InterAct Theatre Company: Talking With Lee Blessing

Talking With... Lee Blessing

Playwright of WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA

Conducted by Rebecca Wright, InterAct's Literary Director & Dramaturg,
and Jessica Ordon, Literary Intern

Lee Blessing, Playwright of WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA InterAct: Why WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA now? What was the initial spark that led to the writing of this play? And what, in the present moment of a new administration and a national focus somewhat shifted to other issues (healthcare, economy, Afghanistan), can be gained by examining the Bush presidency and Iraq war?

Lee Blessing: The idea for this play came to me in the last year of the “W” presidency. To speak to your concern that “W” is now out of office and officially off our current radar, I’d say this: I’m not concerned with trying to keep up with the “news cycle” mentality enforced by the media. Americans have been cajoled into the bad habit of turning the page too quickly on recent history. We seem to enjoy being in a rush towards making the same mistakes again as soon as possible. But the very issues you mention in your question (“healthcare”, “economy”, “Afghanistan”) have all been with us before and are simply recycling their way back to us.

The central issue of this play, the relationship of the governed to those who govern them, is an eternal one.

“W” is a vivid example of a particularly egregious sort of leader. Still, he led us. We followed him. We didn’t revolt. On the basis of a lie he invaded Iraq - a country which had never attacked us. He used every effort to legitimize the use of torture in this country. He committed serious crimes (not the only U.S. President to do so, of course), and caused the deaths of thousands of our sons and daughters - and we didn’t even vote him out of office.

I wrote this play not because “W” was our President. I wrote it because he’ll be President again. He’ll have a different name, but make no mistake - it’ll be him.

Our inclination to forget what our politicians did to us and “move on” is what every politician counts on.

InterAct: Are there particular challenges in writing a character based on a famous high profile figure like George W. Bush? How much were you concerned with either adhering to reality or debunking stereotypes as you wrote this character?

Lee Blessing: There’s no difficulty in writing about “W”. He’s indelible. The play is speculative, set in the future. Thus the play has no requirement to give us “W” as he is at the moment. He is as I need him to be. But he also is very much the “W” we remember. Only with a bit less bullshit.

InterAct: What kind of research did you do in the process of writing this play?

Lee Blessing: Researching this play was not difficult. I lived in the U.S. between 2000 and 2008. I turned the TV off every time I heard George W. Bush’s voice. I read as little about him as humanly possible. And still I knew vastly more about him than I could ever wish. For eight long years the media made sure that I, along with everyone else in the country, was thoroughly marinated in his daily activities.

InterAct: Are Piet and Anna-Lisa’s interactions with George meant to represent the relationship between Europe and the U.S.? Do you think of the U.S. and Europe as being at odds with each other?

InterAct: As the only woman in the play, Anna-Lisa is striking both as a player in the events taking place within the hotel room and as someone who has had a very particular personal experience with violent war crimes. What made you choose to specifically address the issue of violence against women in war?

Lee Blessing: Women and children are always the biggest losers in war. Often, depending on the kind of war, they endure the greatest loss of life. And they lose other things. More and more clearly we’ve come to see that rape is used as just another weapon in war’s arsenal. Rape has been used systematically - in Bosnia, in the Congo and elsewhere throughout the world - to accomplish a number of tactical and even strategic goals in contemporary warfare. It terrorizes and dehumanizes the citizenry. It turns women into chattel - impregnating many of the victims so that the conflict can continue even on a genetic level. One could go on and on, of course. It can become very easy, from a woman’s perspective, to view nearly all wars as primarily male aggression against the best interests of women.

InterAct: Do you think there are things in WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA that will shock or surprise people, or make them uncomfortable?

Lee Blessing: I hope so. I’ve already had one theater tell me they were uncomfortable with the sex it contains. Americans are famous for readily showing even their youngest children the most extreme forms of violence, yet we cringe when confronted in a public forum with a simple act of sex. For most of us, sex needs to be private. Hacking each other to death however, seems best enjoyed in public.

Also, we sometimes have problems when confronted with a U.S. President doing drugs. We like to pretend it’s not possible. We confer on our collective image of the President an entire range of utterly unrealistic, presumed virtues. We were even shocked when we heard Richard Nixon habitually cuss in private meetings. “The President swears?” We’re deeply invested in the President not being real. This is because we’re terrified of him.

InterAct: The writing of this play came in part as a result of a 20/20 New Play Commission grant from InterAct. Do you often write for commission? Is it different than writing something “on your own”? How, if at all, did InterAct’s 20/20 commission shape this play?

Lee Blessing: Seth Rozin gave me wonderful notes on this play. I’ve been very grateful for InterAct’s commission, and not just because of the money involved. InterAct is the sort of theatre which gets very involved with the playwright in any case. They’re very helpful. It’s one of the reasons I love having my plays produced here.

As far as commissions in general, I get a lot of them - as do more and more playwrights. Wide-spread commissioning is a fairly recent development in regional theater, and it has both a good side and a sinister side. When (as in this case) the commission comes from a theater dedicated to actually producing new plays, it’s wonderful.

In a majority of cases however theaters seem to commission plays precisely so they don’t have to give them full productions. They give them readings instead - years and years of readings. My fervent prayer is that more theaters look at how InterAct goes about things and resolve to do likewise.

InterAct: This is the third play of yours that InterAct has done - we did GOING TO ST. IVES in 2002 and WHORES in 2005. Does an ongoing relationship with a producing institution change your experience as a playwright with that institution? Are there other theatres in the country that you have ongoing relationships with? Do these relationships affect your writing?

Lee Blessing: From time to time in my career I’ve had longer relationships and multiple productions with various resident theaters, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Signature Theatre in New York, La Jolla Playhouse, the Guthrie Theater, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Florida Stage, Barrington Stage, Primary Stages, InterAct and others. I’ve been grateful for all of them, naturally. In each case a close friendship and high degree of mutual respect with the Artistic Directors involved was key. Playwrights are the “Flying Dutchmen” of theater. Circumstances rarely allow us to be involved with a particular theater for long. When it does happen, it’s an extraordinary opportunity - one for which I’m always grateful.

InterAct: What sort of plays do you think will be written about the current presidential administration? If you had to guess, what issue do you think you might be addressing at the end of the Obama presidency?

Lee Blessing: One benighted administration at a time, please.

InterAct: What are you working on now? What’s next for you?

Lee Blessing: I’m working on a short play about American involvement in Afghanistan - in the 1980’s.

InterAct: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

THE 2009/2010 SEASON

Introduction

Chad Deity

City of Numbers

When We Go Upon The Sea

Make a Purchase

About The Play

Running Time

Play Commissioning

The Playwright

Playwright Interview

The Director

The Cast

Talk-Backs

Calendar

Black Pearl Sings!