Interview: Playwright Anton Dudley Discusses World Premiere of New Play CITY OF

Playwright Anton Dudley is premiering his new play CITY OF at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre with the Playwrights Realm. With direction by Stephen Brackett, performances are set to begin on January 27th, with an official opening on February 5th. The show will end its world premiere run on February 21st.

Dudley took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld about the inspiration behind the play, what audiences can expect from it, and so much more. Read the full interview below!

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What inspired you to write this play?

I've always loved Henri Rousseau's painting "The Dream." It's sort of an idealized jungle with strange animals in it. So I started reading about him, and there's a really interesting story that he was a customs officer who never left France. He went to botanical gardens every day, and so his view of the jungle was taken from the botanical garden. In his jungle painting, there's only one of each plant. And then all of the animals in the painting look like they're about to attack. He became sort of the darling of the art scene. There's a story that a critic saw the painting and said, "That's ridiculous...a naked woman in a jungle." And his response was, "She's not in the jungle. She's dreaming she's in the jungle." So I was really moved by his life...how this untraveled artist could create these paintings, and that you can dream so well that dreams come true. What's interesting about her is that even though she dreams she's in the jungle, she's still on her sofa from home. It got me thinking about certain spaces and the cross-sections of dreams and reality, and that's sort of where the play came from.

How long did it take you to complete it?

I wrote the initial draft fairly quickly. And then the play really benefitted from development. Then Playwrights Realm had three workshops of the play leading up to production. So initially I wrote it in a month or so, but it has gone through some development, which is really lovely because it's a very three-dimensional play that the design and vocabulary are also characters in the storytelling.

What has the process of creating this piece with the Playwrights Realm been like?

As a playwright, having readings is so wonderful. It's really difficult to write a script and say, okay here's the play. Because it's not the play. But then the problem with readings is that you can sort of get away with murder in readings, and then you put things on stage and they don't work. Or, sometimes in readings, you find that you have to over-explain your creations, and then all of the sudden there's actors moving around and it has design elements, and there's a storytelling that happens in the three-dimensional life of the play. So what's been really wonderful about the Playwrights Realm is that they know that. So having these more staged workshops that weren't so much about developing the script and were more about developing the production has been really beneficial to everyone on the project. And also I think with the Alumni production, it feels very much like having a home. As a playwright, you hope that you're not defined by a script, but by your body of work, and that you get to play and experiment and grow with a theatre that understands your process. I've been involved in a lot of the Alumni readings and writers' groups, so this feels like a home to me.

What has the collaboration between you and director Stephen Brackett been like?

We worked together for the first time a few years ago with the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theatre Company. He directed a play of mine called "Empty Ocean." That was just sort of a dream. I tend to live in a heavy state, and he's really good at making that practical for actors and writers, so it feels like a very strong collaboration. I like to try new concepts and he makes them come alive. He has such a positive energy, and he's quick and has such insight. You spend your life trying to find a collaborator who will speak your language, and it certainly feels like that, and I'm so glad we have this opportunity. What's also interesting is that I like to write in different genres...so I'll write in realism or things like CITY OF which is more in the meta-theatrical world. And it's great to find a director who can also play in different styles. For some people, their strength is a certain style, so it's great to find a director who understands what's at the core of your work.

Based on the stage directions, it seems to me like there's a good amount of room for interpretation. Do you think this is true, or did you have a specific vision while writing it?

I try to write the stage directions in a voice so they have a personality. I think as a playwright your job is not to direct or design the play. And if I just wrote, you know, "She walks there," that doesn't communicate much of the style. So by writing stage directions in its own character voice, hopefully the idea is to enchant the director and designer with the style and tone of what the visual landscape of the play wants to be. And then it's really exciting when they come back with something that I go, "Wow, I never thought about that!" I think that really works out on this play. It's something that I've learned, that the stage directions should have a personality, especially in a play like this where the design is a character.

What's your own experience with Paris?

