About the Play:
Concrete Wall is a sweet remembrance by a sister, Annie, who finally comes to terms with the life and pre-mature death, in Vietnam, of her little brother Charlie.
About the Author:
J.C.’s most recent New York productions include The Concrete Wall at the Strawberry One-Act Festival and a trilogy of absurd one-acts comedies, A Play on Words at The Planet Connections Festivity. Previous New York appearances include the off-Broadway staged reading of his two-act drama, The Ancient Mariner, and productions of The Bedsitter, Portraits, Meetings in a Wooded Area, HAPPY HOLIDAY$ and Information, PLEASE! In October of 2009, Rebecca and Erin and Valerie and Theresa, two one-acts from the Portraits collection, were produced by the Representation Theatre and premiered in Taipai. A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company of Chicago premiered J.C.’s comedy, A Bad Idea, while other works, Grand Slam, encounter, War’s End and Lilly’s Room had successful New Jersey presentations. Additional nationwide presentations include, Post Game Interview by First Stage/LA as part of their Playwright Express Marathon and his drama The Home Front, a finalist in the 4th New Jersey Playwright’s Contest. His one-act comedy, Fall Guys received a staged reading at The Old Opera House in Charles Town, WV as part of their New Voice Play Festival. Again at First Stage/LA, Peggy and Bill was awarded an Honorable Mention in their 10th Annual Play Contest. As a producer, director and designer, J.C.’s independent films, short form videos, graphic designs and scripts have been honored with over sixty-five national awards, including twelve prestigious Telly Awards. In addition to his ongoing and past professional and academic credits in producing, writing, directing and design, J.C. Svec has been a member of the New Jersey academic community since 1978 having taught at Rutgers, Kean and William Paterson Universities.
JC’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?
J.C. Svec (JCS): My playwriting career began around ten years ago. Having been an art director and production designer for over twenty years, I finally decided to pursue my true love. I had aspired to be a journalist or broadcaster in high school and into college, but, dissuasive forces
sidetracked me. After collaborating with a friend on several screenplays, I wrote my first play, Meetings in a Wooded Area, in 1999 and have not suffered from writer’s block since than.
I feel a sense of accomplishment any time an audience enjoys my words when an actor brings them to life on stage or screen. Of course my first two publications, Information. PLEASE! and The Home Front rank rather high on the list. Most recently I am extremely proud of collaborating on a one‐act with my seven year‐old daughter Dakota.
OOB: In addition to being a playwright, your bio tells us you are also a fairly prolific (and award winning!) producer, director, and designer. How have working under these other theatrical monikers helped inform the way you approach crafting your plays? Can you think of a specific story or example where having these other skills has been helpful in the production of one of your plays?
JCS: I think writing with experience in technical areas is the most valuable knowledge I have (along with a deep love for history and research, which really came about through my experiences as a designer). It’s great to know what will work, what can be afforded and the ability to visualize scenes as you put pencil to paper. I usually write with the intention of producing and directing my work. This limits me in terms of the scope of the play. I always feel production values are important but they can also be minimal. An audience will understand the constraints of a production, no matter what they are, as long as you have a well written and directed play.
One story I have always remembered is from doing theatre in college. I was hanging lights and an actress asked me if I knew what I was doing. I said I did. I was hanging an instrument in the particular way the designer had asked. She then asked me if I knew why. I fumbled through an answer before she cut me off and suggested I might try acting in a show to understand better what I was doing. I think I performed in a half‐dozen shows over two years. I probably learned more about lighting and set design, props and costuming performing in those shows then in any job, classroom or textbook.
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?
JCS: A great number of my plays come from moments in life. Whether mine or what I have observed with someone else. The Concrete Wall is one of my more personal plays. It is loosely based on individuals I knew as a young boy and a very particular time in history. If there was any inspiration, it was a lot of long summer days and nights throwing a rubber ball against a concrete wall.
What do I want an audience to take from the play? Don’t forget the little moments that all add up to what is our lives.
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?
JCS: The Concrete Wall premiered in New Jersey as part of a salute to baseball in a revue entitled Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 2007. In 2008 the play received a staged reading at The Old Opera House in Charles Town, West Virginia and received an Honorable Mention award in the 8th New Voice Play Festival. It was a participant in the 2009 Strawberry One‐Act Festival and now returns to New York one year later.
OOB: Talk a bit about the development process. Over the various staging and reading of The Concrete Wall how has the script changed? Is it similar to the idea you started with? What has been the largest adjustment to the play thus far?
JCS: The development process is usually the same for all my plays. I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about and developing the story. I then write the first draft in a marble composition book with one of two mechanical pencils I have used to write every single work I’ve finished. I then type it, rewriting as I go along, print it for typos and additions, and then type and print again. I then hand it over to my wife Amy who will edit the piece and question me on any number of problems she perceives through reading. Back for another revision (usually minor) and I’m done.
In all honesty, the play is probably exactly the same as the final draft. New actors always add a different personal touch but I usually make very few changes after what I consider to be the final script. I think the biggest adjustment has been the portrayal of the sister Annie. I wrote it with a particular actress’ voice in my head and she nailed the character perfectly throughout the initial rehearsals and run of the show. When I needed to recast, the next actress not only had a totally different look but totally opposite mannerisms and vocal qualities. When she made Annie her own, I realized how a completely different character could evolve and exist from the same words. Having a great chemistry with co‐lead didn’t hurt.
OOB: Tell us a little about your producer? How did you come to form your relationship together?
JCS: I am producing the play under the company name of Tribe Productions. This will be my twelfth self‐produced production. I have been very fortunate, and grateful, to the festival circuit which allows someone like me to have an audience with which to share my work.
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?
JCS: Wow, my career now spans parts of five decades and hundreds of shows as a designer, director or writer. Almost every time I get involved in a new production it creates yet another new, favorite memory. I remember seeing my first Broadway play, Gemini, as if it was yesterday. Daily, I still seem to visualize scenes from A Piece of My Heart and Viet Rock, two shows I am the most proud, that I directed almost a decade apart. The best memories of my work may not be mine, but of others who always remind me of the work I have done that has created a favorite memory of theirs.
