Thursday, April 03, 2014
A Conversation between Paula Vogel and Blanka Zizka
HowlRound: Don Juan Comes Home from Iraq is the result of two years of development, beginning with a conversation between Paula Vogel and Blanka Zizka during a playwriting “boot camp” led by Ms. Vogel in January 2011, where they discovered a mutual love of the Weimar Era playwright Ödön von Horvath. This led to a decision, months later, to write a new play inspired by Horvath’s Don Juan Comes Home From the War. Months of conversations between the artistic collaborators followed and expanded to include encounters with veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in interviews and playwriting workshops led by Ms. Vogel in Philadelphia, DC, and New York. The play was cast nearly a year ago, at a point when only a few pages of text existed, and the full script grew out of work with the actors in two workshops. During the December workshop, Paula and Blanka sat down for a conversation about the project.
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This was such a interesting read. The project itself sounds very interesting, but the process through which they are creating it is the most appealing part to me. Their opinions about the importance of collaboration really resonate with me. I think that, too often, we think of the script as set in stone. Whenever possible, the playwright should build and modify the script with the actors, directors and any other artists involved. Ideally, every production of a new work would happen with all collaborators in the room at all times, to allow for a more fluid process. I think that this not only allows the playwright to really feel involved with the company, as Paula points out, but it also allows the actors to be an essential part of the creative process. That latter part is so important because the more the performers feel that they are a part of the work, the more they will push themselves and heighten the stakes to bring the script to life.
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