RW: It’s all about the process really. When you hand it over to the director, you are putting it into their hands. You have to listen to them, and you have to listen to the actors. You have to keep quiet.
I knew that SumiSami was a little wordy, so I cut several thousand words out of it before rehearsals even began. Since then, we’ve trimmed it more. Stage director John Amplas understands the story, so I trust his instincts. Had I met John 10 or 15 years ago, I would be a better playwright today. It’s the director’s relationship with the actors that get them into the story. I love to watch John work with the actors. I just sit back and enjoy how he works.
And I love the way Rita Gregory [directing Raphael’s Angels] works with young actors, the ideas and suggested changes from Melissa Martin [directing Our Lady of Drubbleduffy]. And Ranney Lawrence is a standup comic, so who better to direct The Stuttering Pig [also directing Christmas Tassel Bell]? Mark and Monteze are brilliant at matching the directors to the plays.
I am here to watch. I am here if they need me.
PitR: Your plays often have a Catholic or an Irish-Catholic setting. For example, Raphael’s Angels is set in a private Catholic high school. SumiSami features the spiritual challenges of two Capuchin monks in Papua New Guinea. Our Lady of Drubbleduffy is set in an Irish pub and features a statue of the Virgin Mary. Christmas Tassel Bell is a bedtime story created to prepare a young boy for some unexpected changes, inspired by Ishmael stories and mentioning the family’s church. The Stuttering Pig, another play set in an Irish pub, interweaves Bible stories with the fable for hilarious effect. Can you talk about the Catholic (and Irish) influences in your work?
You write about what you know. There is definitely a Catholic/spiritual thread in my plays. My Catholic faith is there. It’s who I am. I love my Catholic faith. We are going through a trying time right now. Celibacy is an issue in one of my plays [SumiSami]. In fact, I have one or two priest friends who have agreed to give a talkback after a couple of the performances to discuss the topic.
I just tell the stories that come to me. A story puts a clamp on your head, and you just try to tell that story the best you can. So I just keep trying to write good stories. I try to follow David Mamet’s advice to “keep people guessing.” And when people go home after a show, I want them to say it was worth their time.
A play does not answer questions; it asks the question (this is something I learned from John Amplas).
PitR: Four of the plays in the festival have a lot of music in them. How does music influence your writing? Are you working with any specific composers or musicians for the festival shows?
RW: Music is a big part of our lives. It creates a mood. It adds texture to what you write. I have written a number of songs over the years. I wrote the words for jingles for my advertising firms. I always loved it. I love writing lyrics.
About a year ago, I was at the library, and I discovered the book of Broadway’s Hamilton with all of the lyrics in it. It took me two afternoons to read through the whole book slowly. I love the rhythm of that play. When I got the idea for Raphael’s Angels, I decided to give myself the challenge of writing the rap song. It was fun to do.
“Learn to Love” is the song that Sister Rosie sings at the end of Raphael’s Angels. I wrote some rough lyrics and gave the hook to Mike Gallagher who turned it into a brilliant song. In my humble opinion. We decided on a gospel arrangement for the play. (There is a real Sister Rosie, by the way. She’s my cousin. She just turned 90 years old and was a school principal. Rosie is a Sister of St. Francis.)
PitR: What would you say are the primary themes of your work?
RW: Forgiveness. I’ve lived long enough, learned from family, life is LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS. You have to really love somebody in the play you write. You don’t have to love everyone, but you have to at least find them interesting, and you want people to walk away feeling some of that same love that you feel.
The theme of forgiveness runs through most of my plays. I’ve been told it’s a difficult theme to write about. It’s something that’s part of everyone’s life. But you can’t preach to people, you have to tell a story.
PitR: Anything else you want to mention about the festival?
RW: I will be dedicating Raphael’s Angels to the PA Tourette Syndrome Alliance Support Group, run locally by Rachel Lewis. Rachel came for one of the rehearsals for Raphael’s Angels, which features a high school girl with Tourette Syndrome. She was very excited about the show and told me it was a moving experience when she was here for the rehearsal.
PitR: Final thoughts? To quote the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh: “To be dying is to forget about the masterpiece you will begin tomorrow.” That says a lot about writers, creatives. We should all live one day at a time anyway.
Writing is just hard work. You have to put in the time. Stick to it.
Here’s a W.B.Yeat’s quote for you: “Do not strike while the iron is hot. You make the iron hot by striking it.” So the more you do it, the better off you are.
Tickets for the Ray Werner Play Festival are still available to purchase.
Five plays, five stories, five chances to see each one. All tickets are $15, celebrating PPTCo’s 15 year anniversary. Or buy a festival pass for only $50 and see them all! Visit www.pghplaywrights.org to review the performance
Helen Meade got her first theater job at age 17. Over the many intervening years she has worked professionally as an actor, singer, director, producer, administrator, production manager, stage manager, lighting designer, technician, fundraiser, and board member. Through it all, one thing has always remained true: Helen loves live theater. Some of her favorite projects include her educational adaptation, Supernatural Shakespeare, for Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Arts Education Department, directing the world premiere of composer Jeremy Beck’s The Biddle Boys and Mrs. Soffel for Tuesday Musical Club, Assistant Directing Madama Butterfly under director Kay Walker Castaldo for Pittsburgh Opera, and working with amazing humans and theatre professionals including Dan Anderson, Chari Shanker, Amanda Foust, Diana Hossack, Maria Levy, Ron Allen, Attilio Favorini, and her mentor and friend, Tony Ferrieri.
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