Interview: Zoë Winters Chats About Starring in New Play RED SPEEDO

RED SPEEDO, the latest new play from New York Theatre Workshop, is turning heads all over town as it dives into people's need to be the best. Zoë Winters, who stars at Lydia, sat down with BroadwayWorld to chat about this latest new play and why it's so special to her.

Set on the eve of the Olympic swim trials, Red Speedo tells the story of Ray, a front runner for a swimming competition who confronts the lure of endorsements, the perils of mixing the personal and professional, and the unforgiving weight of success. Through Lucas Hnath's signature dark wit and exacting language, Red Speedo is a captivating exploration of America's obsession with winning at all costs.

Check out the full interview with Zoë Winters below!

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How do you relate to your character of Lydia?

I relate to her because they are all hustling and all really determined and I think they come from backgrounds where they didn't have much and kind of felt like they were born with their backs up against the wall and I don't come from that situation. I came from an extremely supported and loving environment. I feel like what I'm after is fighting to believe that our connection was real and our relationship was real and I feel that in some scenes that I feel betrayed by him and what I'm asking for is essentially an apology. I think anyone can relate to that, but I think also for me the thing that has grounded me the most in this part is just to fight for what was a deep love and a deep friendship. So, fight for the belief that although things have gone poorly that it wasn't all a lie.

Then she's extremely headstrong, she's extremely self sufficient, she's gonna figure out how to do it even though she's kind of wearing a scarlet letter. I can relate to the idea of being in a tough situation and trying to figure out how to make it work no matter what.

How was opening night last week?

It was really fun! It was a great opening night and the audience was really warm and loving and generous. I think we put on a good show.

The cast for Red Speedo is amazing. How is it sharing the stage with them?

I love this cast! I've worked with Alex Breaux before in the park in Much Ado and I've done a play with Lucas [Caleb Rooney] for New York Theatre Workshop we did Love and Information and then I met Peter Jay [Fernandez] on this project and he's a dream. It's really, really fun working with this cast. A lot of laughing, a lot of making fun of each other and joking around and also being really supportive. It's only 80 minutes long, but it's really full and it's really rapid and I've just been amazed by this casts determination to really fill every moment and make it really human and make it really alive. I think it's an incredible group of artists and I'm just amazed by these guys. I think they are all incredible artists and they're really, really good people. We start the show backstage and we are all dancing and we always start backstage dancing and then they all go onstage and I go through their food that's in the back and I just eat after my scene. Eat Lucas' cliff bars when he's on stage doing work.

The creative team is also incredible. How has it been working to bring this to life?

I also worked with Lileana [Blain-Cruz], she was the assistant director on Love and Information, so we'v worked together before as well. She's completely delightful and really smart and just has such a clear vision for this show. I thought that her and Lucas Hnath worked really well together. He was making a lot of changes and she's just such a kind person to work with and really open and also just SO brilliant. I think his plays are unbelievable and I think his depiction of people is SO amazing. These people feel so real and it just reminds me and myself that it's easy to step back and judge people and then when you are put into a situation where you are desperate, who knows what we will do. I think he's exploring that in a really interesting way. I've loved working on this.

And then New York Theatre Workshop, I've worked with them before and I wanted to act in this venue ever since I've been in NYC. It's one of my favorite theater's and the entire crew at New York Theatre Workshop is awesome. I'm just happy to be in that space every night and share the stage with these guys and do this great play!

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Zoë Winters is familiar to New York audiences from her performances in Lincoln Center's SHOWS FOR DAYS; MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, Soho Rep's Obie Award winning AN OCTOROON and NYTW's production of Caryl Churchill's LOVE AND INFORMATION at The Minetta Lane, for which she received rave reviews. Time Out declared "Winters...is one to watch out for - zesty, zany and vibrant, she completely reinvents herself with each new character. Give that gal a romantic comedy or an old-fashioned farce." When Ms. Winters created the role of "Bec" in Amy Herzog's award winning 4000 MILES at Lincoln Center the New York Times said she was "excellent"; The New York Post called her "pitch perfect"; and Time Out described her "beautifully realized turns". Ms. Winters' other New York performances include the New York Times Critics' pick HATER at the Ohio Theatre; LOVE SONG at 59E59 Theaters; and a self-written one woman show SWIMMING LEGS. Ms. Winters has worked at some of the Country's top regional theatres including Westport Country Playhouse, The Old Globe, Baltimore Center Stage, Alliance, Paper Mill Playhouse and Seattle Rep. TV audiences will recognize Ms. Winters from her roles on ELEMENTARY, LAW & ORDER, GOSSIP GIRL, ARMY WIVES and UGLY BETTY. Her film credits include the indie films GRAY DOG, IN THE FAMILY, UNDER and the Sundance short GIANT. She has received a Bay Area Critics Circle nomination and The Seattle Times' Footlight Award for Outstanding Acting. Ms. Winters received her BFA from SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Acting where she received the Dean's Award for Acting.