About the Play:

Antipasto is a Kafkaesque fable about elitism, the distribution of wealth, and Americans’ surreal sense of entitlement.

About the Author:

Bryan Harnetiaux (Playwright) has been a Playwright-in-Residence at Spokane Civic Theatre in Spokane, Washington, since 1982.  Thirteen of his plays have been published, and his short play The Lemonade Stand is anthologized in More One Act Plays for Acting Students (Meriwether Publishing Ltd., 2003). These works include commissioned stage adaptations of Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Killers, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s Long Walk to Forever, all published by The Dramatic Publishing Company.  His play National Pastime (Playscripts, Inc), about the breaking of the color line in major league baseball in 1947, has received many productions, including professional productions at Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena, California and at Stamford Theatre Works in Stamford, Connecticut.  Bryan also has a cycle of plays on end-of-life, Vesta, Dusk, and Holding On ~ Letting Go.  Vesta was workshopped at Lark Theatre Company in NYC, and has been performed throughout the United States.  Vesta received a professional production at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) in February, 2008, with Megan Cole in the title role.  Dusk premiered at Spokane Civic Theatre in Spring 2007, and Holding On ~ Letting Go was workshopped at the Civic as a staged reading in June 2009.  All of these plays are licensed in clinical settings addressing end-of-life issues (medical and professional conferences, etc.) through Duke University’s Institute for Care at the End of Life.

Bryan’s Forty Days to Forty Plays Interview:

OOB Festival (OOB): Tell us a little about your playwriting career. When did you start writing plays? What are some of your proudest accomplishments as a playwright?

Bryan Harnetiaux (BH): My career developed far from NYC, and is rooted in community theatre.  I wrote my first play in 1977 and it was produced at Spokane Civic Theatre in Spokane WA, one of the finest community theatres in the country.  The Civic nurtured my early work – there weren’t many playwrights between Seattle and Minneapolis at that time – and it remains my home base 33 years later.  I became Playwright-in-Residence there in 1982, and most of my plays premiered in its black box theatre, the Firth J. Chew Studio Theatre.  (Today I share playwright-in-residence duties with Sandra Hosking, whose plays have been widely produced, and who regularly contributes to Insight for Playwrights, a monthly publication for playwrights.)

I’ve written over 30 plays, 13 of which have been published (Dramatic Publishing Company, Baker’s Plays, Contemporary Drama Service, Grimpinmire Press and Playscripts, Inc.), several of which have been remaindered.  I’ve had the great fortune to do commissioned adaptations for Dramatic Publishing of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “The Killers,” and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s “Long Walk to Forever.” 

By the way, the first time one of my plays found its way to NYC was in the early 1980s.  Will Lieberson’s Quaigh Theater produced a couple of my pieces, including The Garage Sale, a/k/a A Saturday Morning in America.  I wasn’t able to attend, but his support provided much needed validation.

Among my proudest moments, three come to mind:  First, writing National Pastime, about Jackie Robinson breaking of the color line in baseball in 1947.  This turned out to be an 11 year odyssey beginning with its first production at the Civic in 1998 through publication by Playscripts, Inc. in 2009.  During this time – strictly by over the transom submissions or word of mouth – National Pastime received four community theatre productions, two educational theater productions and three professional productions.  Throughout this journey National Pastime went through many incarnations, including a complete overhaul while I was a Fellow at Hawthornden International Retreat for Writers, near Edinburgh.  The play benefitted from the time and energy of so many people, including John Grant Phillips and directors Jack Delehanty, Zakes Mokae, Jim Reynolds, and Steve Karp.  In the end, NYC agent Pat McLaughlin (Beacon Artists Agency) helped me find a home for National Pastime with Playscripts, Inc. 

Second, I’ve written three plays about end-of-life, Vesta, Dusk and Holding On ~ Letting Go.  These are stories about coming to terms with mortality, and I’ve had the benefit of working with some of the finest and brightest minds in the country who have made this subject their life work.  These plays are now licensed in clinical settings by Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End-of-Life.  Educational and health care institutions, churches, end-of-life coalitions, etc. throughout the country mount productions or staged readings of these works as a means of encouraging dialogue on end-of-life issues.  I had incredible experiences in doing field work in developing each of these plays.  This cycle of plays has received only modest attention in mainstream theatre.  Megan Cole, who originated the role of Dr. Vivian Bering in Wit, at South Coast Rep, played the title role in Vesta in a successful Seattle equity-waiver showcase production of Vesta in 2008.  (Vesta was initially workshopped professionally in 1999 at The Lark Theatre in NYC as part of its Playwrights Week.)  The most recent play, Holding On ~ Letting Go received a staged reading, directed by Jim Reynolds, at Fremont Center Theatre, an equity-waiver theatre in Pasadena, CA in December 2009. 

Third, I am proud of having been part of founding and maintaining the Spokane Civic Theatre Playwrights Forum Festival for 25 years.  The Civic gave many playwrights from throughout the country – including some from NYC – an opportunity to work a production of their plays and develop their craft.  Regrettably, the Festival was discontinued after 2008 due to financial problems.

OOB: While this festival is composed primarily of emerging playwrights, you have a lot of experience in writing for the stage.  Can you talk a little about how the business playwriting has changed over the years? What are some of the challenges that you face today that you might not have faced in the past?  What are some aspects of the business that have gotten easier?

