anyone who has been shamed or on the receiving end of violence for being queer. The play is ultimately about more fully living in our truth and loving who we love with pride and presence in every moment. Life can be taken from us in an instant so giving ourselves permission to live truthfully is the most fulfilling life choice LGBTQ folx can make.”
Tell me about the inspiration for writing OPEN?
Crystal Skillman: Open is a magic act about love and forgiveness, but that magic show is a magic show without magic UNTIL we BELIEVE that there IS. It’s a concept I’ve been thinking of since my play Wild, about the struggles of two men with infidelity in their committed relationship. In the lobby of that show, I was struck by overhearing something to the effect of “the playwright really made us really believe that these two men had a ‘real’ committed relationship.” I was hearing this between New Yorkers on Christopher Street in the Obama era. Once He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was elected, the intolerant times in which we lived have increased. The day after he was elected at six AM, two men in a car driving past me shouted “Hilary lost, bitch”. I was angry, I was hurt, and growing more and more angry and feeling helpless as so many of my friends faced walking outside every day having to face a world of great beauty but also such ugliness. I wanted to escape, I wanted to flee, I wanted to imagine myself out of this world. I wanted magic. The character of the Magician came to me. I realized I was writing a magic show but this Magician had different tricks up her sleeve. Open is a play that opens as it goes – it reveals itself in a unique theatrical experience. Ultimately, Open tells the story of the Magician and her relationship to her lover Jenny and her belief that our belief in magic can save her. The magic she is asking us to be a part of is her relationship with Jenny. But how we see the magic depends on if we truly believe. Magic is all about transformation. Can we transcend these trouble times? Can we transcend fear? Can we transcend death? Though full of dark humor, Open is probably the most cathartic show I’ve ever written. In early workshops of the piece, there is a huge shift in the audience at the end of the show, a real emotional release. It was in those workshops that I knew we have something really, really powerful and important here.
The most exciting and most challenging things you have discovered in this process?
Crystal Skillman: The secret of this experience is how magic is seen and ISN’T seen in the show. How does that work? How do we surprise the audience on this journey? Three years ago I began crafting the piece for actress Megan Hill and director Jessi D. Hill. We are now working with the brilliant lighting designer Sarah Johnston (Brobot Johnson Experience) to create this experience. To be working with an all female team is so exciting, and we have challenges ahead of us but we are exhilarated by them. It’s exciting to be seeing how the production works, not just the play.
What are your hopes for the American Theater?
Crystal Skillman: I’m a playwright who uses genre to crack open personal stories and questions. I am in every play I write, and they are highly personal, but because they use the tricks of naturalism [the plays are story-driven but aren’t entirely naturalistic], my relationship with the idea of what American Theater is has been a bit complicated. After my plays Geek, Cut, and King Kirby ran downtown, I had the opportunity to work as a bookwriter in musical theater – many of those shows are now going into production. Mary and Max the musical, with composer Bobby Cronin, was just produced at Theatre Calgary and a second production will be announced soon. But this year with Open running this June, Rain and Zoe Save the World (which won last year’s Earth Matters on Stage Prize) now getting a workshop in New York at MTC Creative Center this May, and Pulp Vérité being considered by New York Theaters after its recent workshop at the Playwrights Foundation, I’m now returning to the world of plays. It’s really thrilling. But at the same time, to come back to this question, I have to be honest. I don’t know what we mean when we say “American Theater”. I started as an intern at Circle Rep and EST. The America we believed in back then was just different. And the voices we were seeing and hearing were so limited. Artistically I couldn’t be more happy about the incredible playwrights we have creating work today, but how can these pieces all see the light of day? The theater clock is slow, and many of us must pursue careers elsewhere. So what does this mean for the American Theater? This question really has gotten me going, because it turns out I just wrote a manifesto about what I’d like to see more from American Theater?! See below.
What’s the impossible thing you would make if there were no limitations?
Crystal Skillman: A National Playwrights Theater where the artistic director is always a playwright. That Artistic Director rotates every year. The committee that elects that Artistic Director rotates as well. It would be a season of one to three small productions, but would have extensive labs so playwrights can see their work with design elements in a staged workshop to work out their plays on their feet. It would allow playwrights to showcase their work to interested theaters. Playwrights sign up to take part, but we help guide a playwright to know when the play is ready, so it is just a matter of time. So it creates excellent work, but is not exclusive, or believes that quality programming is created from being exclusive. For a unifying quality – the theater’s mission would be open, but ask that the playwrights have a sense of creating an event driven experience. Maybe that’s where I hope American Theater can go more – allowing artists to not only create more risky work, but looking for leaders who are not just directors (which is not all, but mostly) to plan programming. Theatre is so unique. We never make enough money and have to write/work in other mediums anyway. How can the artists pick more of the programming? Though we don’t discus it, there is more DYI energy behind many of the productions you see, so why not combine that energy?
What the thing you would give your younger self, a theatermaker just starting out?
Crystal Skillman: Oh god! Hmm, how to tell you Young Crystal? Well, first let me remove my “Going-Back-In-Time-Space-Helmet”. Some concrete tips …. pay attention younger me!!
1. You can be creative, and practical. Be aware of how the business works. It’s not a mystery. It’s not magic. Talk to friends who work as writers, directors, ADs, producers. This can help you create a life path what works for you at the time ….
2. I say “at the time” because it will always change how it works. So be ready for change!
3. But you can change how you work, AND keep your voice.
4. Keep your voice. Trust you will. Listen to yourself. Your voice can have great impact in any medium. Use those other mediums you write in to help strengthen your playwriting. Use the mediums that are right for the story. Explore.
6. There will always be money troubles. Going through this right now. Breathe, run, or jump around, breathe. It can get really freaking hard. We’re all here for each other. Find your community. Don’t wait to be picked for a community. Reach out.
7. Writing is always the answer. Do the work, do the work, do the work.
8. The answer is in your own plays (and I think that is true for all writers). As you wrote in your play Geek … “Live long enough. Live long enough to be old. And you will. You will understand, ‘0 my darling’.”
Crystal Skillman (Playwright) is an award-winning Brooklyn based playwright. Plays include Geek, Cut, King Kirby (New York Times Critics Pick), Rain and Zoe Save the World (2018 EMOS New Play Competition Winner), and Pulp Vérité (workshopped at the Playwrights Foundation; 2015 The Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission). Crystal is the book writer of Mary and Max, with composer/lyricist Bobby Cronin, which premiered at Theatre Calgary, directed by Stafford Arima. Postcard American Town was selected for a 2018 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Awards: 2018 MUT Award (Critics’ Prize), Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission, NY Innovative Theatre Award. Work in TV/Comics includes “Adventure Time” and Eat Fighter, published on Webtoon where new episodes premiere each Saturday. www.crystalskillman.com