I've been there a couple of times. I'm really interested in fairytales. It's one of those cities that everyone has a vision of it, even if they haven't been. It's a city in the public imagination. It's impossible not to go there with baggage of romanticism and passion. To write a play about the crossing of dream and reality...you go to a city like Paris where different histories coexist in the present moment, and it feels like all human emotions and experiences coexist in Paris, positive or negative. It's inspiring.

How do you think the use of the French language enhances the play? Do you think it will make it difficult for audiences to understand?

I don't think so. To me it feels atmospheric. I think hopefully the play is written in a way that, whether you realize it or not, the characters are translating it for you. I think it operates in a way that a ballet does. We're so used to watching stories told through words on stage, but you can watch a ballet and actually feel like you've heard dialogue. And you haven't of course, but I think it's the same when you watch opera. Now they give you subtitles, but I think nine times out of ten, if it's a strong production, you don't need the subtitles. Emotion and staging communicates what the dialogue is. I think that actually adds to the dreamscape of the play. Dreams aren't logical, but you have to perceive what they're about. I hope the French will add to the experience of the play.

There's a lot of moments in the play where the character are aware that they're in a scene or aware that they're playing multiple characters. What made you choose to incorporate this tactic into the play?

Again, it has to do with the dreamscape of the play. The past, present, and future coexist at the same time. Sometimes when you're in a state that doesn't feel quite real or you're experiencing and emotion that's almost too large to live in, you can have these minor out-of-body experiences. So I wanted to dramatize that. When you're in a raw and vulnerable state, I find there is no subtext. I also feel, without trying to sound super petty, that there's this concept of the universal soul. We're all connected even though the details are different and at the core we all go through the same experiences. So I think that idea of the actors playing multiple characters shows the connectivity between those character. I don't think we would get that idea as strongly if they said, "I'm a different person now!" They're always a slightly different person, but they're still connected to the other characters they're playing.

In the video of you and the other creatives discussing the piece, you said that you respond well to plays that belong on stage. What do you think would be the key difference in someone reading CITY OF versus actually seeing it on stage?

I think we're a culture that's been brought up on film and TV. Sometimes when we read, we see things as if they're real. I think that the power of theatre is that it's a metaphor. I always feel like I enjoy puppets more than CGI. I think what's interesting about a puppet is it's limitations. When you go and see some of these action movies, it's actually less impressive because you're expecting it to do everything. What's so fascinating about the Muppets and the early Star Wars films is that they have major limitations. I think theatre is the same. Knowing that what you're seeing is a play allows you to go to a greater place of meaning. And I love film, but sometimes when you walk out of a film, you can only talk about that single character's experience. But when you walk out of a play, you're talking about humanity. And I think that comes from the mode of storytelling.

What do you hope audiences will take away from the play?

My initial hope is that they'll just be engaged by it. I'd love for people to walk away thinking abou the connection between art and humanity and love...the importance of travel, the importance of dreaming. Our perception of reality and how it's sort of partially real and partially imagination. I think it's interesting that we can all have the same experience but no one will speak about it in the same way. Also, I think that the idea that change is at the core of what it means to be human is interesting. We're all afraid of change, myself included, but change is the one truth in life. It forces the characters and hopefully the audience to embrace the nature of life as something that's constantly changing when all you're looking for is security.

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Somewhere in Paris, on a rainy night, a gargoyle falls in love with a pigeon, the ghost of Paul Verlaine recites poetry for passersby, and large glasses of emerald green absinthe are poured and consumed. Somewhere in Paris, on a rainy night, four Americans, lost and lonely, discover that their lives and their dreams are intertwined in ways they'd never imagined.

Tickets are on sale beginning today through www.TicketCentral.com, by calling (212) 279-4200, noon to 8 p.m. daily or by visiting the Ticket Central box office at 416 W. 42nd Street. Tickets range in price from $25 to $35 for all regular performances (February 6th thru 21st). The Playwrights Realm is pleased to bring back their successful 1to5 Ticket Drive initiative during preview performances, wherein all tickets for the first five previews are only $1 to $5 (January 27th - January 31st). Tickets for February 2nd - February 4th are only $15. Student rush tickets are available for $10 for all performances from February 2nd thru February 21st.

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