BH: I was an emerging playwright in the late 1970s (still am).  New plays and playwrights were everywhere.  There were many opportunities for a fledgling writer – festivals, conferences, new works venues.  Today it seems these opportunities have dwindled considerably.  (Many of those remaining festivals and contests misguidedly or selfishly require the play be unproduced, which hamstrings the playwright from getting up a head of steam with a particular play.) 

There are many causes for this decline – loss of public support for the arts, the economy, and technological advances culminating in the digital age.  Competition for the entertainment dollar is fierce.  This country has a cultural bent toward film.  Home entertainment centers abound.  Many theatres tend to select “sure things” as a matter of survival.  Today, it may be easier for writers to tell their stories by way of independent film, instead of the iconic black box theatre that was for so long the source of new works.

On the brighter side, there’s now increased exposure for playwrights, at less cost.  We can develop our own websites and showcase and license our works directly.  Email submissions of scripts are now fairly common, at less cost.

OOB: Talk a little about being a “playwright-in-residence” and the relationship you have with your home theater.  Does one party adapt to the other? How would you advise a playwright to go about forging this kind of relationship?

BH: Being offered Playwright-in-Residence at Spokane Civic Theatre in 1982 was an extraordinary thing.  This meant that the Civic would try to support and promote my work, and that I would develop my plays on site, mainly in its black box theatre.  Over the next two decades, most of my plays premiered at the Civic, which opened up other opportunities for me.  Executive Directors Betty Tomlinson and John Grant (Jack) Phillips championed my work.  Gifted local directors like Dorothy Darby Smith and Jack Delehanty, helped me learn the craft. 

Every playwright should have such nurture.  Unquestionably, these collaborations helped me find my voice as a writer.  I encourage all young writers to search out a place to call home that provides a realistic venue for your work.  As we all know, plays are not plays until they are subjected to the collaborative process and fully “wrought.”  I challenge every community and educational theatre to develop a forum for helping local playwrights meet this goal.

OOB: Talk about your entry to this year’s festival. How did you come to write this play? Was there a particular inspiration behind its creation? What do you hope festival audience will take from your play?

BH: Antipasto had vaguely festered in me for years.  I’m not sure I can say where the play came from and it’s not that important.  My guess is the “inspiration” may have been my long-standing uneasiness with cultural elitism and American imperialism, aggravated by an ever-growing disgust with the Bush Administration and its arrogance.  I think I tried to pour all my inner turmoil into Antipasto.  Whatever else it may be, it was undeniably cathartic for me.  I hope it jars the hell out of the audience, as it did me.

OOB: What is the history of your festival entry? Do you plan to hone and further develop the play in upcoming rehearsals? Has it already been produced?

BH: Antipasto premiered at Spokane Civic Theatre’s Firth J. Chew Studio Theatre on June 5, 2008.  This piece was written for the Civic’s 25th (and last) Playwrights Forum Festival.  Antipasto was directed by a friend, and NY native, Susan Hardie.  I fully participated in the rehearsal process for this production, making revisions along the way.  This is the only production of the play to date.  I revised the script after the Civic production, and expect to refine the script during the rehearsal process for the Festival production.

OOB: Tell us a little about your producer? How did you come to form your relationship together?  

BH: Well, she’s my daughter Trish.  Trish and colleague Jude Domski formed Morning Line Productions a number of years ago, in conjunction with production of one of Trish’s plays.  She, too, is a playwright (and has already lapped me).  Trish lives in Brooklyn, has an MFA in playwriting from Brooklyn College, and will be returning from a stint at Yaddo just in time to see Antipasto.  Several of Trish’s plays have been published, including her full-length play Straight on Til Morning (Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.)  Trish’s play The Dorsal Striatum was featured in the 2009 Samuel French Festival.  She has been a great supporter of my work, and directed my play The Remainder in the NYC Turnip Festival several years ago.

OOB: You mention that your daughter Trish, an OOB veteran herself, is a fellow playwright – Just out of curiosity; have you ever collaborated on anything writing-wise?  

Trish and I haven’t collaborated on a play together.  We have helped each other in so many different ways, including looking at early drafts of new work.  Who knows?!  We do have a dream to collaborate on an adaptation of Wallace Stegner’s novel Crossing to Safety.  We both love Wally, but haven’t been able to convince the literary agent handling his estate to give us a try.

OOB: Looking back over your personal history in the theatre, what emerges as your favorite memory? Is there a particular story you’d like to share?

BH: It was the summer of 1997.  I was trying to crack open a new play and it wasn’t working.  For fun reading, I picked up a copy of Arnold Rampersad’s “Jackie Robinson, A Biography.”  It was the 50th anniversary of one of the true cultural benchmarks in this country – the breaking of the color line in baseball.  (Baseball and civil rights have long been a passion.)  I tore through the book, and was stunned at how little I knew about what Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey did in the face of enormous and unrelenting opposition.  Within a few months I was reading everything on the subject I could get my hands on and wondering why no one had written a straight play about this journey.  (There was a musical, The First).  I dropped the other play and completed a draft of National Pastime in Spring 1998.  It was produced at Spokane Civic Theatre a few months later.  Never before – or since – have I been so compelled to tell a story.  I had no choice.  So many good things have come from this journey.  Among them was a weekend in Spokane in February, 2003, when National Pastime was produced by the Onyx Theatre Troupe, and the legendary Kansas City Monarchs coach Buck O’Neil was a guest.  Our time with him was transcendent.