Lauren Clash Schneider (4:30)

Well, the New York Times says this. In one of the summer's most welcome surprises, Crystal Skillman's wanderer's monologue returned six years after its premiere at the Tank Open as a love story. With an aching heart, let's welcome back this delicate slice of summertime sadness. And my question is, what's different now than six years ago as you work on the piece?

Crystal Skillman (4:53)

The piece was very, very timely because in the second part of that development journey was. And I was actually working in Indiana at the time in a place called New Harmony Project on a play called Rain and Zoe Save the World. And that's when the signs of he who Shall Not Be Named started to pop up in a way that I had seen them because I had been kind of a little protected, I think, in my city bubble up until 2015. So around that time I realized where we were headed and going in a very frightened way. And this concept that I kept honing, I kept thinking, I must come back to this because this is going to be really powerful. That when I started to write the pages around that time, you know, had some work with it, but I hadn't really had the exact opening and, you know, just certain things. And I saw blank stage and I saw the magician, and, you know, the magician. This is where the story really started to come alive for me in writing it. The magician told me the story of Kristen and Jenny, and I just kind of started to write down what the magician was saying. And I am. I've written many plays. I'm always tapped in, into them. People are aware. I'm quite a rewriter. I live in fantasy. I live in layers of worlds. But I've never actually had that directed experience where a character within me, beyond me, was speaking to me, which is. You know, I've read a lot of August Wilson's work, and he's talked a lot about being that way. And some people say they hear voices. So that was a. That was very interesting. And I think it's also what kept the passion of working on the play, making sure as many people can see it as possible, because I. I'm aware of how special it is that it was kind of channeled from. From. From a good place that. That I want others to feel. Mm.

Lauren Clash Schneider (6:36)

Well, you're also described as a handy scribe of plays and comics, and no doubt you make many people jealous that way. How do you live in the world of theater and graphic novels and Marvel and WP theater?

Crystal Skillman (6:52)

Oh, wow. I love that. WP came early in my life a little bit because. And Jesse D. Hill, also the director. We were both part of the alumni lab at the time. Now we're alumni of it. And what that meant was that we got selected. So that was cool. But what they did that was really neat is that they said, okay, here's five female identifying writers. Here's five female identifying directors. And then. Which is which? There are other programs that. That did exist, kind of like that. But then they also said, then there's five female identifying producers. And so for two years, you kind of share work and collaborate and talk. And it allowed me to hear things I hadn't heard before from other people on the other side of the table making work. And because we were all female, that was the first time, I think, that it was really that clear room. Another good theater that here, great theater that's also involved with this show is called New George's, and they also have a lot of gatherings, and it's really kind of exciting to meet other female artists. It's just a. It's a really dynamic thing. And most of the artists that I are, my heroes are female artists. So that kind of bubble and the idea. And because I've always been writing female forward characters, they usually are grappling with escapism, fantasy in different ways. One of my big breakout plays is called Geek, and it's about cosplayers. That's kind of my family play, because that leads to comics. So I started in comics because my husband and I got together pretty early on. We. I was fresh out of art school, and he was making comics, and I started going around to comics, and I started helping with the booth, and I started. I just. The culture, the way people felt comfortable and the way you saw different geek circles find their tribe, it was a different way of talking and exploring identity that was also very open to me and open. And I was seeing that with people of all ages. I've seen, you know, Princess Leia is above every age. I also then turn the corner and I see anime that I don't know if someone's got scissors for a head and, like, you know, like, you know, saws on their, you know, arms, you know, like, oh, what's that? Anime? Or, you know. But it's like everyone was getting to say, hey, I'm wearing my fantasy out for you to see, and so you can connect with me on it and we can make something. And I thought, wow, how beautiful that this form incites this kind of passion. And then I also really fell in love with my husband's work, but at the same time, it matched. I was a big fan of Watchmen and Mouse Mouse. And so. But now I was learning as he was writing scripts, kind of how scripts get written, and I kept thinking, oh, wow, that's why. And he passed recently. His name is Joel Pfeiffert. But I was like, oh, that's why Jules Feifer wrote screenplays and he wrote comics and he wrote plays. I was like, they're beats. These are all beats. These are all different ways to really. Each panel is a moment, right? And I got so excited about that. And I'm such a visual person, having gone to Parsons School of Design. I. I was a photography major in the theater minor. So that was really exciting to me because my work is often called cinematic on stage with kind of nothing like in a theatrical way and nothing in quotes, because you when you come to see openness, the artistry of it is quite complex if you really break it down. But for you, it's. It's. It's really surprising, exploratory, and. Yeah, so that's kind of where they all come together, the being highly visual, a monkey see, monkey do a little bit with seeing Frederick comics and then wanting to do so. We got an opportunity, right, for some adventure time comics together. And that's when I think I really got the bug. And then I started. I started adapting my place in the comics as well.

Lauren Clash Schneider (10:40)

Well, I love that you live in that intersection, and I'm so looking forward to everything with Open this summ and what else you have following that in this world of fantasy graphic novel theater. So I thank you.

Crystal Skillman (11:00)

Thank you so much. Yeah. And the next thing is, it was announced that the Rocket Men, my new play, former in quotes, that sent us to the moon, who are played by women, is getting a rolling world premiere. So that'll kick off in September in Indianapolis.

Lauren Clash Schneider (11:18)

Oh, congratulations, Crystal. And thanks for letting us know that. And what theater in Indianapolis?

Crystal Skillman (11:23)

It's called the Phoenix Theater. And. And then about a month later, open in September at Synchronicity in Atlanta. And then after that, in March, it'll be in Nebraska at Angels Theater.

Lauren Clash Schneider (11:36)

Wonderful. And good for the Midwest.

Crystal Skillman (11:40)

Yes, I do. Really. It's a complex time in America, and I think the only way to get through it is to. To talk and have conversations and experience. Not unlike what Arthur Miller did in the Depression, traveling the country. Yes. Yes.

Lauren Clash Schneider (11:56)

Well, thank you for that. I'm Lauren Klaus Schneider with Crystal Skillman, playwright of Open at the WP Theater. Thank you.